Oops. I'm a wee bit late in reviewing this.

Goth Girl Rising begins where The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl left off. Well, about six months after those events, actually. Kyra Sellers, or Goth Girl from the first book, has just gotten out of the mental hospital she was put into at the end of the first book. What follows is, naturally, a story about her reintegration into life at South Brook High and trying to reconcile the changes she's going through with the changes that have already taken place with those around her.

Previous reviewers have spoken negatively about Barry Lyga's portrayal of the female psyche, something a tad bit ironic considering how he attacked just that in his previous book in this series. Kyra, in the previous book, mentioned several times how horribly graphic novel authors tend to portray women - how it's all Oedipus Complex's, or worrying about what the male characters may be fantasizing over. In reality, she explained, female characters tend to have plenty of fantasies of their own. This book actually addressed that in some interesting ways.

Although not as lighthearted as the previous book, I found this one to be insightful, respectful, and altogether fascinating. The conclusion was apt, as were a lot of the conclusions Kyra hastily jumped to. I think that a lot of people go through what she went through, at least the social aspects of it, during that time of their lives. One can only hope for a bit of Katherine's forthrightness.

Also, is it just me or is the word lachrymose popping up everywhere nowadays? Just a question. I'd never read it before this book and after finishing it I saw it around seven times in various stories, forum postings, etc. It struck me as a bit surprising. ( )

Awesome character development and great layers to the story. ( )

Awesome character development and great layers to the story. ( )

Kyra comes home from the hospital and is angry that Fanboy never once contacted her when she was in the hospital...so she starts to plot her revenge. While she plots her revenge she also does some soul searching. She changes her look and examines the relationships she has with her friends and their behaviors and even the behavior of some teachers. Interspersed are letters she writes to Neil Gaiman and a lyrical poem that keeps expanding about the last time she saw her mother.

I loved this. I loved it more than I loved the first book. I love watching Kyra examine her life and look into the lives of the people around her and grow and change and adapt. I totally admit that the revenge thing made me super anxious.

***Spoiler***
I couldn't even imagine what the outcome of those plans would be and honestly I was totally expecting her to do it. I liked seeing her come to the conclusion that it was the wrong thing to do.
***Spoiler***

I was happy with the journey Kyra took and with how Fanboy had changed and developed as well. The only thing is I would have liked to see her relationship with her father change a bit more too. I would have liked to see the conversation with her father about all of those realizations rather then the letters, but I can live without it. It doesn't change how much I enjoyed the rest of the book. ( )

Kyra comes home from the hospital and is angry that Fanboy never once contacted her when she was in the hospital...so she starts to plot her revenge. While she plots her revenge she also does some soul searching. She changes her look and examines the relationships she has with her friends and their behaviors and even the behavior of some teachers. Interspersed are letters she writes to Neil Gaiman and a lyrical poem that keeps expanding about the last time she saw her mother.

I loved this. I loved it more than I loved the first book. I love watching Kyra examine her life and look into the lives of the people around her and grow and change and adapt. I totally admit that the revenge thing made me super anxious.

***Spoiler***
I couldn't even imagine what the outcome of those plans would be and honestly I was totally expecting her to do it. I liked seeing her come to the conclusion that it was the wrong thing to do.
***Spoiler***

I was happy with the journey Kyra took and with how Fanboy had changed and developed as well. The only thing is I would have liked to see her relationship with her father change a bit more too. I would have liked to see the conversation with her father about all of those realizations rather then the letters, but I can live without it. It doesn't change how much I enjoyed the rest of the book. ( )