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2.77 AVERAGE
2.77 AVERAGE
Originally posted on HellyReads
I read this whilst listening to Billie Holiday sing like an angel. Such an amazing voice setting the backdrop for me to learn about her life in this absolutely stunning graphic biography.
Told as a story of a journalist writing an article about her to commemorate the anniversary of her death, it tells of her struggles with alcohol, drugs, men, the police and racism.
Parts of her story made me so sad, others angry. It is amazing that a person who had lived through so much could still find the strength to get on stage and sing like she did. It also partially explains how her voice was so full of feeling.
Until I read this, I had no idea about Billie Holiday as a person. I just knew the voice, that she had died relatively young, and the era she lived in would've made it difficult to be a beautiful talented black woman. This has really opened my eyes, and made me appreciate her talent even more.
Absolutely gorgeous to look at, really well told, I absolutely loved it.
I read this whilst listening to Billie Holiday sing like an angel. Such an amazing voice setting the backdrop for me to learn about her life in this absolutely stunning graphic biography.
Told as a story of a journalist writing an article about her to commemorate the anniversary of her death, it tells of her struggles with alcohol, drugs, men, the police and racism.
Parts of her story made me so sad, others angry. It is amazing that a person who had lived through so much could still find the strength to get on stage and sing like she did. It also partially explains how her voice was so full of feeling.
Until I read this, I had no idea about Billie Holiday as a person. I just knew the voice, that she had died relatively young, and the era she lived in would've made it difficult to be a beautiful talented black woman. This has really opened my eyes, and made me appreciate her talent even more.
Absolutely gorgeous to look at, really well told, I absolutely loved it.
The positive: I learned a lot about Billie Holiday in a fast, unflinching take of the highs & lows (mostly lows). The graphic novel format meant I could actually see this icon treated so miserably in an overtly racist & sexist America, which was painful but powerful.
The negative: The framing was so confusing. Why come at from a reporter-on-deadline angle instead of doing a straight bio? And why set that reporter in the 90s instead of now? And even if you have to have the reporter, why do we care about his drunk girlfriend? This outer plotline also made it hard for me to keep the side characters straight as the book jumped around in time. The art, though stark & expressive, also made distinguishing non-Billie characters difficult. I did like that you got to see the shifts between reverence now with abuse then (as with the cop who guarded her hospital bed) but I still think there would be a less confusing way to do this.
The negative: The framing was so confusing. Why come at from a reporter-on-deadline angle instead of doing a straight bio? And why set that reporter in the 90s instead of now? And even if you have to have the reporter, why do we care about his drunk girlfriend? This outer plotline also made it hard for me to keep the side characters straight as the book jumped around in time. The art, though stark & expressive, also made distinguishing non-Billie characters difficult. I did like that you got to see the shifts between reverence now with abuse then (as with the cop who guarded her hospital bed) but I still think there would be a less confusing way to do this.
O livro consiste numa "novela gráfica", pelo que penso não ter a pretensão de ser um biografia extensa e aprofundada. Centrado naquilo que foi a vida de Billie, entre drogas, álcool, prostituição e violações, pouco espaço houve para passagens bonitas. É isso que o livro retrata. De forma sucinta. A preto e branco. Muito cru.
This story was really raw and graphic. If you can get past the introduction chapter (which is like trudging through molasses made of strange tense changes, random lyrical metaphors, the author informally referring to himself and the reader as “us”, and tangents of random facts thrown in with no explanation), then you find a really graphic depiction all the ways that Billie Holiday was raped, tortured, and victimized by the people in her life, told in a graphic novel format.
So, on the one hand this made me incredibly angry at everyone who ever hurt her. She came across a lot of horribly sexist, racist, sadistic people, many of whom were cops. It’s nice that this biography didn’t try to romanticize or make light of those events, especially considering that her autobiography and other accounts had to be watered down for legal reasons. Having her story honestly told made me feel so much more respect and heartbreak for her.
On the other hand, this entire story is told with a framing device of a journalist researching Holiday on the 30th anniversary of her death. That journalist is looking up all of these horrible events and making very blasé commentary on them. And at one point the journalist calls someone on the phone and the comic panels start switching back and forth between “past” and “present” but it’s really difficult to tell what’s going on. Then there was a very literary but vague point being made that no one respected or cared about Billie Holiday while she was alive and all her notoriety came posthumously.
There were no good qualities about Billie Holiday shared. Nothing was said about how she persevered or overcame all of this negativity in her life to become a revered and amazing musician. There were more panels and speech bubbles from corrupt cops and racist taxi drivers and racist Hollywood directors and disgusting rapists than speech bubbles from Holiday herself. It felt like all of the attention and power was given to the vile people around her.
I feel like if I really wanted to learn about Holiday and support her in a way that gives her agency, I should read her autobiography. This book felt very exploitative and belittling, even though I truly believe it was going for the opposite of that. It was just not good.
I was given an ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
So, on the one hand this made me incredibly angry at everyone who ever hurt her. She came across a lot of horribly sexist, racist, sadistic people, many of whom were cops. It’s nice that this biography didn’t try to romanticize or make light of those events, especially considering that her autobiography and other accounts had to be watered down for legal reasons. Having her story honestly told made me feel so much more respect and heartbreak for her.
On the other hand, this entire story is told with a framing device of a journalist researching Holiday on the 30th anniversary of her death. That journalist is looking up all of these horrible events and making very blasé commentary on them. And at one point the journalist calls someone on the phone and the comic panels start switching back and forth between “past” and “present” but it’s really difficult to tell what’s going on. Then there was a very literary but vague point being made that no one respected or cared about Billie Holiday while she was alive and all her notoriety came posthumously.
There were no good qualities about Billie Holiday shared. Nothing was said about how she persevered or overcame all of this negativity in her life to become a revered and amazing musician. There were more panels and speech bubbles from corrupt cops and racist taxi drivers and racist Hollywood directors and disgusting rapists than speech bubbles from Holiday herself. It felt like all of the attention and power was given to the vile people around her.
I feel like if I really wanted to learn about Holiday and support her in a way that gives her agency, I should read her autobiography. This book felt very exploitative and belittling, even though I truly believe it was going for the opposite of that. It was just not good.
I was given an ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
dark
tense
The first thing you should know about Billie Holiday, is , that although she was famous, she was black, and a woman, and those were two things that were hard in the 20th century.
And this graphic novel hits on all the depressing bits of her life. From her love life, to her drugs, to her tragic death. There are no bright spots, or very few.
This is a depressing look at a depressing life.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review
And this graphic novel hits on all the depressing bits of her life. From her love life, to her drugs, to her tragic death. There are no bright spots, or very few.
This is a depressing look at a depressing life.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review
Going into this you should be very aware that Billie Holiday lead a hard and tragic life. It's not something that could or should be left out of any telling of her life. The problem I had with this telling is that it focuses solely only on the horrific abuses that she endured. I feel like we could hear more about her music and relationships without loosing the rawness of her reality.
I also had a hard time with the art style. The heavy, blocky art made it hard for me to differentiate changes in locations and characters. I had to reread pages several times to try and peg down what was going on and who was talking.
The story left me wishing I knew more about Billie Holiday rather than making me feel like I had learned anything new about an icon of history.
I also had a hard time with the art style. The heavy, blocky art made it hard for me to differentiate changes in locations and characters. I had to reread pages several times to try and peg down what was going on and who was talking.
The story left me wishing I knew more about Billie Holiday rather than making me feel like I had learned anything new about an icon of history.
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
I liked it but at times felt the narrative was confusing. I would have liked more details of her life. The introduction was really informative.