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sunsun886's review against another edition
3.0
“You and Mr. Mah are very much alike. You feel alone? He feels very much alone. You cannot go back to Ohio? He can never go back to China. Your family is lost? His family is all dead. Mr. Mah works very hard, but the neighbors see only a “chinaman” who belongs in a laundry. They are blind to who he really is. His only home is in the food he cooks.”
bethtabler's review
4.0
David Small has crafted an atmospheric, timeless, and fearlessly dark coming of age story. He has taken everything and put it out for the world to see, panel by panel. It is uncomfortable, some of the panels make me feel ill, some make me squirm, some almost made me cry. This isn't a book that brings warm fuzziness. Matter-a-fact, this story ends quite abruptly. This was a profoundly difficult story for me to get through.
Small creates a narrative of growing up in the 1950s. His mother has abandoned him. His father, an alcoholic has pretty much abandoned him as well. There isn't much for him to cling to. Many of the situations he finds himself in show just how rudderless a kid he really is. There is violence, gore, bullying, and animal cruelty. This is a heart wrenching and dark book. It takes you places that I am not sure most readers want to go. I actually had to read it in short bursts because it left me feeling to much to plow through it. Stitches his other book, was dark like this but in a slightly different way. By the end of Stitches I hated the parents and what they had did to him, in this story I have no idea how I feel. Maybe just hated the situations that he was put in. It is well done, but definitely not for everyone. Read with caution, especially if you are triggered by the above.
Small creates a narrative of growing up in the 1950s. His mother has abandoned him. His father, an alcoholic has pretty much abandoned him as well. There isn't much for him to cling to. Many of the situations he finds himself in show just how rudderless a kid he really is. There is violence, gore, bullying, and animal cruelty. This is a heart wrenching and dark book. It takes you places that I am not sure most readers want to go. I actually had to read it in short bursts because it left me feeling to much to plow through it. Stitches his other book, was dark like this but in a slightly different way. By the end of Stitches I hated the parents and what they had did to him, in this story I have no idea how I feel. Maybe just hated the situations that he was put in. It is well done, but definitely not for everyone. Read with caution, especially if you are triggered by the above.
caseysilk's review
Stitches was my favorite graphic novel. I need time to digest this book and maybe read again. It is unbearably sad.
happy_stomach's review
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
basilbasil's review
3.0
An interesting story, although slightly sad. I was disappointed with Russell by the end, although I sympathized with his difficult circumstances.
jacsu's review
5.0
This was a spectacular and haunting story about the life of a boy in 1950s America. For a full (spoiler free) review, see my blog: https://readingasfastasica.wixsite.com/readingasfastasican
k_telgren's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Suicide, Racial slurs, Animal death, Alcoholism, Sexual content, Mental illness, Homophobia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Child abuse, Bullying, Addiction, and Abandonment
rdyourbookcase's review
3.0
Home After Dark was so well-done that I kept thinking it was a memoir. I enjoyed the art as well, and now will read anything by David Small. I don't, however, think that he is comparable to Alfred Hitchcock (I realize that I am biased when it comes to Alfred Hitchcock comparisons... I'm a tough crowd because I like his movies so much.) Anyway, I hope that Home After Dark gets a sequel. I think that there is more story to tell.
joyousreads132's review against another edition
4.0
Set in 1950s, Home After Dark is the story of a teen boy who will go through the most tumultuous changes and challenges of adolescence. Soon after his mother left them for another man, his father upended their lives for the greener pastures of California. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out. Russell’s father soon left him on his own, living in the mercy of a Chinese couple that generously took him in.
In California, he would meet the people that will eventually shape his life and dictate the course for which he would take.
His first friend was a boy who lived with his grandma. He was kind to him, accepted him when other kids shun him. He was also generous. But his friendship came with a price. One that Russell couldn’t quite grasp at such a young age. Needless to say, the friendship didn’t last.
Russell then finds himself in the company of three boys who were, for the most part, good company. But there’s always going to be bad seeds. They bullied a boy who was a loner. One of the boys planted evidence that would eventually lead to him committing suicide.
Life in California wasn’t how it’s cracked up to be. His relationship with his father went from bad to worse. His drinking accelerated, leading to his being let go at his job. In the end, he too abandoned Russell. The friends that he thought were genuine turned out to be false. And the one friend that he thought wanted something from him that he couldn’t give because he doesn’t understand killed himself. He stole from the only people who were willing to take him in when he was all alone in the world. Life for him wasn’t only hard, it was confusing, and sometimes, unforgiving.
Home After Dark is a graphic novel so the effect can be limited at times. I find myself staring at the series of drawings as I try to decipher the extent of emotional impact the author is trying to convey. But still, I found this book to be easy to read, with a protagonist that’s equally easy to empathize. It’s a coming of age novel and boy, did Russell go through so much. It’s also a dark novel but somehow, someway, it wasn’t nearly as hopeless. David Smalls captured the despairing side of adolescence, but it also offered hope. Hope that he will eventually grow out of it – get pass it. It only depends on how he would take the life lessons each day gave him.
In California, he would meet the people that will eventually shape his life and dictate the course for which he would take.
His first friend was a boy who lived with his grandma. He was kind to him, accepted him when other kids shun him. He was also generous. But his friendship came with a price. One that Russell couldn’t quite grasp at such a young age. Needless to say, the friendship didn’t last.
Russell then finds himself in the company of three boys who were, for the most part, good company. But there’s always going to be bad seeds. They bullied a boy who was a loner. One of the boys planted evidence that would eventually lead to him committing suicide.
Life in California wasn’t how it’s cracked up to be. His relationship with his father went from bad to worse. His drinking accelerated, leading to his being let go at his job. In the end, he too abandoned Russell. The friends that he thought were genuine turned out to be false. And the one friend that he thought wanted something from him that he couldn’t give because he doesn’t understand killed himself. He stole from the only people who were willing to take him in when he was all alone in the world. Life for him wasn’t only hard, it was confusing, and sometimes, unforgiving.
Home After Dark is a graphic novel so the effect can be limited at times. I find myself staring at the series of drawings as I try to decipher the extent of emotional impact the author is trying to convey. But still, I found this book to be easy to read, with a protagonist that’s equally easy to empathize. It’s a coming of age novel and boy, did Russell go through so much. It’s also a dark novel but somehow, someway, it wasn’t nearly as hopeless. David Smalls captured the despairing side of adolescence, but it also offered hope. Hope that he will eventually grow out of it – get pass it. It only depends on how he would take the life lessons each day gave him.