Having had a beautiful love story with her schoolmate Grace ripped from her, Mia is adrift in life, looking for a place to belong and a means to believe in herself. Set in a non-specific future-one far enough in the future where human civilizations have come and gone across it’s galaxy leaving long lost secrets-the book intertwines a present narrative of a building restoration crew with the school-age past of its newest member, Mia. Honestly, On A Sunbeam by the immensely talented Tillie Walden is such a balm for my soul and I’ve returned to it many times when I needed something to cheer me up. I still squeal with glee whenever I think about this book. Insta | twitter | blog | booksirens | duolingo And she gains much more than she thought she would. She grows from an impulsive little girl into an amazing mature woman. She goes after Grace with no expectations other than saying goodbye. And she's ready to work hard even if that's the only thing she ever gets. It’s like a distant song about longing heard from the room you’re not in anymore while you try to get on with your life. You know this edits ‘x song heard from the other room’? Somehow Mia’s emotions managed to capture the essence of it.

I like to think that the present purple came from Mia's blue and the red she felt with Grace. It usually happens when Mia feels something - when somebody leaves some impact. We get purple for present and blue for the past. The story starts with only two and both of them are cold. I love how the scarce usage of colours left me wondering about the meaning of each of them. This simplicity gives every detail much more impact and keeps the focus on all the intense emotions. The art is simple but not lazy or boring. This story made me feel things I didn't know I could feel. Every part is unique, but they're all connected. They interwind and finally merge together. So, there're two stories: Mia and her chosen family on the ship and Mia and Grace. But the story is not linear - it also takes us 5 years back to Mia experiencing her first love. Mia begins her adult life and gets a job in reconstruction with a small team which consist of two married women, a niece of one of them, and a non-binary person.

About how I should think of all the circuits and wires like they're roads. Read here Preferably at 2am while curled up under blanket and contemplating existence.

On a sunbeam tillie