jonknightknighthunterbooks's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
It's a rare graphic novel that makes me cry, which this did.
While the art is gorgeous, the narrative structure is probqboy the most innovative thing about this work - though perhaps with 2023 being the year of multiverse films that is less true than it once was.
Brás, our protagonist, probably thinks of themselves as an everyman, despite being from a well off family, and getting a job almost certainly based on his connections. He is honestly generally pretty pathetic - but in a fairly normal way; unsure what he wants to do with his life, chasing after women he thinks will make him complete (and when he gets one, leaving all the childcare to her).
A recurring theme, is the chasing of dreams, and contrasting that with living a safe life. A willingness to explore his dreams generally works out well for Bràs, which makes it a little jarring that in one story strand, a black character who has the temerity to chase their dreams becomes a penniless killer. And as others have noted (here: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/ead0e25b-856f-45be-ab9d-a9884f2f7c94) the only other Black Brazilian is portrayed as wildly emotional and volatile.
Art and structure make this worth a read - but it's worth bearing in mind going in that Black Brazilian characters are treated poorly, both by the writers and the world they've created.
While the art is gorgeous, the narrative structure is probqboy the most innovative thing about this work - though perhaps with 2023 being the year of multiverse films that is less true than it once was.
Brás, our protagonist, probably thinks of themselves as an everyman, despite being from a well off family, and getting a job almost certainly based on his connections. He is honestly generally pretty pathetic - but in a fairly normal way; unsure what he wants to do with his life, chasing after women he thinks will make him complete (and when he gets one, leaving all the childcare to her).
A recurring theme, is the chasing of dreams, and contrasting that with living a safe life. A willingness to explore his dreams generally works out well for Bràs, which makes it a little jarring that in one story strand, a black character who has the temerity to chase their dreams becomes a penniless killer. And as others have noted (here: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/ead0e25b-856f-45be-ab9d-a9884f2f7c94) the only other Black Brazilian is portrayed as wildly emotional and volatile.
Art and structure make this worth a read - but it's worth bearing in mind going in that Black Brazilian characters are treated poorly, both by the writers and the world they've created.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Cancer, Suicide, and Death of parent
chaoticnostalgia's review
reflective
relaxing
slow-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
4.0
Feeling like I will be thinking about this for a while, but can't figure out how much I liked it. I'm definitely feeling existential.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Suicide, Death of parent, Grief, Gun violence, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual content, Cancer, and Medical content
Minor: Pregnancy
safecamp's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Pregnancy, Grief, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Death, Death of parent, Medical content, Murder, and Gun violence
nannahnannah's review
3.0
I feel so bad for finding this just "meh ...", because I can just feel that there was so much love put into this (and it also says the authors poured their souls into the graphic novel in the introduction ...). But that love never really reached me, I guess, and I couldn't connect to the characters or the story.
Representation:
main character is an Afro (right?)-Brazilian
his best friend is black (Afro-Brazilian?)
the book takes place in Brazil, so there are many ethnicities
Brás de Oliva Domingos is the son of a famous writer, and dreams of becoming one himself while he writes obituaries for a newspaper.
That's basically the basic storyline, and then the graphic novel riffs of that, asking the question: what are the most important moments of your life? Each chapter is an "alternative life" for Brás (with an alternative death, too, and an obituary to top it off). They're also rather slow moving, with an in-the-moment feel (except for a couple, oof), that lets you explore that question for yourself: what moments ARE important in life? What do I want out of it?
But there was just something about the writing (LOTS of macho "living the life! Lots of chicks, yeah!" dialogue maybe) ... that I just didn't get. And that's okay; just means it's not for me.
I did have a problem, however, with the fact that Jorge, Brás's best friend, a dark-skinned black man, was the only character close to Brás Frankly, both the darker-skinned characters Brás knew and loved turned out to be either overly emotional, violent, or unstable. Not a very good choice .
Anyway, it's obvious many people connected to this story, so it's also obvious it was a just "not for me" book.
Representation:
main character is an Afro (right?)-Brazilian
his best friend is black (Afro-Brazilian?)
the book takes place in Brazil, so there are many ethnicities
Brás de Oliva Domingos is the son of a famous writer, and dreams of becoming one himself while he writes obituaries for a newspaper.
That's basically the basic storyline, and then the graphic novel riffs of that, asking the question: what are the most important moments of your life? Each chapter is an "alternative life" for Brás (with an alternative death, too, and an obituary to top it off). They're also rather slow moving, with an in-the-moment feel (except for a couple, oof), that lets you explore that question for yourself: what moments ARE important in life? What do I want out of it?
But there was just something about the writing (LOTS of macho "living the life! Lots of chicks, yeah!" dialogue maybe) ... that I just didn't get. And that's okay; just means it's not for me.
I did have a problem, however, with the fact that Jorge, Brás's best friend, a dark-skinned black man, was the only character close to Brás
Spoiler
who turned violent and killed him. Disappointing.Anyway, it's obvious many people connected to this story, so it's also obvious it was a just "not for me" book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Suicide
iuvmoonie's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Suicide, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Medical content, Car accident, Terminal illness, Sexism, and Misogyny
saviourcomplex's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Suicide
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