12 Days by June Kim

by June Kim

When Jackie's ex-lover Noah dies, she decides the best and quickest way to get over the love of her life is to hold a personal ritual with Noah's ashes. Jackie consumes the ashes in the form of smoothies for 12 days, hoping the pain will subside with her profound reaction to Noah's death. While she and her partner-in-crime Nick, Noah's brother, spend the time in the closed space her apartment, they slowly become consumed by Noah's tragedy.

Genres: Manga, Graphic Novels, Comics, LGBT, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Lesbian

Paperback

First published November 7, 2006

Reviews

[Sabrina Bay · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this graphic-manga book. I found it quite confusing. So confusing that at some point, I wondered if I was reading the book backwards. I didn't really like the drawings, the dialogues, and the character. I found the story weak and kind of pointless. I guess I didn't get something...

[Kricket · Rating 4 out of 5]

often teens come into my office at work and ask me about the books on my desk.

teenage girl: "what's that manga? i've never seen it."
me: "it's about a girl whose ex-girlfriend dies so she makes her ashes into smoothies and drinks them."
girl (eyes bug out): "AWESOME. Can I check it out when you're done?"
me: "You betcha."

seriously though, this was pretty good.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't really like manga much, and I have to say, initially I didn't like the book much either. I thought the dialog was a little weak, and I found the fact that all the speech ballons were in typeface very irritating. But after I finished 12 Days and put it away, my mind kept going back to certain parts, so I reread it.

The art and design is really stunning, and the structure's complexity is a perfect evocation of the workings of memory. June Kim can, with just a few lines, create a strikingly evocative facial expression -- distrust, desire, frustration, pain, hesitation. Just look at the way Jackie's face changes as she regards Noah's fiance upon meeting him.

Some of the dialog is a little weak, and parts of the story are hard to follow and would have benefited from some tighter editing. There are also a few manga stylistic conventions, like a drastic shift in drawing style to connote a change in mood, that I found distracting. But overall I liked this book a lot. It's worth reading for the art and design alone.

[Leila Anani · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Korean one-shot is a real oddity unlike any other manga I've so far come across and seems a very bold choice for Tokyopop - Although it is 2006 towards the end of Tokyopop's UK output.

So we have Jackie devastated by the death of her ex-girlfriend and love of her life, Noah - who died in a car crash travelling to her honeymoon with her new husband. Noah's brother turns up with his sister's ashes and for 12 days Jackie makes smoothies with them and holds her own grief ceremony - consuming her lover and for each of the days we get a series of flashbacks into their life together.

I'm not a huge fan of the artwork on this and it is exceptionally confusing, having sparse dialogue and a non-linear time line. However, the premise is fascinating and the emotions it manages to capture are very real and very raw. Rather interesting and definitely stands out from most of the other manga out there.

[Crimson Splash · Rating 3 out of 5]

"12 Days" was a tragically romantic read that despite having some glaring missteps, it still manages to create a feeling of melancholy.

The book is about a young woman named Jackie who after learning about the tragic death of her ex-lover, she decides that the only way to pay respects to her is by consuming her ashes in a daily ritual. It's a light read and has some pretty compelling characters. The comic jumps through time a bit as we go through a series of flashbacks learning how these two lovers found themselves in such a complex relationship before the tragic events, however these time-jumps are sudden and can often leave the reader unintentionally confused. The story is told with such honesty its clear that June Kim has a large amount of respect for these characters.

However, this comic is by no means perfect. This book was produced by Tokyopop; a manga publishing company that was pretty big during the anime boom in the early 2000's despite having some shady business practices. Long story short, they tried making American-made manga in both style and format (I found this book within the manga section of my local bookstore despite being written for an American audience). I mention this because a lot of the trends that plagued manga imitators in the west can be found in this book.
For example, characters being drawn in Chibi-style for comedic relief. It sadly clashes with the very realistically drawn style of the comic and ruins the immersion into the story.
There are also other issues as well, the paneling of the comic fluctuates sometimes (from being beautifully constructed to unintentionally reading the wrong speech bubble due to poor placement).
Also, I can't help but feel some of the supporting characters aren't as fully developed as the story believes they are, but personally that's rather debatable.

All-in-all, this is a comic I highly recommend. Despite a few narrative hiccups, "12 Days" is still a wonderfully told story about love, loss, and cremation.

[Robotribble · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book during one of those awful Breaking Dawn parties they had at Books A Million [I only went because my mom promised me I got to drive there and back.:], and I was hiding in the manga section, desperately looking for something interesting. Well, luckily enough, I picked it up, and was intrigued, after reading the back of the book.
It's pretty much fantastic. The art was different; not quite graphic, not quite manga. There wasn't a whole lot of dialogue, but the story was beautiful. And it really was interesting. A little hard to follow, and some parts I just plain didn't understand, but I'm willing to say that that's because I barely put any time at all into reading it, as I was speeding through when they told us we had to leave.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jackie's girlfriend, Noah, dumped her to marry a guy, then died on her honeymoon trip. Caught in a morass of grief, Jackie decides to complete a macabre ritual to help her move on: mix Noah's cremains into smoothies which she will drink over the course of twelve days.

Needlessly hard to follow, the story gets too lost in its wallow to do much of anything with its concept or characters.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

.::I'm Not Mad At It::.

The panels are jumpy, the characters look close to the same, the story is hard to follow and it's difficult to feel the weight of the situations because we aren't exposed to each person long enough to care what happens to them. This feels like a side project that was published without editing. I see what the author was trying to do, but I wish it was fleshed out.

[Jessie MacQuarrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

underrated!! shoutout lena for lending me this

[Litwithlove · Rating 4 out of 5]

I struggled through 75% of this book to make sense of who was who and what was happening but that was such a great way of telling this story. Fragments of interconnected lives telling a much larger story. We had to develop our understanding and feelings for the characters based solely off of a couple of events grabbed from their lives. There is no real beginning middle end plot, but I didn't need for there to be. Two people are forever linked to a tragedy involving the loss of someone that they mutually loved. This is purely a book that cultivates feelings in a very iykyk kind of way , if you've felt the immense loss of someone to death, especially a sudden one. The pain of relating to anyone but finding eventual solace in them. Our relationships are so fundamental to our growth, our healing, our ability to just feel even a little bit okay again. I love that the two of them are grieving together in a way that makes sense to them. I don't think that this is a book that is supposed to achieve anything other than maybe making you slow down and think. I think that this is more of a "make you feel, not think." Put on someone else's shoes while experiencing something so universal but so deeply personal, the grieving process. The series of what is and what ifs, and could have been. If only I....if only she had. But there is only this and going forward. Eventually this will be all of us.
( why not a five star? I had a suspicion that the dialogue was a lot less clunky and hard to follow in its original language printing. Which is totally fine, we all know how sideways translations can go. Nope! I was wrong, it was originally printed in English and my God I am just going to copy paste a sentence from the books wikipedia "Critics praised the manga for its mature portrayal of grief and relationships, and its realistic artwork, although the choice of print for the dialogue was considered distracting. " The text style, font, and weird use of California(US) locations were enough to fully withdraw that fifth star. I think that this would be better if the writing and dialogue was stronger. )

[Brook · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story about a woman who drinks the ashes of her ex-girlfriend to process her death.

[Selina · Rating 3 out of 5]

"When Jackie's ex-lover Noah dies, she decides the best and quickest way to get over the love of her life is to hold a personal ritual with Noah's ashes. Jackie consumes the ashes in the form of smoothies for 12 days, hoping the pain will subside with her profound reaction to Noah's death. While she and her partner-in-crime Nick, Noah's brother, spend the time in the closed space her apartment, they slowly become consumed by Noah's tragedy."

TLTR: Obsessed with the concept! Execution was a bit lacklustre at times but overall a solid read.

Likes:
- LOVE the concept. Cannibalism being used as a metaphor to represent an all-consuming love/a desire for complete union and inseparability with another person.
- The story touched base on a lot of interesting themes: Love, loss, culture, identity, and the challenges and pressures of living under a heteronormative society.

Dislikes:
- Story was hard to follow at times. Switches back and forth from past to present (which is fine!) but it was executed in a way that was quite confusing at times
- I think because of this, some scenes fell flat in terms of emotional impact & importance (had to go back and reread certain parts to fully understand the "weight" of the scene)

[Elsie]

I have no star rating for this one. Saw it at the library and remembered that this was the book that freaked me out about the concept of consuming ashes when I was like 11 and it was a free read on Tokyopop dot come (as a young lesbian I was interested in the rare gay content) and it has haunted me ever since. A bit of a confusing story if interesting? Did not become clearer to me reading it as an adult but I’m way past being freaked out now.

[Ashley Grundy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast read of a graphic novel where a brother and ex-girlfriend grieve a loved ones death by drinking her ashes in order for her to become part of them. Some weak dialogue but interesting story regardless. I loved the artistry.

[Aimee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book pissed me off. I read the whole thing backwards. The manga made no sense. Until I got to the end of the stupid shit and realized oh I read it this way. Would have been nice to know. So mad I didn’t read it the right way.

[Gail · Rating 1 out of 5]

whaaaat?
nope! not for me.

[Stacey Churchill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slightly confusing to begin with but once you figure out who is who its okay.

Not much of a story line. Woman drinks the ashes of her ex lover for 12 days. The end.

[LittlePiscesReading · Rating 5 out of 5]

It sounds like a lot, just going by the synopsis. It's a quiet book. Memory and grief all mixing up. I thought it was beautiful.

[Sophie Carbone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was sweet and a really interesting concept, just wish they went a bit deeper. Everything still felt so surface level and I didn’t feel too attached to the characters…

[Sarah Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had wanted to like this more than I did, as the premise is so intriguing, but ultimately it just didn't fully land with me. However, it's still a soft recommend from me!

[cloud · Rating 1 out of 5]

found it very confusing, didnt really know what was happening. read it at the town library

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the things I struggle with when reading any graphic novel, especially black-and-white graphic novels, is telling the characters apart. Often faces aren't consistently drawn, so if the characters don't wear distinguishing clothing, the only way I can identify them is by hair color or hairstyle.

Manga has this annoying convention where sometimes a character with dark hair or light hair will be drawn with the opposite color hair to show...drama? Actually I don't know why it happens, but it confuses me terribly. Nick is shown with black, light, and grayscale hair all within the first 3 pages.

Add to this the mix of male-ish names Jackie (Jack), Nick, and Noah (traditionally only male but used for a female character here), and I was even more confused.

There are some other points that were too vague for me, and the part of me that loves certainty wants to know what was happening. What was Nick putting into the urn to replace Noah's ashes? Why did Noah's father ask her to stop seeing Jackie years before they met? Why exactly did Noah marry James when it seemed she loved Jackie? Were there two rings or just one? Why did Nick walk off with the ring? Basically I have a lot of lingering unanswered questions.

While I acknowledge the dramatic poignancy of this moment captured in time (coping with grief after a relationship and life cut short), I also like for stories to have a point, and I didn't feel this one had a point, other than to exist and say, "Loss comes in all forms, and so does grief...you have to stop and grieve."

And that's the message at best; it didn't really feel like Jackie coped with anything thoroughly at all.

[§ïå ☾ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a strange story about a woman dying and her brother and ex-lover forming an unlikely friendship for 12 days while trying to grieve her loss.

Finding out that Jackie, Noah's ex-lover, would be grieving her loss by drinking her ashes was...surprising and off-putting to say the least. This seemed like something straight out of the TLC network. And just like my feelings on everything else on the TLC network, I’m both disturbed and intrigued…

The story can be a bit confusing sometimes because it jumps from past to present, and you only get small snippets of scenes here and there. The scenes from the past are especially confusing, as you never get the full picture and can only make assumptions as to what went on. Ultimately, though, we can conclude that Noah had to marry a man due to her father's wishes, but that she never actually stopped loving Jackie. Jackie's main goal of consuming Noah's ashes was to forget her altogether, which didn't work because she still obviously loves Noah.

This comic also subtly highlights some of the struggles in lesbian relationships, like being ashamed to do something as simple as holding hands in public, and also conversations around wanting to have children.

Overall, this gets a 3.5/5 from me.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I fell in love with the premise of 12 Days before I even read it, and the book fully lived up to my expectations.

First of all, the art is amazing, with a beautiful realistic style, and vivid characters that feel real and intimate.

Kim uses super-deformed exaggerations only sparingly, and while I feel like it distracts from the mood of the piece, it doesn't mar the artistic beauty of the manga.

The story is striking and memorable - a sudden death of an ex-lover, and Jackie decides to mourn by drinking her ashes, along with discussing the past with the brother of that person.

I loved the interaction between Nick and Jackie, finding them both very likable and with a lot of "friendly" chemistry.

My only criticism is that the book ends a bit abruptly, and seems a little rushed toward the end. I wanted to see more of Jackie's healing process, and felt that it was so open-ended that I wasn't sure if she was okay or not in the end. I also wanted Nick to evaluate more on him refusing to let Jackie "forget" Noah.

Overall, this will be a great collection to my list of mature mangas to love and cherish.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

12 days is heartbreaking manga about loss and life. After Jackie's lover Noah dies, she decides to spend twelve days confined to her home, consuming her ashes so she can forget her.

Although I was a little disappointed at first that the artwork on the inside of the manga was not as impressive as the jaw dropping cover, I really enjoyed the artist's realistic drawing style. One thing that impressed me the most was how much depth the little details added to the artwork. We have shots of buildings in New York City, a digital camera, wonderfully prepared food. All add personality and detail to the story (and they're pretty!).

The characters are really interesting, and you become attached to them quite instantly. The only real complaint I had was the multiple flash backs could have been inserted a little better. At times I found myself having to pause and look back to better understand what was going on.

[Stephanie Trevino · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those mangas that when I suggest it to others to read they look at me and say "the woman drank her lesbian lover's ASHES to mourn her loss?"

If they are my normal friends they would be ALL over the book, to my "closeted" friends (meaning. in their propensity of being ashamed of their liking strange of things, not in the usual "closeted" meaning homosexual) they would give the book and myself, a very strange look.

Once you look past the fact the woman's unique way of trying to be closer with her dearly departed partner, it is a sweet tale of acceptance and growth.

It helps that the illustration is simple but also well done. I enjoy the dashes of the color red on the cover.

[Miss Ginny Tea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh wow. I picked this up for its slightly creepy, slightly disturbed synopsis. Wow. This is a beautiful story of loss and mourning and love and breaking and the start of healing. Its quiet gentle pace works so well, and the art complements it beautifully. There are panels of maybe reaching out but maybe not. It's beautiful, quiet, low-key, mature, gentle, and heart-rending. I highly recommend it.

[Aa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just found this book randomly on sale at my local book store and thought I'd give it a try. It's very well drawn, a lot of detail, but I can't say the same for the story. The plot isn't laid out right in front of you, you have to think about it. I'm still not absolutely sure if I have it straight or not.

[Smitty]

BEAUTIFUL story about depression, loss, and human connection. one of my favorite graphic novels (is it manga? manhwa? American? i think graphic novel is truly the best descriptor. ) its a quick to medium length one-shot so if you can find it (predictably it dint sell well and went out of print fairly quick) def read it, its worth it.

[Russell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I may have read through this one too fast. Left me not quite following a bit too much and while it's interesting to look at it wasn't really gripping my attention.

Will update if/when I get around to a second, slower, read.