Aya: Love in Yop City

Aya #4-6

by Marguerite Abouet, Clément Oubrerie (Illustrator), Helge Dascher (Translator)

Aya: Love in Yop City comprises the final three chapters of the Aya story, episodes never before seen in English. Aya is a lighthearted account of life in the Ivory Coast during the 1970s, a particularly thriving and wealthy time in the country's history. While the stories found in Aya: Love in Yop City maintain their familiar tone, quick pace, and joyfulness, we see Aya and her friends beginning to make serious decisions about their future. When a professor tries to take advantage of Aya, her plans to become a doctor are seriously shaken, and she vows to take revenge on the lecherous man. With a little help from the tight-knit community of Yopougon, Aya comes through these trials stronger than ever.

This second volume of the complete Aya includes unique appendices, recipes, guides to understanding Ivorian slang, street sketches, and concluding remarks from Marguerite Abouet explaining history and social milieu. Inspired by Abouet's childhood, the series has received praise for offering relief from the disaster-struck focus of most stories set in Africa. Aya is the winner of the Best First Album award at the Angouleme International Comics Festival; was nominated for the YALSA's Great Graphic Novels list; and was included on "best of" lists from The Washington Post, Booklist, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Africa, Bande Dessinée, Ivory Coast, Graphic Novels Comics

351 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 12, 2013

About the author

Marguerite Abouet was born in 1971 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in Western Africa. She grew up during a time of great prosperity in the Ivory Coast. At the age of twelve, she and her old brother went to stay with a great-uncle in Paris, where they further pursued their education. Years later, after becoming a novelist for young adults, Abouet was drawn to telling the story of the world she remembered from her youth. The result was the graphic novel Aya de Yopougon, published in North America as Aya, illustrated by Clemént Oubrerie, that recalls Abouet's Ivory Coast childhood in the 1970s, and tells the humorous, engaging stories of her friends and family as they navigate a happy and prosperous time in that country's history.

Reviews

[Bookishrealm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Update! Full Review: http://www.bookishrealmreviews.com/20...

I know it took me a while to get through this; however, I really did enjoy it. I don't want to say too much for the simple fact that this is a bind up of 3 volumes and anything I have to say about the plot will most likely spoil the plot for the first three books. However, I will say a few things that I enjoyed about it overall.

-The development of the characters: I can honestly say that each one of the characters have changed from the beginning of the story. It is so interesting to see how much they have grown and how much they have learned from each of their situations.
-The author definitely wrapped up the story nicely. I loved it and definitely could appreciate where all the characters ended up.
-The plot was great. There were some crazy things that happened and to be honest I had no idea where it was going to lead our characters, but I really enjoyed going on this journey with them.

Overall, I really really am glad that I picked up this series. I can't believe that it's over : ( I want more from their world, but of course I must appreciate what was given to me lol. If you guys haven't picked up this series yet, I would definitely recommend picking up it soon! : )

I'll be doing a full written review & video review on this soon.

[Nnedi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous and fun, and a little mischievous and edgy. Everything I love in one graphic novel. Easily one of my favorite graphic novels of all time. I recommend it to everyone who loves a good story.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a YA graphic novel by Ivorian author Marguerite Abouet. It is set in Yopougan, Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire in the 1970s and continues the story of Aya and her friends, their loves, heartbreaks and challenges. It deals with issues along the way such as coming out to family, sexual abuse of young women at school or uni, and religious scams.

These are a great set of books with expressive art work, relatable characters and a great insight into Ivorian culture. It was refreshing to read a book about Africa that is joyful and celebrates the place and culture and isn’t about war and famine.

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains the final three graphic novels in the Aya series, which have apparently only appeared in English in omnibus form. This makes good sense, since each volume is short and incomplete in itself. This series is very consistent, with enjoyable characters and excellent, colorful illustrations. I’ve never agreed with the folks who see it as simply a lighthearted romp that shows a positive side of Africa – the storylines here include Aya and her classmates being sexually assaulted by a violent biology professor; Innocent living on the edge as an immigrant in Paris; and Felicite being kidnapped by her greedy father when news of her success as a model reaches her village – but it has a positive tone and shows characters emerging victorious from the problems life throws at them. I was initially skeptical about graphic novels for adults, but enjoyed this series and would be happy to read more books like this.

[Irena Pranjić · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strip ima samo jednu veliku manu a to je veličina fonta zbog koje bez danjeg svijetla slova nisam mogla razaznati čak ni sa svojim naočalama za čitanje. Font je zbilja lijep ali je i razlog zbog kojeg sam toliko rastegnula čitanje, strip nisam uopće mogla čitati navečer, uz noćnu lampu. No, unatoč toj prepreci strip ima hrpu prednosti. Crtež je odličan, čak i bolji nego u prvom dijelu trilogije. Kolorit je dobro ujednačen, govor tijela je izrazito lijep, character design vrhunski, kompozicije pojedinih kadrova su vrlo spretno posložene, ambijenti su uvjerljivi. Čini se da je strip rađen prema fotografijama ali je stilizacija odlično pokrila taj izvor i ne djeluje kao da gledamo u stripovsku "rotoskopiju". Što se tiče scenarija, u drugom dijelu trilogije i dalje pratimo zgode i nezgode nekoliko simpatičnih mladih ljudi od kojih je lijepa, pametna i odlučna studentica medicine Aya centralni lik. Autorica te priče "reže" u izrazito kratke epizode, pa se skok sa jedne na drugu priču dešava u prosjeku na svakoj ili svakoj drugoj stranici. To je zaista neobičan način naracije i potrebno je neko vrijeme da se čitatelj navikne na njega. Priče jako dobro portretiraju vrijeme i mjesto radnje, odnosno specifičan način na koji se grade prijateljski, ljubavni i obiteljski odnosi u Obali Bjelokosti, način na koji se ta zemlja nosi sa svojom tradicijom i socijalnim razlikama i naročito položajem žena i homoseksualaca. Priče su zanimljive, duhovite i napete i sve završavaju sretno, s naglaskom na pobjedu ljudske dobrote. U galeriji likova posebno me dojmio Innocent koji se preseli u Pariz i razne evropske situacije komentira iz sasvim svježeg ugla, pobijajući predrasude o Africi kao kolijevci nemoći i nesereće. Upravo iz njegovih usta, ali i iz usta drugih junaka stripa kroz dijaloge izlazi najbolji dio stripa, a to su razne afričke fraze i poslovice, poput "Ne pobjeđuje uvijek onaj tko ima sve adute", "Mrtvo jare se ne boji noža", "Razjareni bik neće naskočiti na kravu koja se tjera" ili "Kokoš se ne pere ali su jaja bijela". U svakom slučaju, strip se isplati pročitati i od svih stripova objavljenih u posljednje vrijeme u Hrvatskoj a u kojima se radnja odvija u Africi (Paco krvavih ruku, Killiana Song, Alpha, Kongo), ovaj mi je najzanimljiviji.

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

These Aya books are great for anybody who loves complex plots with lots of characters getting all tangled up in one another's business. Reading it reminds me of watching Parks & Rec, Mary Tyler Moore or any good TV show that can be both serious and silly. Also, the characters are gorgeously and expressively drawn. Also, they are about people living in Cote d'Ivoire in the 70s/80s. Also, they are about friends, families and romance. Also, everybody says great proverbs all the time that you can bust out on your own friends. For example, "A bird can fool anybody, but not the branch it's sitting on."

The best books are masterworks while being just plain fun to read. This is one of those.

[Sunny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like where this ended, it summed up the stories nicely.

A bit sad that the comedy was stale in this one, the first one had a lot of funny lines and faces. This one used expressions as the comic relief, and of course Moussa's mother (she was funnier in the first one). The last part was funnier by far, and very sweet, so that made me like it a lot more. However this is all preferance.

I like how they handled the darker sides of the stories and characters. No one was perfect, all had their faults and differences.

[anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a really good sequel! I loved the growth of all the characters. also the art style is so pretty! i was a little bit underwhelmed by the ending though, but it was still good

content warnings: sexual assault (attempted/mentioned), abuse (physical/verbal)

[Meepelous · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series started out good, but got even better!

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite my having read these out of order, I’m still a fan. Again, it’s soapy and funny and brilliantly drawn. I read #7, the latest installment first…which was published this year, and may have to re-read it to tie a bow on the series up to now. I hope Abouet & Oubrerie continue to produce these great graphic novels.

[Camille · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love these books. My mother grew up in Ghana in the 60s and early 70s and I like to think some of this is reminiscent of her life. The funny and over the top way that the characters act and the ridiculous sayings certainly remind me of family and a part of my culture! The drawings are rich and spirited and bring you right into this world. I especially enjoy the adventures of Innocent in Paris, so typical of that West African immigrant mentality!

[Kirsi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This continues to be a charming tale - delightfully mundane yet still worlds apart from my Nordic day-to-day. Just strange enough to be interesting, I feel.

[Priya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another light hearted, wonderfully illustrated graphic novel about life in Ivory Coast in the 70s.
Aya and her friends continue on their chosen life paths, getting together to solve problems including handling a lecherous professor, saving a friend from a gold digger and preventing a forced marriage.
Love the humour that's seamlessly included. This is a place I don't know anything about and this was a fun way of getting to know about it.

[Ildar K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great art. Story is set in the 70s Ivorian coast. It’s a series of characters and separate storylines some of which intersect. I liked the characters a lot. The female characters especially were strong and empowered. Made me want to learn more about the countries history and this part of African in general

[Bine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Der 2. Teil war nooooch toller und spannender als der erste Sammelband. Ich liebe Innos Geschichte in Paris und den tollen Zusammenhalt der Freundinnen Aya, Bintou und Adjoua. Auch die Familienmitgleider, die sich doch oft so sehr in den Haaren liegen, halten am Ende zusammen. Total toll! Schade nur, dass einige meiner brennenden Fragen nicht beantwortet wurden. Leider wurden Antworten nur angedeutet. Aber gut. Trotzdem so eine tolle Comicreihe, die leider viel, viel zu unbekannt ist :(

[Loz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still great stuff! Wonderful drama and emotional weight. This set suffered from too many story threads to wrap, but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

[Taneka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really fun read. I wish there were more, but I think that this is the last installment. The graphic novel is suppose to give you insight into how life is in a Côte d'Ivoire or Ivory Coast town. I hope people from this area are not totally like these characters. Aya, the main character, seems to always be in someone else business and they all seem to speak in parables. I couldn't get the reference of some of the parables, but many I understood. If someone talked to me in this form, I would become really annoyed.

The illustrations are beautiful. The people aren't caricatures of Africans. You can distinctly see braided hair or coiled locks. The story does a great job of blending the old village ways with the new progressive city customs.

[sweet pea · Rating 4 out of 5]

i wasn't sold on this series until the third book. this collection continues the story in interesting and humorous ways. of particular joy to me were Innocent's adventures and his lady clones. all kinds of issues are explored in this collection, making it ripe for discussion. i'm glad i stuck with it!

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant enough story with a strong range of characters. It comes together well at the end and leaves plenty of room for further exploration. The biggest weakness is that Aya was not in enough of the story.

[LBK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I realised very quickly into this edition of parts 4-6 of the Aya series that I was entering the story half way through. I briefly considered putting it down and searching for the beginning of the series but Abouet's storytelling and the rivetting artwork sucked me in too quickly and I found myself continuing. That's partly because Aya is basically a soap opera in structure. If that could be taken as derogatory then perhaps compare it with modern TV dramas by the likes of David Simon - Treme has a very similar feel to the realism of Aya and its portrayal of a city. In part 4 we pick up the stories of Aya and the connected characters in the suberbs of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and follow every day realities through to climaxes both great and small. Time and place are evoked wonderfully by the pastel cartoon drawings (illustrated by the author's husband) that manage to both exageratedly expressive and very grounded. The characters and the setting come alive with the fashions of 70s Ivory Coast and something of the language and forms of expression are translated really well in the excellent translation. It's a graphic novel that uses the tools at its disposal to create something as close to television as you can get, with the advantage of a book form being that you can linger over individual frames and soak up the subtle emotions in Abouet's dialogues and her husband's effective facial impressions.

The success of the storytelling relies on Aya. She has the strongest storyline (her brave attempts to bring an abusive university teacher to justice) and her meddling (helping) in the affairs of others is the human touch that draws the rest of the stories together. It's reasurring to read about a character with such a firm, moral sense of right and wrong. Aya's indignation is what judges the other characters and their weaknesses. She is a young woman who expects the best out of people, who isn't content with letting things be. When the maid, whom she sees basically as a sister, is forcibly returned to her rural home because the father suddenly sees her as a financial investment, Aya organised a rescue attempt to bring her home. When Mamadou is seen with another woman she confronts him about his responsibilities to her friend Adjoua and the son they share. When she believes her cousin Herve is involved in a relationship with a bad influence she tells him so. Aya is judgemental and idealistic but in a way that is rousing and inspiring. It comes to a head with the set up of the professor who attempts to sexually assault her. It makes great TV. The text itself makes frequent internal references to soap opera but the intensity of some of the character development and the satisfactory endings of the stories make Aya more like a satisfying final season of a great TV show.

Another reason the book held me was the story of Innocent in Paris. Innocent is gay and trying his luck in France after breaking up with Albert back in the Ivory Coast. He is, along with Aya, the best character in the book and the representation of his "innocence" (no mistake with the name) which manifests itself as a beautiful naivity in the "experienced" context of the great European city is expertly done. Abouet really captures the life of a new arrival. His good will and his optimism drive him on, despite the set backs, and the friendships he forms are touching and believable. There is a fantastic, hair-raising scene when Innocent bravely (stupidly) confronts some muggers in the street and scares them off with wild man antics. Later he stands up for the bedraggled bureauocractic victims in the immigration queue outside the town hall. And stands by love interest Seb when his father can't deal with the revelation of his sexuality. His innocence stands for a simple, moral common sense that he shares with Aya, a characteristic that combines with a reckless bravery and makes both great characters to follow. In contrast, the shyness of Albert who tries to cover his sexuality by marrying an exaggeratedly unattractive women from the village is awkward and sad. Yet Abouet constantly shows her ability to handle and develop very different characters.

Of course not everyone will enjoy every story. Bonaventure's search for his absconded son who is off doing good deals in the countryside with his father's money is a little far-fetched and Bonaventure's anger a little tiresome. But for every story like that there are three or four that grab you. Even the simplest; the older boyfriend of Jeanne trying to placate his devilish, sick mother into accepting Jeanne and her children into their home. It's a story of inaction in the main. Little moments of stillness, such as one where, for an instant, Jeanne seems to consider snuffing out the old dragon's life. It's emblematic of what Abouet is trying to create. This is not a drama of murders, deaths and revolutions. It's about the quite moments that define your life, the lives of ordinary people, and about the select, admirable few, such as Aya or Innocent, who have the courage to stand up and fight for the things that are important. A lovely, moving and very funny journey with Aya and her friends; wish I'd read the beginning first! 7

[Tibby]

A satisfying follow up to Aya: Life in Yop City. In Love we follow Aya, Adjoua, and Bintou and their families through more ups and downs. Aya is now in college, but she is being sexually harassed by a professor who attempts to rape her. Adjoua is raising her son and running her restaurant while Mamadou pulls himself together and decides to be in a relationship with her and help raise Bobby. We see a lot less of Bintou in this book, but she is running her advice business and is hellbent on helping Aya hit back at the creepy professor.

More on the periphery is Herve who is now dating Rita. Rita is mostly out for his money and stability and for awhile Herve falls for it and pushes Aya's friendship away. Mamadou is still working for Herve and he ends up entangled with an older married woman who gives him money for sex. And Gervais and Jeanne continue to struggle with Gervais' spiteful mother. Meanwhile the Sissoko's continue to look for Moussa who has run off with a bunch of money and is setting up birthing centers in remote villages. Once they find him, his father has him thrown in jail where he meets Bintou's ex-boyfriend Gregoire who has had a stint as a scammy preacher. Turns out Gregoire's mother was Mr. Sissoko's maid when he was young and he may be Gregoire's father. Adjoua's brother has still not come out and he decides to marry a girl from the village who everyone is horrified by. A mistaken conversation leads Albert to think his parents know he's gay and he dumps Isidorine and tells them he'll bring home a nice guy, much to his parents' surprise.

Innocent continues to live in Paris with Sebastian, the young gay man he saved in the last book from being beaten up by homophobic men. This is a stand out storyline here. Innocent is clearly not French, spouting all sorts of entertaining, but relevant proverbs. But Sebastian is not out to his parents which complicates his life when they come for a visit and when his mother ends up in the hospital. Innocent encourages him to be honest with who he is and come out to his parents. Coming out happens accidentally and Seb's father is not happy, but by the end it appears that his mother accepts them. Innocent is clearly levelheaded and genuine and I really liked his character and storyline.

While many of the storylines feel heavy, there is plenty to laugh about and the book never feels maudlin despite dealing with serious topics. And the ending wraps up nicely for everyone. I would still love revisit these characters at some point, but everything was satisfactory in the end.

[S.S. Julian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aya’s world gets a lot bigger and more complicated in this second volume. Like the first installment, Love in Yop City follows the various eccentric residents of the Ivorian Coast neighborhood of Youpougon. Aya herself is the center of the orbit of characters, but much of the story doesn’t even directly involve her. There’s a whole story that follows Innocent, a character only introduced towards the end of volume 1, as he has his own separate adventures in Paris. Another thread follows Gervais, a business rival of Aya’s father, as he deals with his domineering mother and romantic relationship with Aya’s father’s former mistress (and father of two of his children) that feels particularly divorced from the core case of characters. Aya does have to deal with some significant challenges herself, however, and the climax of this volume directly relates to her life, which is pretty great. At some point towards the end of Volume 1 or maybe the beginning of this volume (reading them back to back leads to some blending) she asks aloud: “When is something going to happen to with my life?” and I think the whole audience felt the same way. So it’s really satisfying to see the whip-smart and increasingly frustrated Aya deal with her problems directly.

The adventures of this volume felt a little more wild and random than those of the first volume, which felt reserved and almost domestic in scope. There is an extended search through the jungle for wayward Moussa that felt particularly silly, but it was so fun and unique that the absurdity could be forgiven and enjoyed as comic slapstick relief.

What’s lovely about these stories is that they never seem to end. Each episode weaves in so many different threads that there’s always something new happening, and the whole work feels like a pleasant meander through an authentic community of friends.

Another favorite aspect I really enjoy is the density of idioms and phrases of wisdom. They are all so great, and I wish I had a way to highlight quotes from a comic. At some point I’ll go through it again and transcribe the best to share here because they’re amazing.

Anyways, Aya is fantastic. Read this, but read the first one first, you won’t regret it.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was happy to read about Aya and her friends and family again, but this collection is frankly not nearly as good as Aya: Life in Yop City. There are several different stories going on simultaneously as there were in the first book although I think there are more in this one. All of the stories are decent in and of themselves, but the way they are presented irritated me. Once we got into the book a little way and each storyline was introduced, the stories switched from one to the other very rapidly. Each was only a page or possibly up to three pages long before switching to another. This format was followed the rest of the book, and switching between each story so often with not much happening each time definitely reduced my enjoyment of the reading experience. For a book told in a narrative style, it would be the equivalent of each chapter being a page or two long then switching to another person's story in the next chapter over and over.

I think the title of the book is a bit misleading. I thought it would be a more detailed version of Aya finding love and describing her new relationship with some depth. In reality it is a reference to several love stories for a variety of characters. I liked some of the stories better than others and found some more plausible, which may be entirely unfair since I have never been to the Ivory Coast and have no knowledge of plausibility. However we all like what we like and I liked most of this book but not all and I wish it had grouped the various stories into longer sections.

[Stephane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was looking to read more comics from Africa, so I went looking, and looking... and looking. There isn't much available, unfortunately (I am still looking if anyone knows a way to find some...) The Aya series is the closest I found.

The author, Marguerite Abouet, lives in France. I believe she moved there fairly early in her life. At some point, she grew tired of the constant "doom and gloom" portrayal of Africa by Western medias. She decided to show another side of her native country, one filled with joy, comedy, love and the everyday drama of life. The book is set in Ivory Coast in the late 70s. There are tons of characters, they are all connected in some way to the protagonist Aya, a young girl studying to become a doctor, her family, and her friends. This is just the starting point, of course, over the course of six volumes, plenty will happen, old characters will change and new will emerge.

There is not a boring page in those books. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, laughed out loud on multiple occasion and reread entire sections because it was just so much fun. I categorized it as young adult, but the themes of family and community, loyalty and the advancement of woman will appeal to all. I also loved the French, peppered with African expressions and words, and the authenticity of the dialogues. This series came out of nowhere for me, highly recommend and of course to be read in French for sure because translation would certainly take a bit out of the charm of the book.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aya: Love in Yop City provides an interesting look into the lives of people living in 1970s Abidjan in the African nation of Ivory Coast. It's cool to see how people lived there (and as immigrants in Paris) in the 1970s, and the likeable characters get up to all kinds of stuff. Despite this, it isn't quite the book for me, but others may love it.

I find it too focused on drama for my tastes -- it is essentially one long, long soap opera comic. It's all about families and relationships and affairs and romance and so on. Each one of the many stories is presented on a few pages, one after the other, constantly switching with no pauses or chapters to speak of, and the characters (at least in this English translation) use short, simple, wooden dialogue. So it kind of gradually dulls me to the point where I really struggle to finish the book, just sticking around to see the fate of characters like Innocent and Mr. Sissoko's family. After all this, upon finally reaching the end, almost all of the various elaborate story-lines are wrapped up in a few pages.

Readers be warned, there is an attempted rape on pages 34-35 -- though it is dealt with well later in the book.

There is a cool bonus appendix of sorts at the back, with a glossary of Ivorian slang, Ivorian recipes, and some words from the author.

The book certainly leaves me wanting to know more about Côte d'Ivoire!

3.2 Stars

[Carl]

Extremely entertaining piece of soap opera, with a huge cast of vivid characters (Aya is impossible not to love, and Innocent captures every scene he's in, but there are dozens of other memorable, complex people weaving their ways through the story, too). I should have read Aya: Life in Yop City first, but I caught on quickly to the action, thanks to frequent references to the character guide at the front of the book--it reminded me of Louise Erdrich's Love Medicine. Everyone enjoys a good story; this definitely is one, and the artwork, though not fancy, is perfect. I only wish the text were larger.

I hope more Americans take the opportunity to embrace Aya and Côte d'Ivoire!

[Rohan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The world of the Aya comic books is expansive, complex, intertwined and very, very human. Abouet and Oubrerie have together created a beautiful and chaotic world that anyone can get lost in. The characters are relatable in their quirks, foibles, egos, lies, and dreams. The artwork is just lovely. The font is very easy on the eyes. As I raced through the book I could sense Abouet's affection for the days of her childhood. Despite the cartoony look and feel, the characters seem intensely realistic, and many panels are paintings in their own right. And even though the books deal with painful and hard-hitting issues of adulthood and love and responsibility and fortitude, the overall tone somehow remains gentle and leaves the reader with a smile on their face. As in the earlier collection, Life in Yop City, this one comes padded at the end with memoirs, polemics, traditional recipes, bonus artwork and nostalgia. I'm glad I took the time to read this series.

[Martine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love these graphic novels, and I only wish I had been able to read them in the original French, as I think they lose some humor and meaning in translation. I don't agree that they are strictly light-hearted stories of life in a more affluent Ivorian era. It is true that this is not the Africa we so often see in the West; portrayed as at war or suffering from famine and disease. However, many of the themes are uncomfortable to a middle class American reader. Sexual assault, rape, homophobia, poverty, polygamy, immigration and servitude are just some of the issues that run through the may stories that make up these books. What makes these books so unique is that we are given the opportunity to experience their issues and themes not from a western gaze, but from the eyes of those who live them and have the humor, community and resilience to not only cope but often thrive.

[Kari]

Had to finish the series; this anthology covers volumes 4-6. Whereas the first anthology introduced us to the characters, this one was more about where their lives are going and the struggles in getting there. For the first time, we got a bigger peek into Aya's own life as well as the lives of those around her. It felt a bit heavier - more serious - like there's an urgency and ache as these people are desperate to build the futures they want, but I still laughed out loud FREQUENTLY, because the situations are often just so ridiculous and the dialogue so sharp and witty. The author has done a wonderful job juggling the stories of so many; the storytelling has felt easy, like it's just flowed, never forced or contrived, despite the absurdity in which the characters sometimes find themselves. A satisfying conclusion to a worthwhile series.