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cecipeas's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
buer's review against another edition
3.0
This book is depressing, so expect that going into it.
Basically it is the story of a not-very-close grown up family meeting at their parents' house and finding out that their parents are getting a divorce. From there the book tracks the three children and how they deal with the news. The oldest son lashes out. The middle daughter, who also got divorced, seems to understand. The youngest son, who is supposed to be the weird one and is drawn like a frog, wanders around aimlessly and winds up falling in love for the first time.
There are some beautiful moments in this book. Some of them in the content (there is a great scene where the granddaughter is riding a bus with a stranger about her age, who has been asking her all sorts of questions about her life. The granddaughter tells her that she is the nicest person she's ever met, and the girl responds with, "But you don't even know me.") and some is just the art. Shaw sometimes labels the content of his drawing, most notably dust motes and steam in the bathroom after characters take showers, which is oddly beautiful.
To be very honest, I should probably give this book a higher rating than I am. But the cover made me think I was going to read something a little bit supernatural, so I was a little confused at first. And the book itself is just so sad. It is about the average scumbags of the world. That guy who is way too old to have temper tantrums, but does anyways. That woman who tries to make her daughter into a person who she will like better. That relationship that does not work but will not die because one of the people in it talks too much and listens too little and the other one has given up trying.
I guess my criticism is simply one of taste. I like a book that, after it thoroughly depresses me, offers hope or inspires change. This book is pretty much just a downer. The light moments are just as average as the dark ones and the dark ones outnumber the light ones.
Basically it is the story of a not-very-close grown up family meeting at their parents' house and finding out that their parents are getting a divorce. From there the book tracks the three children and how they deal with the news. The oldest son lashes out. The middle daughter, who also got divorced, seems to understand. The youngest son, who is supposed to be the weird one and is drawn like a frog, wanders around aimlessly and winds up falling in love for the first time.
There are some beautiful moments in this book. Some of them in the content (there is a great scene where the granddaughter is riding a bus with a stranger about her age, who has been asking her all sorts of questions about her life. The granddaughter tells her that she is the nicest person she's ever met, and the girl responds with, "But you don't even know me.") and some is just the art. Shaw sometimes labels the content of his drawing, most notably dust motes and steam in the bathroom after characters take showers, which is oddly beautiful.
To be very honest, I should probably give this book a higher rating than I am. But the cover made me think I was going to read something a little bit supernatural, so I was a little confused at first. And the book itself is just so sad. It is about the average scumbags of the world. That guy who is way too old to have temper tantrums, but does anyways. That woman who tries to make her daughter into a person who she will like better. That relationship that does not work but will not die because one of the people in it talks too much and listens too little and the other one has given up trying.
I guess my criticism is simply one of taste. I like a book that, after it thoroughly depresses me, offers hope or inspires change. This book is pretty much just a downer. The light moments are just as average as the dark ones and the dark ones outnumber the light ones.
kingbookdragon's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Wonderful graphic novel, worth reading.
elisala's review against another edition
2.0
Un avis très mitigé pour ce livre: j'aime bien le rythme, les non-dits, les sous-entendus, mais pour autant je n'ai pas tellement accroché. Il y a un truc dans le dessin - je pense - qui me rebute un peu, trop grossier et trop précis à la fois - je ne sais pas trop comment expliquer. C'est assez étrange, ça peut être le genre de BD inattendue que je peux adorer, mais là, non, ça coince. Peut-être que c'est tombé à un mauvais moment? Et puis il faut l'admettre, c'est quand même une très longue BD pour un petit drame familial, sans de réelle épiphanie ou révélation incroyable.
kstehel's review against another edition
3.0
I was original enticed into reading this giant graphic-novel because I thought the title was interesting and the plot seemed mysterious and intriguing. Any story that involves bizarre family elements earns my attention even if it turns out rather lame or dull. This is definitely suitable for the "odd" book shelf. I am somewhat disturbed by some of the pornographic images, if you will. However, further thought led to the realization that many books have explicit sex scenes with descriptive detail; they just lack the actual illustration that one often times creates in their own mind. Still! The pictures are stamped in my memory and they aren't pleasant. ARghh! The illustrations deserve some credit as holding their own as far as 'story enrichment.' I like how there are some instances where a few consecutive pages are just images alone and the audience is able to move the narrative forward without the text. That alone makes a graphic novel strong in the sense that they are notable for their illustrations. My last and final beef is the cheesiness and stupidity of several moments in this book. There are childish and immature scenarios that totally make me think, "are you kidding me with this?" Regardless, this is a decent book worthy of re-scanning. This is not for children and certainly geared towards adult readers solely based on the explicit situations. On the contrary, the writing is not up to par for an adult reader, a disappointment indeed.
bluenicorn's review against another edition
2.0
It was alright. I liked the inclusion of house layout schematics (really gives you a feel for where the action is), and the characters were easy to relate to. Who hasn't been a Peter?
I don't have any good reasons for not loving it- it was well-done (good use of space) and not bad, I just didn't get really into it.
I don't have any good reasons for not loving it- it was well-done (good use of space) and not bad, I just didn't get really into it.
jeremiah042's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not even really sure why I enjoyed it so much. It's not a strong graphically, but there's a lot of storytelling done here. Very real story, a very human story. About people and love. Visually very simple, and quite long, but I enjoyed it.
herlifewithbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Family drama, totally over my head, but what I did get was excellent.
Also, this book weighs 500 pounds. Library requesters beware!
Also, this book weighs 500 pounds. Library requesters beware!
ponycanyon's review against another edition
4.0
I'm usually resistant to more "cartoony"-style comic art, preferring material that looks studied and labored-over, but I didn't find Shaw's art to be an impediment to the story. If anything, the simple style speeds the narrative along. Even though it's a billion pages long, it's a one-sitting read and feels more like you just read a few minicomics than a big ol' brick of a book. Sadly, this extends to the narrative - not a whole hell of a lot actually happens. And while I really liked it, I don't really understand the huge critical reception/hype that it's enjoyed; there are single-issue floppies that I thought were better this year, and it would probably be in the upper-teens in a top-20 2008 comics list for me.