• Home
    • Contact Me
  • Reading Challenges
    • Pondathon II
    • Completed Challenges
      • CannonballRead 13 Bingo
      • SpringIntoLove Bingo
      • SnowInLove Bingo
      • JingleBooks Bingo
      • FallIntoRomBingo 2020
      • 2020 Ripped Bodice Summer Read Along Bingo
      • 2018 Romance Roundabout Challenge
      • Read Harder 2018
      • January – March 2018 Quarterly Challenge
      • Title Hunt Quarterly Challenge: January – March 2018
      • Cover Hunt Quarterly Challenge: October – December 2017
      • October – December 2017 Quarterly Challenge
      • Ripped Bodice Summer Read Along Bingo
  • Reviews
    • Reviews by Author
    • Reviews by Title
    • Reviews by Series
    • Reviews by Year
      • 2017 Reviews
      • 2018 Reviews
    • Reviews by Rating
  • Rating System

Llama Reads Books

This llama reads - mostly romance, fantasy and science fiction

Reviews

Review: Pilu of the Woods – Mai K. Nguyen

April 15, 2019 Leave a Comment

Review: Pilu of the Woods – Mai K. NguyenPilu of the Woods
by Mai K. Nguyen
Publisher: Oni Press
Publication Date: April 17, 2019
Genres: Graphic Novel
Pages: 160
Source: NetGalley

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A heartwarming story of friendship, loss, and finding your way home from debut author/illustrator Mai K. Nguyen!

Willow loves the woods near her house. They’re calm and quiet, so different from her own turbulent emotions, which she keeps locked away. When her emotions get the better of her one day, she decides to run away into the woods.

There, she meets Pilu, a lost tree spirit who can’t find her way back home—which turns out to be the magnolia grove Willow’s mom used to take her to. Willow offers to help Pilu, and the two quickly become friends.

But the journey is long, and Pilu isn’t sure she’s ready to return home yet—which infuriates Willow, who’s determined to make up for her own mistakes by getting Pilu back safely. As a storm rages and Willow’s emotions bubble to the surface, they suddenly take on a physical form, putting both girls in danger… and forcing Willow to confront her inner feelings once and for all.

Amazon  Barnes & Noble  Indiebound

Goodreads

Content warnings: View Spoiler »bullying, grief (death of main character’s mother before the book began) « Hide Spoiler

This is so gorgeous and adorable.  It’s marketed as a middle-grade graphic novel, but I enjoyed it immensely and think the lesson would be applicable to and accessible to most ages.

After an argument with her older sister, Willow runs away into the woods where she meets a fellow runaway, a wood spirit named Pilu.  While Willow is angry over her sister’s criticism, Pilu feels ignored by her mother, and believes that she won’t even miss her now that she’s run away.  As Willow works to change Pilu’s mind and get her home, Pilu helps her rethink how she’s been dealing with her emotions after her mother’s death.

I found this a thoughtful and gentle exploration of what Willow calls her “angry little monsters” – thoughts and feelings that make you feel helpless and small.  Willow promised her mother before she died that she’d be strong, and Willow’s taken that having to repress her grief and pain, to not cry.  But bottling up her feelings doesn’t work, and just ends in her lashing out at her loved ones.  Pilu tells Willow that “the more you ignore something, the louder it gets” – that nobody likes being ignored, and neither do feelings.  I feel like anthropomorphizing each girl’s feelings into monsters helped take a difficult subject and make this age-appropriate (and frankly I found them adorable!).  Sometimes, especially when dealing with things of this nature, books get very preachy, but I didn’t find that the case with this one.  The message meshed nicely with the girls’ adventure.

The book’s title does have the word “woods” in it, so it’s no surprise that the outdoors is featured prominently.  Most of the book is spent in the woods near her house, and it’s obvious that Willow (and the author) has a deep love of nature.  On top of that, the art is absolutely gorgeous.  This is seriously one of the most beautiful graphic novels I’ve ever read, and I frequently paused when reading to just take in a panel.  The colors are deep and perfectly matched, done in a watercolor style that fits well with the depictions of nature and the story overall.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this, even though I’m outside the target age range.  Not only did I preorder a copy for my kids, but I also hunted down the author on twitter (@ohmaipie), so I will definitely be looking forward to more from her in the future!

Related Posts

  • Same Genre
Fowl Language
Review: Fowl Language: Welcome to Parenting – Brian Gordon
Safely Endangered Comics
Review: Safely Endangered Comics – Chris McCoy
Kim Reaper
Review: Kim Reaper Vol. 1: Grim Beginnings – Sarah Graley
Little Tails on the Farm
Review: Little Tails on the Farm – Frédéric Brrémaud and Federico Bertolucci

You might also enjoy

Scandalous DiaryReview: The Scandalous Diary of Lily Layton – Stacy Reid
Ice Cream LoverReview: Ice Cream Lover – Jackie Lau
Iron and MagicReview: Iron and Magic – Ilona Andrews
Previous:
Review: The Hunted – Arthur Slade
Next:
Review: Play It Again – Aidan Wayne

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Me



READING LLAMA

Hi, my name is Lauren, and I’m the Reading Llama! I love reading books. My favorites usually include a female protagonist with at least a little bit of romance.

Twitter    Goodreads    RSS    email

Follow

Currently Reading

May Reviews

Something Wilder by Christina LaurenJust Like Mother by Anne HeltzelForged in Flames by Ali WilliamsA Show for Two by Tashie BhuiyanUnder Fortunate Stars by Ren HutchingsIf You Want Me Close by Skye KilaenBlame It on the Brontes by Annie SerenoThe Prince's Poisoned Vow by Hailey Turner

Recently Read

Goodreads Challenge

2021 Reading Challenge

2021 Reading Challenge
Lauren has read 7 books toward her goal of 250 books.
hide
7 of 250 (2%)
view books

Reading Challenges

CBR13 Bingo

CBR13 bingo
July 1 - October 31

hide
12 of 25 (48%)

Badges

25 Book Reviews Reviews Published Professional Reader Frequently Auto-Approved Romanceopoly 2019 Participant

Latest Tweets

Tweets by llamareadsbooks

Archives

Currently Reading

Wanting a Witch Wanting a Witch by Lauren Connolly
Legends & Lattes Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
The Stardust Thief (The Sandsea Trilogy, #1) The Stardust Thief (The Sandsea Trilogy, #1) by Chelsea Abdullah

Archives

  • Ghosts, a secret library and magic collide in a dystopian Edinburgh. Highly recommended!
  • This month’s sticker from the #RomStickerClub is super cute and SHINY!
  • Finished up my ARC of Jackie Lau’s His Grumpy Childhood Friend (out this Tuesday) and I loved this quote! “Practice”
  • Starting off with a quote from one of my favorite books, Charlie Adhara’s The Wolf at Bay, second in Big

Categories

  • Book Tour
  • Challenge
  • Cover Reveal
  • Excerpt
  • lol
  • Most Anticipated
  • PondathonII
  • Reviews
  • Sunday Update
  • TBR
  • Uncategorized
  • Wrap-Up

Copyright © 2022 · Dreams Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in