Rinse, Spin, Repeat

by Edie Fassnidge

On Boxing Day in 2004, Edie Fassnidge set off for a day of kayaking off the coast of Thailand with her boyfriend, mother and sister. That's when disaster struck.

She felt a shift in the air; she spotted something on the horizon; and seconds later, the first wave came crashing down upon them. Separated from her family and covered in open wounds, Edie battled for hours to get to colliding with rocks; tumbling underwater as if in a giant washing machine; grappling with overgrown branches and venomous ants... all the while hanging on to the hope that she wasn't the only one to survive.

Rinse, Spin, Repeat is a graphic memoir depicting Edie's experience of surviving the Indian Ocean tsunami that claimed over 200,000 lives and changed hers forever. Using simple illustrations and concise text, she unfolds her feelings in the hours and days of pain and uncertainty that followed. She also reflects on her struggle to find peace in the aftermath of the tsunami, which ultimately empowered her to become the person she is today.

It is a simultaneously devastating and inspiring story that will capture the heart of anyone who has wondered how it is possible to keep going after life has crumbled to pieces.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Memoir, Nonfiction, Comics, Graphic Novels Comics

240 pages, Hardcover

First published April 21, 2016

Reviews

[Greta G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to my GR friend Stewart Tame’s review, this crowdfunded graphic novel came to my attention, two years ago.
I hesitated a long time before buying this book because the simplistic illustrations were kind of off-putting... as if I drew them myself!
Fortunately, this book turned out to be a gripping story of survival and loss.

The British author, Edith (Edie) Fassnidge, her boyfriend Matt, her mother and her sister Alice were celebrating the Christmas holidays in Krabi, Thailand. On December 26, 2004, they were kayaking when the tsunami hit. Not all of them survived. What Edith went through to survive the wave was harrowing, and her loss, devastating.

This is an incredibly powerful, personal story that stayed with me for a long time after I’ve read it. And Edith’s simple drawings proved to be an effective way to tell her story.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edith Fassnidge was having a wonderful vacation in Thailand. She and her boyfriend had been traveling around Southeast Asia for weeks. Her mother and sister flew down from London to join them for Christmas and New Year's. All four of them were kayaking off the coast on December 26th. Of 2004. When the Indian Ocean tsunami hit.

The art is simplistic, but don't let that throw you. The writing is strong, and packs quite a punch. If anything, the artwork conveys the impression of an urgent need to tell the story, right now! Fassnidge sustained terrible injuries that day, and not everyone in the kayaking party made it. This is an incredible tale of survival and loss, well worth reading. Highly recommended!

[lucy black · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a hard one to review. Of course the story is interesting and compelling because the subject matter is. I thought the writing was dull though and the art was severely lacking.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harrowing account of the author's experience during the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004.
Told in a simple stick figure style, it nevertheless clearly demonstrates the heart-breaking effect that the disaster had on individual people like Ms. Fassnidge.

[Del · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the perfect example of the power of comics and the perfect example of how well comics are suited to autobiography. There is something so honest and open about the childlike drawings and straightforward text. We are shown the events in a calm, objective way - it is almost 'anti-dramatic' (if that's a term) - and yet we feel for her and Matt so acutely that it is almost unbearable.
I've been reading comics all my life - I've read all the masterpieces by the great artists and writers - but few have touched me quite like this one.

[Rachelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a very hot day today, and I was home looking after my son during a school holiday week. I proposed that we read together in bed after lunch to rest and cool off. He whispered words as he formed them slowly in his picture book. I read this book, silently, but occasionally sobbing. "Why do you read that book if it makes you cry?" he wanted to know. "The person who wrote it touched me, and I like being able to feel all the things that she felt," I said. There's my review.

[Cady]

Giving this a star rating feels incredibly wrong so I won’t. This is a memoir, this is how she chooses to tell her story and likely a big part of her healing journey so who am I to assign an arbitrary rating. The story itself is heartbreaking, there’s no denying that, but it left me feeling like there’s so much left unsaid. I would’ve loved for the story to continue on including her healing and trauma response but we basically skip over what was likely the worst 10 years of her life. I can’t begin to fathom what any of that must feel like and that’s largely why I picked this up, so there’s just not enough here for it to be a satisfying or fulfilling read. The writing itself is pretty lackluster and the art is, for lack of a better word, bad. This feels very much like a therapist-assigned project that she decided to publish and that does not make it inherently bad but it also doesn’t make it good.

[Part Machine · Rating 2 out of 5]

The events that this book is about are really quite incredible and compelling, it's such a shame that the artwork is truly awful. There are many instances throughout the book where I couldn't even decipher what was supposed to be happening. I realise illustrations done by the author are more personal but if the author was intent on creating the whole book themselves, I can't help but feel it would've worked better if it wasn't a graphic novel.

[Firat Fidan · Rating 4 out of 5]

2004 yılında tatile gittiği Thailand’da 200 bin kişinin etkilendiği Tsunami trajedisine ailece yakalanan Edie Fassnidge’in hikayesini farklı bir açıdan okumak isterseniz kaçırmayın derim. Aile fertlerini kaybettiği ve kendisinin de yaralanıp çıktığı bu elzem olayda hayata bakış açısını yansıtan yazarın gerçek hikayesi okunmaya değer.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

An unimaginable story ... how do you grade a book like this .. it's powerful and painful and written carefully and beautifully .. and suits the graphic form really well. Three stars or four stars .. five stars for writing it and surviving and keeping going

[Daniela Dominguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

a quick read. while the drawings can seem “simple” i think they convey Fassnidge’s complex feelings very well. she is telling her story of what happened to her and the emotional journey it took her on. i felt very emotional with every page and loved seeing the photos at the end.

[Bren Wong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple but intriguing story. great adult read of a current event.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great short read. The simple, childlike illustrations made the events all the more heartwretching.

[Debbie Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tense book clearly describing the reality and horror of the Boxing Day Tsunami. My mind of book.

[Lorra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Simply drawn and emotionally intense.

[Helen Devereux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this book.
A powerful depiction of unimaginable events. Edith's strength and humanity shines through.

[Marieke Navin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible insight into how it feels to survive a tsunami. Unputdownable.

[Madeline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cried for almost the whole book

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Around and around and around.

Ten years on and it's still there.. but there's no point trying to get rid of it, it's part of who I am now.

[Susie May · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant. I read this in one sitting two nights ago, and then did the same last night. I keep going back to it, leafing through it in reverent and often tearful awe.

The story itself is powerful enough but it is conveyed with such candour – Edie tells it absolutely straight with no embellishment. Her illustrations are simple and direct and the story is set out with measured chronological precision. Wordless pages are given over to the awful event itself, described in the title, in which she was thrown and tossed about under the multiple waves of the Boxing Day tsunami. The book is an annotated, schematic diagram of a personal trauma and tragedy, and this unflinchingly full disclosure makes it utterly compelling.

Ten percent of the profits will go to the charity Music for Alice, which Edie set up in memory of her beloved sister, helping to improve young people's lives through music.

[Kirsty Cabot · Rating 5 out of 5]

A vivid account of one person's experience of the 2004 Tsunami.

This book moved me to tears, the simplicity of the illustration and the words has an astoundingly profound effect.

[Jason RB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple, with some impact ....... punch to the gut ..... hard to be unaffected by this book

[Kwaku Osei-Afrifa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking.

[Líadan Holohan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivated by this book. A page turner. Thanks for sharing your story :)

[Keen Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all I'd like to say that the idea around how this was funded and published was a great and refreshing idea, so kudos to all of those involved!

Fassnidge takes an incredibly difficult and traumatic subject and manages to confront her demons and digs deep to recall and share with us her experience of the devastating Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004. OK the drawing may not be of the highest standard but this doesn't dilute or detract from what is a really well written account and a moving piece of work.

[Malvika]

What made me pick this book was its subject matter - the tale of a girl vacationing in Thailand when the 2004 tsunami struck. It's a memoir of loss, survival, agony, and trauma. I couldn't connect emotionally to most bits, probably because of the art style or because Edie herself could not deal with the emotions for a long time after the incident and they don't reflect on the page. If I had to recommend this to someone, I would recommend it only to read a personal account of a tsunami survivor.