content warnings: sexual assault, homophobia

This is a graphic memoir by Tillie Walden about her life through the lens of her skating, from years five to seventeen. I didn't like this as much as I was hoping I would, which really sucks because I was so excited to read it.

What I did like was the story. It was melancholy and heartbreaking the whole way through, so you should know that going in, but it was beautiful to read. All the best bits were when it became very introspective and you would spend pages in the mind of Tillie. But the pacing was so off, something which I've seen a lot of other reviewers mention. There would be rapid time jumps and scene changes, which just didn't work for me in this format. This really sucked because it made the story as a whole a lot less enjoyable.

Also, and this is a much more personal thing, I wasn't a massive fan of the art style. Not so much that I thought it was bad or anything, it just didn't gel with me and a lot of the time I had difficulty telling characters apart.

I didn't hate this by any means, but it's a very forgettable read that had a lot of potential.