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faux_crow's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Wanda is one of the best representations of transgender women. Rest in peace
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Transphobia, Dysphoria, Hate crime, and Death
Moderate: Blood and Animal death
Minor: Abortion
chalkletters's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
As far as I can recall, The Sandman: A Game of You is the first ‘proper’ graphic novel I’ve read, and so I’m not really sure how to approach reviewing it. I’ve read lots of other Neil Gaiman fiction, from American Godsto Fragile Things, and enjoyed some a lot more than others, the highlight being an illustrated copy of Stardust which made me think I might like The Sandman. For full disclosure, however, I should mention that I’m pretty sure I went in expecting The Sandman to be Fables.
The art in The Sandman: A Game of You is nothing like Charles Vess’s illustrations, it’s much more comic-book-y, and while individual visuals were arresting, the overall style might not be appealing to readers who enjoy more conventional book art. That said, there were some cool references to older media which made it fun to give the pictures a second look, and they would probably reward even closer scrutiny.
The Sandman: A Game of You works very well as a stand-alone story. Even without having read the previous four volumes, Neil Gaiman gives the characters enough context for a reader to pick up both the different worlds and the relationships between them. Wanda, Hazel and Foxglove particularly stand out as being nuanced female characters who don’t conform to archetypes; their lives feel as though they extend beyond the pages dedicated to their stories in this one book.
As a villain, the cuckoo is interesting, and Neil Gaiman raises a lot of questions about what exactly she is and where she comes from. As with the whole of the dream world, the reader is invited to interpret it as a metaphor, and every person’s understanding will probably be a little different. Book club focused (perhaps unsurprisingly) on dreams as a way of interrogating stories and story-telling, which was particularly rewarding. The tension between the 'real’ world of New York and the dream kingdom worked to really emphasise the dramatic moments in the New York storyline, especially the ending.
My first graphic novel was always going to feel a little uncomfortable and unfamiliar, but I know I have at least two more in my TBR so I’m curious to see how they feel now that I’ve dipped my toe in the water!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Transphobia, Abortion, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Deadnaming, and Death
Minor: Pregnancy
soumil_da_vinci's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
It gets darker in this book, the reason I stopped for a while in the middle. This steps up in the "oh shit, yuck" horror stuff and...I would say that you shouldn't pay a second thought to it and you'll be completely fine. If you think too much then you might have some weird thoughts and see stuff in darkness. That's how horror world ig.
Still, a decent story, but not at par with the other novel level stuff Sandman had produced in earlier books. But this is Gaiman so...I don't care, I will continue reading. Kudos.
Still, a decent story, but not at par with the other novel level stuff Sandman had produced in earlier books. But this is Gaiman so...I don't care, I will continue reading. Kudos.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Death
purplesaturday's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Transphobia, Animal death, and Deadnaming
Moderate: Grief, Hate crime, Sexual content, and Violence
Minor: Pregnancy
alxjasper's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Blood, Transphobia, Gore, and Body horror
Minor: Classism, Stalking, and Murder
m1nature's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Torture, Pregnancy, Deadnaming, Abortion, Physical abuse, Death, Animal death, Violence, Murder, Child death, Body horror, and Blood
sunsorbit's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Transphobia, Animal death, Blood, Deadnaming, Gore, and Violence
doomluz's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This one didn't connect to the Sandman / Morpheus or the mythos as much as the other issues so far. He was more of a secondary character.
It was an interesting story and I liked the theme around identity, but it also raised some questions about the Dreaming and a few characters that popped up.
This volume centered on Barbie (from Volume 2 The Doll's House) and explained why she has such a vivid dream.
There was a weird green bird in the dream that had the same name as me, which made me laugh, but also made me kind of confused about why she was named Luz.
It was an interesting story and I liked the theme around identity, but it also raised some questions about the Dreaming and a few characters that popped up.
This volume centered on Barbie (from Volume 2 The Doll's House) and explained why she has such a vivid dream.
There was a weird green bird in the dream that had the same name as me, which made me laugh, but also made me kind of confused about why she was named Luz.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Gore, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Death, Animal death, and Violence
Minor: Pregnancy
annamorgan27's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Pregnancy, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Transphobia, and Violence
rashi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Transphobia, Blood, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, and Violence
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