After her mother died, Glory retreated into herself and her music. Her single father raised her as a piano prodigy, with a rigid schedule and the goal of playing sold-out shows across the globe. Now, as a teenager, Glory has disappeared. As we flash back to the events leading up to her disappearance, we see a girl on the precipice of disaster. Brilliant and lonely, Glory is drawn to an artistic new boy, Frank, who moves in next door. The farther she falls, the deeper she spirals into madness. Before long, Glory is unable to play anything but the song "Chopsticks."
But nothing is what it seems, and Glory's reality is not reality at all. In this stunningly moving novel told in photographs, pictures, and words, it's up to the reader to decide what is real, what is imagined, and what has been madness all along...
When I picked Chopsticks from the library, I have to admit that I was somewhat surprised. Somehow my eyes just glossed over label "graphic novel" in the past, but I decided to give it a chance anyway.
Visually, it's a gorgeous novel, and I really liked the idea. The result, however, left something to be desired. The words were very sparse, and while I like the idea of letting the pictures speak for themselves, I think a little more text would have helped the story along.
That being said, I did enjoy the novel. I liked that there was room for the reader to interpret the story in different ways. I found myself going from being absorbed in what I thought was a love story to being thrown for a loop.
In the future, I would probably come back to this book again just to look at the lovely photography and see if the story speaks to me in a different way. Overall, I think it was a valiant effort and fresh idea, but it slightly missed the mark for me.
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