Book Review: Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks

Deja and Josiah are seasonal best friends.

Every autumn, all through high school, they’ve worked together at the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world. (Not many people know that the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world is in Omaha, Nebraska, but it definitely is.) They say good-bye every Halloween, and they’re reunited every September 1.

GENRE: 

Graphic Novel, Young Adult, Contemporary Romance

PAGES:

224 pages

PART OF A SERIES?:

Standalone Novel

RELEASE DATE: 

August 27th, 2019

 

PUBLISHER:

First Second

SOURCE:

Physical Owned Copy

YOU CAN FIND THE BOOK AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE/LIBRARY OR THE FOLLOWING LINKS:

GoodReads

IndieBound

Amazon

Audible

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

Apple Books

Kobo

Google Play

Rainbow’s Website

Faith’s Website

GOODREADS SUMMARY: 

Deja and Josiah are seasonal best friends.

Every autumn, all through high school, they’ve worked together at the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world. (Not many people know that the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world is in Omaha, Nebraska, but it definitely is.) They say good-bye every Halloween, and they’re reunited every September 1.

But this Halloween is different—Josiah and Deja are finally seniors, and this is their last season at the pumpkin patch. Their last shift together. Their last good-bye.

Josiah’s ready to spend the whole night feeling melancholy about it. Deja isn’t ready to let him. She’s got a plan: What if—instead of moping and the usual slinging lima beans down at the Succotash Hut—they went out with a bang? They could see all the sights! Taste all the snacks! And Josiah could finally talk to that cute girl he’s been mooning over for three years . . .

What if their last shift was an adventure?

MY REVIEW

THIS BOOK WAS SO CUTE!

Okay, I got that out of my system.

I don’t really read graphic novels – I have absolutely NOTHING against them, I just feel like I never really appreciate them enough. I read the words super fast because I want to know what happens next and I don’t think I pause long enough to enjoy the artwork. I own a handful but for the most part, I just skip them. But obviously if you give me a brand new book from Rainbow Rowell, who I ADORE, then I’m going to read it. I read up on Faith as well and her work is so gorgeous and SO cute!

I also really love fall, I love pumpkins, I’ve never been to a pumpkin patch but it sounds so amazing. My main photo on this blog is from an apple picking farm – I LOVE fall. Plus its so HOT in Southern California right now and we have no AC in our car so I think I’m dying for that perfect SoCal autumn weather. I’m tired of being sweaty.

So! I was down in San Diego, picking up a book for an event that I didn’t end up attending but that’s another long story, and bought my copy of Pumpkinheads. I looked ALLLLL over the store and couldn’t find it and I was like, NOOO. Eventually I found it in between these two ginormous graphic novels so it had been hiding. After my disappointing SD trip, we headed home, I climbed into bed and settled myself in to get started on this book and ended up reading the entire thing.

I literally LAUGHED out loud while reading this novel. My boyfriend kept looking at me funny but it was SO funny. Deja was easily the best character – she’s cute, confident and hilarious and I love her desire to eat all the good pumpkin patch food. She’s an adventure on each page and I think she’s a wonderful balance with Josiah. Their friendship is so fun and realistic and I loved seeing them race around the patch. Josie reminded me a lot of my boyfriend so I think that’s why I had a little soft spot for him through the entire story.

It reminded me of going to the fair and eating all the weird stuff. The LA County fair is about to start over here so I want to hunt down something that gives me pumpkin bomb vibes. I have never been to a pumpkin patch of this magnitude so I definitely need to change that. There are definitely ones around here but according to Rainbow, and backed by Faith, the best ones are in Nebraska. I can believe that.

I also really enjoyed the artwork. I definitely had to tell myself to slow down, take my time and really appreciate it. I’m so used to picturing things in my head but I really loved actually seeing it on the page – it was gorgeous. Everything felt so AUTUMN and brown and homey. I loved seeing Deja and Josie and I loved that there were little things in the background, like the loose goat, all over the place. It definitely added to the story. In a normal book, you might not get that because the MC might not notice but its there in the graphic novel. I also will say, there’s something great about seeing expressions on characters’ faces! Plus I think the addition of artwork added even more laughs than just the writing itself.

I’m stoked that I wasn’t deterred away from this book because it was a graphic novel because it was so fun, so cute, a quick read and seasonally appropriate – hopefully soon!

Now I just gotta get to a pumpkin patch…

RATING:

5 out of 5 Stars

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