This reminded me of books like Girl and Rose of No Man's Land, probably because its set in the same time and addresses a lot of the same near-adult experiences. As a former 90s teen girl, it was like a slice of yesterday.

Thank you to Tin House for sending me an ARC!

This is a quick 90s coming-of-age novel full of teenage angst and toxic friendship. This slice of life story is very atmospheric, with illustrations that add to the nostalgia. It is also incredibly disconcerting, with an abundance of casual trauma used as plot points.

When do portrayals of pain and suffering tip into sensationalism?

In this book, we get no backstories, no context of what drives the characters to do what they do.
I understood why we lacked that perspective from Justine: Ali’s obsession means she never gets to know Justine, instead viewing her as a sort of manic pixie dream girl. But, Ali’s own introspection and motivations were absent as well, and many parts of the book seem to happen out of nowhere. I think all of this was meant to put the reader in a moody teenage mindset, but it ended up feeling no different to me than a 1990s young adult “problem novel.”

We’re supposed to feel discomfort reading about these characters. They are going through a rough time, and nobody gives them the help they desperately need. This is a reality for many people who are struggling. But I was unfortunately left feeling like the book didn’t bring anything new to the conversations surrounding these subjects.

TW: Eating disorders, self harm, mental illness, sexual assault, suicide, death of an animal

More of an illustrated novella than anything else, Justine is a quick trip into teen girlhood of the late 90s that still feels timeless. It's the perfect length for the story being told. Harmon does a great job navigating those emotions that you're not sure about at that gate, wondering if it's love, friendship obsession, envy, or some combination of those and more.

“Justine” is a short, fast-paced character study about a small group of teens who cross paths in the late 1990s. You can read this in one sitting as if it were a movie. If it were a film, the atmosphere would be sepia toned with heat visibly radiating from the concrete, and lots of moody indie rock music in the background.

Through our main character, Alison/Ali, we see her obsess over her new friend and being to temporarily transform her personality to conform with the group. “Justine” explores those troublesome teenage years where parental supervision is waning, you are trying to rebel and figure yourself whilst being painfully insecure and easily influenced by your peers. The author captures those intense and confusing times so well, and demonstrates how transient those relationships can be.

There is so much 90s nostalgia packed into this short novel. With the spread of hip hop music, magazines dominating conversation, thin models like Kate Mosse on everyone’s mind, and the noticeable lack of cell phones. There are also drawings scattered through-out, which help to break-up the narrative like a well-time chapter break.

I really enjoyed this! Can’t say I have read anything similar recently, which is a good sign.

I am around the same age as the author and in many ways it feels like a pages of my diary in the late nineties. I appreciate the nuanced look at what it felt like to come-of-age, lose innocence, and grow up over a lazy summer. I can almost picture this character study/ slice-of-life in a slow moving, deep thinking, film. Perhaps because it is so close to my experience, it isn't as eye opening to me as many of the current reviews.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The cover is simple but beautiful. The pop of pink is good.

Let me start by saying, I love the idea of illustrated novels. The photos provide a break from the constant text.
But honestly in this case, the photos were lackluster and didn't really ADD anything to the book. I'll be honest and say the book in general was lackluster and missing something important.
There were many chapters I had to force myself to continue so I could provide an accurate review.
It was just kind of boring. Unfortunately.

I read this little book in just a few hours, and I was left with a weird feeling, an unsettled feeling. The book reminded me so much what my awkward teen years were like, and that last line just about did me in. Meanwhile, the illustrations tell their own story, one that I was enthralled by. Overall, an excellent young adult novel about fast friendships and relationships in general.

Teenage protagonist Ali becomes enamored with her local teen grocery clerk Justine and gets a job bagging groceries to spend more time with her. What follows is a brief, wandering exploration of teen girlhood, sexuality, desire, and loneliness in a small town.

Publishers' Weekly reviewed this book as one that "traces the nuances of a teenage female friendship’s fraught dynamics with clinical precision." "Clinical" is the operative word here for me. Everything felt restrained and at a distance -- I did not feel connected to Ali, nor did I get a real sense of who she was or why she did what she was doing. Short as the novel was, I felt like I was skimming the surface of everything that happened, with no real access to the characters' lives or emotions. At times I felt like I was watching one of those indie movies comprised of stark, disjointed scenes strung together to collage some sort of portrait or whole. This is a tricky feat to pull off, and unfortunately, this time the form did not resonate with me. I found myself wishing the novel were actually a short story -- perhaps then it would have packed the punch I craved.

(ARC provided by Tin House via NetGalley. Out March 2021.)

I have mixed feelings about this one. "Justine" by Forsyth Harmon is an illustrated novel (more like a novella) about a young, impressionable girl, Ali, who becomes enamored with her troubled co-worker, Justine. I enjoyed all the nostalgia while reading this. The story takes place in 1999. Ali's grandma (also her legal guardian) is obsessed with cleaning and watching "Days of our Lives". I remember those silly "Days" storylines VERY WELL. Talk about a trip down memory lane! I liked all the throwbacks to music, literature, fashion, pop culture. As for the story itself, it was a little lackluster for me. I kept waiting for something big to happen, and it does in the last chapter but I didn't feel any resolution or much character development for Ali. I'm sure it's because the novel only takes place over the course of a summer, but the ending left me feeling unsatisfied and hollow. This book has some dark subject matter, especially when it comes to eating disorders. It was unsettling. The author did a decent job at making the reader uncomfortable, if that was is her intention. It's pretty obvious that Ali was written as a frustrating, immature character. I just wanted to shake her for the dumb choices she makes. Ugh. I was a little confused as to why Ali felt so drawn to Justine. The whole being friends with someone who is a bad influence is such an overdone trope. Nothing felt original, very basic storyline. As for the illustrations, I thought it was average. Nothing spectacular. They seem more like doodles than anything else. If you're looking for a quick read, then "Justine" might be for you, just don't expect a fully-fleshed out story.

Thank you, Netgalley and Tin House for the digital ARC.

Release date: March 2, 2021

A delightful little book that really brought back the late ‘90s. A tiny slice of life from one single summer with a girl, her grandma.

Justine is a unique coming of age novel. In this story, Ali lives with her Days-of-our-Lives obsessed grandmother. When Ali gets a job working at the Stop & Shop she is drawn to her fellow coworker, Justine, who is a free-spirited enigma. The late nineties references were pitch perfect and Ali’s voice is so fresh Harmon’s writing is so sharp and her descriptions so creative, I was in awe of her writing down to the word level. In addition to this story about a young woman so wanting to be like someone she idolizes, Justine also includes delightful drawings that breakup the narrative. Seemingly mundane objects such as tweezers, powerlines and pizza slices take on import as the meaningful things that fill Ali’s life. Thank you to Tin House and NetGalley for the advanced review copy.