Review: Little Moments of Love – Catana Chetwynd
Little Moments of Loveby Catana Chetwynd
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication Date: May 15, 2018
Genres: Graphic Novel, Humor
Pages: 160
Source: NetGalley
I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
My rating:
Soppy meets Sarah’s Scribbles in this sweet collection of comics about the simple, precious, silly, everyday moments that make up a relationship.
What began as stray doodles on scraps of paper became an internet sensation when Catana Chetwynd’s boyfriend shared her drawings online. Now, Catana Comics touches millions of readers with its sweet, relatable humor. Little Moments of Love collects just that – the little moments that are the best parts of being with the person you love.
I picked this up because I’d seen and enjoyed some of the comics on Twitter before, and this collection seemed very much in the same vein as the Sarah Scribbles collections, which I love. That turns out to be partway true.
Ms. Chetwynd’s very first comic was about her relationship with her boyfriend, so it’s no surprise that that’s the same material almost all of the comics are about. It’s cute, sure, but I think it’s also the reason so many of them fell flat for me, since many of the relationship topics aren’t universal but more specific to them. The multiple comics about their height differences, for example, didn’t resonate for me since my husband and I are pretty much the same height.
It’s also tooth-achingly sweet and a bit too cutesy for me. I think college-me would’ve eaten this up, but I’m an old grump (with kids!) now, so it was just too much of the same thing. She likes cuddling her boyfriend, spending time with him, she even misses him when he’s asleep – and that’s about it. It’s pretty one-note, and if you’re not into “aww-ing” over how cute the couple is together, you’re going to be bored. There’s one comic about the differences when they argue, but that’s pretty much the only indication that their relationship is anything other than sugary sweet. And, I mean, I get it – with something so very autobiographical, you don’t necessarily want to hang everything out there for the world to see, but it seemed unbalanced to me to show all the fluffy happy bits and nothing else.
The art is simple and absolutely adorable. Ms. Chetwynd has an easily identifiable style that fits the content perfectly.
Overall, I got a few giggles out of this, but I think I’m too much of a crusty cynical old fogey to enjoy this properly. I think this would be a great gift for a couple in the ooey gooey relationship stage, though!
