This is a wonderful little book that contains so much. It is essentially a collection of thoughts and reflections experienced by the author to do with mental health, neurodivergence, trauma, self-love, and more similar topics. It helped me gain a deeper understanding of what my neurodivergent friends might be experiencing in their day-to-day, and I can imagine that it will make a lot of people feel less alone when they read it. The illustrations are so cute and I love the colour scheme. If you're looking for an honest, reflective, and hopeful read - this is it!

Lavender Clouds is a collection of comics about the author's life. The comics touch on mental health, neurodivergence, burnout, asking others for help, and so much more!

I've read similar comics before and they can be on the cliché side (not that that matters if it makes it into the right hands at the right moment!), but I did not feel that way about this book. This collection is very relatable and I was impressed with the artist's ability to depict such deep thoughts, feelings and emotions in one-page comics. Self-care and prioritizing mental health is something we hear about a lot more these days, which is great, but it has also become a monetized trend, on social media especially. Lavender Clouds does not feel that way to me. This collection is real and honest and shows the realities of complicated feelings and how overwhelming life can be. At the same time it promotes taking care of yourself, treating yourself with kindness, and realizing that we all have our own paths and that there is no reason to rush through life or compare ourselves to others. The art is also stunning! This book would be a great gift for anyone having a hard time. It would be especially great for young people who are struggling with similar issues.

This is a fabulous graphic novel for anyone who knows a neurodivergent person (so, that’s ALL of you!). If you are a neurodivergent person, I think you will feel very seen by this beautiful book.

3,5 stars.
This was a very interesting graphic novel, the way it was written, it took me a bit to get into it. Every page was something new and it was a bit different than what I am used to.
But some of the pages made me feel seen and I could relate to some of it.

There were so many parts of this book that explained how I have felt in ways that I haven't been able to express! I think it was a great way to feel less alone and see that other people have the same thought process. I kept thinking "Exactly!!"

Some parts felt a bit repetitive and like she had already covered that feeling, but overall it was a good read. I am going to purchase it for the teen area of my library and I already know that it will be checked out a lot! It is an approachable way to feel understood and I really liked the artwork.

*I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.*

Likes:

Relatable. Copying behaviours to fit in, not knowing your true personality, always standing out, etc. I think even people who aren't neurodivergent will understand it and at least sympathise with the character.

Metaphors and drawings resembling them. Great way to understand things differently and perhaps even easier. Like a burn out where fire comes in your body.

Drawings. They are really cute and I think the crying eyes are top-notch!

Dislikes:

Never heard someone say 'lmao' out loud and I don't think that makes sense. Also words like tbh and stuff. I know it's slang in writing but in this graphic novel the character is 'speaking' and therefore it's a bit odd if they would speak those words out.

Many things are repetitive. Making the comic longer than needed and slowing the pace down. Like for example it was multiple times mentioned how stressful appointments and text messages are.

The main focus is on something that repeats itself too often. Making the other topics perish and forgotten by the readers. It's a shame.

Only informative, but not helpful. We get to know what neurodivergent is, but we don't get tips how to treat such people without triggering them and how to treat oneself with neurodivergent traits who perhaps have burnouts and such.

End note/Final thoughts:

Thank you for the advanced reader copy of Lavender Clouds by Bex Ollerton.

I think the comic was really cool and interesting, there are a few lacks here and there, but I would say it was still worth reading. It's nice to know how neurodivergent people are and what happens inside their head when you aren't one. Would definitely recommended it!



Started the book: 20. April 2024
Finished the book: 20. April 2024
Wrote the review: 20. April 2024

Oof, <i>Lavender Clouds</i> actually made me feel pretty depressed. It was relatable at times, though I don’t struggle with all of the same mental health pieces. I just didn’t feel the sense of hope that I was looking for with this one, unfortunately.

I think that there’s a lot of people out there this book could probably help, though, so I want to stress that my feelings on the matter are exceedingly personal. I imagine this is likely true for the author as well. So, while this book of relatable comics was definitely was not for me, I know there’s an audience out there who will deeply appreciate it.

Overall I liked this book, but as usual when it comes to online comics being turned into books, I found it somewhat repetitive after a while.
Still, the comics were often rather relatable and the art was nice, so I guess I’d recommend it anyways.