Seconds: A Graphic Novel

Seconds is the kind of story that would be great as a metaphor or as a thought exercise. As things stand, however, the presentation is too clear and straightforward, it just becomes tiresome and predictable. O'Malley is at his best when his story isn't being told, but rather implied, and there's simply too much telling here.

It's a nice book, maybe a good first graphic novel for someone to get started on the genre. I liked it, but didn't love it. Story was good with a couple of twists. I prefer art that's a little more detailed rather than rudimentary (but just a personal preference). I recommend it.

This has to be the BEST book by Bryan Lee O'Malley. The story, the characters, THE ART- god the art! This book is amazing. I would recommend it to anyone who's a fan of Mr.O'Malley , or just looking for a good graphic novel to read. Also, The Scott Pilgrim references were great, definitely nostalgic.
Pretty much what I'm trying to say is: This books great! READ IT NOW.

(To avoid writing a thesis statement about how "thought-provoking" and "life-changing" this graphic novel is, let's just collect ourselves by stating the mantra: "It's just a graphic novel.")

As all of the other reviews have blared, it is clear O'Malley has another masterpiece on his hands. Upon my reading... Well, uh. I... It's... uh.

For the sake of my sanity, lets start with the GOOD. O'Malley's vibrant illustrations jump off the pages, just as it has in his past works (Scott Pilgrim; Lost at Sea; Hopeless Savages). I would wholeheartedly claim that the art ALONE would bring me back for a few more ganders. But the art isn't the only thing I adored, as our story is a solid one! While Scott Pilgrim kind of lost my interest a few volumes in, I was engaged in our main protagonist's (Katie) plight. Though I will talk about it more later on, the end (I won't spoil it) isn't my favorite.

And now... the BAD.

Well, I wouldn't say "the bad", more like "personal gripes." The main thing that keeps this from 5-star stardom would be the characters. To put it lightly, our side characters are a tad boring. (Except Lis, who is great!)

I can never overlook things like bland characters, especially when the point of a graphic novel is to give life to a story. Now, I know the focus is supposed to remain on Katie, but the rest of the characters are WAY TOO one-dimensional. And the "just side characters" argument isn't even applicable, since two of these side characters (the run-of-the-mill, awkward "womanchild"-who-is-gifted-in-some-way Hazel and... the ex-boyfriend character - I can't even remember his name, he's that forgettable of a character.) are essential to the plot.

Actually, speaking of the ex-boyfriend, taking the whole "love triangle" out ENTIRELY would have bumped this up to a 4 1/2 at least. While reading, I kept finding myself asking "Okay, okay they're in love I get it. Can we get please get back to the interesting stuff? Y'know, magic mushrooms? Spirits? Jokes? Character Development? Women Empowerment? JOKES?" A couple of pages would suffice, thank you very much. But most of this just feels like Scott and Ramona backwash, and I didn't even like the Scott/Ramona relationship.

As I alluded to before, the ending can bite me. Without spoiling the end TOO MUCH, I'll just leave it at this. (If you don't want it spoiled at all, skip this part.)

*************************Spoilers*************************

Deus ex machina is a plague we need to wipe of the face of storytelling forever. And the fact I already knew how it would happen MAKES IT 20x WORSE. (Freaking mushroom in the car?! WHAT?!) With endings that felt more justified (Scott Pilgrim) and cleverer (Lost at Sea) under Bryan Lee O'Malley's belt, it kind of left me in disbelief.

***********End of Spoilers***********

If you can look past some drab characters and cliches, "Seconds" is a fantastic read for anyone looking for some beautiful art and story. Hey, you might even learn something.

"Seconds gets a solid 8/10 in my book, but it's always subjective.

I see a lot of people praising Bryan Lee O'Maley's new book as something more mature and adult, when for me it seems on par with most of his previous works. With 'Seconds' I'm starting to see a pattern going on here.

1. The main character is a quirky youngster who doesn't have their life together and is mopey/whiny about it (Scott, Raleigh and now Katie)

2. The main character blames a lot of their problems on a boyfriend/girlfriend (Envy, a nameless guy Raleigh met online and now Max)

3. Crazy events go down which are mostly done for style points (Video game battles in Scott, chasing demon cats in Lost at Sea and now magic mushrooms)

4. The main character learns a lesson a 5-Year-Old already knows. (Love is good! It's okay to be confused! You can't change everything!)

With a third entry into his Bibliography, I feel disappointed. There's nothing wrong with having a story about a quirky twenty-something doing weird stuff, it isn't like someone owns this story plot, but I've seen O'Maley tell this story before. I wanted something different. I wanted to be impressed after he's worked on this new comic book for four years.

The story is dull. The first half of the book dragged with endless dialogue that gave me nothing but an occasional chuckle and the end felt forcibly wrapped up thanks to Katie cramming the moral of the story in our face. The story did get better as Max became more focused, but even then Katie acting insufferable.

Speaking of Katie, she is so close to being a Scott Pilgrim clone. Unlikable for a majority of what she does, but unlike Scott I don't feel like that was intentional. Hazel is annoyingly perfect and borderline useless except for exposition a couple of times. The rest were just kind of there in the background showing up once in a while. Max seemed to be the only real likable person in the entire story for me.

I still support Bryan Lee O'Maley's work and I adore the drawings in this book. It's clear he put a lot of time into the art work. Especially with the landscapes, some of them are absolutely gorgeous. I just didn't care strongly for the story. Like I said, it was dull. And in a comic book, a story is just as important as the art. Bad art can be looked over with a fun engaging story. Good art is nice, but when the story doesn't give me much to love, its only purpose starts become nice shelf filler.

This review originally appeared on Narrative Investigations

The simplest way to sum up this comic is that I didn't like the early parts very much but as the story got more and more bizarre I enjoyed it more, not for the weirdness but because Katie was then actually in a really distressing and sympathetic situation. I thought I saw a lot of people saying that oh she's this really relatable character [at the start] but I couldn't see it at all, she's 29, well-known as a chef (good at it even), wants to do something a little different by opening up her own place (understandable), and is both unsure of everything she does and cocky as hell at the same time. She's also semi-pining for a lost love which never works for me*, I understand that her isolation and not being involved in any romantic or platonic relationships at the start is supposed to be the biggest contrast to her success but it didn't really "work" for me, it didn't affect how I viewed the story at all. In fact, the first sympathetic thing she did was to take a mushroom and wish that she hadn't stopped to canoodle, mostly so one of the servers (Hazel) isn't injured by the resulting distraction, and there are a few other times she takes the mushrooms where I couldn't blame her. But then she veers back into hard to empathize when it becomes abundantly clear that these actions are hurting her more than helping, I was left wondering why she didn't eat a mushroom and simply wished that she hadn't had any of them in the first place by the middle of the book or so.

The side characters were more sympathetic for me by and large, Hazel is a sweet girl, I could easily see why Max (the ex) got fed up with Katie, and seeing how tired and put-upon Katie's boss seemed made perfect sense. But none of them were enough to carry the story, especially considering how many times Katie change the world with her mushrooms that should have made her even more isolated from the rest of the cast but it doesn't look like O'Malley viewed that the same way I did. I think he's simply one of the comic artists whose way of telling stories never fully works for me, I was more grumpy at Scott Pilgrim than anything else until again the final acts and I'm rather curious about the people he grew up with considering the character tropes that pop up in both of these works. I do like the art though, O'Malley seems fully comfortable in his rounded art style where most of the detail work comes from the coloring than the inking (and the coloring was really great, props to colorist Nathan Fairbairn).

In the end, I am a bit split over whether or not to recommend the work; by the end of the story I was enjoying it but the early characterization does bother me a lot (I do not think the book was terrible though!). Honestly this is one of those works where if you're interested by the initial premise, great, go read it, if not then you need to find a more effusive reviewer than I to convince you to try it out after all. And finally, for a "if you like this then you'll like that" recommendation, when I finished this book I immediately thought of the recently finished "Lucky Penny" short from the Johnny Wander webcomic. It also features a 20-something who doesn't have it all together, seems to make bad choices in life, and then gets involved in just some strange things and has to make really weird choices because of it. I enjoy the whole webcomic, fiction shorts and auto-bio, but for people who specifically want fiction then I think that's a good one to read next.

*I'm starting to feel like a rip-off of Spock for all of these times I keep having to say "I don't understand this emotion" but nothing in the early story was able to convince me why I should care about this relationship, especially if Katie is so unlikeable and probably the one at fault for "not making it work"

Visually, and with the help of assistants (more like a manga-ku everyday, this guy) it's more visually interesting than Scott Pilgrim, but the story felt flat. It's worth getting if you liked his previous works, and it's still interesting to follow post-25 yr olds learning lessons they should have when they were children.

4.5 Stars

Katie was once a chef on the brink of culinary stardom. Now, she's still a chef but struggling to get a new restaurant development off the ground. Added bonus, she keeps bumping into her ex whom she's not quite over... Yes, over the span of four years her life has been turned upside down, both personally and professionally.

Then comes that one magical, spooky night when things were at a new low. A mystery girl appears to Katie in her room with instructions on how to get out of her predicament: write the problem in a notebook, eat this magical mushroom, sleep, wake up and get a do-over!

The idea is for the person to only use this magic ONCE, but when Katie discovers a bed of these mushrooms right on her own property, she can't help herself, she starts trying to fix everything, absolutely everything, wrong in her life.... even going after those mild annoyances most of us shrug off. As you can imagine, things combust into hilarious disaster.

First off, I'm all for stories featuring sarcastic redheads! Add in a unique mix of restaurant staff, a spooky spectral girl with edgy fashion sense and this is one highly entertaining graphic novel. Hazel was also super adorable and provided a nice balance to Katie's jadedness.

I haven't read the Scott Pilgrim series yet (though I did see the film version), but having thoroughly loved the humor in this story -- especially Katie's responses to the narrator -- I'm now excited to start in on that series soon!

Without disclosing too many spoilers, the story revolves around the character of Katie, who was the head chef of her own restaurant, Seconds, and is trying to open a new one. Our protagonist finds a way to rewrite the mistakes she makes, but finds that this in itself is a mistake that she must learn from. While the above is the basic crux of the story, which is a variation of the often-used ‘Butterfly Effect’ with a ‘Groundhog Day’ twist, this book works because of the heart behind the main characters, and even some of the peripheral characters. Each one has their own unique voice that does not falter throughout the story, providing a sense of stability amidst the ever-changing setting.
Art-wise, the cartoon-heavy style made this book was a treat to look at, and in some ways enhanced the story. Despite said cartoon-based style, the adult themes that poke their heads out throughout the story aren’t lessened by the artistic style, but it’s the dream sequences where the art truly shines. In the final act of the book, O’Malley really flexes his creative muscles and provides incredible imagery to match the increasingly bizarre story.
If you enjoyed Scott Pilgrim, Groundhog Day, or any story revolving around those themes, as well as rich characterization, then do yourself a favor and pick this one up.

If you come looking for seconds on Scott Pilgrim, you won't find them. With that being said, though, Seconds is anything but disappointing.

Bryan Lee O'Malley's new graphic novel features Katie, a woman nearing thirty years of age who leaves her partnership at a restaurant called "Seconds" in order to open a new one. However, this new restaurant needs a lot of remodeling before it can open, and Katie constantly second-guesses her decision. Furthermore, her ex-boyfriend shows up at Seconds and she begins to question her decision to leave him as well. Why is Katie still haunting her old restaurant, you ask? She lives above it in a little apartment, so she thinks nothing of loitering about the business, chatting up customers, and telling the new chef how to do his job.

Katie begins to see a girl that doesn't belong around the restaurant and hanging out atop an old dresser in her apartment. When she checks out the dresser, she finds a batch of mushrooms far back in one of the drawers. These mushrooms come with a set of instructions that, if followed correctly, will allow the one who ingested them a second chance at just about anything.

Consequently, during her new restaurant's renovation, the workers find an old pot behind a wall. Katie brings it home. This pot serves as a catalyst to a supernatural upheaval, one that grows worse with each "do-over" Katie strives to achieve.

While O'Malley's art is the same, and while some of the jokes are purposefully familiar, this book is completely different than Scott Pilgrim in that Katie's story is grounded in realty with heavy swatches of the supernatural. Yet, as dark as it can be, Seconds still retains a hopeful tone, even as Katie suffers through angst and indecision.

O'Malley has captured well that sense of "what-if?" we all dwell upon in our twenties when we know every decision we make will impact the rest of our lives. In the end, O'Malley, through Katie, provides astute insight in regards to those kinds of thoughts, and while we philosophically can appreciate his message, poor Katie actually has to learn it the hard way.

Seconds is funny, thoughtful, dark, and yet irrefutably optimistic. O'Malley has created a well-constructed tale that is clearly the result of careful plotting. It is similar enough to Scott Pilgrim to entertain that character's fans, yet original enough to delight solely due to its own merits.

This is the second of O’Malley’s graphic novels I’ve read and I think I’m becoming a fan. He’s certainly a first-rate writer.

Katie’s got things going pretty good in her life -- only twenty-eight and already the head chef in her own very popular restaurant, with plans to open another one of which she’ll also be half-owner. The only bad thing, actually, is that the guy she’s starry-eyed for is now her ex-boyfriend. And she’s having a little fling in the kitchen with Andrew, the guy she’s been training to replace her. And there’s Hazel, the exceptionally nice waitress who’s also a knockout. And naive, and easily manipulated, and not much liked by the other girls at Seconds.

Naturally, Katie’s unhappy with things. The ancient building she’s having renovated for her new restaurant is becoming a money pit. Living in a tiny apartment over the restaurant (to save money for the new place) is a drag. She’s regretting decisions made and is wishing she could go back and change them. And then, through Hazel, she discovers Lis, the house spirit who also lives at Seconds. And Lis’s magic mushrooms can, in fact, change things. Great, right?

So Katie changes things to get Max back. She changes them again so Hazel won’t be burned in a kitchen accident. And again when she gets food poisoning. Then she stays up all night and gets drunk -- and changes that. She realizes she can do anything she wants, and then fix it in the morning -- as long as she doesn’t run out of mushrooms. And, naturally, it all gets out of control. Can Katie save herself? Can she put things back the way they were? This one is quite different from the “Scott Pilgrim” series, both in the narrative style and in the artwork. It’s also considerably more mature. What they have in common is a very naturalistic approach, especially in the dialogue. I’ll be tracking O’Malley.

Seconds is a successful restaurant, thanks in large part to Katie’s cooking and dedication – but she doesn’t own the place. So she’s been scrimping and saving to buy her own restaurant, move out of Seconds, and live happily ever after. Except there are delays in the renovation of the dump she bought with her business partner. Oh, and the house spirit of Seconds has issues with Katie.

Katie dreams about a strange girl crouching atop her cabinet and, after a disastrous night in the kitchen, she looks inside to find a notebook and a mushroom. If she writes down a wish in the notebook, eats the mushroom, and goes to sleep, when she awakens the wish will have come true. So begins a brilliant “be careful what you wish for” type story.

It’s been four years since the final Scott Pilgrim, though Seconds is more of a sequel to Bryan Lee O’Malley’s first book, Lost At Sea. Both feature protagonists searching for something they had all along. It’s also less fantastical than Scott Pilgrim, though, from the setup alone, you can tell O’Malley hasn’t left magical realism behind.

While Katie is written as this master chef, O’Malley doesn’t dwell on that aspect too long and so the food element to the character doesn’t seem convincing. But what O’Malley does know is relationships and the heart of the book is Katie’s attempts to get her ex-boyfriend, Max, back. The snappy, smart ‘n’ sassy dialogue is one of O’Malley’s strengths and everyone here (all under 30 of course) sounds very real. Katie also interacts with the omniscient narrator which is an ingenious touch from the author and something I’ve never seen before in a comic.

This is also O’Malley’s first book that’s been published in full colour (though the Scott Pilgrim books have been recently re-released in full colour hardbacks) and, if you’re unfamiliar with his style, the art is strongly anime-influenced. In fact, a lot of the art is done in the chibi-style. And though that might make the art seem overly cutesy and cartoony, you’ll be blown away with how affecting O’Malley can make his characters appear, especially as chibis!

Seconds is a slightly more mature book than O’Malley’s previous publications, though it’s full of the author’s usual wit and humour. The kind of story it is, and its message of trying to fix things in the present to make things better in the future, rather than wishing to change the past, isn’t original; but O’Malley’s treatment of them in Seconds is. His writing and art is top notch throughout and Seconds is an absolute joy to read. I loved Seconds and recommend it to anyone who enjoys quality, fun comics!

What would you do if you had a choice of going back and changing something in your past, would you do it?

Katie had it all, she was working on opening a new restaurant and she has an apartment above a restaurant that she helped build when she was younger, but Katie is lonely and missing a former love.
Things could have been perfect between Max and Katie but she blew it and now she is still missing what she lost and wishing she could change her past. Little does Katie know that there is a house spirit living in the restaurant she currently lives above with mushrooms that have the power to change the past as long as it took place inside the restaurant she currently lives above. The house spirit decides to give a mushroom to Katie along with a notebook to write down what she wants to change. Katie uses it to prevent an accident in which a waitress got really hurt at the restaurant and learns that the mushroom worked by making it so Katie can prevent the accident from even happening.

Katie wants to change more and more things from her past which becomes possible when she finds the place that the house spirit has been getting the mushrooms. With the new found power as the grasp of Katie's hand she begins to change more and more things until everything begins to tangle. Katie begins to learn that you can't change things without loosing something in return like memories of a life you have created. Now Katie wishes everything would just go back to normal without all the mess that she has created. Katie learns that she should be careful what you wish for.

Thoughts: I have read all of the Scott Pilgrim series by Bryan Lee O'Malley so I went in to this book with high hopes. Needless to say that I wasn't disappointed, this book had everything that I loved about Scott Pilgrim just wrapped in a different story line. I enjoyed the humor the most about Bryan Lee O'Malley's work it also doesn't hurt that art work is awesome as well. I wouldn't change anything about this book and I would recommend it to people who love graphic novels or who are just looking for something different to read. Trust me you won't be disappointed.

Kaite's life kinda sucks right now. The restaurant she built is no longer hers, her new one looks like it was made from rotting wood by Fire-people workers, and her ex ( who is totes dreamy) keeps running through her mind. But then she finds a mushroom with instructions to write down your regrets, eat it, and sleep. Being super smart she eats the strange unrecognized fungus and....yep...her regret never happened.

From the creator of Scott Pilgrim (1 of only 2 things i consider perfect), Seconds is a delightful graphic novel with characters who feel alive, tackling themes of regret and loss and personal identity. And of course it's hilarious. And the art is pushed to new levels, creating creepy imagery not really seen in O'Malley's work. And The girl from Lost at Sea as well as Joseph and Stephen Stills from Scott Pilgrim make cameos and that's awesome.

“Seconds” by Bryan Lee O’Malley of Scott Pilgrim fame brings together an interesting moralistic tale with an engaging female lead character, something missing in many graphic novels.

Katie is a driven, up and coming chef at a successful restaurant she runs called Seconds. She has plans to open a new eatery in an historic but abandoned building, and is preoccupied with the renovations required to get it up and running.

Katie is not exactly someone you would call personable. She is selfish, jealous, impulsive, can be difficult, and has little time for her employees or meaningful relationships. When things start to go wrong with the new place and boyfriend troubles arise, Katie’s life takes a downturn. Then one day one of her employees suffers a serious burn while on the job. Katie is visited by the “house spirit,” represented by a mysterious girl only she (as head of the house) can see. The spirit provides Katie with a second chance. A mystical notebook appears to her with instructions to write down her mistake, eat the accompanying mushroom, go to sleep, and “Wake anew.” Katie tries it and the next morning everything has changed. Katie finds more of the mushrooms growing in the basement of Seconds and, despite the warnings of the House Spirit, she cannot resist changing things in her quest for the perfect life again and again…and again. The results are not exactly what she expects.

I liked the idea of the house spirit, as it reminded me of some superstitions my grandmother passed on. It was fun watching Katie and her employee Hazel doing things for the spirit to keep her happy, like leaving bread on the rafters and clothes neatly folded on a freshly swept hearth.

I did have a few problems with the book. Some of the characters, such as Katie’s ex-boyfriend, did not seem to be fully realized. That may be because we see them through her eyes, and Katie is annoyingly self-centered and needy at times while giving very little back to others. But this is a story with a moral, and Katie has to learn to grow up emotionally and realize that the entire world does not necessarily revolve around her and her “perfect vision” of how things should be.

“Seconds” is a fun read, but it does not pack an emotional wallop as some other graphic novels that particularly stand out for me, such as Craig Thompson’s “Blankets,” Alison Bechdel’s “Fun Home,” Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis,” or even Guy Delisle’s “Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City.” Still the artwork in “Seconds” is good and the story moves well. The character of Lis the house spirit is innovative and author Bryan Lee O’Malley uses her to good effect. I will probably read more of O’Malley’s work, possibly the Scott Pilgrim series or “Lost at Sea.”

Third time's the charm for O'Malley and me! I absolutely adored this book! Scott Pilgrim never really won me over and Lost at Sea is terrible, but Seconds is hands down brilliant. I guess I've always kept going back to O'Malley because I love his art; it has that manga look without really going all the way. As per usual Bryan brings to the reader a tale of magical realism this time with time/space shifting and house spirits. The title sounds mysterious and right away we find out that "Seconds" is the name of the main character's restaurant but as the story progresses there are a few other ways the title can be interpreted. All the characters are quirky and lovable in their own ways. I especially found myself drawn to Hazel, a tall, model-like beautiful 21yo who is painfully shy and nervous and hasn't dated as she's not sure if she's into boys yet. While the story is mostly humorous and bizarre, there are thought-provoking moments that made me pause. Altogether a brilliant mix of plot, characters and the odd make for one of my favourite graphic reads in a while. I must add though that I am a bit miffed that Bryan's author blurb on the jacket flap fails to mention his Canadian identity, especially when the copy I own says, "Random House Canada" right underneath!

Plot:
Story is about a girl in her upper 20s named Katie trying to transition from her old job at the restaurant named Seconds (which she started with several of her friends) to a new one where she owns her own restaurant which is under construction.

During the transition some drama ensues, but she’s able to counteract it with some magical mushrooms she finds, which have her repeat events a la ‘Groundhog Day’ (movie) or ‘Girl Who Leap Through Time’.

Counter Reviews:
After reading some of the reviews already on the site; I don’t think it’s fair to compare it to the Scott Pilgrim series. Although by the same author, each have totally different set of themes. Seconds is a more realistic story (if you look past the super natural element) than Scott Pilgrim which is over the top and filled with video game/geek culture references. Saying some of the characters are one dimensional is an overstatement seeing the ex’s in Scoot Pilgrim also show similar characteristics, but I digress.

Overall:

It’s a great story filled with awesome art direction with a lot of personality, even though there’s a semi cop-out ending. A real page-turner as I finished the ~330 page graphic novel in 2 hours after purchase from the kindle store.

Being a 62-year-old retired engineer, I'm probably not your typical graphic novel reader. But my librarian 29-year-old daughter is always pushing this stuff at me anyway. I first became aware of Bryan Lee O'Malley from the Scott Pilgrim movie. I was intrigued by the trailers and loved the movie. My daughter had the books so I read them. I really loved the books. I like O'Malley's quirky drawing style and his handling of relationship issue seems real to me (even from as far away as I am from having young adult relationships). I feel the same way about "Seconds". When my daughter asked me if I wanted to read it, I said of course. I started it at about 10 PM, figuring I'd read a bit before bed. I read it straight through which took almost 2 hours. I really got into the futility of Katie trying to change her mistakes into not-mistakes and just making things worse. Not perhaps the most of original of stories (I'm thinking of "The Lathe of Heaven) by Ursula K. Le Giun) but still done well.

Bryan Lee O'Malley is most well-known for his awesome "Scott Pilgrim" series, which was converted into an awesome live-action movie. I confess that I haven't read most of "Scott Pilgrim," but after seeing O'Malley at the National Book Festival and hearing him pitch this, I decided to try it out. And boy, was I impressed.

If you liked "Scott Pilgrim," this is even better. While "Scott" was basically a goofball adventure satirizing video games, "Seconds" is deeper and explores the hard choices we all have to make as we move into adult lives. It follows a young restaurateur named Katie as she tries to open a second restaurant. It's not going well, and to make things worse, she isn't entirely over her hunky ex-boyfriend. But as chance would have it, she finds a mushroom that lets her "revise" a past mistake. From there things escalate gradually as she revises bigger and bigger episodes in her life and grapples with the forces that control these mushrooms.

"Scott Pilgrim" made its mark with its laid-back, unassuming, often hilarious style. O'Malley continues this here, with casual, slangy writing and lovable characters. The character designs are still very simple, yet they're expressive and often very cute, and O'Malley shows off a bit with detailed buildings, food, and the occasional landscapes. Japanese influence is clear (he admitted that he lifted Katie's hair from "Phoenix," for example), yet it's understated enough that you don't feel like you're reading a manga. There aren't a lot of jokes or gags this time, but the gently teasing writing and goofy art still had me laughing or smiling most of the time.

But "Seconds" surpasses its predecessor by its depth. Although on the surface this is a wacky time-travel story, in reality O'Malley is trying to tell us a parable about how to deal with life. Although Katie revisits her past at first to help out a (literally) burned employee, soon she's getting drunk and staying up late watching "Breaking Bad," because hey, she doesn't have to accept the consequences. When she tries to rewrite major past episodes, her whole life ends up different, but it's sometimes unclear if it's an improvement. She also has to deal with her own egotism; despite her friendly manner with the restaurant's customers, it's pretty clear she's very full of herself, and that doesn't work so well when she is essentially dropped in the middle of a relationship and deals with the feral "house spirit" who manipulates the mushrooms' magic.

I do have a few quibbles. As another reviewer noted, the ending is a bit of a let-down. I was hooked and excited to see what happened next, and although there are some intriguing twists and turns in the book's second half, the resolution is (mostly) standard fare. As is common with time-travel stories, things can get a bit confusing as alternate realities are layered over each other, and it's probably best not to think too much about the details. And I also found myself rooting against both of Katie's boyfriends; Andrew comes off as kind of a rough jerk while Max seems like a generic pretty face instead of a fully realized character. Arthur, Katie's partner in the second restaurant, is basically ignored.

But whatever, this book is still great. It manages to make you think without being pretentious about it, and to tell a sometimes poignant, heartbreaking story without feeling sappy or manipulative. O'Malley loves to poke fun at himself (Katie keeps bickering with the narrator) and doesn't take the whole endeavor too seriously. Katie, for all her flaws - her egotism, her indecisiveness, her ill-advised fling with Andrew - is a lovable lead, and seems like a genuinely nice, warm person, and we hope things work out well for her. Above all else, "Seconds" positively drips with personality. O'Malley knows how to inject his comics with his own quirky, sarcastic, teasing, creative personality, and if you dig it, it draws you in. I definitely get the sense that this comic is his way of working through his own issues with past blunders, but he keeps things light and goofy, making for another compelling modern fairy tale.

O'Malley is famous for Scott Pilgrim, and truth be told I was expecting something pretty similar. But Seconds is its own thing, so good on him for that.

Katie is a chef whose second restaurant should be opening soon... but then things start to get bumpy. So when she's offered the chance to make one choice differently, she goes for it. But things start to get strange.

There's a lot of funny in this book, but also a lot of magic and emotion. Life is hard, people! And Katie doesn't always make the best choices. She's impulsive and has a temper, and she's a little self-centered. But she's not a bad person, and I was rooting for her the whole time through the twists and turns and "what if" changes the magic brings about.

(Addtional credits on this one: Art assistance from Jason Fischer, letters by Dustin Harbin, and colors by Nathan Fairbairn.)

Seconds has an entirely seperate style, delivers the most unique protagonist as compared to the Scott Pilgrim Series. She is exceptional in her corruptibility , in her deep anxiety. Utterly defiant or abrasively callous, despite her wreckless confusion, she is determined...I fell in love with her character.... and her food. Seconds held my interest on many levels. Chefs of this day are fascinating. They are so full of passion, such spark, and they create the kind of food that heals and elucidates. I respect the culinary arts and it's masters. To be that obstinant, that emboldened to stand against a tide of big industry sludge as it floods our society is heroic. To protect the purity and history of food is revelutionary in this era. Even the most famous chefs make time to feed the sick and the hungry, sweating in the flames, laboring arduously in a race against time , and thwn plating a masterpiece. They are sustained only by what thrills and affections they can grapple tohether with their barehands. Anyway, she's a chef so my rambling is relevant. She's strong, she's just human.

I found this story spoke to my ethos and pathos in a way that another Ramona or Knives character couldn't. This heroine is so hoplessly fallible. It was agonizing to follow her tormentous journey alone through such a melancholy and hostile mind. Everyone had long been pushed away by her callous ego-centric behavior when... enter the magic mushrooms. This character really has the worst of luck. I've seen her in others, I've been her. At least my friends and I arrived at our moral convictions with the typical boisterous conflict or stings of humiliation here and there. Seems like a mercy compared to the trials in Seconds.

Seconds is the story of a person who must face all of her chaotic forces abruptly and utterly bewildered and maniachlly optimistic. ill never know the horror of living out my dreams only to be so decieved by my righteous self-assurance and lightness of heart that I am swept into a frenzy of wreckless abandon and cruelty. Magical mushrooms are intended or good. Always. Too much in the wrong hands at the wrong time and one will suffer the grandest delusions, and pursue misguided ambitions with fortified resolve. You're your own worst enemy. What happens next!? Read and find out.

I enjoyed Seconds. It was cerebral, less punchy, and more baroque. It's a dark journey of the most unsuspecting victim of circumstance. I recommend it. The prose and the illustrations together are very evocative. There are plenty of novels video games and movies to satisfy my interests in super heroes with super human strength. I find the everyday workers, the oppressed, the condemned, and the dying to possess real strength. Their discipline and endurance is a greater strength to me. These tests in pain and suffering make the saints worthy of beatitudes. Stronger still is the unrecognized hero in his or her self-reliance when there is no applause or reward. She is someone privileged, someone fickle, and extremely vulnerable. She is so conflicted and obssesed with self preservation and she makes a decision to do something very unlike her.

Seconds is about accepting the fools we all are despite or age, status, or constant self-assurances that we are selfless and good, and observe higher standards than most people. It's about recongnizing people, being aware of the efforts that contstruct this whole social imperative. Every role is significant, for better or worse. Acknowledge now and again that the smallest of interactions holds a chasm of untold history in those few words or that slightest of gestures. We are more than than the sum of our parts, more than we are willing or able to percieve of ourselves. Expect the unexpected. Eat all the mushrooms. Bryan Lee O'Malley bound word and ink into this gorgeous little red book. Bryan Lee O'Malley. That should be all the incentive you need. Neil Gaiman, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Frank Miller, just, that's the mark for quality. I read this in a few hours and it's worth revisiting. If you're indecisive you could read this in 3 hours or less and have respite from your circular thoughts. You could be that engaged in the drama and adventure.

Seconds is a fantastic adventure with a great mythos and fascinating artwork. I had no idea what to expect when I was first reading it, and the first pages were a little jarring because of their difference from what I think of as "typical Bryan Lee O'Malley," but as soon as I got into the bulk of the story, I was able to just enjoy it.

In terms of story, the book is about Katie, who is an even blend of Scott and Raleigh, both fairly clueless and introspective. I really liked reading her story, and while I don't feel as close to any of the characters in Seconds compared to the characters in SP, that can be chalked up to SP being a series and Seconds is only a single book. As I came closer to the end, I almost wished it could have been a longer series so the characters could really thrive.

I read an interview with O'Malley where he was asked whether Seconds is more like Scott Pilgrim or more like Lost at Sea, and he didn't have a good answer, and I can see why. Sorry to be vague, but it is like both, but also like neither. The modern, video-gamey feel of SP is gone, but the characterizations are similar. The deep, introspective elements of LAS are gone, but not entirely, and characters do a lot of ruminating about past mistakes, which is a key theme of the book.

As far as looks, the art is fantastic. Bryan has come a long way and it is noticeable. The characters are beautiful, the lines are defined and the art is stylized in a way that fits the tone of the story perfectly. It was especially nice to have it in color, which I enjoyed. Maybe black and white is your thing, but I really enjoyed the vibrant splashes of colors.

Overall - I loved every minute of this book, and if you are a fan of either of O'Malley's earlier books, you will most likely love this, and even if you are not, there is enough here to convert you. Pick this book up!

This book was offered to me as a birthday gift. I have not read the previous works of the author, but because I love manga my friend thought I would enjoy this story. The truth is that he wasn’t wrong. The art-work is very manga-like and the color application results quite well.
The story can be framed as an urban legend type, and managed to captivate me until almost the end. Personally, I found the end unsatisfactory. The need to resolve all the conflicts and dilemmas so that all characters end up happy disappointed me a little. Katie is a childish and it seemed that all her problems (caused by her) were magically solved without her needing to improve herself as a person.

This is the Scott Pilgrim guy, right?

I didn’t read Scott Pilgrim, so I can’t compare this to Scott Pilgrim (I did see the movie, but none of this reminds me of Michael Cera).

I did like this book though – even though it stars a girl (Ew! I know right)

It’s about starting a restaurant. And time travel, done in an incredibly new and inventive way. Or it was new to me. If the Scott Pilgrim guy was ripping anyone off, I missed the antecedent. This book is also about love and about not trusting contractors, and finally that all places have a certain spirit of their own. There’s also a spooky kinda-goth chick that I liked. She’s one of the few people that could sense the spirit. She also burned her arms, but then didn’t but then ….

You know what, just read the book.

Not everyone can create a popular six-graphic-novel series that’s the basis for a major motion picture and still being reprinted ten years later. So it’s not surprising that the next book by Bryan Lee O’Malley, creator of Scott Pilgrim, has been heavily anticipated.

That can be a heavy burden to bear, but I’m pleased to say that Seconds: A Graphic Novel is a terrific read, shaking off the sophomore curse. It’s the story of Katie, a young chef who works at one of the best-regarded, popular restaurants in town. But she’s an employee, not an owner, so she’s working to open her own place. Unfortunately, that’s become a bigger project than she thought, with her choice of an older location causing more problems than expected. Then her ex-boyfriend Max visits, raking up unsettled emotions.

Katie is feeling her age, about to enter her thirties, the decade where you realize that you can’t always just start over, the time when you recognize that decisions have consequences, and some choices can’t be reversed. In other words, Katie is growing up, but she’s hating it. Then Katie dreams, one night, about a white-haired primitive sprite, a spirit that tells her she has an option “if things go wrong”. She finds a box that contains a mushroom, a notebook, and an instruction card. Eating the mushroom causes a cosmic reset, where she can erase her mistakes.

One you have the strength to make major changes in your life, then change for its own sake can become addictive, and Katie falls into the trap. But the story is about how she needs to recognize the need for community, for getting along with others and playing within the established rules to build harmony. In other words, it’s not just about her.

O’Malley has refined his art style. The video-game-inspired cute characters and big eyes are still present, but they’re shown more confidently. The pages are dense, with multiple panels focusing the eye on key elements. The panels where we see more than one character at once are rarer and thus more potent. I was impressed at how much story we get here and yet how much more I wanted. Some of Katie’s choices are lightly, briefly told, since we can piece together the details ourselves. The technique involves the reader more in sympathizing with her, making us part of her story.

So many normal virtues are turned on their head. Katie’s first change is for someone else, a compassionate gesture to fix their pain that she caused. (Although one might see that as using someone else as the experimental guinea pig.) Katie’s talented, which lets her act up without others calling her on it. Katie’s determined and independent, which has allowed her to achieve things, but her lack of willingness to follow the rules, her insistence that she’s special, will undermine her. We’re supposed to applaud that kind of “I can do it! On my own!” confidence, but here, it’s a tragic flaw, evoking older heroic tales and the lesson of avoiding hubris.

Seconds means many things, most involving second chances:
* It’s Katie’s second try at a restaurant.
* It’s a reminder that good food makes us want more.
* It’s an indicator of how quickly life-changing decisions can be made, in merely seconds.

One of the subtly interesting elements to me was how difficult Katie found it to accept the ongoing process of setting up her new place. She was impatient and uncomfortable with the compromises. She has a perfect vision and that the world doesn’t want to give it to her exactly as she imagined is making her sullen. That’s another part of growing up, of realizing that things are not going to be exactly how you imagined them, and how to accept the best you can make it.

Then there’s the classic warning to be careful what you wish for. When Katie gets what she thinks she wants, she doesn’t realize what the choices have cost her. Simply wishing for a better relationship means you skip putting in the work to make it so. A different choice might not be better, but some stubborn people have to see that to realize it.

Seconds left me thinking a lot, about how I became the person I am now and what I might have done differently. It’s inspirational and exciting and an impressive accomplishment. (Review originally posted at ComicsWorthReading.com.)

I loved this graphic novel. The plot was totally unpredictable. It also mashed together so many genres that it hard to categorize. Maybe young adult paranormal mystery sci fi romance? I picked up this book because I enjoyed the Scott Pilgrim vs the World books by the same author. However, I believe this book is better and it is not a series so you get the immediate gratification of an ending. The magic mushrooms in the plot make you think about how you would change your mistakes well after you have finished the book.

I received this book yesterday and read the entire thing! Bryan Lee O' Malley has done it again. What a master piece. I know there are three separate editions to this book. A regular one with a red cover, a Barnes and Noble exclusive AND a San Diego Comic Con one. I really wish I had the money for it since my friend is there this week. Looks like a really nice version. I recommend this book especially if you like his previous graphic novels. The art is also very nice to look at. It's an interesting story about wanting to change things you have done but in the end... things aren't what they seem. That's all I am going to say since you should just BUY IT!

Yesterday I was given this book as an early birthday gift, this morning I began and finished this book. Incredible, phenomenal, unforgettable. The art is sublime (no surprise there, I read the entirety of O' Malley's previous work: Scott Pilgrim). The writing has such depth, is playful and serious, yet really understand the thought process of the reader and the protagonist. Like O' Malley's other work, the main character is self aware and interacts with the narrator a few times without making a huge distraction from the novel. The way O' Malley writes reminds me of a friend telling an interesting story. I feel myself gripping onto every word. I love this book with every fiber of my being. Though, I barely turn 18 next week, I feel a connection to the protagonist who struggles accepting the state of her life at 30. The grand message is one I'll carry with me for life. Gift this book (and Scott Pilgrim!) to those in your life who worry about their direction, who fret over every mistake, and have too many regrets. Give this book to everyone in your life who could use some peace of mind and a laugh.

Not everyone can create a popular six-graphic-novel series that’s the basis for a major motion picture and still being reprinted ten years later. So it’s not surprising that the next book by Bryan Lee O’Malley, creator of Scott Pilgrim, has been heavily anticipated.

That can be a heavy burden to bear, but I’m pleased to say that Seconds: A Graphic Novel is a terrific read, shaking off the sophomore curse. It’s the story of Katie, a young chef who works at one of the best-regarded, popular restaurants in town. But she’s an employee, not an owner, so she’s working to open her own place. Unfortunately, that’s become a bigger project than she thought, with her choice of an older location causing more problems than expected. Then her ex-boyfriend Max visits, raking up unsettled emotions.

Katie is feeling her age, about to enter her thirties, the decade where you realize that you can’t always just start over, the time when you recognize that decisions have consequences, and some choices can’t be reversed. In other words, Katie is growing up, but she’s hating it. Then Katie dreams, one night, about a white-haired primitive sprite, a spirit that tells her she has an option “if things go wrong”. She finds a box that contains a mushroom, a notebook, and an instruction card. Eating the mushroom causes a cosmic reset, where she can erase her mistakes.

One you have the strength to make major changes in your life, then change for its own sake can become addictive, and Katie falls into the trap. But the story is about how she needs to recognize the need for community, for getting along with others and playing within the established rules to build harmony. In other words, it’s not just about her.

O’Malley has refined his art style. The video-game-inspired cute characters and big eyes are still present, but they’re shown more confidently. The pages are dense, with multiple panels focusing the eye on key elements. The panels where we see more than one character at once are rarer and thus more potent. I was impressed at how much story we get here and yet how much more I wanted. Some of Katie’s choices are lightly, briefly told, since we can piece together the details ourselves. The technique involves the reader more in sympathizing with her, making us part of her story.

So many normal virtues are turned on their head. Katie’s first change is for someone else, a compassionate gesture to fix their pain that she caused. (Although one might see that as using someone else as the experimental guinea pig.) Katie’s talented, which lets her act up without others calling her on it. Katie’s determined and independent, which has allowed her to achieve things, but her lack of willingness to follow the rules, her insistence that she’s special, will undermine her. We’re supposed to applaud that kind of “I can do it! On my own!” confidence, but here, it’s a tragic flaw, evoking older heroic tales and the lesson of avoiding hubris.

Seconds means many things, most involving second chances:
* It’s Katie’s second try at a restaurant.
* It’s a reminder that good food makes us want more.
* It’s an indicator of how quickly life-changing decisions can be made, in merely seconds.

One of the subtly interesting elements to me was how difficult Katie found it to accept the ongoing process of setting up her new place. She was impatient and uncomfortable with the compromises. She has a perfect vision and that the world doesn’t want to give it to her exactly as she imagined is making her sullen. That’s another part of growing up, of realizing that things are not going to be exactly how you imagined them, and how to accept the best you can make it.

Then there’s the classic warning to be careful what you wish for. When Katie gets what she thinks she wants, she doesn’t realize what the choices have cost her. Simply wishing for a better relationship means you skip putting in the work to make it so. A different choice might not be better, but some stubborn people have to see that to realize it.

Seconds left me thinking a lot, about how I became the person I am now and what I might have done differently. It’s inspirational and exciting and an impressive accomplishment. (Review originally posted at ComicsWorthReading.com.)

I loved this graphic novel. The plot was totally unpredictable. It also mashed together so many genres that it hard to categorize. Maybe young adult paranormal mystery sci fi romance? I picked up this book because I enjoyed the Scott Pilgrim vs the World books by the same author. However, I believe this book is better and it is not a series so you get the immediate gratification of an ending. The magic mushrooms in the plot make you think about how you would change your mistakes well after you have finished the book.

I received this book yesterday and read the entire thing! Bryan Lee O' Malley has done it again. What a master piece. I know there are three separate editions to this book. A regular one with a red cover, a Barnes and Noble exclusive AND a San Diego Comic Con one. I really wish I had the money for it since my friend is there this week. Looks like a really nice version. I recommend this book especially if you like his previous graphic novels. The art is also very nice to look at. It's an interesting story about wanting to change things you have done but in the end... things aren't what they seem. That's all I am going to say since you should just BUY IT!

Yesterday I was given this book as an early birthday gift, this morning I began and finished this book. Incredible, phenomenal, unforgettable. The art is sublime (no surprise there, I read the entirety of O' Malley's previous work: Scott Pilgrim). The writing has such depth, is playful and serious, yet really understand the thought process of the reader and the protagonist. Like O' Malley's other work, the main character is self aware and interacts with the narrator a few times without making a huge distraction from the novel. The way O' Malley writes reminds me of a friend telling an interesting story. I feel myself gripping onto every word. I love this book with every fiber of my being. Though, I barely turn 18 next week, I feel a connection to the protagonist who struggles accepting the state of her life at 30. The grand message is one I'll carry with me for life. Gift this book (and Scott Pilgrim!) to those in your life who worry about their direction, who fret over every mistake, and have too many regrets. Give this book to everyone in your life who could use some peace of mind and a laugh.

This is a serious chunk of a graphic novel, 322 pages, but easily read in an evening. Gorgeous hardback cover with a 3/4 cover wrap. Seconds tells the story of Katie who is a chef on the verge of opening her own restaurant. Katie is visited by a spirit at a time when Katie just wants to change events from a particular evening. All Katie has to do is write the mistake down and eat a special mushroom and events magically change. Crazy things start to happen when Katie starts second guessing all her decisions and tries to change everything. LOVE this graphic novel, colorful panels and fantastic story line.

Like all fans, I was amazed by the Scott Pilgrim series, and very sad when it ended so soon. We always want good things to last longer, but sometimes it's ok for them to end, if they have good succession. This is the case here, with Seconds keeping the unique art style, the tone that knows to remain mature and relevant to adults without taking itself too seriously, and the emotion present everywhere.

Seconds is another masterpiece which I would recommend to everyone, unless you really dislike the art style.

This review is going to be a little shortened—the new Goodreads app lost the original one I wrote earlier today. And I really loved my review too... :-(

Well, that was another quick read! The story did feel very reminiscent of Scott Pilgrim (of which I've only read the first volume [and seen the movie]) in the way O'Malley wrote words like "STARE" and "GRAB" in single panels and the way certain items are labeled with "BORING" and "HIDEOUS" arrows, but it's different in that it's a single ~300 page graphic novel and follows a female protagonist who can hear and interact with the narrator.

Katie is an almost-30-year-old whose life is in a rut. She's a fantastic chef, and while she's part owner & executive chef of a very popular restaurant (called, Seconds) she wants to have her own place and run her own life. But her new restaurant keeps getting delayed, her ex keeps showing up at Seconds, and her best (and shyest) waitress gets injured in the kitchen!

Enter Lis—a house spirit who offers Katie a notebook, a magic mushroom, and some instructions on how to get a second chance at anything. All she has to do is write her mistake in the book, eat a mushroom, go to sleep and wake anew! Katie finds a stash of mushrooms and ignores Lis's rule of only one mushroom per person, because Katie is a perfectionist; once she fixes one thing, she wants to make everything perfect. But like any time travel story (which is basically what this is), minor changes have huge effects and every time Katie tries to fix something more problems arise (like an inky monster that haunts her dreams [and her basement]).

Loved how quick of a read this was. A fun story (with a semi-rushed ending) beautifully drawn. O'Malley's writing style is fun (can't wait to finish Scott Pilgrim once the Vol 6 Color Edition is released!) and these characters are great. Katie's ex-boyfriend, Max, was written pretty flatly. Was never really shown why Katie was so hung up on him. Even her new business partner, Arthur, is given little to no backstory, but I guess this is Katie and the house spirit's story. I only realize these complaints after I finished, and I don't think they hurt my enjoyment of the novel as I read it. Plus, you gotta love the cameo on page 259!

I enjoyed Scott Pilgrim (though I didn't feel it deserved 6 books) and was excited to read O'Malley's next project. I have to say, other than the artwork, I was thoroughly disappointed. It is rather lazy storytelling, this is another "don't change the past because bad things happen when you do" story though it is not presented in a fresh or interesting way.. Both O'Malley and the main character act as if this is the first time someone thought of telling this story. The characters are so one dimensional that it is difficult to form any real opinion on them. This is one of those books that seconds after finishing it you will forget anything about this graphic novel.

This was such a FUN read! So much fun that I read it in just one sitting. The story was interesting and paced well. The characters were all very lovable. The illustrations were perfect. And I absolutely adored how the main character, Katie, broke the fourth wall and talked back to the narrator.

Great book! This book captures the weirdness of being a young adult. The main character is adorable, and love the story. It feels like a small little indie flick, as a comic. This is truly a soul excuser of Scott Pilgrim, while being it's own story, with it's own unique characters. To be honest it feels more grounded in reality, then Scott Pilgrim was(and I know that's not saying much lol). I say buy, and read this. Especially if your 19 and up.

I've been anxiously waiting to post my review of this book since the publisher sent me an advance copy a few weeks ago. If you enjoyed the Scott Pilgrim books, but hesitate to share those with friends as it's a multi-volume series, go for this Done in One story.

O'Malley skillfully weaves the actions of the main character and her attempts to rewrite her own history into the story of the supporting cast. While the early changes appear to all lead to a happy ending, that's not the case and the story quickly turns into a cautionary fable.

The art fits well and, by paying attention to the details, the reader will have plenty of foreshadowing of what's coming.

Some of the art could be described as manga-esque, but O'Malley doesn't use the over-the-top tropes of some manga to get his point across.

If this is your first taste of O'Malley's work, definitely try the Scott Pilgrim books.

This was pretty good. I enjoyed it almost as much as The Sculptor by Scott McCloud. I'd missed the whole Scott Pilgrim thing, so this was the first book I've read by this author, and I'm reading Scott Pilgrim now. The artwork seemed strange at first, but it fits the story well.

Here is my full review: [...]

I would have given this book 3 stars if it wasn't for the beautiful artwork. Here are the pros:
1) Elements of magic, folklore, mythology, and fables
2) Cute drawing style, harmonious color palette
3) Well-written and effective in disseminating a simple and heart-warming message.
4) An engaging set of characters

Here are the cons:
1) Cliche ending, sort of like something from a romantic comedy. It didn't make sense with the direction of the story, the development of the characters, and the overall message.
2) A protagonist who is obsessed with her sexist and annoying boyfriend. O'Malley seems hung up on depicting people who are hung up on relationships. But, then again, everyone is a critic, and I will still, for sure, read his next book as I am a fan.

Overall, the story is solid. To compare this book with the Scott Pilgrim series is ridiculous in that this is only 1 book (as opposed to 6); therefore, I imagine developing the "side" characters would be much more difficult, yet people are complaining about the lack of character development. It's a pretty short story compared to the Pilgrim volumes, so you can't expect the same kind of development to take place in a smaller work.

Read the book. The artwork is wonderful, and the story is entertaining despite some of its trite conventions. There's enough magic in this narrative to give readers a fun time.

I got this book for my sister as a birthday present. When it came in the mail I thought I would just read the first couple pages to see how it was since i was a fan of the Scott Pilgrim books. I thought it was good so I figured that reading a few more pages couldn't hurt. After a bit, I realized that I had finished half of the book. Then, ashamed, I put the book down, wrapped it, and waited impatiently for her birthday so that I could finish reading it after her.

So I finished reading Bryan Lee O'Malley's new book and I really wanted to like it more than I did, but I felt it was just "ok." He's the Scott Pilgrim guy and *LOVE* those books and the movie (the first 3/4 of the movie really is straight out of the books, and if you like that, read the books, as they expand on it even more.)

I knew Seconds wasn't going to be Scott Pilgrim and I didn't expect it to be. It's a stand-alone book not a series. I really liked the characters in it and the premise behind it, but I felt the last 1/4 of it was insanely predictable to the point of it really being disappointing. It really felt like he had a good idea with strong characters but had no clue how to wrap it all up.

Part of me is kinda hoping that other fans of his feel the same way and he either goes back to Scott Pilgrim or starts another series instead of a one-off book. Kind of think he might be better at that sort of thing.

End of the day, I wouldn't discourage someone from picking it up, especially if you did like Scott Pilgrim. The writing and art style is very similar. It's funny without having to be LOL funny. I just wish the story had come together more like what I expect out of his books rather than an 80s montage of "where are they now..."

If Scott Pilgrim was slightly less annoying and infinitely more insightful, you'd get this wonderful coming-of-age story for adults in their late-twenties/early-thirties. Hilarious, sweet, and creative, I'd recommend this for graphic novel to those new to the genre and the old fans who are searching for a read that is refreshing and heartfelt.

While not as fun and playful as Scott Pilgrim, Seconds dives back into the similar territory, complete with fantastical story elements. A very enjoyable read and great artwork. The story is engaging, but it's a little darker than Scott Pilgrim, in case that's what you're expecting.

Very enjoyable story, and loveable characters. The message behind it all is one that people can learn from and is handled nicely with feeling like it's being shoved down your throat. Overall great book.

But once I got going I didn't want to stop. A quick read but with lots of character and charm-the themes here could be expanded on to take it to that Scott pilgrim level fame very easily. Seconds is very fulfilling, recommended!

Once a fat-ass book worm, I now feel like I'm going illiterate because these days most books bore me during the first sentence. However, this berk wurz gud. Grud even. Great and good. It struck a chord within me that made my very being vibrate as if I'd been penetrated in a private spot.

Seconds is good. It retains a lot of the same themes and quirkiness as Scott Pilgrim. It's a little predictable, but It's definitley an enjoyable read. Only question, why is O'Malley always writing stories about accepting your past?

This is hand down the best comic that I have read this year and in my top 5 from the past 10 years.

When people say comics are not serious reading I will point them in the direction of this book. Great Stuff!

Seconds is a book about a girl that throws all of her dreams away for a man. She uses the mushrooms given by her house spirit to become married to her ex boyfriend, who then takes ownership of the restaurant she's been dreaming to control. Not only that but he forces her to change her mind of which building she wants, the decor, and even the name of her restaurant.
Other than that, it was a very intriguing book, wonderful colors and relatable characters. The house spirits were absolutely charming. The Russian folklore was my favorite part of the book.

When I was going to the library to pick up this book, I thought it would be typical graphic novel length. This surprised me, the length and the size of the book. I was even more surprised when there were no more pages to read.

I really enjoyed Hazel, she was an amazing and interesting character. Sweet, kind, smart and shy, yet she develops, grows out of her shyness. I love her.

Our Main character, Katie if I am right, she was really silly and immature at numerous times, it was hard to believe she was 29. TWENTY NINE! She is immature for a 20 year old, let alone 29. Its not just the art which makes the characters seem much younger than they are.

Lis, the house ghost, was really egocentric and b*tchy. I understand her point, but she could display her messages better. She does make me want to leave house offerings though, i wonder what my house spirit looks like.

The concept of the book was not the most original, but it was amazing none the less. I read the book in two sittings, only because bladders really need to evolve into something stronger. I loved the whole mushroom thing. The evil spirit, the notebook, her mistakes. It was awesome sauce.

What Katie did was real. The characters were real. No matter how childish Katie was she was real. If i was her I would have done the exact same things with the mushrooms.

It was funny. I genuinely laughed. When Katie protested against the narration, breaking the fourth wall somewhat, I laughed. And there were many many other parts which I can't recall as I read the book a few weeks back.

There were a lot of messages within the story, dont mess with the space and time continuum, you will only screw it up, love your life the way it is, don't try changing the impossible and be brave :)

I loved reading this graphic novel and just want more. This made me want to read Scott Pilgrim, I did, and enjoyed it too. I highly recommend Bryan Lee O'Malley for a good graphic novel.

Seconds is a book about a girl that throws all of her dreams away for a man. She uses the mushrooms given by her house spirit to become married to her ex boyfriend, who then takes ownership of the restaurant she's been dreaming to control. Not only that but he forces her to change her mind of which building she wants, the decor, and even the name of her restaurant.
Other than that, it was a very intriguing book, wonderful colors and relatable characters. The house spirits were absolutely charming. The Russian folklore was my favorite part of the book.

This the worst "book" I have ever read. I can't even classify it as a book. It makes absolutely no sense to me. I can't believe the people who gave it 5 stars. I'm sorry I wasted my money on this thing.