Synopsis:
Yan is looking for a place to belong. She struggles with social anxiety and low self-esteem, making it hard to maintain a job or relationships. When the chance comes along to step out of her comfort zone, Yan joins Baking Club, hoping to share her passion with people who love pastries and cakes as much as she does.
At first, Yan is intimidated by the other members, but as she gets to know them better, she comes to love Baking Club. In fact, Yan realizes that she’s not alone in trying to hide her mental health struggles from her friends. The members of the Club come together to support each other and to bake their way through any problem!
Review:
Turtle Bread was a wonderful read from start to finish. I didn’t realise until getting to the end that it’s written by a former Great British Bake Off contestant – very cool. I’m actually really impressed with the writing, the story was joyous and had so much depth. I genuinely had a great time reading this.
The illustrations are so lovely. I love graphic novels about food and the style of this one might be one of my favourites. Even without colour, there’s something so beautiful and comforting about Turtle Bread. The colour palette is something I often comment on and praise but Turtle Bread is wonderful, even in black and white.
The shift in Yan’s appearance as she gets more confident is a really nice touch. She starts out the story by only wearing plain jumpers and jeans. By the end of the graphic novel, she’s wearing patterns, putting outfits together (rather than just jeans and a jumper) and accessorising. This is such a brilliant way of showing her self confidence growing without having to actually voice it.
I’m in awe of how much Turtle Bread made me feel. I’m not one to get actually emotional and cry at books, I think the only book that ever actually made me cry was Mockingjay, but I was really close with this one. Both tears of sadness and joy. I felt so much for these characters that seeing them spiral and lose things dear to them was a little heartbreaking.
Every character had so much depth to them, which is pretty impressive for a graphic novel. I loved watching their friendships form. The scenes of them baking the turtle bread were especially wonderful. Plus the bread was so cute. I’d 100% buy one but then couldn’t eat it because it’s so cute.
I’d highly recommend checking out Turtle Bread if you’re looking for a beautiful graphic novel with a compelling story. Plus if you’re into baking, you’ll love this. The baking scenes include recipes told through the actions of the characters. Which is a really fun way of including them.
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