Picked this up almost the moment I set down volume 1. A quick read with just as much sweetness as the first. Maybe now I can let myself try the TV serPicked this up almost the moment I set down volume 1. A quick read with just as much sweetness as the first. Maybe now I can let myself try the TV series...?...more
I've avoided watching the Netflix series based on these books because our book club has been planning to read volume 1 for, like, a year now or somethI've avoided watching the Netflix series based on these books because our book club has been planning to read volume 1 for, like, a year now or something. I'm glad I went in fresh, because this was adorable. The book itself looks like it's going to be a massive undertaking (for a graphic novel), but when you open it you realize that most pages only have a few panels on them, and the dialogue is done in a big way, which suits the characters.
I actually liked this love story (Charlie and Nick are so cute together, but the supporting cast, especially Charlie's sister, adds a lot) enough to move on to volume 2 right while I was at my book club meeting, which I started and finished in one sitting...when I probably should've been paying attention to the discussion about the first installment. That's my endorsement.
Original review, Dec. 6/23: RTC - this was really sweet...more
A mean, gruesome little slice of small-town life. Something is indeed killing the children - dozens of them already, and we're only in the first volumA mean, gruesome little slice of small-town life. Something is indeed killing the children - dozens of them already, and we're only in the first volume.
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Pick this up if you like straightforward artwork that pops (a lot of reds-on-blues) and "monster in the woods" story with a heavy dollop of gore....more
This is our comic book club's October read, chosen by me, because...Tananarive Due wrote a graphic novel. I mean, I had to. And it was pretty good. DuThis is our comic book club's October read, chosen by me, because...Tananarive Due wrote a graphic novel. I mean, I had to. And it was pretty good. Due brought her usual deft hand to the subject of generational trauma and systemic racism, adding to it a creepy story about a girl who's lost everything and may now be under the "care" of an entity known only as "The Keeper."
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It was cool to read something that Due wrote with her husband, Steven Barnes - I'd never read anything by him before. I shouldn't be surprised, but as much as it was an eerie story, it was also a deeply sad/emotional one. The artwork was...interesting. I'm not sure if it was rudimentary on purpose? There were two pivotal panels that I didn't visually understand on first pass, which might've just been me, but it was enough to make me go back and take a harder look at the somewhat nonspecific images once I had more context.
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I would absolutely love to see more Due-led graphic novels. Her longform prose practically begs to be adapted. And, actually, in the end notes of THE KEEPER, it's mentioned that this started as a screenplay based on an event in Due's childhood, but the project wasn't picked up, which is why they decided to go the comic route. I'd have loved to see a Guillermo del Toro treatment of a story this creepy.
Anyway! Liked it fine, can't really rave much about it, but certainly worth a read if it crosses your path. (And if you're just looking for an entre into Due's work, I'd recommend THE BETWEEN, and, despite being only a tenth of the way through so far, her soon-to-be-published THE REFORMATORY.)
I don't know exactly what our book club was expecting with this one, but we all came away feeling rather unfulfilled. And with more questions than ansI don't know exactly what our book club was expecting with this one, but we all came away feeling rather unfulfilled. And with more questions than answers. On their own, a couple of these vignette-style stories were fine; others were confusing, especially the last one, which seemed to end abruptly before taking a weird turn into introducing a character that made no sense to us whatsoever!
Not sure if we would read any further, really. But the art was pretty!...more
A book full of pain, but beautifully illustrated in a way that teaches someone who shares none of the same background (me) what such intergenerationalA book full of pain, but beautifully illustrated in a way that teaches someone who shares none of the same background (me) what such intergenerational trauma and systemic oppression must be like to live with. I loved how the artwork is used to put a picture to the Indigenous experience, a true "show, don't tell" way of getting it across.
I'm glad we chose this for our July read with LCBN. It wasn't an easy read, but it'll make for great discussion. This is the sort of book I'd love to see taught in schools....more
More interesting than I expected! Derf Backderf (who also penned MY FRIEND DAHMER, if you're wondering where you've heard the name before) wrote and dMore interesting than I expected! Derf Backderf (who also penned MY FRIEND DAHMER, if you're wondering where you've heard the name before) wrote and drew TRASHED using his experience of working as a garbageman for a year circa 1979. We read this as our monthly book club read and I wasn't into it for the first bit, but Backderf actually did a solid job at not only letting readers into the blue collar life and the gross stuff he and his coworkers dealt with every day, but he also managed to squeeze in a lot of facts about garbage, the profession, and more throughout its 200-ish pages. I learned a lot, including that Canadians produce more trash each year than any other nation. Ugh. Not great.
Informative and occasionally laugh out loud funny, TRASHED is an entertaining way to learn about something we in developed nations take for granted far too often....more
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