Review by Booklist Review
When acclaimed comics-artist Knisley (Relish, 2013) is invited to attend a comics convention in Norway travel expenses paid she enthusiastically agrees and adds a few more stops to her itinerary, in Sweden, Germany, and France. In her classic travelogue style and interspersed with lovely, contemplative watercolor sketches, she offers glimpses of her journey feeling disoriented and jet-lagged, enjoying strange and wonderful new foods, enduring language barriers, discovering the delights of a new place, and indulging in an intense, romantic, and ill-fated love affair. Her trip also elicits a bit of an existential crisis, epitomized by the phrase l'age license, or license to experience, mess up, license to fail, license to do . . . whatever, before you're settled. It's a useful concept for Knisley as she observes her life from the distance of travel, and her simple lines, lively illustrations, and patchwork of moments she chooses to include artfully capture her introspective mood. Fans of Knisley's earlier works, particularly older teens or young adults, will appreciate this honest, charming, and gently paced travel journal.--Mack, Candice Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Knisley (French Milk, Relish) continues to own the travelogue/graphic novel genre by bringing her characteristic humor and heart to this memoir of a summer in Europe. Created during a journey from a comics convention in Norway to the vineyards of Burgundy and a lover's loft in Montmartre, the in-process method of writing and drawing her adventures as they happen gives a vibrant immediacy to situations and sensations. Belying her relatively simple but charming cartooning style, Knisley pages are a cornucopia of information and detail: oversized seagulls, bilingual schoolchildren, and lying sat-navs populate her travels. Her observations are frequently laugh-out-loud funny (for instance, on her new Swedish boyfriend: "They should sell these at Ikea!"). It's easy to excuse a temporary lapse in keeping up her illustrated journal when she falls in love-a sequence evocatively drawn with much emotional impact. Knisley's already established passion for foreign foods is highlighted: Norwegian pastries, mustard in a tube, the French milk of her previous memoir, and that punch line to so many Scandinavian jokes, lutefisk. The title comes from the French l'age licence-the freedom to explore, experiment, and feel joy, all feelings beautifully captured here. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
The Age of License, according to the French, is a time of youthful exploration and experimentation. Knisley, a comic book writer and illustrator, is invited to an all-expenses-paid trip to Sweden to present at a conference. Simple black-and-white illustrations capture mouthwatering meals, city architecture, and the author's friends and family as they intersect during her "age of license." (LJ 9/15/14) (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Adult/HS-An American cartoonist travels across Europe, musing on comics, journaling, and romance. A compelling record of the tension between wishing to experience the unexpected and wanting comfort, Knisley's account portrays honest insecurity and new intimacy. Lacking traditional comic panels, the work evolved organically as Knisley drew it, and the medium handily reflects the message. © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
