Engaging with Bastien Vivès' "A Sister" left me with a sense of detachment, rendering it a three-star experience. My assessment is based on the objective evaluation of its elements, devoid of personal emotional resonance.

The graphic novel unfolds as a coming-of-age narrative, following the journey of Antoine, a 13-year-old on vacation with his family, whose life takes a shift upon the arrival of Hélène, a 16-year-old girl. Vivès, touted as a master of suggestion, endeavors to navigate the delicate waters of adolescent desire in a minimalist and nuanced manner.

The novel's strengths lie in its subdued storytelling and thematic exploration. Vivès successfully captures the stumbling steps of adolescent awakening, presenting a narrative that aligns with the traditions of the genre. The minimalist approach to both storytelling and artwork contributes to the atmosphere of understated emotion, allowing readers to interpret and reflect on the characters' experiences.

However, the very qualities that commend "A Sister" to some readers might be the reason for my reserved response. The narrative, although attempting to encapsulate the intricacies of adolescent emotions, lacked the depth needed to forge a profound connection with the characters. The storyline meandered without a clear trajectory, and the character development felt somewhat restrained, leaving much unsaid and unexplored.

Vivès' minimalist art style, while suitable for the narrative's purpose, might not cater to those who prefer more detailed and elaborate illustrations. The simplicity of the visuals, though intentional, may leave some readers wanting more visual engagement.

This graphic novel presents a narrative jewel for those attuned to the subtleties of adolescent emotions and minimalistic storytelling. However, for readers seeking a more emotionally resonant and immersive experience, the reserved nature of the narrative and characters might result in a less satisfying encounter.

This graphic novel was hilarious and well-drawn, definitely worth the money and the hype, and I hope will be successful!

“A Sister” with story and art by Bastien Vives is a graphic novel story about a young boy coming of age.

Antoine is 13 and on holiday with his family. On the trip, he learns that his parents had a miscarriage before he was born, and he missed out on having an older sister. When a friend of the family and her daughter, named Helene, show up, Antoine gets a taste of what it might be like to have an older sister. Antoine is attracted to Helene and she seems OK with that. Can Antoine survive his first crush and the feelings Helene awakens in him?

It’s a story about adolescent desire, and Summer love. I like the art style, but the subject matter may not be for everybody so please be cautious.

This is another graphic novel that just wasn't for me. I liked the art style and the dialogue was very realistic. I just wasn't a fan of some of the more explicit scenes between a 13 year-old and a 16 year-old.

A beautiful story about adolescence and self-reflection. I loved the artistic style this author used. The entire book helped me reminisce about my own childhood and that was an interesting experience.

Graphic Novels sind mittlerweile ein fester Bestandteil meines Bücherregals geworden und somit freue ich mich immer wieder darauf, neue und interessante Geschichten zu entdecken. Dabei fiel meine Wahl unter anderem auf „A Sister“ von Bastien Vivés. Hier habe ich mir eine interessante und möglicherweise humorvolle Coming of Age-Story erhofft und wurde doch insgesamt sehr enttäuscht.

Die Geschichte an sich ist zwar ganz nett gezeichnet, allerdings war mir das Thema doch eine Spur too much, denn hier werden ganz ausführlich die sexuellen Gedanken des 13-jährigen Antoines beschrieben, der sich immer mehr für das andere Geschlecht interessiert. Dabei liegt sein Hauptaugenmerk auf die 16-jährige Hélene, über die er ganz besondere Fantasien hat.

Dass die sexuellen Fantasien von Antoine hier zum Großteil die Geschichte einnehmen, ist sehr schade, denn eigentlich sollten hier die Themen Trauer und Verlust im Vordergrund stehen, denn Hélene und besonders ihre Mutter müssen aktuell stark sein, da ihre Mutter eine Fehlgeburt erlitten hat.
Für Hélene, die ein Einzelkind ist, ist dies besonders hat, da sie sich schon immer ein Geschwisterchen gewünscht hat.

Dass Bastian Vivés hier nicht mehr in die Tiefe ging, sondern sich vermehrt mit Antoines Fantasien auseinandergesetzt hat, ist sehr schade, denn hier wäre so viel mehr drin gewesen. Stattdessen blieb vieles hier leider oberflächlich und man lernte sowohl Antoine als auch Hélene nicht so gut kennen, wie ich es im Vorfeld erwartet habe.

Somit ist mir die Geschichte tatsächlich etwas zu viel des Guten: Zu viele Fantasien, zu viele Oberflächlichkeiten und zu viele belanglose Momente, die ein eigentlich interessantes Themen, nämlich die Fehlgeburt von Hélenes Mutter, in den Hintergrund stellen.

I was never able to access the pdf of this and way unable to read it. It was archived soon after and now that I have a way to read it, I no longer have the file. A shame.

So, I went into this thinking I was going to get a sweet coming of age story about a 13 year old boy falling for a 16 year old girl, with maybe some awakening sexual feelings happening, because, you know, adolescent boy. I did get this; the boy, Antoine, goes with his parents and younger brother Titi to the family's summer cottage at the beach, as they do every summer. One morning, he wakes up and there's a person in the spare bed in the room, Helene, the daughter of a family friend who has come to visit for a week. The two become fast friends, she flirts as young almost-women do, testing out their sexuality and attractiveness, and he develops a crush on her. She hangs out with Antoine, sometimes doing the tame, friendly things like working on a jigsaw puzzle or drawing, sometimes bringing him along to hang out with the teen boys she's met on the beach, including him in her rebelliousness of smoking and drinking. If the story stopped there, it would be a bittersweet story of the aches and pains of growing up and finding first love. However, it did not stop there. We also get graphic sexual acts, not the actual deed, but oral sex and mutual masturbation are shown, and it felt uncomfortable and icky to see it. It feels kinda pedo, a bit forced, and really didn't need to be there, the story would've lost nothing if these scenes weren't included. It also felt off in that I remember being a 16 year old girl, and there's just no way I would've been interested enough in a 13 year old boy to do sex stuff with him. I'm sure that some people would think I'm over-reacting, that it's normal for kids to experiment, and while I agree with that, I don't need or want to see it. So, what would've been a 4 star read for me became a 2 star read, but YMMV. I did like the art style, it's soft and dreamy, in sepia tones that evoke a feeling of memories.

#ASister #NetGalley

@Thanks NetGalley for giving me the access to read this interesting story about growing up and what it means to be a future man.
I loved very much the story.
Furthermore, I give 4 stars to this book.

As I loved Bastien Vivès's Polina, I was intrigued to read his newest graphic novel. In A Sister Vivès focusses on the development of the ambiguous relationship between the thirteen-year-old Antoine and the sixteen-year-old Hélène, the daughter of a friend of his mother staying with Antoine’s family in their holiday home during a summer holiday. At first tender strokes set the tone as both youngsters are drawn to each other when they unexpectedly find some common ground despite their obvious dissimilarities. Things change however when Hélène goes on a mission to initiate Antoine in drinking and sex. The pairing of childish innocence and pleasure in drawing and making jigsaws together with Antoine’s little brother, the growth of a sibling bond and the (graphically little subtle) sexual exploration might capture the ambiguity of the pubescent mind and sexuality pretty well, but Vivès’s approach left me quite disturbed. The narrative seems to dither, limping it was on two legs. Although there are moments of authenticity and tenderness, precocious demigoddess Hélène’s sexual interest in the still quite childish Antoine is not just puzzling and thought-provoking but rather improbable from the story – it comes across mostly as a purely boyish erotic fantasy, as wishful thinking. Antoine and Hélène do not seem to enter this as equals. The title renders it even more equivocal, tempting the reader to perceive their bond as an incestuous one between a big sister and her little brother. Just like in his graphic novel Le chemisier, having another buxom young woman as a protagonist, I was bemused by Vivès’s unmistakeable fondness of drawing disproportionately large genitals (as seems to have become part of his signature style).

In an interview on the graphic novel, asked about the verisimilitude of the story, Vivès asserts that he likes to provoke discomfort with the reader (as nothing is worse than books that leave one indifferent); neither can he be bothered about the possible deficiency of realism in the story, as it is exactly the element of fantasy that enthrals him in a story. I can only conclude that Vivès’s peculiar realm of pedo-incestuous fantasy isn’t one which appeals much to me; as quite a few readers consider this graphic novel a gem, I guess this reader simply does not belong to its target audience.

This book is not my thing. The writing style is okay, but the story is creepy with sexual scenes which are bad.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this ebook.

A Sister by Bastien Vives explores the sexual awakening of a young boy while on his summer vacation. What really unsettled me was how the girl seduces the boy. And also, why is it called 'A sister'?

Well, it might be no surprise to anyone who's read pretty much any reviews of A Sister that this graphic novel is not good. No, it's not because it portrays the sexual awakening of a 13-year-old boy, nor is it because of the predatory way in which the older girl is grooming him. Hell, it's not even the sex between them. Rather, it's the incredibly uninteresting characters who seem to exist only so as the author can enact some of his sexual fantasies. Even the nice drawing cannot redeem it.

Reading this graphic novel made me feel very American, reading something that is both a work of art but also feels wrongly pornographic. I remember what it was like to be 13 with the overwhelming feelings and hormones and confusion about adult concerns but simultaneously not wanting to be or (worse) be seen as a child. But it felt icky to see that played out in the relationship between a 16 year old girl and a 13 year old boy in occasionally graphic ways. Maybe this being a graphic novel rather than a novel made it difficult to intellectualize and not let the sex overshadow the art? Maybe I'm more middle American than I like to think? Maybe it's because I'm a parent now and not ready to think of my kids going through that stage? Maybe this was just too much?.

There is a sweet coming of age story at the core here, the art is both expressionistic and dreamy yet detailed, the plotting is tight, and the characters (especially the supporting characters) ae shown in a way to make them three dimensional (the little brother is a joy). In many ways this is a great graphic novel. But that is somehow overshadowed (especially in the second half) by ickyiness from the sexual scenes.

This is a coming of age story, but it's not tender. At first, I didn't like the art style, but thought the story might grow on me. But I was never comfortable with how young Antoine was. This felt manipulative and wrong.

It's a story of a french family who spend their summers in their beach house, the sons: Antoine (13 years old) who loves drawing and Titi who loves Pokemon, and one summer they're joined by a relative and her daughter Helene (16 years old) who changes Antoine's life. She in some way causes his sexual awakening, but him being so young, and the innuendos to her being like "a sister", made this reading experience feel so wrong on so many levels.

I can see that the author manages to draw emotional slice-of-life stories, but this just wasn't for me.

*trigger warning: Explicit drawings of sexual scenes between a 13-year-old and a 16-year-old

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Antoine is a 13-year-old boy on vacation at the seaside with his family for the summer. His mother's friend and her 16-year-old daughter, Hélène come to stay with them for a bit. Things change for Antoine as he gets to know Hélène.

If nothing else, this story highlights how large the age difference is between a 13-year-old and a 16-year-old. Antoine was still a boy at the beginning of this graphic novel, but Hélène drags him along into the debaucheries of being a teenager. There was definitely nothing sisterly about Hélène for Antoine, so the title is rather a misnomer. I really wish I had read others' reviews about this book before requesting it.

This book is not what I expected.
I'm sorry I don't like this story. I probably just couldn't cope with French style graphic novel.

Originally Published on The Best Freking Book Blog

CW: Miscarriages, sexual content

A Sister by Bastien Vivès is a graphic novel that was originally published in France. The story centers around Antonio and Hélene, two young adults who are going through a period of self-discovery, both for completely different reasons.

At the start of the novel, Antonio’s parents are talking about a friend who has lost their baby. The parents decide to invite them to their summer home on the coast. Antonio is expecting a boring summer with his brother, Titi. He expects to spend his days playing video games, drawing on the beach, and discussing Pokémon with his brother. One morning, he wakes up to discover a young woman in the spare bed of his room.

This is Hélene, the daughter of the woman who lost her baby. She’s an only child who desperately wanted a brother or sister, someone who will help her stave off the loneliness she is feeling.

Hélene and Antonio begin a friendship that quickly escalates into a sexual awakening for both of them.

SO, A COUPLE THINGS. There are a few depictions of sexual acts in this book. Be aware of that if you are planning on picking this up. This is also a book in translation, so the language is a little… off? I guess? I’ve noticed this a lot in translated works. It’s not a bad thing, it didn’t affect my review at all, just something I wanted to point out.

As for the book itself, it’s a beautifully drawn novel. It’s simplistic, sparse. This also takes away some the awkward feelings of the sexual acts (remember, they are 13 and 16, so, ya know, children). Having it be simple and basically implied makes it feel not outright pornographic. Still, not a huge fan of that aspect. I really can’t say enough about the artwork. It’s truly beautiful.

Overall, I enjoyed it. The story is well done, the art is beautiful, and I’m a sucker for Pokémon references of any kind. I’ll give this a 4/5, 7/10.

Make sure to pick this up on March 9th, 2021 from your favorite local indie bookstore.

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read this!

So this book was a bit hard to review… On one hand the artwork was really well done and I thought it helped convey the emotions of the story well, but the relationship between Antoine and Helene made me feel a bit uncomfortable. I get that this is the story of the sexual awakening of a young teen (also the French are supposedly more open about these things lol), but the relationship portrayed with him being 13 and Helene being 16 and her giving him alcohol and doing all those sexual things to him was a bit predatory(?) to me. If you remove those bits then the caring side of their relationship works a lot better especially in relation to the title “A Sister”. I initially thought this would be a cute story but it turned out to be a lot heavier but still interestingly done. It wasn’t my type of graphic novel story but I’m sure it would be interesting to study in an English class.

This coming-of-age graphic novel had its kind and sweet parts, but it made me mostly uncomfortable. It had a few scenes of sexual takes with the main lead who was 13 and the second lead girl, who was 16. A Sister had a whimsical art style that was nice, but overall, it was a bit uncomfortable.