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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow! This was way more intense than I thought I would be! I really enjoyed it though! The illustrations were stunning as was the entire story and lore it was based on ! There is a couple of heart-tugging moments. I really could see a sequel being made because I want to know so much more about the characters and their further journey!
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A important story with beautiful art. Reflective, anti-colonial, identity and history focused, vibrant and timely. I really think everyone should read Squire.
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a delightful read. The art was interesting, a sort of polished unpolished style full of energy and movement. The story of Aiza and Doruk also kept my interest and was fun to read through. I do wish I could have gotten more about all the other characters, including Hende. It seems to be a standalone novel, and graphic novels don't always allow for <i>the most</i> background on characters since you're limited to the cells and making things cohesive in a visual manner. But I do wish I could get a little bit more about the other characters' motivations. There's precious little for Sahar and Basem has the most background, but a lot of that I got from reading into what was there, not what the book elaborated on.
I would prefer this as a series, because the ending does feel a little bit off, like the beat of the story was established and then we suddenly went to a half-step.
In hindsight, I might have rated this more of a 3.5, but I can see from other reviews and from the writer and artist's own notes that this kind of representation means a lot, so it's easy to round up rather than down. It is nice to have a different look and culture to the characters rather than the same old English inspired knights.
I would prefer this as a series, because the ending does feel a little bit off, like the beat of the story was established and then we suddenly went to a half-step.
In hindsight, I might have rated this more of a 3.5, but I can see from other reviews and from the writer and artist's own notes that this kind of representation means a lot, so it's easy to round up rather than down. It is nice to have a different look and culture to the characters rather than the same old English inspired knights.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Violence
I remember watching a documentary about WWI directed by Peter Jackson. The documentary humanizes a time very distant to me, putting voices to faces. The boys independently recollect the happy moments spent together, the hardships and terrors they faced, and the empire’s machinery swallowing their friends up as they watched. The most poignant moment for me was when a British soldier recalled sharing some water with a German soldier who was dying, and that the man’s dying words were “Das ist güt.” They all recalled that the general feeling towards the other Germans was one of pity, that they had to fight them at all because they found them “more civilized” than a different “kind” of German. All of this to say, Squire does this masterfully in a little over 300 pages. There is plenty of antiwar art and literature in the canon, but I find that much of it is too gory for young adults to engage with. This is not to say that you should censor or shield those materials when so many are benefited by them, but that animated shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender can cover this without the gore of real images or the super gore of a big budget film. Squire deals in the ideology, a point it drives home through its General (no spoilers!) and the character Basem. If they do another book, I would like to linger on Aiza’s moment of being turned into a living story, of being propaganda. Although the book is not classified under JGN in my library, likely due to curse words (although I only spotted one to my knowledge???), I think it would be a fantastic read for a child as young as thirteen and older. In terms of storytelling, it is clear that the authors used these well designed, lush spaces with complex characters inhabiting them, as vehicles for ideas they will continue to grapple with for their whole lives, ideas that it is our responsibility to constantly reexamine in a world of global superpower empires and genocides. This book is very important to current political conversation, and it is a very human one. Despite a couple of typos I noticed, I personally find that the messages in this book are valuable and important, so I highly recommend it!! Thank you for reading this wordy review, and I hope it convinces you to check this book out <3
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No