Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Layers. The first ten pages into the book I was ugly crying and laughing and really wanting to be best friends with Penelope Bagieu. I really liked how Bagieu portrayed the real events of her life through a lens of lightheartedness, even though the author went through some super hard trials and tribulations.

I wasn't sure how I would feel about the short stories, but I really enjoyed reading this graphic memoir. I can't wait to add this to my libraries collection for more to read!

I loved this short story collection in a graphic novel. So cute and such relevant stories. There are some sections that show too much to be in a HS library in my opinion. But a solid book for readers with permission to read it.

Edgy, funny, heartfelt, and often heartbreaking. A great graphic novel memoir from one of my favorite artist/authors. I’m the same age as the author so I definitely related to many of her stories and cultural references. I would recommend this for older teens and anyone that enjoys honest memoirs, especially in graphic nice form.

My one complaint is that I wish it was longer! Here’s hoping for another volume from the author!

Layers is a graphic memoir told in short stories. Bagieu used old journals to share snippets of her life, giving readers a glimpse into what it was like to grow up as a girl in France in the 1980s-2000s. Funny, sad, touching, her stories are very relatable and you leave the book feeling like you've made a friend.

*reviewed from uncorrected eARC via NetGalley *

teen/adult graphic memoir (CW/TW: child molestation on the metro/subway, sexual situations)

short, funny autobiographical stories in graphic format (orig. published in French) by Eisner-award winning creator.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

This was fabulous. Vignettes of the author's life are presented non-linearly with humor and heart. I love the compassion she shows to her younger self. I would definitely recommend this to older teens and adults.

I usually enjoy stories in graphic format, but only the very first short story “wowed” me. I could relate to that first short story about cats, because I love cats. The other stories were ones I could not understand or enjoy. Perhaps a younger person than me in my 60’s would get a kick out of this book.

(I received this book from the editor and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)

There's something I really like about Pénélope Bagieu’s art style, something that, although I find it hard to describe, makes the characters more human, more friendly. I suppose it is the way she draws the eyes and how she brings attention to them when it’s necessary (although not always pleasant).

I really enjoyed this memoir. I felt that using short stories to tell different layers it’s a very good idea, and the blank pages between each of them feel like a ‘meditation point’, where the reader can just stop for a second. I really needed that stop after the story with her grandmother and after the night she slept over. Being as it is a memoir, I found myself chuckling when there was a happy ending, as it was a friend telling me that story. It is so special, and truthful, to read a funny story, then a more serious one, a silly joke, then a pivotal moment of her life. It feels honest.
I would recommend Layers, by Pénélope Bagieu to fans of the author, fans of Brazen (you can really see the same style, not only in the art -obviously- but in the way she gives facts and laughs and tears, all in a few pages), and for anyone who is willing to take a window into another person’s life. It will totally be worth it.