Scan barcode
crystalstarrlight's review
3.0
Bullet Review:
This was very decent - though seeing the real life story of the twin boys at the end hit a little close to home with the Syrian refugee thing. No child ought to be exposed to such violence and depravity.
This was very decent - though seeing the real life story of the twin boys at the end hit a little close to home with the Syrian refugee thing. No child ought to be exposed to such violence and depravity.
reading_yarn's review
2.0
This had a lot of potential, but it blew it by choosing a bland main character instead of the powerful twins. The bad guy was pretty much a jerk with no other personality than to be a psycho Rambo.
The art itself was inconsistent in quality. The colors are striking and the gore is good, but it doesn't matter when the characters are badly drawn. There are a lot of panels with character's eyes going in crazy directions or having toad faces.
It felt messy in plot, characters, and art quality, but there are some interesting color palettes and panels worth looking at.
The art itself was inconsistent in quality. The colors are striking and the gore is good, but it doesn't matter when the characters are badly drawn. There are a lot of panels with character's eyes going in crazy directions or having toad faces.
It felt messy in plot, characters, and art quality, but there are some interesting color palettes and panels worth looking at.
animatorinator's review
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
breevee's review
3.0
This book turned out to be quite dark and graphically violent, but also unexpectedly whimsical, and left me with a lot to think about.
jseargeant's review
Originally published at Novel Escapism
The Divine is a dark fantasy graphic novel about an American explosives expert sent to the fictional country of Quanlom, where he gets in the middle of an army of children led by two magical brothers. The story, inspired by a photograph of the real Burmese twins who led the guerrilla group God’s Army, twists myth and truth into magical realism at its best. Asaf and Tomer Hanuka’s art is starkly riveting. Their use of color brings emotion and tension to the beautiful drawings. This kind of story is not something I would normally pick up, but I’m glad that I did because I was drawn into the tale of dragons and ancient spirits.
The Divine is a dark fantasy graphic novel about an American explosives expert sent to the fictional country of Quanlom, where he gets in the middle of an army of children led by two magical brothers. The story, inspired by a photograph of the real Burmese twins who led the guerrilla group God’s Army, twists myth and truth into magical realism at its best. Asaf and Tomer Hanuka’s art is starkly riveting. Their use of color brings emotion and tension to the beautiful drawings. This kind of story is not something I would normally pick up, but I’m glad that I did because I was drawn into the tale of dragons and ancient spirits.
saidtheraina's review
3.0
Such a beautiful cover, and such a cool hook - as many others will reference, the story is inspired by a photograph from 2000 of twin child-soldiers.
We meet a westerner, reluctant to travel to southeast Asia, and follow his experiences in the wilds of an unfamiliar place. He accompanies another man, who checks all the brutal, sexist, racist, offensive boxes.
I like the ideas here, but found myself disappointed when I actually cracked it.
Conceptually, it fits some definitions of cultural appropriation. The illustrations, though in full-color, feel insidious and unreliable. Ultimately, I found it literally forgettable.
We meet a westerner, reluctant to travel to southeast Asia, and follow his experiences in the wilds of an unfamiliar place. He accompanies another man, who checks all the brutal, sexist, racist, offensive boxes.
I like the ideas here, but found myself disappointed when I actually cracked it.
Conceptually, it fits some definitions of cultural appropriation. The illustrations, though in full-color, feel insidious and unreliable. Ultimately, I found it literally forgettable.
caitcoy's review
2.0
This was interesting but I ultimately feel like I didn't totally get it.
The Divine is a strange mash-up of Vietnam-like Southeast Asian vs US military plus child soldiers plus some myths and legends. But for all its strangeness, it was actually pretty interesting.
In the story, an American named Mike leaves behind his pregnant wife in order to make some quick cash "denuding lava tubes" with an old Army buddy. Said buddy assures him that they'll be in and out with a cool $20k military contract. Shockingly, it turns out to be a bit more complicated than that.
Mike is your standard good white guy/soldier and when he stops to help an injured village boy, he gets swept up in a battle of nature vs big bad military. I feel like there are so many stereotypes in the story and yet it still manages to be interesting. The authors apparently based this story on a picture of some child soldiers in Burma and the mystery and magic surrounding the twins in this story made it one that kept me reading.
I wasn't overly impressed with the artwork though. The creatures were well done but the people were total caricatures. Honestly the twins were the only ones who seemed to have much depth as characters.
And the ending...let's just say that I had no fucking idea what the end of the story was supposed to mean. I'm just gonna chalk it up to me not understanding the message (other than don't fuck with mystical village children) because it was a very readable story.
So if you don't mind weird artwork and a somewhat out there story, it's worth a read.
The Divine is a strange mash-up of Vietnam-like Southeast Asian vs US military plus child soldiers plus some myths and legends. But for all its strangeness, it was actually pretty interesting.
In the story, an American named Mike leaves behind his pregnant wife in order to make some quick cash "denuding lava tubes" with an old Army buddy. Said buddy assures him that they'll be in and out with a cool $20k military contract. Shockingly, it turns out to be a bit more complicated than that.
Mike is your standard good white guy/soldier and when he stops to help an injured village boy, he gets swept up in a battle of nature vs big bad military. I feel like there are so many stereotypes in the story and yet it still manages to be interesting. The authors apparently based this story on a picture of some child soldiers in Burma and the mystery and magic surrounding the twins in this story made it one that kept me reading.
I wasn't overly impressed with the artwork though. The creatures were well done but the people were total caricatures. Honestly the twins were the only ones who seemed to have much depth as characters.
And the ending...let's just say that I had no fucking idea what the end of the story was supposed to mean. I'm just gonna chalk it up to me not understanding the message (other than don't fuck with mystical village children) because it was a very readable story.
So if you don't mind weird artwork and a somewhat out there story, it's worth a read.
masterofmusix's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This is a really cool read, very gritty and not for the faint of heart. Very action packed and intense. A quick read that will leave you stopping and thinking about the impact of war on young people and of Western imperialism on the Global South.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Colonisation, Cursing, Gun violence, War, Xenophobia, and Violence
logantea's review
2.0
This book simultaneously feels like it has a lot to say and isn't really sure what it wants to say. The rules of the magic are inconsistent and hard to follow, the political aspect of the story feels didactic and half baked, and the art is very inconsistent from page to page.