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steveatwaywords's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
After a few weaker graphic novel choices recently, Tynion's first six issues of The Nice House on the Lake> were a breath of freshly fetid air. Part horror, part science fiction, the set up is absolutely cliched for the genre: a number of young people are gathered together at a remote house by a mysterious host who seems to be playing a strange and morbid game. Will they survive? (And many more of the conceits are borrowed from similar plots from Stephen King, M Night Shyamalan, and others.)
After that, however, Tynion has other plans for us. The relationships are rich and convoluted, the conflicts are each personal and global, the surprises are usually genuine, and the artwork is gorgeous. Many have praised the diversity of the characters, particularly in the healthy normalizing of non-binary relationships. Mostly though, for me, I appreciated both the believability of each character and the tensions built from many ultimately respectable perspectives. What is really the question for readers: exactly what are the stakes here for each?
It is this approach to the narrative which makes the otherwise formulaic story conceit fresh and fascinating. The foreshadowing is thick, the hypotheses offered unsound, and so we worry alongside each of them in this claustrophobic utopia, wondering exactly "what the rules are."
Fortunately, Volume 2, issues 7-12, have bee published, so I will not have to wait long to find out.
After that, however, Tynion has other plans for us. The relationships are rich and convoluted, the conflicts are each personal and global, the surprises are usually genuine, and the artwork is gorgeous. Many have praised the diversity of the characters, particularly in the healthy normalizing of non-binary relationships. Mostly though, for me, I appreciated both the believability of each character and the tensions built from many ultimately respectable perspectives. What is really the question for readers: exactly what are the stakes here for each?
It is this approach to the narrative which makes the otherwise formulaic story conceit fresh and fascinating. The foreshadowing is thick, the hypotheses offered unsound, and so we worry alongside each of them in this claustrophobic utopia, wondering exactly "what the rules are."
Fortunately, Volume 2, issues 7-12, have bee published, so I will not have to wait long to find out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief
Moderate: Gore, Blood, Abandonment, Cursing, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
indeedithappens's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Murder, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Alcohol
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