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samgray's review against another edition
4.0
A youth makes a series of secret dolls. Art meant to mimic protagonist's hand embroidery. If you love Frankenstein and Daniel Clowes, read this
Inside:
Antiques clashing with modern technology
Coming of age
Death and its emotional aftermath
Awkward ingenuity
An example of why age-appropriate sexual education is so important in schools and at home
Story - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Art - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Inside:
Antiques clashing with modern technology
Coming of age
Death and its emotional aftermath
Awkward ingenuity
An example of why age-appropriate sexual education is so important in schools and at home
Story - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Art - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
zorpblorp's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
milesjmoran's review against another edition
4.0
An eerie, disturbing read that unnerves its reader without being overzealous or cheap. The illustrations are ghoulishly beautiful and the story is thoroughly original. My only issue was with the ending as it seemed so quick and unresolved.
the23rdjoker's review against another edition
4.0
Probably the strangest book I've read in many many years.
Almost certainly with regards to the story (a peculiar, anti-social young boy constructs homemade "girlfriends" out of everything from pillows and papier mâché, to socks and string).
Definitely with regards to Gareth Brookes' unique visual style (a gorgeous combination of handwriting, woodcuts, and embroidery).
The darkly comic, deeply unsettling, yet oddly and naively sweet nature of the protagonist's simultaneous construction and deconstruction of the female form (a worldview formed through a murky lens of early adolescence, the repression of a conservative small town, the only views of female sexuality being in male gaze-driven pornography, and our main character's ambiguous social difficulties) is what helps make The Black Project so fascinatingly, compulsively readable.
The story disappointingly kind of unravels in the final act, falling flat into convention and a too-easy conclusion.
But in spite of that, the book is worth a read simply for the mesmerising, early-Tim Burton-esque visual style alone, which when combined with the story's superlative strangeness, makes it quite hard to forget...
Almost certainly with regards to the story (a peculiar, anti-social young boy constructs homemade "girlfriends" out of everything from pillows and papier mâché, to socks and string).
Definitely with regards to Gareth Brookes' unique visual style (a gorgeous combination of handwriting, woodcuts, and embroidery).
The darkly comic, deeply unsettling, yet oddly and naively sweet nature of the protagonist's simultaneous construction and deconstruction of the female form (a worldview formed through a murky lens of early adolescence, the repression of a conservative small town, the only views of female sexuality being in male gaze-driven pornography, and our main character's ambiguous social difficulties) is what helps make The Black Project so fascinatingly, compulsively readable.
The story disappointingly kind of unravels in the final act, falling flat into convention and a too-easy conclusion.
But in spite of that, the book is worth a read simply for the mesmerising, early-Tim Burton-esque visual style alone, which when combined with the story's superlative strangeness, makes it quite hard to forget...
hazmatz's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
it's a beauty
keiranaway's review against another edition
dark
3.25
The style of this book is mesmerising. the art and talent that went into this is truly something to be admired, and i would recommend giving it a read for that at least. the plot was creepy, but it had moments where i thought it was going to go somewhere, for it to... well... go nowhere. it was anti-climatic, but that could partially be caused by my somewhat desperate expectations for something truly disturbing to happen.
lucym80's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.75
badwolfcompany's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5