Everything Amplified

LoveReading4Kids Says

September 2025 Book of the Month

This is a beautiful YA graphic novel that hits hard, it’s one that will stay in your brain long after you’ve put it down. Nel, immersed in music, is trying to focus on GCSE’s but is preoccupied with her twin brother Ludo. He’s aggressive, a bully and clearly her mother’s favourite, at least in Nel’s eyes. She feels like she’s watching her life unfold without her.

Nel, in short, feels like she’s spinning her wheels whereas Ludo appears to coast through everything without a care. The only that seems to be reliable in Nel’s life is her music and her best friend, Kit.

Then Ludo joins a band, and Kit starts to date the guitarist, Nel feels her friendships shifting from beneath her. But when Ludo drops out and Nel takes up his spot, she starts to realise her place in the world.

I love how this graphic novel is structured, it’s a very genuine teenage experience. We have deep moments of focus that are shattered by social media, mental pressures and thoughts that come and go like leaves in the wind. Nel’s narrative reflects perfectly the uneven rhythm of figuring out who you are.

It’s an essential graphic novel to have in schools in my opinion. It tackles identity, friendships and independence. It’s fast-paced, packed full of teen frustration, you can feel it dripping off of each page.

The artwork is superb, and genuinely makes you feel you are inside a teenage brain. Little biographies of Nel’s favourite artists and different online material “pops” up on the page, these area not distracting and in fact make the story more engaging. Whether teens are into music or not, they will absolutely love this gripping YA graphic novel. I cannot recommend it enough, it’s brilliant.

Lucas Maxwell

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