This was an interesting story with nice artwork, I liked the focus on different generations of a family rather than it just dealing with coming out or romance. However, I had a big problem with the tone of the book. It made out that it was Matteo's fault that his family didn't accept him for being gay and that he was to blame for leaving town instead of staying until they changed their minds. For young LGBT people reading this graphic novel, that's an untrue and damaging myth to perpetuate.

This is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

Matteo has been in Milan for three years with his lover. He felt forced to leave his provincial town for the city because he's gay and small towns don't do gay, especially not in a conservative Catholic Italy, but problems with his lover have caused him to return because there is nowhere else for him to go. What's with all this running away? Why hasn't he spoken with his father in those years? This graphic novel explores those questions and several others, as Teo tries to figure them out for himself.

He has misgivings about returning, because he refuses to stay with his disapproving father, and his only remaining option is to move into an already-crowded house full of aunts, a grandmother and a pregnant cousin. Some of the residents resent him being there at all, while others resent the fact that he seems to contribute nothing to the house, neither financially nor in terms of labor. When this latter issue is addressed, he finds further resentment from the hired help he displaced, but as he settles into a routine, he bonds with a fellow care-giver and discovers maybe things aren't so bad if he can just change his mind-set a little.

I liked the steadily-evolving flow of this story. I wasn't sure about the fact that everyone seemed to have freckles - if that's what the facial shading was! But otherwise, the drawing was good, and the story believable and interesting, so I have to say I recommend this, especially because it takes some unexpected directions among the expected ones, and you are never quite sure how it will end up. I will look for more stories by this author. Hopefully there will be more, because this is an Italian artist and this is her first work in English. Hopefully we're not so provincial and xenophobic in the US that that we cannot enjoy a wider selection of graphic novels other than the flood of those from Japan!

Matteo, due to some issues with his lover, decides to leave Milan and come back home. Not at his father house, however, because maybe he never forgave Matteo for being gay. Matteo moves with his grandmother, where he finds also his three aunts and his pregnant cousin.

Matteo must then learn how to live with his family, and this change will bring him new responsibilities, since he will have to help his invalid grandmother and do the house chores.

Generations is a moving and compelling book, and at the same time it is light as a feather; Matteo's coming of age will happen also by discovering the past of his family and the difficulties faced by the previous generation.

This book was truly a beautiful discovery, both concerning the narration and the illustrations, a book I absolutely suggest to read.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me the copy necessary to write this review.

I wasn't crazy about this graphic novel at first, and it took me forever to get into it, but once I got there I really liked it. It's a little different from a traditional "coming-of-age" story in that the main character Matteo, comes to a realization about his family dynamics that help him realize his own short-comings. In my reading experience, coming of age novels usually do this the other way around.

Matteo moves back to his small hometown after living in Milan for three years with his boyfriend. He's somewhat ashamed to be back, since he left in a huff three years before, and hasn't had any contact with his father, or with his extended family that includes three aunts, a cousin, and a grandmother. He moves in with this extended family where he proceeds to drift and complain until realizing that his family is not as cruel, angry, and judgemental as he always thought of them. From here he slowly begins to turn his life around, finding a new appreciation for his roots along the way.

Part of the reason why I wasn't a huge fan of this graphic novel is because I didn't really like the illustrations. All the characters looked the same (I mean, most of them were related, but even the ones that weren't looked eerily similar). I was especially spooked by the resemblance between Matteo's ex-boyfriend and his father.

However, this was a book I would recommend to people who like graphic novels that aren't fantasy or dystopian focused.

An ideal marriage of narrative and text, Bondi's latest is a gift to the genre and the reader. Not to mention troubled gay youth11

This is the story of Teo, who left his home town when he was 19 and who's back now living with his Nan, three aunts and his cousin Sarah.
The story line was really great, a lot of the moments were highly relatable, different characters with different problems made it so real.
It's a graphic novel with a lot of heart, it is about family and what links its members, about acceptance and especially growing up and healing.

A very well-drawn coming-of-age story. It had the potential to be very poignant, but for some reason it fell flat with me. However, I cannot pin-point <i>why</i>, so am blaming it more on a lack of chemistry than anything else. I have no doubt that others will really enjoy it.

Although the prose can be a bit obvious with its "life lessons," this is a poignant coming-of-age tale that will resonate, particularly with those who have large families and those who have felt adrift as "Millenials."

Nursing a broken heart, Matteo escapes from Milan and lands in the small town where he was raised. Estranged from his father, he lands in his grandmother's home where his female aunts, and pregnant cousin, live. During his stay Matteo will come to terms with the impulsive youth he was and the responsible young man he is becoming.

Let me tell you I fricking loved this one, I gave it 5 stars and I just loved it. It portrays perfectly the Italian enlarged family I can confirm this as I lived 8 years in Italy and my mother has spent more than a decade still living there. I found it so endearing, so heartfelt and real that it made me cry not once.

I want to read all of Flavia’s work she is amazing artist and just read it ok? You must read it!!!

I loved this beautiful story about a young man who is trying to make sense of his life.

Three years ago at the age of 19 Matteo came out to his father and then ran away to Milan to live with his boyfriend. Now Matteo is back in his home town. He still loves his boyfriend but he needs to discover what he wants from life and who he should be, and so he returns home to his grandmother's house because he isn't ready to face his father.

But things have changed because his grandmother is no longer living alone. She lives with three of his aunts and a very pregnant cousin, and they all think Matteo was away at university because this is what his Dad told them. They do not know that he is gay or why he moved away in the first place.

So Matteo begins life again. He needs to show his family who he really is but before he can do that he needs to find out for himself. With the help of family and friends he begins to think about what he really wants. He wants to do something with his life. He misses his boyfriend but he wants to face his father as a man. Instead Matteo finds that sometimes life runs ahead of you and you may need to face things today instead of tomorrow. Matteo also learns to take responsibility for himself and for others, and he learns that family members can sometimes be the best people to show you how to do this even though they might not do so in a way you would like.

This is a coming of age story. It is a delightful story about a young man growing up. Of course because he is gay his coming out to his family and dealing with their different responses is also part of the growing process. Matteo finds that he needs to take the time to understand who he really is, where he has come from and how his family has shaped and influenced him. It is a journey through which Matteo discovers his family and himself.

The artwork is black and white and is drawn really well. The drawings are not submerged under lots of text but instead each panel shows the story and the text just enhances the drawings. All of this makes the book easy to read and to follow. The characters take on a life of their own and they each have very distinctive voices.

I loved reading how Matteo finds himself and learns to stand up and live, not just for other people but for himself. The story is one about self discovery and it is beautifully told.

I was so happy to find this on Netgalley. I do love graphic novels and it is really great to find a gay graphic novel that is focused on relationship, family, love and life. I first came across this book when it was made available for pre-orders on Amazon, and so getting an advanced copy is a real treat. I enjoyed this so much that I will still get a printed copy because it is definitely one for keeping and re-reading.

This is excellent.

Copy provided by Diamond Book Distributors via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Generations is a graphic novel telling the story of Matteo, who after leaving his hometown for Milan, comes back and goes to live with his grandmother, his three aunts and cousin. Matteo is lost and is trying to find out who he is while also trying to heal his broken heart.

Generations was a nice story with a lot of heart and the characters were all very layered.
Matteo’s journey was very interesting and I could relate at times.
I really have nothing more to say except that since I’m re-learning italian, I wish I had read the original book.

I love this graphic novel. The Italian back drop and a well paced love story.

Some books are just pitch perfect - a harmonious blend of nuanced characters and evocative storytelling coupled with emotive graphics. With Generations, Flavia Biondi has created a thoughtful story full of pathos and heart - a perfect ode that seamlessly captures the life of the millennial adult. For Generations is a modern day fable complete with a moral, as told through the eyes of someone who was lost and who had to discover what truly mattered in his life - in a way that only family can do.

Story: Teo returns to his small Italian village in defeat; he left to pursue a relationship with a man he met online, living in the big city of Milan with the hope to finally be himself. But three years later, he has no job, no income, and his relationship has ended. Now he has to face the family he left behind: the father with whom he clashed when he ran away, the Aunts who he never understood, and the grandmother who always supported him. He knows he cannot return to his father and so chooses to live with his grandmother and three single Aunts, as well as his very pregnant cousin. It's a full house and he's about to be given life lessons as he learns to adapt to his new life.

Although Generations has a gay hero, his lifestyle is not really the heart of Generations. Rather, the book is about Teo finding perspective through the lives of us family. Each of the Aunts has led an interesting life and he soon realizes that he knows very little about them - it's always been about Te0 battling against no one understanding him, when he never took the time to understood everyone else. It's a beautiful juxtaposition that is gently discovered in time. One Aunt was happily married, widowed, and now with no children, one Sunt had a child out of wedlock with a wealthy married man but never married herself, and one Aunt became a spinster. Their personalities are very much shaped by their life situations.

A protagonist so down on his life - dumped, poor, and no place to go - could be a very downer of a book. And there are no miracles to be found here. Teo works with his quirky family as they work with or around him. It is in the slow reveal of the Aunts, his grandmother, and even his cousin that we (and Teo) get a true understanding of life. Yet surprisingly, this is anything but a downer of a book. At not time does the story wallow in Teo's unhappiness or misery. It's about him moving away from taking life one day at a time and instead understanding the long road.

This is one of the sweetest and most grounded stories I've read in quite awhile. I enjoyed every part of the book - from provincial Italian life to the fascinating (yet not sensationalist or overreaching) backstories that made up the adults. The Aunts are not perfect and made their mistakes, for better or worse. Their experiences are the lessons Teo has to learn in order to really know what he wants in life and how to approach it.

In essence, Generations is about Teo's transition from lost to found. There is no deus ex machina or overdramatic moments. It's a simple yet beautifully told story that keeps you interested, a wonderful look at Italian culture but also the issues that Millennials face in today's world.

You will find fewer allegories as rich yet poetic as Generations does for the Millennial generation. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

Oh goodness I'm crying.
This hits quite close to home with the generational thing, and while my Nan wasn't quite as lively in her last few years I still miss her so much and Nan Tonia kind of broke the floodgates for me.
Family is such an important theme in this, and I really enjoyed reading this, it's fantastic and heartbreaking and wonderful and all about finding your place in the world and discovering that not all arguments have to end in estrangement and how important people are to each other.