3.5 stars.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of this book.

The second installment in this series and it was quite good! Definitely had a bit of a darker tone than the first volume, which took me a bit off guard, but ultimately wasn't too bad.
Can't wait to read the last volume soon!

It is important to note that most of the themes explored in this book deal with sensitive subject matters. My review, therefore, touches on these topics as well. Many people might find the book's subject matters & those detailed in my review overwhelming. I would suggest you steer clear of both if this is the case. Please note that from this point forward I will be writing about matters which contain reflections on suicidal ideations, the death of a child, grief, the death of a parent, parental neglect, mental illness, harassment, extreme forms of bullying, & others.

Before exploring the essence of my review, I would like to make it abundantly clear that this story deals outwardly with sentiments of self-loathing, suicidal ideations, & attempts at self-harm in children. There are scenes which depict a group of children encouraging another child to kill themselves; scenes that highlight the feelings that are often evoked when dealing with detrimental levels of self-deprecating thoughts, depression, & low self-esteem. Though this story explores these topics I am not of the belief that it was done well. There are no clear discussions surrounding the repercussions of dealing with suicidal ideation nor of what happens if someone commits suicide.

The characters in this book are young—ranging from four/five (entering the first grade) to twelve/thirteen (entering the eighth grade). The weight of living with suicidal ideations is never explained in the context of the age of the characters nor is it explored in terms of the depth of these illnesses. I would caution all guardians & readers of all ages to be kind to yourself if you or someone you know endeavours to read this book. One does not need to be a veteran reader to understand the implications of the scenes presented in this story. Should you not be in a position to read about graphic emotions that deal with depression, harassment, heightened levels of bullying, self-harm, & suicidal ideations, I welcome you to leave off reading the rest of my review & the book as a whole.

Following a paranormal encounter of the cutest kind, Marjorie’s life has seemingly returned to normal. A year has passed since her family’s laundromat was threatened, the bullies that harassed her are set upon being her friend, & Marjorie has met a boy whom she thinks holds the key to a bright & new adventure—young love & summertime chocolate fish. However, as tends to happen, things did not go as planned for Marjorie. The summer she envisioned brought change. At the beginning of eighth grade, Marjorie is presented with a new set of obstacles, some of which are partly recycled due to a lack of parental presence in Marjorie’s life.

I have never been one to mince words. I spend time writing these reviews as both a practice that is cathartic to me as well as a project that is put forward with the intention of making the world of books a better place. When I was young, I had many reading role models. I was brought to the library for a reading circle, the adults in my life always had books lining multiple shelves in their homes; I was encouraged to be critical when reading, always seeking the deeper meaning, all while being asked to define my feelings in tangible words; what does it mean to enjoy something? What part of a book made it unpleasant? For this matter, I was greatly influenced by the royal readers that create safe spaces for growing minds—think LeVar Burton & his “Reading Rainbow” (1983).

My experiences do not leave me roaming the ocean alone. Many readers seek to understand what they have in their hands. What is important to remember—what I keep in mind when reading books intended for younger audiences—is that not everyone was as lucky as me. The adults in my life listened to my queries & helped me look for answers when my philosophizing young mind brought forwards a riddle unbound. Their guidance & encouragement allowed me to flourish into the person whose reviews you read today. I employ the same tactics I did all those years ago & overall, I am not shy to say, I adore stories all the more for it.

Yet, for young readers who might ponder the written word & who may be left with lists of similar queries, the absence of a helping hand may lead them to feel rather neglected & ultimately, less able to gauge the story they are consuming. I highlight this fact because this story was shocking & I shall be very disappointed to find that young readers become overwhelmed & pained as a consequence of a book that did a pitiful job at exploring a reality that impacts children in shadow.

It is a cruel world that sees children plagued with suicidal ideations, depression, self-harm, & many other illnesses of the mind. One does not need personal experience in the domain to understand that these feelings are horrifically difficult to deal with. Children are bound to guardians & in sad circumstances, these adults do not act as protectors; leaving children to be faced with similar circumstances as Eliza experienced in this story. I should not want my comments to come across as though parents & guardians should always know when something is wrong. Part of dealing with mental illness is the need for self-preservation. After all, mental illness is still an illness, it can feel embarrassing & belittling to live with.
Eliza’s character is introduced to the reader via her quirky & unfortunate circumstances. Having failed the eighth grade the year before, Eliza will have to repeat a year. What the reader comes to find out is that Eliza is a character who has obsessive tendencies. I am not in a personal or professional position to reflect on the accurate representation of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). My observations come from a place of earnest assumption. With that being said, Eliza reads as a person who might very well be Autistic. Her behaviours, favoured patterns & clothing material, her struggle to socialize & discuss subject matter not associated with her hyper-fixation, etc, all contribute to my conclusion. I would wager to say that many adult readers might clock the possibility of ASD in Eliza as well.

For that reason, the journey her character undergoes in this book is quite simply repulsive. It would be repulsive had it happened to anyone however, much of what takes place within this story seems to shine a light on the lived experiences of children who are undiagnosed & whose parents tiptoe around the quirky behaviour their child exhibits, all of which leaves them ostracized from society. Eliza & Marjorie (the main character) are in the same class when their paths cross. Readers will be reminded that Eliza’s father is the swim teacher & so, is around the school playing “cool guy” while his daughter gets the brunt end of horrific bullying, all the while he remains utterly oblivious.

I am getting ahead of myself. In essence, this second book sees Marjorie opt to be in the popular group—which is arguably not the popular group at school if everyone hates the members given they are all bullies but, I digress—in lieu of spending another year without friends. I was quick to empathize with Marjorie because I remember what it was like to live through difficult things at a young age & I remember being young. Her inability to stand up to the group of bullies felt authentic—she just wanted to belong to a group of friends. I should highlight that Marjorie’s father remains a deadbeat. Though I can appreciate that he is grieving the loss of his wife, he has two children who have had to become adults in an attempt to keep the peace & so the family does not become destitute. I have no pity nor any fond feelings for Marjorie’s loser father.

Wendell is still a most beloved character to read about. His joy & eagerness to be part of something good & warm was exceedingly welcomed by me. I wish we had gotten more opportunities to see his character throughout this book. Rather than have any of the ghosts play any type of role, Marjorie’s friend group troubles take up the bulk of this story. For readers who might have been looking for the continuation of personal growth, fun times with ghost buddies, & the healing of a family unit; this book will be both a bore & a disappointment. I appreciate the transition this book took to engage with the authentic representation of a person who is struggling to make their way in the world without adult encouragement. However, this is a long book & it went nowhere fast.

With this being said, the main conflict in this book arises as Eliza attempts to befriend Marjorie who in return lies to her & opts to remain highly engaged with a group of kids who bullied her the year before. There is no explanation that sheds light on the reasons why Marjorie decided to become friends with a boatload of bullies but, such is life. Other than a curiously dull crush, Marjorie seems to remain friends with the group so that she is not alone & I am inclined to believe that this is enough of a reason for many people do to & say silly things.

As a consequence of Marjorie playing sides & shying away from Eliza as she tries to be social, the group of bullies chides Eliza for being highly invested (obsessive) in paranormal phenomena. They ridicule her every single day at school & out around town; they make snide comments at her expense & treat her like a second-class citizen. Meanwhile, Eliza’s parents are apparently fully involved with Eliza’s two other siblings—which is never explained—so much so that they are totally unperturbed by their daughter’s solitary existence at the age of thirteen (13).

I found it difficult to read this book. Eliza confronts her parents about the insistent bullying (harassment) she is experiencing on a daily basis & instead of being patient & helpful, they tell her to give people less of a reason to think she’s weird. What kind of moronic thing to say was that? Are children supposed to read this section & feel connected to the neglect Eliza’s parents are feeding her? Don’t get me wrong, I was a child in the 90s, I understand how the story goes but, this is a book that was written within the past five (5) years, it would be to the story’s benefit not to have characters bemoaning the child who is suicidal because of her quirky pastimes & rather refocus the dialogue to explain that harassment is not acceptable. Her father is a teacher at the school for crying out loud.

This scene divulges the painful experience that Eliza lives through wherein the group of bullies corners her in the tower of a lighthouse & tells her to kill herself. Eliza has asked for help, she has turned to the people who were meant to be there & they told her to change who she was so that she wasn’t the subject of vile people’s loser lives. I find it rather tedious at best, & malicious at worst, to read a story intended for middle-grade audiences wherein their doppelgänger is treated like barn decay & not once in the entire book does the narrative shift to reflect the poverty of such a stance.

I would like to highlight, once again, that I understand—fully & completely—that human beings are not mind readers. Regardless of the circumstances, suicide is a devastating occurrence. What I am trying to state in this review is that there is no better moment than the present to be an active listener. When you decide to have children you endeavour to create safety for the life you have welcomed into the world, via whatever way this might mean. The second best moment to be an active listener is when a saving grace allows you to be. Eliza’s parents are able to sit with their daughter & listen to her recount all the ways in which she felt that suicide was the best option.

Eliza’s parents get her a therapist & they ensure that her lifestyle changes—she is not directly exposed to triggers for a while. This is great & I was glad to see that happen. With all the good that takes place, we also see some difficult conversations happen among friends. Sometimes, we do not realize that our actions can hurt someone. We might have loved & cherished another person for all of the days of their lives & still, there would come a time when our actions or words resulted in pain. It’s important to discuss that this is part of life. We gain so much as human beings when we engage in understanding our own behaviour. I was glad to see Marjorie be made aware of what it meant to be a bystander & in consequence, be part of a problem.

These discussions open up the floor for readers to explore very crucial life experiences. It’s good to be able to apologize & it’s wonderful to understand that mistakes happen & we are able to take from that & be better the next time. With that being said, I do not think that Eliza should have needed to apologize to the person who told her to kill herself. Though the photographs of Tess in her house were a clear invasion of her privacy, it was not Eliza who distributed them. Tess legitimately was egging someone to suicide & yet there is never a moment of remorse on her part though she is made aware that Eliza was moments away from committing suicide. I found this ending rather morose & disappointing.

Ultimately, this book was a huge disappointment. The subject matter was poorly explored & does a great disservice to the younger readers who will come across reflected images of themselves among the illustrations. I was eager to meet the characters again & was curious to see where the story would go now that the weird uncomfortably familiar villain of the first book was out of range. However, I think that there is much tenderness that remains to be seen in this book. It is my belief that a good book, is a good book & everyone deserves that, regardless of age or reading ability. This story purports truths in graphic malevolence, ignoring the purity that could exist when young people open their hearts, as they have done before, to the ghostly apparitions of tenderness in friendship, connection, & fun.

Thank you to NetGalley, Oni Press, & Brenna Thummler for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you NetGalley/publishers for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

I loved Sheets but Delicates was better. The art style is to die for and the pacing is perfect. When I sat down to read this, I couldn't get up without finishing the entire book. The message in this book is an important one and I think everyone should read it. Wendell is obviously my favorite character. I cannot wait to read the next book in this series.

Oh my heart. This graphic novel series has me completely hooked. I am absolutely in love with these characters and their stories.

In the second instalment, Marjorie continues to be haunted by Wendell and all of his ghost friends / community and they continue to help her laundromat. At school, Eliza is struggling socially, and when Marjorie’s new friends start to bully Eliza, Marjorie has to make a choice of what to do.

Make no mistake: this book deals with significant and heavy themes. As tender and heartwarming as it is, it is also deeply sad. Please be mindful of the TWs listed below.

I am so glad I was recently approved for the third instalment (coming out September 6th) because I absolutely cannot get enough.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free e galley.

I got to love the characters even more, and I really enjoyed it. I love how sometimes the books for children can teach us so much in such a simple way.

An MG graphic novel about bullying. There are a lot of those. It sometimes seems that we can't really read a book with a significant portion taking place in a school that does not have this as a main plot point. That is not really this book's fault, but I do feel that these books need to really distinguish themselves in someway if that is a big part of the story. Not sure this one really did. It's good, but doesn't stand out in a sea of books that deal with this. Fans of Sheets will want to see this for sure though.

An emotional, haunting follow up to Sheets. Once again Brenna Thummler provides beautiful a stunning story paired with gorgeous illustrations.

This is the second book in the Sheets graphic novel series. As in the first book, this one also dealt with some heavy topics. Delicates touched on bullying and suicidal thoughts. We still follow Marjorie and Wendall the ghost, but we have a new character, Eliza, who is a social outcast that enjoys photographing ghosts.

In tacking the topic of bullying, we did get the typical mean girl trope, which did involve a lot of scenes involving teen drama. I think those scenes did feel more generic and similar to other teen books, so it's a shame that we didn't get more about Wendall and the ghost world, as that was the perspective that I enjoyed the most in the first book, and is what makes the series feel different and original. Despite this, I still loved this one, and would highly recommend to teens.

Some of my favourite quotes:
People say my family is weird, but for my parents and sisters, they mean it in a good way. I think I'm the wrong kind of weird, which I didn't know you could be.

Did you know there are some ghosts in the Land of Ghosts who chose to be there? Because they were too sad in the Land of Humans? And they all wish it would have been different.

I know what it's like to be fragile. But sometimes people need to know something's fragile in order to handle it right. Like how they stamp mailed packages. Except, there's nothing more delicate than a life.

Everyone has ghosts. I think we all need to learn that there's no shame in letting them out.

‘Humans are delicate too. The teeniest mistake can ruin them, even if you do everything else right.’

In this follow up to Sheets, we see how Marjorie and Wendell’s life/afterlife has developed after getting the wretched Mr. Saubertuck out of their town. Marjorie has been welcomed (sort of) into the cool kids group, though stays silent for the most part as Tessi bullies Eliza, our newest character to the series. Eldest daughter of one of my favourite characters in Book #1, Mr Duncan, Eliza is a photography loving loner who is on the hunt for the perfect ghost photo.

This book was quite a bit darker and more mature than its predecessor, focusing on themes of bullying, mental illness, and suicidal thoughts. I personally loved the shift and was absolutely captivated by both the books literary and visual elements. The way Thummler has swapped between perspectives was great and I felt we got a good amount of each character, though I’m hoping we get more of Wendell’s POV in the third instalment. The colour palette of this graphic novel was astounding just like the first, and I was obsessed with how the dark room scenes were coloured.

My biggest issue with Sheets was the pacing, and that was the main thing stopping it from reaching 5 stars for me. However that problem was non-existent in Delicates. I truly loved this, and am so attached to these characters. I cannot wait for Lights to be published.

I had enjoyed Sheets but it was far from my favourite graphic novel. This is why Delicates really surprised me, Delicates has a deeply emotional core to it that kept me reading and it has stayed with me ever since. I can't wait to read Lights and be further immersed in this world.

This is another great read from Brenna Thummier. I hadn’t been a fan of graphic novels previously but these have opened my eyes and I’m enjoying them so much. The illustrate beautiful and I love the colour palette.

Love the entire trilogy of ‘Sheets’. Will definitely recommend them to students. I loved the themes of unlikely friendships helping each other through high school, reminding us that behind closed doors that everyone has their own difficulties that they are dealing with,

My son and I liked the second in this series but if we are honest, not quite as much as the first. We wanted more Wendell. The story was still good though and we enjoyed the illustrations. It did give us quite a few opportunities to discuss things like bullies and being a bystander in those situations. I appreciated the story that went along with that and the opportunity we had to discuss it. We are looking forward to reading the third book in the series.

Marjorie was finally fit in with her friends. But even though she fit in, she’s still not happy. She can’t be who she is and her friends are the bullies.

Eliza who believes in ghosts but no one believe in her and think that she’s a weird/freak. Until she met Marjorie who has a ghost friend and believe in them.

Delicates is more sad than Sheets. All those bullies and everything that’s happening in their life. I know how hard life is especially when people bullying you.

This wouldn't show up on my app to read. It also wouldn't let me read it on my computer so I'm not sure what to do here.

Unfortunately this didn't download correctly and is now archived, so I'm unable to give better feedback - I hope to get round to this when I can get it from the library as I loved the first book and would like to continue the series!

i couldn’t read the book as it never spoon the netgalley app. i have trouble finding a solution to this problem. since my rating is down i’ll report it here.

Another beautiful book. If you haven’t read Sheets first I recommend doing that before picking this one up.

This book focuses on two girls now. Marjorie, our main character from the first book who is now hanging out with the cool kids, and Eliza who is labeled odd because of her obsession with ghosts.

While the first book is perfect to help middle grade kids deal with grief this one focuses on bullying & shows that even if you’re not actively bullying you’re playing a part by staying silent.

I had the pleasure of diving into Delicates by Brenna Thummler, and I must say, it's a rare gem where the sequel shines just as brightly as the original. Following the events of Sheets, Thummler masterfully brings back the beloved characters and heartwarming charm that made the first installment a hit. This graphic novel delves into themes of acceptance, invisibility, and the importance of reaching out for help when darkness surrounds us.

Thummler's skillful storytelling once again shines through as she addresses weighty topics with a delicate touch, all while maintaining the same endearing tone. Delicates introduces new characters and seamlessly weaves their backstories into the narrative, enhancing the plot without losing focus. Marjorie's growth is beautifully depicted, and the book strikes a perfect balance between sweetness, fun, and meaningful insights. The entire series is truly a gift, and I'm grateful to NetGalley for providing me the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, this was sadder than I was expecting. This was such a important story for young people (and all ages) and mental health. What a beautiful and impactful metaphor for teenagers who feel like ghosts and alone in this world. I loved it. I highly recommend.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review.