Britany's Reviews > The Animators

Mel Vaught & Sharon Kisses; Sharon Kisses & Mel Vaught

This book- and these women grasped me by the heartstrings and never quite loosened their grip before I was closing the back cover. Two women-- both from broken homes and low income families, both revolutions of the other. They meet in an animation class in college, and so begins the animation duo to last a fictional lifetime. They start with putting Mel's prickly past into storyboards and produce a smash indie hit Nashville Combat and so begins their tour of mini- fandom. They win a grant and everything else gets in the way before they can even think to begin creating again.

This novel was brilliantly written- the writing poked, prodded, and made me uncomfortable. I couldn't stop reading- I kept wanting to turn away, but just like a bad accident, I could not stop looking. I had to keep reading-- what would happen to these characters? The book was sharp and jagged, filled with inappropriate situations and edges that could put your eye out and I ate it all up. I am loving modern literature that hurts as you swallow it down. To top it all off, this was a DEBUT novel- Bravo Ms Whitaker- I'm ready for whatever you write next.

Trigger warnings for language & graphic scenes