Giant Days: Not on the Test Edition Vol. 3

Giant Days: Not On the Test Edition

by John Allison, Max Sarin (Illustrations), Liz Fleming (Illustrations)

Finishing up their first year and heading into the summer, things are only getting stranger for Esther, Susan, and Daisy!

Summer term is starting, and Daisy, Esther, and Susan have nearly made it out of their first year alive. McGraw has a new girlfriend, Daisy is off digging up Romans, and Esther and Ed have landed neck deep in a computerized plagiarism scam run by Dean Thompson! From year-end dances and summer music festival escapades, to new-home growing pains and Romantic German Intrigue, the biggest mistakes are yet to come, as the girls head into their second year of university.

Giant Days: Not On The Test Edition Vol. 3, written by John Allison (Bad Machinery, Scary Go Round) and illustrated by Max Sarin, collects the fifth and sixth volumes of the Eisner Award and Harvey Award-nominated series as well as an issue of the original webcomic in deluxe hardcover. 

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fiction, Contemporary, LGBT, Graphic Novels Comics, Comedy

240 pages, Hardcover

First published November 13, 2018

About the author

John Allison is the author and artist of the British webcomics Scary Go Round and Bad Machinery.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See other authors with similar names.

Reviews

[Shibosan · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh... Как-то по нисходящей идет для меня. 2,5*

[Raj · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been enjoying the Giant Days series a lot but there were a few things in this volume that I didn't like. This one takes us through the end of the coven's first year at university, their summer and into the start of their second year.

The first thing that I felt was off in this was when the girls were at a music festival and someone spikes Susan's drink. Here it's mostly played for laughs (Susan gets really high and Esther looks after her), but it's a serious topic and the way it was done jarred for me. There's no real context behind it either, it's a guy that Susan appears to have known, but he appears a page earlier and then disappears until the end of the chapter, where he makes a very brief reappearance without any understanding of who he was or why he did it. I don't really see the point of it, and it seems to make light of a serious subject.

The other major thing I didn't like, which is much more subjective is that I found Daisy's girlfriend (oh yes, remember the German girl from the end of the last book? They get together) deeply unpleasant. This is much more a personal thing, because I just don't like Ingrid's personality. She's completely lacking in impulse control and draws out the worst in others. And I really don't think she's good for Daisy (yes, I'm quite emotionally invested in our little coven by now).

But beyond those, there's a lot to enjoy here, with various adventures to be had and adulting to be done, as they move into their own flat for second year, including the discovery of Ikea and dinner parties. There's also an ongoing situation with their elderly next door neighbour, and we get to meet Susan's dad, who is awesome.

There's the third (and, I think, last) webcomic at the end of this volume, which sees Susan and Daisy making friends with Erin from the Indie Music Society. I'm not sure if I missed something, but I don't remember her from the main comic, which is a shame, as she seems like a fun character who I would have liked to get to know more.

The guys get some love too. Both Ed and McGraw are present and correct, and both adorable, in their own different ways. McGraw is as handy with a screwdriver as ever, and Ed gets a bit of screen time in an adventure with Esther (maybe some tension there?!).

I'm still enjoying this series, but there don't seem to be any more of these beautiful hardback editions. I might have to start slumming it in the ebook world.

[Lane Maddox · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars! The girls enter their second term and explore off campus living. From the traditional ikea furnishing to the intrusive neighbors, they learn that adulting is hardcore. Ester and Ed chemistry is quietly simmering, Susan is still disease written, and Daisy is getting plucked. Can’t wait to keep up with their crazy misadventures. #LifeAlert #EsterAndEdThou?

[NerwSlowa · Rating 5 out of 5]

So witty, emotional, intelligent and beatiful <3 If you know a girl/woman/lady at any age, who just goes around and moans 'I reaaaaaaaally need to read some comic books but don't know where to start and if there are any other comic books than those of superheroes', just buy them this one.

(And I really love Amazon and Comixology for their prices :D)

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

And that's the end of this series. And really why did I need to read the whole thing down to the bitty bits. This book was mostly okay. I'm not sure it had any bits I hadn't already seen. But this was pleasant enough. Just not particularly compelling. See no reason why someone else should read this based on my read. But then again I never felt like the target market.

[E. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this series and am gonna keep going because I really don’t want Daisy to end up with Ingrid (I’m just not a fan of people with her personality in general). Wasn’t a huge fan of how the writer handled Susan getting roofied, but did like the growing-up aspects of these issues, especially the dinner party.

[Ada · Rating 4 out of 5]

***zaterdag 13 december 2025***
⭐️4.5 (rounded down) - really like it

This series is such the equivalent of a warm bath. Lovely and funny. Although Ingrid is bad news... I can sort of remember it but also, red flags galore!

Except 'Giant Days: self-published part III' by John Allison. That was very confusing and the art style was very much not to my taste.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read John Allison's work--I have enjoyed it for something close to 20 years, and he is among the artists that has made me laugh almost every day of those years.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would love a fourth collection

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun installment, with plenty of humor and drama.

[Ming · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was still fun

[Nicole Hackney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVE these characters.