Such a French ending (i.e. no ending - just looking out at the distance). Seems like an homage to "Les Quatre Cents Coups" https://youtu.be/bO8XIm6bbgA (Yes, I went to film school and this is all I have to show for it)

The story of a teenage Catholic boy finding his first 'love.' The ending is fairly ambiguous, and I am not sure whether it's meant to be happy. I've definitely been thinking about it for a while since putting it down. The art is lovely, though - somewhere between Chris Ware and Seth.

I really liked this touching and at times sad graphic novel.

That was the biggest, fattest, cop-out ending I have run across in a long time, which is so unfortunate because this story was awesome up until the last page.

It's not a new story. Kid is closeted, has a secret romance, romantic assumptions make trouble.The unique thing here is the look. It's illustrated by Marie Caillou, using gorgeous landscapes and settings. The characters look almost like mannequins and feel posed within this beautifully colorful world. Each spread has a distinct palette, and it's striking to flip through, even without taking the time to read the story.Pretty great combination of themes/topic and form.

I liked Hubert's historical fiction series, Miss Don't Touch Me, so saw this and picked it up. It features pastel colored illustrations by Marie Caillou which are digital, sort of pretty but a little cardboardish except the color. The story is a first love story between two boys in a Catholic school, one, Adrian, who is a loner nerd, and one who has a girlfriend. They kiss, they get caught, the priest suggests Adrian get help, cured. His mother freaks out. The other boy freaks out. Adrian is not...

I can't quite decide how I feel about this. Unresolved, I suppose, much like the story itself. Things start off okay for Adrian, then get significantly worse and worse and worse, and then the story just ends. The reader isn't left with much reason to suspect anything but the worst fate for Adrian, making the story seem kind of like a pointless bummer.

I love the art work. The characters are realistic. The story, I have problems with.I don't know where the English title comes from. It doesn't have a connection to the story in my mind. The French title: La Ligne Droit is "The right line" or maybe "The Straight Line." Reading the text of the work as a whole, I wondered if the text was translated as poorly as the title. I haven't read the original French, but I'd like to. **spoilers below**I do agree that the ending panels feel like a cop out. Wh...

Spoilers. On the one hand, I wasn't pleased with the ending. It was realistic, but so very depressing. On the other, even though this story took place in a very Roman Catholic French village, anyone who grew up in a conservative religious household can relate to the misery of Adrian. Even if one's upbringing wasn't as awful. But this kid can't catch a break. I feel like this book is less for LGBT+ readers and more a warning to parents, communities, religious institution, and schools not to be so...

"Adrian and the Tree of Secrets" is a graphic novel out of France that offers a glimpse into the lonely life of Adrian, a boy who retreats into books to escape the stifling world around him. Adrian lives with his strict and hostile mother and attends a severe Catholic school. Nerdy and withdrawn Adrian finds himself daydreaming about Jeremy, one of the cool boys at school. But after an encounter with Jeremy becomes known around school, Jeremy can no longer blend into the background. Though "Adri...

This book is getting such mixed reviews and I can see why. I'm back and forth between a one-star, two-star, three-star, and four-star rating. There's a compelling beauty to it, and a unique complexity to the brave, but un-heroic protagonist. But the book is bleak, short and all miserable loose ends. Several GR reviewers accuse it of having a cop-out ending and I don't entirely dis-agree. The book is very short and perhaps it does dodge layers of engagement all the way through, which makes the en...

Artwork was all right but it didn't really seem to differentiate between characters that much. And, at times, Adrian's face shape seemed to change from panel to panel. The figures themselves were never drawn dynamically and instead seemed to look like dolls placed and positioned on a page with "action lines" about them rather than figures that are two-dimensional yet moving and breathing. I also wasn't that much a fan of the coloring scheme, as the way it added highlights to the top of the boys'...

This book definitely has some narrative issues, but I loved the illustrations, and the handling of the subject matter was pretty good.

The rating is especially difficult with this one. As many other I aswell loved Marie Caillou's artwork and in particular her work with coloring. The color scheme is fresh and comes out as "something else". In this way the book reminds me of Nick Drnasos Beverly and Sabrina (in Adrian the colours are a lot more vivid and on the nose). When it comes to the story it's a tale as old as time. The Boy (Adrian) lives in a closed religious community with a single mom (at least there is no father to be h...

2.5 Stars!This is one of those YA coming of age stories that is also easily relatable to an older crowd too. Ignorance, prejudice and good old religion conspire to create misery, fear and oppression in this rather bleak story set in small town France. I am not sure the translation does many favours for the dialogue, though the artwork is a bit of a treat with its seductive sweetie wrapper colouring, making this an intriguing little tale with a mysteriously ambiguous and somewhat disappointing en...

This story came across as flat, brash, and a little choppy. I finished it feeling like there was no movement, nothing gained from reading it. I'll admit that the illustration style and color combinations were well done, but I found the unpolished dialogue boxes to be really distracting. I don't think teens will find this particular graphic novel to be very engaging, and I wouldn't recommend it to them.

So…​ ​I​ ​saw​ ​a​ ​lot​ ​of​ ​not​ ​awesome​ ​reviews​ ​for​ ​this​ ​book…​ ​What’s​ ​up​ ​with​ ​that?​ ​I​ ​thought​ ​this book​ ​was​ ​beautiful​ ​in​ ​terms​ ​of​ ​art​ ​and​ ​the​ ​colors​ ​were​ ​what​ ​I’d​ ​call​ ​perfect.​ ​In​ ​terms​ ​of​ ​story,​ ​yeah,​ ​it’s a​ ​cliche,​ ​but​ ​it’s​ ​a​ ​well-done​ ​cliche.​ ​There’s​ ​also​ ​a​ ​translation​ ​aspect,​ ​which​ ​I​ ​feel​ ​is​ ​also​ ​part​ ​of​ ​why people​ ​are​ ​saying​ ​it’s​ ​poorly​ ​written​ ​or​ ​whatever.​ ​I’m​ ​too​ ​ti...

Eh I loved it until I go to the end. I just feel as though there was no resolution and it should have been developed more. The artwork was amazing like completely amazing, but the story just didn't do it for me.

Very French, very sad, very true

What a superbly haunting visual feast for the eyes. If you come out of a strict religious background, I could definitely connect wholeheartedly with Adrian. The first connection to the story was through the fantastic drawings! The art deserves a definite shining merit of just how contrasting the story is to the emotions Adrian is going through. It’s so bright and cheery while the story is sad and weepy, lol! Here are some great shots: Feast your eyes on these beautiful panels! The art is supreme...