This is the first graphic novel I've ever read to completion besides The Arrival by Shaun Tan (which is wordless). I'm not into the superhero genre, but I suppose that's unfair as I've never given it a chance. I always wanted to explore this medium of reading, but never found a topic that interested me enough to take the plunge.
While the artwork style wasn't my favorite, I loved the premise. Katie is a young chef who runs a popular restaurant. Wanting a change of scenery and pace, she sets her sights on opening a new property. However, a series of pitfalls occurs (as is often in these cases), and her once happy new direction is starting to look pretty glum. When a mysterious girl appears on her dresser in the middle of the night and offers a quick fix by means of a drawer filled with magical mushrooms, Katie accepts the opportunity to change her luck for the better.
The rules she must follow:
1. Write down her mistake in a notebook
2. Ingest one mushroom
3. Go to sleep
4. Wake anew
Needless to say, the quickest fix is fraught with issues and the story follows Katie as she tries to navigate all the unintentional revisions she's made to her life.
Previous work experience in restaurants and having a brother-in-law who owns his own, I believe this story realistically explored food service issues, especially pertaining to owners and chefs. There is a level of frustration when forced to rely on a younger and younger workforce, high turnover, and dealing with mundane (but necessary) business details when you just want to be in the kitchen.
I loved the food images when reading the list of menu items. It made me feel like I could step into the pages and order a dish. I usually enjoy forming my own image of a place or character from description, but it was nice to see a visual layout of the restaurant. This helped with the flow of the story, especially to immerse you in the restaurant world.
The concept of life being rewritten every evening was really entertaining. As you can imagine, there were themes of pushing your luck and unintended consequences. Of course, changing the past is fundamentally flawed, even with initial good intentions. I flew through this in a couple hours, which was a bit of a bummer because I wanted more. One day I will take the time to analyze the art a little more carefully, since I'm sure most graphic novels benefit from a closer examination of the illustrations. I would recommend this to any reader 16+. There were a few steamy scenes (no nudity, and they are cartoonish characters, but you know what's going on!). Really happy my library had a copy!
Final Rating:
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