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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
I am not a gaming nerd, but I love the idea of people coming together to do something they love. This graphic novel was really good.
i would rather say that this book deals with sociological behaviour more than teaches about economics.
nevertheless, i love anda and her story and i like jen wang's art very very much. oh, and the coloring is wonderful *___*
nevertheless, i love anda and her story and i like jen wang's art very very much. oh, and the coloring is wonderful *___*
This piqued my interest, because I had read Cory Doctorow's short story "Anda's Game" in Press Start to Play. What I didn't realize is that this story is an adapted version of that story. Just like "Anda's Game" In Real Life fails to really address the deeper darker issues at play. Anda is a young gamer girl who wants to help Raymond, but fails to understand that Raymond's problem doesn't have an easy solution. I found Anda's role as the prototypical "white savior" to be a bit problematic.
The way Anda "saves" these factory workers is so simple that it begs the question why did it have to be her? The answer: because Anda is the hero of the story, and the factory workers only exist to represent her character growth and serve as a badge for her achievements. This was so unrealistic for a book titled In Real Life. In real life, if all the workers rose up the big boss would fire them all and easily find a replacement. Lack of government regulations and cheap labor costs are what enable poor labor conditions.
I get how Cory Doctorow was trying to tell a complex story about they grey zones of morality, but it was so surface level that it didn't work. Raymond is essentially used as a narrative pawn to uplift Anda. That's just gross and harmful. I presume Doctorow was writing this with the intentions of creating an inspiring feminist take on the gaming world, but unfortunately the way he went about it was wrong. His story is blind disservice to the minor characters from Raymond and his fellow factory workers to Lucy. The art was beautiful, I'll give this book that much credit. But other than that this gets a no from me.
The way Anda "saves" these factory workers is so simple that it begs the question why did it have to be her? The answer: because Anda is the hero of the story, and the factory workers only exist to represent her character growth and serve as a badge for her achievements. This was so unrealistic for a book titled In Real Life. In real life, if all the workers rose up the big boss would fire them all and easily find a replacement. Lack of government regulations and cheap labor costs are what enable poor labor conditions.
I get how Cory Doctorow was trying to tell a complex story about they grey zones of morality, but it was so surface level that it didn't work. Raymond is essentially used as a narrative pawn to uplift Anda. That's just gross and harmful. I presume Doctorow was writing this with the intentions of creating an inspiring feminist take on the gaming world, but unfortunately the way he went about it was wrong. His story is blind disservice to the minor characters from Raymond and his fellow factory workers to Lucy. The art was beautiful, I'll give this book that much credit. But other than that this gets a no from me.
2,5/5*
The concept was interesting but it was poorly executed.
The concept was interesting but it was poorly executed.
On the one hand, I'm glad that there's an empowering book for teen female gamers (and gamers in general). On the other, the book grossly oversimplifies the problems it seeks to address about economics, health care, working conditions, injustice, etc. While I want to laud the protagonist's efforts to make the world a better place for everyone, the story felt a bit too self-congratulatory whenever the privileged helped those less fortunate.
As someone who used to play MMOs (still do occasionally), this really struck a cord with me. I love the idea of approaching a major social issue through something as simple as a graphic novel. The art is beautiful and the message is strong. I highly recommend to both teenagers and adults alike, I think it's important to participate in this kind of conversation.
I read this because I like Jen Wang's art style and was drawn in by the premise: an ordinary American preteen girl gains confidence by playing an online game where she can be whoever she wants to be (pretty standard setup) and everything changes when she meets a Chinese teen who is working under inhumane conditions gold farming in-game as his IRL job. I had high expectations for this story since it takes a pretty trite and familiar setup, and uses it as a lens to examine capitalism, labor rights, and preteen feminism. I 100% recommend it to anyone, since it's short.
This was not a great graphic novel, but it had a lot of potential. Somehow I thought Jen Wang had some writing credit here, but I think it was all Cory Doctorow. I think this could have been either (1) a novel with some illustrations as window dressing or (2) a much more ambitious, longer graphic novel or webcomic. Point is, it needed more time to tell the story, which, presented this way, was kind of a flop. This is actually something I wish a younger, female author could have tackled (perhaps...that's where my wishful thinking for Jen Wang came in).
Some major, major issues I have with this work.
(1) It uses the lens of an American preteen who, in her attempts to do good, harm the person she is trying to help. This is rescued in the story by kind of luck, but in her privileged, naive new wokeness, she actively harms her friend, the Chinese teen who works 12 hours and has a precarious health and housing situation. This is in fact brought up by the other Chinese laborers in-game, but this is not examined in depth at all. There is a 2-star review on here that explains this better than I can. The intent of this book is good, the execution and messaging not so good.
(2) The absolute trash fire of the actual adults who are supposed to be the role model feminists. No. Absolutely not. I'm possibly clutching my pearls on this but the adult Strong Female Characters are exploitative of Anda and the other middle school girls they recruit.
So I wrote this entire essay on a graphic novel I don't like, that I want everyone to read. It's an important message and an important jumping off point for an immensely complex topic. And if any of my IRL friends have read this book, I want to discuss.
This was not a great graphic novel, but it had a lot of potential. Somehow I thought Jen Wang had some writing credit here, but I think it was all Cory Doctorow. I think this could have been either (1) a novel with some illustrations as window dressing or (2) a much more ambitious, longer graphic novel or webcomic. Point is, it needed more time to tell the story, which, presented this way, was kind of a flop. This is actually something I wish a younger, female author could have tackled (perhaps...that's where my wishful thinking for Jen Wang came in).
Some major, major issues I have with this work.
(1) It uses the lens of an American preteen who, in her attempts to do good, harm the person she is trying to help. This is rescued in the story by kind of luck, but in her privileged, naive new wokeness, she actively harms her friend, the Chinese teen who works 12 hours and has a precarious health and housing situation. This is in fact brought up by the other Chinese laborers in-game, but this is not examined in depth at all. There is a 2-star review on here that explains this better than I can. The intent of this book is good, the execution and messaging not so good.
(2) The absolute trash fire of the actual adults who are supposed to be the role model feminists. No. Absolutely not. I'm possibly clutching my pearls on this but the adult Strong Female Characters are exploitative of Anda and the other middle school girls they recruit.
So I wrote this entire essay on a graphic novel I don't like, that I want everyone to read. It's an important message and an important jumping off point for an immensely complex topic. And if any of my IRL friends have read this book, I want to discuss.
Teen/YA graphic novel about a girl who gains confidence through online gaming but also discovers some real-life issues that she wants to help with. REad my full review at:
http://bookbybook.blogspot.com/2014/09/teenya-review-in-real-life.html
http://bookbybook.blogspot.com/2014/09/teenya-review-in-real-life.html
I found this to be a really cute comic. While it comes across as lighthearted and fun, it touches on some really deep, dark, and important topics surrounding gaming culture and what it's like to be a female gamer. Not only that, it touches on the inequalities that exist in societies today.
While this book may not be everyone's cup of tea, I suggest giving it a shot. I'm sure that there's something you can take from this book.
While this book may not be everyone's cup of tea, I suggest giving it a shot. I'm sure that there's something you can take from this book.
This was a great story and I really liked the artwork. My only problem was it seemed short and I think with the rather serious issues it was discussing it would have been nice to explore the complications. Because of this the ending seemed a little "after school special". But it was still VERY good and I would definitely recommend.