A Review of 'Goth Girl Rising' by Barry Lyga

"A Few of the Many Sings of Fanboy:


1. He kissed Dina Jurgens
2. I was in the hospital for six effing months and how many emails or phone calls or letters or IMs or texts did I get from him?  None, none, none, none, and none.
3. He's got this great graphic novel, but he's publishing it in Literary Paws.
4. He told me I'm a suicide wannabe.
5. He wanted to kiss me.
6. He didn't kiss me.
7. He never told me his third thing.


For all of those sins, he deserves pain.


Kyra Sellers doesn't get angry-- she gets even.  After six months in the hospital, where she was DCHH (Note: I almost always said it, 'Dee-Cee-Double H.'  Also, if you read this, you will find out what this means, so no worries), she has some matters to settle with the traitorous Fanboy.  Plus, Roger is being his typical pain-in-the-ass fatherly self, the Spermling is breathing down her neck, and that hypocritical Miss Powell deserves exposed for what she really is.


So maybe she does get a little angry..."

An interesting story that is equal parts commentary on Neil Gaiman's 'Sandman,' dark feelings, self discovery, and healing all while being brought back to the familiar world of 'The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl.'  I loved it better than its counterpart!

Before in 'Fanboy and Goth Girl,' Kyra was this seemingly abstract character, a stereotype shrouded in mystery.  With a story of her own, Kyra's personality pops on the page, mirroring how humans think.  That's probably what I appreciated the most.  There's a layer of realism that beams through as she begins to grow sentimental, creeping towards what Doctor Kennedy would deem a breakthrough, but then she would remember how other people see her and she would go back to plotting Fanboy's downfall.

There was a part where Kyra mentions her own fictional character named Katherine (her mother's middle name).  She made all of these bad things happen to Katherine.  I can't help but think that Kyra became her.  If you've read this book, let me know your thoughts.  I love discussions!

Kyra's story is one that shouldn't be taken lightly.  When she talks about getting revenge, it seems childish and you might think that this could be considered light reading, but I can assure you, it's not.  You will think, whether you want to or not.  But what she says is really fascinating.  Especially when she writes to Neil Gaiman ("writes," in quotation marks) or references 'Sandman' in comparison with her feelings and her life.

To read this book, you don't have to be familiar with 'Sandman' (I certainly wasn't).  But now I really want to read it.  That's going on my "To Be Read" list!

The ending is incredibly powerful!  That's all I'm going to say on that subject.

I know Kyra isn't a real person, but Barry Lyga is such a talented writer that Kyra could reach outside the pages and live and breathe in this world.  Barry Lyga will continue to go down in my list of favorite writers of all time.

I give 'Goth Girl Rising':

Thanks for reading!

--Jude