N.B.: For Mature AudiencesUnlikely is a graphic novel written and illustrated by Jeffrey Brown. It is an autobiographical graphic novel of Brown's exploration of losing his virginity. It is the second and penultimate book in The Girlfriend Trilogy.Jeffrey Brown is a cartoonist born in Grand Rapids, Michigan.It tells of Brown losing his virginity at age twenty-four and the relationship that precedes and follows the event. Brown meets Allisyn at a party and they begin a slow courtship, culminating...

I found this actually kind of moving, and I usually don't care about straight people romance that much... It's really simple and earnest, which I think suits the story and drawings well. Tearing up honestly!!!!!!

After I finished this book, I had to set it aside and take a series of deep breaths. Then I either thought, or said aloud, "I am not ready to date again."His art style is a little Matt Groening-esque. And some people have some problems with a series of frames of sighs and sneezes, but I kinda dig it. I have read most of his books so far (I think) and this is his best.

I liked this a lot because it very clearly illustrated how people lie to themselves (and therefore the other person) at the start of relationships; they want to be a better person, so they tell the person that they're better than they are. They say, "I don't do drugs anymore," or "I have no interest in that anymore," or "when I'm with you I feel like I'm someone else, someone I've wanted to be for a long time." That's awesome! I'm glad that person brings those qualities out of you and that you'r...

I think Clumsy is such a bittersweet portrait of the ups and down of a true love relationship that I can't imagine following it up without losing some of the magic that made it so special. Jeffrey Brown's follow up to Clumsy is not quite as heartfelt, but it knows that it isn't and so achieves it's outlined purpose of detailing a relationship that isn't any less true even if it is toxic in hindsight. Unlikely is such a depressing read at times, but it's important to remember that we all fall for...

Simple, very real story of a young romance and its inevitable end. Neither the art nor the storytelling are entirely remarkable, but the story's cold reality is powerful and memorable. Recommended if you've ever had a relationship and watched it collapse seemingly out of your control.

The point of this review is really to point you to "Be a Man", a little tiny 32 page comic written in reaction to Brown's being perceived as too sensitive or wimpy in his book Clumsy. As stated in the copyright "This is a Parody and mostly not true and if you can't take a joke, fuck you."Fortunately I can take a joke and I loved it! I'll share one comic to give you the feel but after that you'll have to seek it out and buy it because it's well worth the measly 3.00 and should, of course, be view...

two stars feels a little harsh but... this was fine? I didn't dislike it, but as much as it was a fairly effective portrait of a relationship I just wasn't that invested in either of them. I also didn't feel like there was a lot of depth to any of the characters (which feels odd to say about real people, but I just really didn't get a strong sense of who they were)

"Unlikely" is the second volume in Jeffrey Brown's so-called Girlfriend Trilogy and, as such, it's a refinement (although maybe not an improvement) of his debut book, "Clumsy." No matter what, though, Brown's comics have a lock on raw self-examination and melancholy.Reading "Unlikely," I'm reminded of the contention that a band has it's whole life to craft it's amazing debut album and a far shorter time to create its follow-up. I'm not saying "Unlikely" isn't good, in fact it's often an artistic...

I’ve read this one before now, I think, but I don’t remember when. It’s one of those books where I both deeply sympathize with all the characters and am also cringingly repulsed by them, which to me is a good thing.

The Chicago Public Library recently established a partnership with online content sharing service Hoopla, which among other things means I suddenly have access to several thousand old comics I've never read before, including most of the back catalog of Dark Horse, Top Shelf and Boom! Studios. And this includes the first four or five books by indie darling Jeffrey Brown, whose scribble-like confessional stories are beloved by some and intensely hated by others; I'm reading them in chronological o...

This is probably a 2.5 but I felt it needed a distinction from his other books I've rated. This one tells the story chronologically but still in Brown's style of short scenes with a focused point. And it certainly continues to mine Brown's own most intimate life experiences for relatable, humor, and meaning. At the end, I just didn't feel that the story necessarily needed to be told the way some of his others may have. I'm enjoying Brown's work as a whole and will continue to read him. I guess i...

Blankets by Craig Thompson did it better. My biggest frustration is that his handwriting is not very easy to read, which makes this far less enjoyable.

Another autobiographical story of a failed relationship, Unlikely is chronologically before Clumsy, and tells the story of Jeff's first lover. It's just as good, if not better, than Clumsy, although sometimes very painful to read. Watching this relationship fall apart is harder than seeing the relationship in Clumsy come to an end, because of all of Allisyn's baggage and Jeff's complete inability to deal with it. These books aren't for everyone; I think a lot of people might find them self-indul...

I would like to contact the author and ask why it is that he insists on emasculating himself repeatedly in print.

This graphic novel is all about Jeffery Brown’s first relationship (and how it failed). I love memoir-type graphic novels, but unfortunately, this one did NOT live up to my expectations. I had lots of problems with it.First of all, it was a pity party through and through—his girlfriend Alyson CLEARLY had some real mental health issues that led to the demise of their relationship, but Jeff never seemed to be concerned about it and only really seemed to care when the symptoms of her mental illness...

A friend let me borrow this one. I'm struggling about whether to give it another star. It's fine. I appreciate the candor with which the author recounts the loss of his virginity to a young woman who suggests the dark neurotic reality of the archetypical manic pixie dream girl and how they didn't work out as a couple. However, the story kind of felt claustrophobic to me because that's basically all that happens in the book. I think I may have also imagined a woeful Fox Searchlight/Focus Features...

Uneventful. Nothing interesting happens.Top it all off with lousy art, and you get this mess.Boring :(

I didn't like this novel. Don't get me wrong I'm a sucker for stories of failed love and painfully awkward life moments...and this memoir is a great one for that. However, when reading graphic novels, I want the artwork to grab me too...or at least not push me away. I found the speech bubbles to be placed in such a manner that the order of conversation was difficult for me to follow. It's interesting to peer into Brown's life but... Meh. I could have done without.

After Blankets, it took me awhile to get into this story and its drawings. Jeffrey Brown had a totally different style and creates a different atmosphere, but once it finished the first chapter, I got into the story and I couldn't stop reading. It was sometimes painful to watch the characters interact, I disliked Allyson a lot and Jeff has a very low selfesteem, especially when it comes to losing his virginity and pleasing his girlfriend. I think a lot of people can recognize themselves in certa...