Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Return of the Honey Buzzard by Aimée de Jongh

2 reviews

lilaceous's review

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1.5

characters - .5⭐️
illustrations - .5⭐️
effective storytelling - .5⭐️
engaging to read - 
would recommend - 

… yikes. at first i was trying to be open minded about a grown man befriending a high school girl (maybe it would be a positive and appropriate relationship?)… but it got gross and the grossness was just overlooked for a bizarre plot twist.
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monique_horn's review

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dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I loved the illustration style in this graphic novel-- there is just something so appealing about the simple contrast of hard blacks upon a white canvas. More than that, the harsh contrast helps to portray how dark the narrative is. I think that the illustrative style of the images suited the overall tone of the narrative and levied some of the weight of the heavy subject matter. 

However good the illustrations were, though, the plot left something more to be desired.
I personally think that the suicide of the woman and the accidental death of Simon's friend could've been separate stories, as they are two completely different events taking place in two separate parts of his life. I understand the present story needs to have something that triggers, and therefore leads into past events, but I don't think that the present event needs to be as extreme as what happened in the past-- the woman's death triggering memories of Simon's friend's death for example. It would've been better if the trigger was something simpler, like Simon running into one of the boys that bullied his friend, and that was the thing which triggered his trauma-- this event connects the past and present and gives focus to one key event. Since there are two deaths in the plot they somewhat take away from each other, and the significance of what happened to Simon's friend is dulled and doesn't have the impact I felt it could have-- especially since the death of the woman happens at the beginning of the novel. I felt the story struggled to bring the two events together succinctly and because of this the entire narrative suffered.
  

I personally don't think the symbol of the honey buzzard worked. I liked the "idea" of the symbol. I thought that it could have been something that was really beautiful and poetic but I don't think it added anything to the story. I feel as though symbols are meant to add a deeper understanding to the subtext, but this symbol meandered and never quite got there in the end. I kept getting the feeling that this was one of he earlier ideas the author had for the story they just couldn't let go of.. which I get, but at the same time you should always do what is best for the story.

Overall this was a very quick read that I enjoyed enough, but I feel as though so much more could've been done and the author could've taken their time and delved further into the depths.. but alas. 

4/10 
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