Reviews

Apsara Engine by Bishakh Som

kdahlo's review

5.0

This book is so beautiful! I borrowed it from the library but I may need a copy just to admire for myself. The watercolors are astounding. This book has mysterious, lovely and sometimes disturbing vignettes. Each one is small and perfect like a jewel. About transness, fitting and finding place, and the South Asian experience surrounded by whiteness in the US. Highly recommend.

belladonnashrike's review

mysterious reflective medium-paced

3.5

strange and subtle. swandive was breathtakingly beautiful. 

thepassivebookworm's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

tacomaven's review

medium-paced

2.75

gigireadswithkiki's review

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

As with all short story collections, I liked some stories more than others. Although!! For me, most of these were pretty forgettable with the SOLE exception being Swan Dive, which felt like such an embodiment of my own BIPOC trans experience, I found myself reflected so clearly in the characters and I loved that. I was a fan of the creepiness/overall unsettling sci-fi aspects, but the stories themselves felt rather directionless. So overall I ended up not loving this as much as I wanted to, but I still had a good time. Plus the art felt whimsical and flowy which I loved!

readingsofaslinky's review

mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

A weird book where a lot of nothing happens but you nonetheless come out feeling changed. Very Kafkaesque~ This was the first graphic novel I’ve read that actually read like a book of short stories more than a graphic novel. 

hanbanshee's review

5.0

Truly weird, delicate, imaginative, painful, unsettling, uplifting all at once. Loved these stories and the delightfully queer affects they evoked.

dansemacabre95000's review

5.0

I absolutely loved this collection of stories; if I could, I would read it for the first time again! Highly recommend for reading groups. The stories are rich, yet short, so they can be open to a wide range of interpretations.

eiwex's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

westontori's review

3.0

Each story left me with so many unanswered questions. Beautiful, very strange, and deeply unsatisfying.