Turtle Bread - Kim-Joy - ★★

AUTHOR: Kim-Joy

ILLUSTRATOR: Alti Firmansyah

GENRE: Graphic Novel

PUBLICATION DATE: May 2, 2023

RATING: 2 stars.

In a Nutshell: A graphic novel about a socially anxious character who learns how to be comfortable in her own skin. Great potential, below average execution.

Plot Preview:

Twenty-three-year old Yan has been looking for a job unsuccessfully, with her social anxiety coming in the way of her confidence. One day, she decides to enrol at a new baking club, where she meets fellow baking enthusiasts who all seem more confident and capable than her. Can Yan learn how to ignore the doubts her mind throws her way, and focus on the positives of life with the help of her new friends?

Bookish Yays:

🎂 The baking content, though I myself am not much of a baking fan. I wasn’t aware of this author, but it seems she is a cookbook writer and one of two runners-up in the ninth series of The Great British Bake Off. Her love for and knowledge of baking clearly shows in this book.

🎂 The book includes many baking-related recipes. Even better: instead of being appended at the end, they are a part of the story. The titular ‘turtle bread’ recipe is also included.

🎂 Yan has a pet cat named Mr. Mouse! So cute! Wish he had a longer role.

Bookish Mixed Bags:

🍰 Yan’s character development is somewhat mixed. We know the struggles she faces in the present, but her background is left hazy. There’s no detailed explanation about her family, or what caused her anxiety or even how long she has had it. We only see the symptoms and effects, not the causes.

🍰 The portrayal of Yan’s social anxiety is somewhat inconsistent. There is a good depiction of how mental demons can affect daily routines and self-esteem. But it is tough to accept that someone with such crippling social anxiety willingly goes and joins a baking club full of strangers. Moreover, a few scenes before the ending, we clearly see that Yan is still struggling with her anxiety. But the ending has her undergo a turnaround, suddenly being comfortable not just with people but even with handling a club. It is quite unconvincing and anticlimactic.

🍰 The other club members are very interesting (especially Bea and Amit), but their character development is also somewhat incomplete. We know only minimal details about their personal life and that too, we learn through their conversations at the club, which are more about therapeutic and philosophical statements than about baking. All the club characters are portrayed in a positive vein, leaving a lack of external conflict.

🍰 The stunning cover art promised a rich graphic experience. While the inside illustrations were cute, I was disappointed that they were in grayscale. Such a story needs coloured visuals.

Bookish Nays:

🥚 The book seems to suffer from an identity crisis because it doesn’t know what its primary aim is. Too many themes, none covered in depth.

🥚 The execution is hence too rushed, jumping from topic to topic with no link between the start and the end.

🥚 Though the cover and the narrative viewpoint focusses on Yan, the story is more about the baking club than about her. So only the club-related details get proper focus and the rest of the content is vague.

🥚 The storyboarding isn’t smooth. Many scenes feel choppy. Yan’s change in focus from job search to baking club is abrupt.

🥚 Though the club members are mostly strangers who gathered to bake, each of them has a mental health condition that the club helps resolve. Too coincidental and quite farfetched!

🥚 The final section is especially dissatisfying. Why show a new relationship and a new job only to show both fizzing out a couple of weeks later? It went against everything established till that part. And if the point of this was to show that social anxiety isn’t that easy to overcome, what is she doing leading the baking club confidently just a few days later?

Overall, the intent must have been great but the execution is haphazard. It tries to include too many things and ends up doing justice to none except baking. Moreover, the language and content is aimed at adults, but the approach makes it feel more like a YA work with its overly straightforward plotline.

Some more finetuning could have made this a worthwhile read. But as is, the only other positive I can think of is that I didn’t spend anything on this, thanks to my Prime subscription.

Recommended only to those looking for a freebie graphic novel through Prime with the added motivation of some tempting baking recipes.

The digital version of this book is currently available free to Amazon Prime subscribers.