I really enjoyed this graphic novel because of its art style and entrenching plot. I would highly recommend this to fans of middle grade fiction and interesting stories.

Kayla has been sent to Canada from Trinidad to live with her mom's sister, Aunty Jillian. It turns out that Aunty Jillian is gay and lives with Aunty Julia (who is of Indian heritage). As the story unfolds, we learn that Kayla suffers from crippling anxiety and clinical depression. We also learn the reason her mother sent her to her aunt's home. This story is rich in diversity. I particularly enjoyed learning more about Trinidad culture, especially the expressions used. The book doesn't shy away from talking about racism and discrimination either. Kayla feels her blackness stands out in the very white Canadian town where she is living with her Aunty. This book explores popular themes of mental illness, LGBTQIA, diversity, and discrimination all in one engaging story. It is highly engaging for readers. I think all of these themes are very timely and topical for today's teens. Now I need a sequel to learn the backstory on Kayla's momma!

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC.

Home Home is about Kayla who after a suicide attempt is sent to live with her Aunt in Canada. There she tries to adjust to Canada while struggling with severe depression and anxiety.

I love that this examined mental illness but with a black main character. It centered on someone from Trinidad where mental illness is still seen as something that comes from a demon. This book felt so real she truly captured all the intrusive thoughts, actions and feelings that come from suffering from mental illness. My only complaint is Kayla wasn't very developed. Outside of her illness, I can't tell you much else about her. This may be due to the fact that this is a novella and most of the other characters weren't very fleshed out either but it was frustrating. Mental illness is a tough subject to depict and this book did such an amazing job of depicting mental illness and handling it with care.

There is a romance in this book I love that it doesn't fall into usual love cures mental illness tropes. The first time she meets him she has a severe panic attack. Even when they start talking and she feels comfortable around him she still has mental health issues. I loved seeing that, a lot of people think that love changes mental illness because of the trope but it really doesn't change anything. Actually, sometimes it can make mental illness worse because it's a new person to deal with and there are lots of unknowns with new people. All of the unknowns of new people can make issues like anxiety way worse. It was handled so well and felt so real.

The side characters were amazing. Her Aunt is a lesbian and lives with a woman who is basically her wife. Her relationship with her aunt was so cute. I loved her best friend from home. She was so supportive and understanding of Kayla's illness. It was so heartwarming to see that especially since her mom was judgemental and horrible to her.

All in all, this was such a beautifully well-written portrayal of mental illness from a perspective we don't always hear about. I highly recommend this if you're looking for a short book that tackles mental illness in a respectful way and that isn't from the usual white perspective.

This was a short read but it still manages to pack quite a punch. I love how the author didn't hold back when it came to these difficult issues. She didn't talk anything down and really showed the good and the bad moments. That was especially surprising to me because the main character is only fourteen and usually books with younger characters don't really include all of this. I really liked the family dynamics in this book. They were very complex and also very well explained. I also love how all the diversities were discussed in this book. It all just felt so casual and just like respectful conversations friends/family have to better understand each other. The only problem I had with this book though is that I think some things could have been a bit better fleshed out. If this book was just about 50 pages longer it could have been magnificent.

As a Black woman, I really appreciate that this story was told from an #ownvoices POV. Home Home is a short book about a 14-year-old Trinidadian who struggles with depression and with a mother who doesn’t know how to show her love and affection, she is sent to live with her lesbian aunt in Canada. The author did a great job openly discussing how hard depression and anxiety are for those who have it and those around them. I felt like the author portrayed a young teenager’s voice well throughout the story. I really loved the (polar opposite) vivid descriptions of the people, culture, and landscape of both Trinidad and Canada, and understanding how all of these things had shaped Kayla and her family.
The first ¾ of the book I really enjoyed getting to know the characters and just felt like I was understanding them when things suddenly felt off and rushed. Kayla refused to talk about her feelings with a therapist and most adults, so I wasn’t completely sure how realistic it was that Kayla opened up so quickly to the new boy she meets in Canada. Then I began to wonder if maybe she just had a hard time sharing openly with adults (since her mom had always been so closed off), but she felt supported by her peers, so that’s why she could talk to him?
Overall though, I enjoyed the book’s honest and real look at depression, anxiety, race, and culture and would recommend it as a YA book.

3 stars

When the novel begins, readers learn that Kayla, the m.c., has recently moved from Trinidad to Edmonton. It's apparent, due to an early panic attack, that Kayla is struggling with more than her recent relocation. In fact, Kayla is now living with her aunts after attempting suicide while under her mother's care (a term I'll use loosely here since her mother isn't actually the most caring person).

My favorite parts of the novel are Kayla's periodic journal entries. In this therapeutic exercise, she reveals more personal information, which makes it easier to connect with her and understand her actions and motivations. The relationship between Kayla and her aunts runs a close second.

I did not love the way in which a potential romantic partner served as a partial "cure" for Kayla's depression. It's possible to be in a fantastic relationship and still experience mental health issues and vice versa. I'm not sure this messaging is exactly on target for any reader, but especially for more impressionable teens. Yes, this development can be lumped in with everyone's goal of getting Kayla to experience the world more (shop, attend her aunts' BBQs, and work out), but this subplot didn't work for me. On a related note, I found the early scene with the cop so disturbing and was bothered by the way in which the adults seem to laugh it off ('oh, just flirty until they know your age' business). There's a rightfully sinister series of thoughts that lead into that scene, an interaction that is extremely uncomfortable, and then we just move on. What? Finally, I wanted to see Kayla's ideas surrounding the LGBTQ+ community evolve a bit faster than they did.

This work covers some essential issues, and Kayla and her aunts are quite admirable overall. I'd have liked to see some more development here as well as some more evolved considerations in the noted areas.

I enjoyed every bit of this book from the discussions around race, sexuality, and mental health. It hit every important topic of our time so I think this will go far with YA audiences and I know it will be a hit within the instagram community,.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of HOME HOME by Lisa Allen-Agostini in exchange for my honest review.***

3.5 STARS

Sent from Trinidad to live in Canada with Aunt Jillian and her wife Julie, Kayla struggles with anxiety and depression and a distant relationship with her old-fashioned mother Cynthia. Kayla’s symptoms are so acute she’s nearly unable to function. Life in Canada is culture shock in terms of diversity and size adding to her feelings of overwhelming anxiety.

Lisa Allen-Agostini does a great job getting inside Kayla’s head and showing the difficulty of mental illness in a young teen with few coping skills. I could understand why young Kayla felt so unloved by her mother and out of place on an island of people who didn’t have open, nonjudgmental dialogue about mental illness. I wish Allen-Agostini had shown positive aspects of the country and people to give readers a more balanced view of Trinidad.

HOME HOME has wonderful diverse representation in terms of sexual orientation, race, mental health and family composition. I’m interested in seeing reviews from readers more familiar with Trinidad and people from the island.

Told over a period of two months, HOME HOME is a story that stands alone and also would be a great start of a series as Kayla’s journey toward improved mental health and recovery is a journey that will take years if not a lifetime.

I enjoyed HOME HOME, understood Kayla, loved the aunts and would eagerly read a sequel.