My thanks to NetGalley and First Second Books for an eARC of this book to read and review.

I get the layers of family that the author was going for, tying in his family and their flight from Europe in WWI and WWII, that was interesting, though not always clear which scenes belonged to which timeframe.

But his life? I always say I will never write my memoirs because 1) no one cares and 2) it will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am a self-centered idiot who has First World Problems, usually of my own making.

The memoir portion of this graphic novel follows those failings to a T. We don't need to see the disintegration of your second marriage. Yes, she didn't come out of it looking great, but neither did you. I hope that was the intent.

His family's life and struggle to survive? Yes, give me more of that please. (Though you could have left out the bits about how no one could seem to keep it in their pants in 1930s France. And the bit where your grandparents divorced in their 70s and how your grandfather has kids the age of yours....or if you mention it, you need to give MORE. Like WTH!?!? Did he have a secret family, was his new wife like more than half his age?? SOOOO many questions.)

Again, the WWI and WWII bits were fascinating, though more obvious distinction between the two timelines would have been helpful. Modern day? Not necessary, thanks. The only part where it worked was the parallel Passover dinners. That gave me chills.

2, this had potential and wasn't horrible but I was hoping for more, stars.

This graphic novel had wonderful illustrations, and lots of different story lines rolled into one..
Unfortunately it was hard to jump between time lines, the lines were sometimes blurred and the reader had to go back and try to discern what was happening and when.

The author tells his fathers story of survival during WWII via flashbacks and current events. His fathers family managed to come to the United States and Cuba, avoiding the concentration camps. His father however was left with a cousin and together they need to find a way to come and join his parents. At the same time the author is a telling his own story. He is working on the latest video game and uproots himself and his children to Paris to work on the game.

This was very long, very rambling, very jumpy, and very disorganized. I can’t imagine it was easy to try to combine three men’s stories into one, and occasionally they do overlap in very pleasing ways, but overall I just found this strangely self-gratifying. it almost felt like he wanted to toot his own horn a little bit, which I guess is expected in a memoir. Maybe it’s because he just seems like an unappealing person. I found myself looking for the opportunities to read more about his father and grandfather.

A phenomenal memoir graphic novel. It was a little time line jumpy and hard to track for my taste. But the stories within it were amazing and something the world needs in it. A great resource for kids who love WW2, any history, graphic novels, or memoirs.