Cristy C. Road is a freelance illustrator, author and zine publisher. This novel incorporates both her artistic and literary talents, and uses some elements of zines to tell a story. Bravely straddling creative media, she fictionalises her own experiences as a rebellious young woman searching for human connections in a detached New York City.

Carmencita, our damaged heroine, takes us on an uncensored trip through her world of dingy bars, cheap drugs and inadvisable forays into strangers' beds. The troubles she faced growing up in Miami followed by a wild life in New York have led to the bad habits of the title. Hers is a defiantly punk attitude, with an edge of insecurity and sexually self-destructive behaviour.

It's a fast, hectic read and chapters can be dipped in and out of despite the chronological narrative; plot is not the most important aspect here. True to her history in zine publishing, Road has written a novel with a similar juxtaposition of image and word and with the personal feel of a riot grrrl or confessional punk zine. And confessional it most certainly is: this is one close look into someone's universe, with every traumatic event and glorious moment outlined in Carmencita's navel gazing tone. Many of her ideas hark back to her teen punk youth and ring a little too naïvely searching and angsty for a street smart 25-year-old. However, these ruminations – though difficult to empathise with – are often coupled with an image of cinematic proportions.

Road edited her own zine for years and has provided artwork for numerous magazines, punk bands, exhibitions and her own published books – all by her mid 20s. Celebrating outsiders and intelligent slobs everywhere, this is transgressive writing from the viewpoint of a young Latin bisexual woman dealing with heartbreak, drug addiction, homophobia, misogyny and everyday life in a big city. The author brings something fresh to her field and, as such, you really want Bad Habits to be utterly brilliant, socking it to the man with its undeniable charm.

But it is only partly brilliant. Road's strengths lie in her illustrations, which thankfully adorn almost every page. These immaculately composed snapshots of Carmencita's haphazard journey to clean living and independence much improve the story. The writing is not terrible, by any means, and the pictures don't quite tell a thousand words. It's just that a purely graphic novel may have been a better medium for Carmencita's tale, and it will be interesting to see if Road pursues this extraordinary talent in the future.
Alexis Somerville