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geekwayne's review
3.0
'The Stars of History: Marilyn Monroe' by Bernard Swysen with illustrations by Paty Christian brings the superstar's life to the pages of a graphic novel.
This is a good introduction to the life of Marilyn Monroe. From her tragic childhood, to the rest of her somewhat tragic life, Marilyn managed to have a fairly decent Hollywood career and become an icon. She struggled with being shuffled from house to house while growing up. She struggled with marriages to controlling men who were verbally and physically abusive. She struggled to be taken seriously as an actor as she was stereotyped as the dumb beauty.
I liked this story. It feels a bit one-sided, but many celebrity bios feel that way. That art is really quite lovely and I love the depiction of Marilyn that is made.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
This is a good introduction to the life of Marilyn Monroe. From her tragic childhood, to the rest of her somewhat tragic life, Marilyn managed to have a fairly decent Hollywood career and become an icon. She struggled with being shuffled from house to house while growing up. She struggled with marriages to controlling men who were verbally and physically abusive. She struggled to be taken seriously as an actor as she was stereotyped as the dumb beauty.
I liked this story. It feels a bit one-sided, but many celebrity bios feel that way. That art is really quite lovely and I love the depiction of Marilyn that is made.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Europe Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
dlsmall's review
3.0
Interesting graphic novel bio, with a solid chunk covering Norma Jean's youth (and her mother's life before her birth), continuing through the greatest hits of her life in Hollywood. Not for the middle grades/younger YA ages, as it directly approaches Norma Jean and then Marilyn's sexuality, the Hollywood casting couch, what became the legendary Playboy pictorial, etc. I did really enjoy the approach to her final, unfinished film, Something's Got to Give...it covered a significant portion of the book's last act. And her ultimate end was approached in a fragmented way, as it has been in history.
While the art is solid, I'm not sure if fits its subject matter. Marilyn looks fine, but many others in her life verge on too much to caricature for my taste.
The end matter was very interesting, with a filmography and select movie posters.
This graphic novel was an ARC provided by Netgalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read it!
While the art is solid, I'm not sure if fits its subject matter. Marilyn looks fine, but many others in her life verge on too much to caricature for my taste.
The end matter was very interesting, with a filmography and select movie posters.
This graphic novel was an ARC provided by Netgalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read it!
samahcanread__'s review
3.0
**I was provided a digital advance copy of this comic by the publisher, so thank you, Net Galley, Bernard Swyer, and Europe Comics for the opportunity.
This takes an honest look into Marilyn Monroe's life, exposing the harshness of Hollywood and how the glamorous life portrayed on the screen is just a facade. I loved seeing this story from her point of view, getting a glimpse at what's going into her head, and how she just wanted to be taken seriously.
Also, Frank Sinatra sucks.
This takes an honest look into Marilyn Monroe's life, exposing the harshness of Hollywood and how the glamorous life portrayed on the screen is just a facade. I loved seeing this story from her point of view, getting a glimpse at what's going into her head, and how she just wanted to be taken seriously.
Also, Frank Sinatra sucks.
miss_tsundoku's review
3.0
Of course, a 110-page graphic novel doesn't do justice to the life of Marilyn Monroe. There are a lot of time jumps in the story that confused me. Still, it did give me some insight into her life details and the dark side of Hollywood.
The artwork is solid, Marilyn is beautifully drawn but in my opinion, some of the characters look caricature-ish.
I'm not her fan, but now that I know she loved reading books, I have a soft spot for her.
The artwork is solid, Marilyn is beautifully drawn but in my opinion, some of the characters look caricature-ish.
I'm not her fan, but now that I know she loved reading books, I have a soft spot for her.
readwithethel's review
4.0
A great start for people who want to learn about this amazing woman
Key words: non-fiction, Marilyn Monroe, biography, graphic novel
Marilyn Monroe is such an interesting character. I am not going to lie; I didn’t know much about her before reading this book (kind of the reason why I chose to read it). I have read another book in the series: Charlie Chaplin, and I have to say, I liked the graphic novel about Marilyn Monroe more.
The story is, hence, nothing new as it is a biography but I thought it was well presented. I never felt lost as to where in the story we were and I loved the drawing style. It is really cute and colourful, very fitting to illustrate Marilyn Monroe I think. We follow her from her when she was born to the day she died. Bernard Swysen pictured her as quite a nice person through the graphic novel, though sometimes I thought she didn’t really care about the people who did everything they could for her. What I liked the most about her is that she gave everything to fulfil her dream and did not care about money, refusing contract and proposal that didn’t follow her principles. She really is a star of history. She paved the way for many women in the acting sector.
I recommend this book. It is a fun and entertaining way to learn about Marilyn Monroe, though it will not go in great details about the events that happened.
4/5
Thank you Netgalley for this eArc in exchange of my honest opinion
Key words: non-fiction, Marilyn Monroe, biography, graphic novel
Marilyn Monroe is such an interesting character. I am not going to lie; I didn’t know much about her before reading this book (kind of the reason why I chose to read it). I have read another book in the series: Charlie Chaplin, and I have to say, I liked the graphic novel about Marilyn Monroe more.
The story is, hence, nothing new as it is a biography but I thought it was well presented. I never felt lost as to where in the story we were and I loved the drawing style. It is really cute and colourful, very fitting to illustrate Marilyn Monroe I think. We follow her from her when she was born to the day she died. Bernard Swysen pictured her as quite a nice person through the graphic novel, though sometimes I thought she didn’t really care about the people who did everything they could for her. What I liked the most about her is that she gave everything to fulfil her dream and did not care about money, refusing contract and proposal that didn’t follow her principles. She really is a star of history. She paved the way for many women in the acting sector.
I recommend this book. It is a fun and entertaining way to learn about Marilyn Monroe, though it will not go in great details about the events that happened.
4/5
Thank you Netgalley for this eArc in exchange of my honest opinion
stregamorte's review
2.0
I have loved Marilyn Monroe since I found out we shared our birthday years ago. So I was so excited when I saw that her story was made into a graphic novel. That said, I was kind of disappointed with this. I'm not sure if it was the graphic novel format or the storytelling itself, but all the nuance of her life was stripped away. This book made Marilyn seem ditzy and flakey, when she was deeply intelligent and was forced to use her body to sell her career. They did excel in showing how much trauma she went through in her life, but I'm not sure that her depression came across well. It also felt like there was an agenda to make it seem like Arthur Miller was a good husband to her, and making it seem like her previous husbands were astronomically worse by comparison. By the end of this I just wanted to pick up one of the Marilyn biographies on my shelf, including rereading her journal entries in "Fragments" and her own accounts in "My Story."
theresidentbookworm's review
1.0
There are books and graphic novels I like in concept that absolutely fail in execution. The Stars of History: Marilyn Monroe is absolutely one of those books. I love Old Hollywood, and I've always been fascinated with Marilyn Monroe so a graphic novel exploring Monroe's life should be amazing. This, however, is just insulting. Bernard Swysen pretends to be interested in the nuance of Monroe's life, but he gives a plot synopsis of her life instead of diving deep on anything. You get no depth of Monroe, no insight into her psychology, nothing about her interests or ambitions or pain. This graphic novel is just like reading her Wikipedia page, and that page is probably better sourced! (The version I read did not include a bibliography.) And the artwork! Frankly, if I were Marilyn Monroe, I would be insulted by a creative team who pretends to be interested in me as a person but illustrates me as the stereotype I hated. Every biography I've read about Marilyn Monroe makes a distinction about Norma Jean the person and Marilyn Monroe the star. It was a character she could play, turning it off and on and being able to pass as a normal person on the street if she wanted to. Bernard Swysen and his team have no concept of this, and it shows. Marilyn Monroe deserves a hell of a lot better than this effort.
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