The Primroses Were Over

I do hate giving this, which is one of my favorite stories, only a three, but I was not really a fan of the adaptation.

The story itself was well-done, both in terms of the original and in terms of adaptation, and I thought the little magazine covers between each part (I'm assuming I was reading a combination volume and that they were originally released as individual comics) were adorable. The design there was quirky and charming.

My problem was the actual art.

I am one of those people (I apologize now!) that actually rarely notices the art in anything that has words. I read the words, I get a general impression, I notice color most decidedly, but I don't generally have a very strong opinion one way or the other on it. This really really bothered me, though, and it got progressively worse the longer I read. I was iffy from the beginning on the fact that they had clearly looked at the Keira Knightly adaptation of the film for inspiration, but I was willing to overlook that (and hey, redheads! I'm a fan of that!). Then small things started bothering me. The shading of their lips, which I winced every time I saw. The male faces, which were all oddly unsettling, even the friendly ones. By the time I finished this, I was attempting not to look at the art, which is kind of a terrible thing in a visual adaptation like this.

I can't say it isn't just me (it probably is), but it really came close to ruining this for me--I almost gave it up (and it's 120 pages of a story I love--seriously, it is not a long read). I finished and actually debated between two stars and three, but let the charm of the story, the well-handled dialogue and well-chosen bits that were adapted, and the cute little magazine covers sway me up to "I liked it."

I'll be going back to the book for my next re-read, though, for certain.