I did not realize there were so many literary references in here. I had never thought a graphic novel could be so literary. Silly me. This is very thoughtful and deep, but someone who is not familiar with all the literary classic references might lose interest. (I didn't get any of the James Joyce references but I get that Alison makes parallels to her relationship to her father). The language is erudite. 
 I found her mother very interesting, she played piano and acted in local productions. Most of the focus is on the father, who passed down his love of literature to Alison, but who was a closeted gay; unknown to Alison until she was realizing her own gayness in college. Then she was told, and in hindsight it was very obvious, which the book shows. 
 (Only 4 stars because chapter 5 bogged down for me, and some of the ch. 7)