A subtle color palette in ochre, green, and brown accompanies this 1980's throwback story set in Cordoba Spain. The main character has become convinced that the world is going to end on a specific date, and he spends much of the graphic novel predicting in angst how and why this is going to happen. The language and depictions of teenage hormones felt familiar and screamed middle/high school experience... kids can be vulgar and crude, and that element of the story all felt honest. Unfortunately, something feeling true isn't always enough to grab a reader, and this felt... dry? To me? It missed the mark, though admittedly I probably am not the intended audience.
The rare full page illustrations were breathtaking, but I'm not sure they added much tonally to the story. In fact, there were several pages that I almost felt like I could just skim over, including more text heavy areas. I may return to it in a week or two and see if sitting on it makes a difference.

Thank you to Netgalley and Europe Comics for an e-arc of the book in exchange for an honest review.

3/5 Stars.

One of Those Days (translated from its original Spanish) is a coming of age story set in 1980's Spain. The story follows a group of kids over the course of one day, the day they're sure that the world is going to end. As the boys attempt to prepare for the Apocolypse we see glimpses into the reality of their lives. Facing substance abuse, mental health issues, poverty, and teenage angst the characters are attempting to escape their problems if only for one day.

The artwork is gorgeous and the writing really came alive because of it. The characters and settings were distinct and easy to follow.

The reason I'm giving this book only 3 stars is because I really felt it was difficult to connect to the characters. Some of the translations felt stilted, and the boys seemed to be speaking far more proper than normal teenagers. The boys were also very crude, perverted, and there was a lot of fat-shaming in the book. Perhaps the story speaks directly to the author's reality, but I just couldn't relate.

A solid 3 stars.

One of Those Days is a translation from the original Spanish version of the graphic novel. Set in 1980s Spain, it follows a day in the life of a group of teenage boys who become convinced that at 8pm that day, the world will end. Trying to survive the Apocalypse, the boys try to gather materials and find an appropriate shelter to survive.

The art in the book is fantastic and it really has an 80s feel to it. It is both colourful and 80s beige all at the same time and the time period came alive through the art. I also really enjoyed the contrast of the 80s colour to the modern-day frames being completed in black and whit, showing the excitement of youth and the monotony of adulthood.

The story provided some insight into the ongoing effects of General Franco's reign (though he had died 7 years prior) and it is clear, at the end of the book, that Leiva's fear really stems from the background threat of a military takeover. That being said, I don't feel that the storyline was as tight as it could have been. There were a lot of scenes which didn't really add to the story and wavered from the boys trying to collect goods to survive the end of the world. I also wasn't greatly convinced by the dream sequences that occur after they all return home.

I would be interested in reading more of Leiva's work and hope to pick up one of this other graphic novels soon.

I picked up this comic on @netgalley because the I thought the cover was interesting. The original version is in Spanish and the story happens in Spain. I enjoyed the book but did not love it. I didn’t quite understand the storyline, I thought it was a bit messy, especially the division of the chapters as it always felt like a new day, thought the whole story happens on the same day. Apart from that, there was a clear distinction between the present and the flashbacks as the latter were in colours. The colouring was really nice, colourful and popping and the drawings, even though not my style, were interesting. I am still not sure if it is an autobiography or not, so if you know don’t hesitate to tell me. I also thought the book was really superficial when talking about drugs, or people being unphased by danger and I would have liked it if the author had gone in more details over those subjects. The only subject well addressed was the loss of innocence of the teenagers when confronted with the reality of the eighties.

*Received via NetGalley for review*

A standard coming-of-age tale, set in Spain in the 80's, full of everything you'd expect (sex, drugs, language, etc.). While you don't need to know a lot about Spain to understand it, it's simply not very enjoyable.

The introductory note is useless; it doesn't tell you anything about the story or provide any necessary context. The art is serviceable with vibrant colors and distinct characters. The translation is clunky and wordy, and the plot is stale and too slow.

Although I read a bit of everything, I don’t read that many graphic novels and I was drawn to this one when I noticed it was Spanish. I’m a translator and bringing translated fiction to a wider audience is a passion of mine.

The story takes place over one day when three young friends prepare for the end of the world after hearing a prediction on the radio. It’s unclear whether the boys really believe the world is going to end or whether it’s a welcome distraction from their lives and adolescent anxieties; it’s probably just the latter but by the end, things have taken a more serious turn. I was reminded a little of Stephen King’s The Body: a group of friends escape their lives for a while and set out on an adventure, planning on becoming town heroes but getting more than they bargained for and growing up in the process.

The story is very clearly set in 1980’s Spain but I don’t think the reader’s enjoyment would be lessened by not having much knowledge of the time – adolescence is universal. That said, it’s nice to spot 'naranjito' and other cultural markers of the time in the artwork.

I don’t have much to say about the artwork – I’ll leave that to someone with more expertise in that area. I’ll just say that I much preferred the body of the novel to the opening and closing, where the artwork had an unfinished feel that wasn’t as appealing as the rest of the book, which was in full colour.

Sadly, although I enjoyed this short graphic novel and found the story quite moving, it was let down by the translation. Now, just like subtitling, graphic novel translation is a special skill – it’s not a matter of simply changing the words but also fitting the space available, which is not easy to do. However, it’s mostly dialogue so should sound like something people would actually say. How many thirteen-year-olds go around saying ‘ill-fated’, ‘perceive’, or ‘such prudence!’? May I suggest, ‘doomed’, ‘see/smell’, and ‘good thinking!’? On the whole, I suppose it is technically correct but many phrases sound clunky and awkward and well… foreign. If this was in any way intentional, I can’t imagine why. Instead, I suspect it was a case of the translator working into his non-native language.

Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC of #OneofThoseDays.

The illustrations in this book is absolutely amazing and I'm so captivated with every page in this entire book. The story was really great too, it might seem like an ordinary and mundane plot until you get the hidden message. I read it in one sitting and it was fun and recommended.

An ugly look at the "ooh, wasn't growing up in the 1980s shit?!" genre, full of you-had-to-have-been-there moments. Well, I wasn't, as this is very much embodying its Spanish origin, and this was pretty irrelevant to me. Also, still ugly.

This one took me by surprise.
You think it's about one big thing when it's really about another.
This really reminded me of childhood. It felt so realistic to how a group of kids spend a day, going on a big important adventure. It's just one day in their life but you really get an idea of who these kids are and what their lives are like.
It's about the loss of innocence in a couple different ways. It's a great example of the real world chipping in to a child's imagined world.
Really good.

This a very odd book that’s for sure. It’s mainly about these 3 teenagers that think the world is going to end and begin making preparations. But the story takes you in so many different directions that I just wasn’t sure what the theme of this book was. It does have some profanity and nudity.

'One of Those Days' by Andrés G. Leiva is a graphic novel translated from Spanish about a boy who hears that the world is going to end at midnight. It is set in 1982 in Cordoba, Spain. It follows him (also named Leiva, who could be the author) and his two friends as they prepare for the end.

While I liked the premise of this graphic novel, I felt a little indifferent while I was reading it. There were some things I really liked about this book, like the art style (which I will cover later on) and the metaphor that this book is trying to convey (which I will also cover later on), there were some things that I took issue with. First of all, one of Leiva's friends, Fali, is overweight, and this book does not let up about it. Fali's friends make fun of him (that's how we're introduced to him), and he spends most of his time in this book talking about or eating food. I wish he were more fleshed out.

Most characters in this book need more fleshing out, which I think could have been done with more pages and more time spent with the characters. I would have definitely read a longer book if that's what it took for the characters to feel real. Even the main character, who I assume is based on the author, is one-dimensional.

However, there were some things I did like about this book. For example, the rough art style matched the tone of the book well, and the colors popped off the page, keeping my interest. I also liked that there were callbacks to the beginning of the book throughout. In the beginning, the main character is now older and has a son, to whom he gives a box full of his old stuff. We see a book, a few posters, etc. Throughout the book, the reader can see these things around, whether in the background or part of the plot.

I also really liked the theme the author was trying to convey, that being people being unphased by oncoming disaster and danger. While it was a bit obvious at times, I think it was well done.

Overall, I thought this book was decent. This was something I would have expected more from a debut, but it was still worth reading, although I don't know if I would recommend it. There were some undeniable issues with the book, but it was entertaining enough to keep my interest, so do with that what you will. I give this a 5.5/10, rounded to a 6 for Goodreads.


TW: Cursing, the f-slur, nudity, fat-shaming

I have to be honest, I am so tired of books like this. The political commentary in this graphic novel is fine, as is its commentary on drug use and trauma, I suppose, but it's yet another very old-fashioned, sexist coming-of-age quotidian tale of a nerdy cishet boy and his even more sexist, horny young friends. The characters are unlikeable by design, which is usually not my thing, but the story itself isn't very engaging at all, either.