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karliclover's review
5.0
I was given a free (signed!) copy of No Mercy #1 at San Diego Comic-Con this year and I'm so appreciative for that. I read it a couple days later, not expecting much, and was very impressed. The next Wednesday, I went to my comic shop and picked up the remaining few issues. It's so good. Very dark, but really good. I've never read anything by Alex de Campi before, but this makes me want to look more into her!
tanaod's review
4.0
It got my attention. The characters are painted in broad strokes, for now, but are still interesting enough. The story had some nice twists and turns, nothing too unexpected, but they kept the story going at a nice pace. I really like the use and depiction of modern technology. The art goes a long way into building the tense atmosphere. Will definitely read the next volume.
nodalec's review
2.0
So this review is heavily influenced by the fact that I bought this as a librarian for teenagers. Just fyi.
I really wanted to like this. I was hoping it would be a great addition to feed into the last Hunger Games movie crowd. The art in the previews looked good, and the summary was exactly what I was looking for.
Alas.
The pros:
*The art is great.
*The characters are interesting
*It's all survivalist-y which is what I was looking for...
*The first third is awesome. The second third is okay.
*Cute shoutouts to pop culture including animes! :) I like that stuff.
The cons:
*There is so much swearing. On a personal level, not a big deal, but I was under the impression this was only T+ and there is SO MUCH SWEARING. Like, "if-a-parent-complained-about-it-I-wouldn't-get-a-warning-I'd-get-fired" amount. My city (or at least the Decision Makers of it) lean fairly conservative, and if I had known about the amount of f-bombs in it (not mention all other words) I would not have ever gotten it.
*The brother/sister have a weird relationship. Like unbelievably hate-filled.
*It just...meh. I wish a little more was explained? It...I dunno. everything falls apart incredibly easily, and I feel the characters were incredibly underprepared for visiting a place in the middle of nowhere. I mean, it helps the plot but doesn't make sense for the ...level of smart that the characters are supposed to be.
tl:dr: Would not recommend for a teen library collection. I got too excited at the T+ and the fact that Bibz told me it was for teens and ignored the fact it was from Image.
Library collection aside, the art is great, but I just didn't find it that compelling. The brother (whose name i cannot remember for the life of me) REALLY freaking bothered me, as did his sister. And about 90% of the other characters. They were all so...ridiculously unlikeable. Which I guess is the point. Just wasn't my kind of book. =/
I really wanted to like this. I was hoping it would be a great addition to feed into the last Hunger Games movie crowd. The art in the previews looked good, and the summary was exactly what I was looking for.
Alas.
The pros:
*The art is great.
*The characters are interesting
*It's all survivalist-y which is what I was looking for...
*The first third is awesome. The second third is okay.
*Cute shoutouts to pop culture including animes! :) I like that stuff.
The cons:
*There is so much swearing. On a personal level, not a big deal, but I was under the impression this was only T+ and there is SO MUCH SWEARING. Like, "if-a-parent-complained-about-it-I-wouldn't-get-a-warning-I'd-get-fired" amount. My city (or at least the Decision Makers of it) lean fairly conservative, and if I had known about the amount of f-bombs in it (not mention all other words) I would not have ever gotten it.
*The brother/sister have a weird relationship. Like unbelievably hate-filled.
*It just...meh. I wish a little more was explained? It...I dunno. everything falls apart incredibly easily, and I feel the characters were incredibly underprepared for visiting a place in the middle of nowhere. I mean, it helps the plot but doesn't make sense for the ...level of smart that the characters are supposed to be.
tl:dr: Would not recommend for a teen library collection. I got too excited at the T+ and the fact that Bibz told me it was for teens and ignored the fact it was from Image.
Library collection aside, the art is great, but I just didn't find it that compelling. The brother (whose name i cannot remember for the life of me) REALLY freaking bothered me, as did his sister. And about 90% of the other characters. They were all so...ridiculously unlikeable. Which I guess is the point. Just wasn't my kind of book. =/
kjboldon's review
5.0
A bunch of smart pampered kids goes out of the first world and bad things happen. I love McNeil's art, and look forward to finding out what happens, even if I have a sneaking suspicion that only the a-hol-iest of the kids are going to survive.
jnikolova's review
4.0
Also available on the WondrousBooks blog.
While No Mercy by far does not possess the best or most original story out there, it's interesting and once I started, without meaning to, I kept flipping the pages until there were no more left. Therefore, I can definitely say that it was a pleasurable read.
No Mercy basically represents every survivor story ever written: a group of people, in this case student volunteers, go on a trip, they have an accident and are left to fend for themselves, again in this case in the dangerous and fictional Mataguey somewhere in Latin America.
To be honest, the first 4 issues are not even adequate in explaining the story, they provide no answers, just set the premise for the future developments. The entire idea is not all that obscure, but it's still fun to follow. And if not fun, by all means - it's funny in a gruesome way.
Which leads me to the thing I enjoyed the most about No Mercy: the means of the author to present the story. I really love it when instead of a straightforward narrative, writers use other means too. In the case of Love, Rosie it was all kinds of correspondence, including letters, emails and texts. Here, a lot of the story is shown through the tools of the social media platforms that most, if not all of us, use in our day to day life. And it is not hard to see our own dependence on our technology and especially on our phones as flawed as it can be if taken to extremes. Sure, I too support the idea that technology is helpful, but Tiffani as a character represents a type of person that we see every day - the people who don't really have fun, they just care about appearing to be having fun on social media. That's a flaw that deserves to be criticized and mocked, if only to make people give it a second thought.
Among all of the characters, I didn't find many likable ones, but in this case I think that's the point. This group of random, different from each other, spoiled kids will have to find a way to cooperate and find a out of the mess as a team, not as the annoying individuals that they are and I think that might be very interesting to follow.
*** 3.5 stars ***
While No Mercy by far does not possess the best or most original story out there, it's interesting and once I started, without meaning to, I kept flipping the pages until there were no more left. Therefore, I can definitely say that it was a pleasurable read.
No Mercy basically represents every survivor story ever written: a group of people, in this case student volunteers, go on a trip, they have an accident and are left to fend for themselves, again in this case in the dangerous and fictional Mataguey somewhere in Latin America.
To be honest, the first 4 issues are not even adequate in explaining the story, they provide no answers, just set the premise for the future developments. The entire idea is not all that obscure, but it's still fun to follow. And if not fun, by all means - it's funny in a gruesome way.
Which leads me to the thing I enjoyed the most about No Mercy: the means of the author to present the story. I really love it when instead of a straightforward narrative, writers use other means too. In the case of Love, Rosie it was all kinds of correspondence, including letters, emails and texts. Here, a lot of the story is shown through the tools of the social media platforms that most, if not all of us, use in our day to day life. And it is not hard to see our own dependence on our technology and especially on our phones as flawed as it can be if taken to extremes. Sure, I too support the idea that technology is helpful, but Tiffani as a character represents a type of person that we see every day - the people who don't really have fun, they just care about appearing to be having fun on social media. That's a flaw that deserves to be criticized and mocked, if only to make people give it a second thought.
Among all of the characters, I didn't find many likable ones, but in this case I think that's the point. This group of random, different from each other, spoiled kids will have to find a way to cooperate and find a out of the mess as a team, not as the annoying individuals that they are and I think that might be very interesting to follow.
carroq's review
4.0
As the title suggests, this book can be brutal. It starts off innocuously with a group of teens going on a volunteer trip to Latin America. The early portion of the book plays up the fact that these kids are preparing to move onto college and might just be going on this trip to make themselves look good. Their guide once they arrive is a nun, but even with her help they end up stranded.
The creators do a nice job easing into the crux of the story. I think it would have felt like a very different book if they opened right into the bad stuff. As it is, the tension created after the first major turning point works. From there it becomes a matter of survival for everyone. They will have to face some basic issues like what to do about food/water and protect themselves from predators. Groups are formed and there are a few stand out characters, but there is a large cast and not all of them get enough attention. That's okay for this collection as it is creating a tone for the larger story. I would expect there to be a greater character focus in the next volume.
I dig the illustrations in this book. Things start out sort of chaotic to match the business of the airport, which is a nice touch. The backgrounds are shown nicely and I like the character drawings. There are a few times when a character looks odd because of proportions, but it didn't ruin the story.
The creators do a nice job easing into the crux of the story. I think it would have felt like a very different book if they opened right into the bad stuff. As it is, the tension created after the first major turning point works. From there it becomes a matter of survival for everyone. They will have to face some basic issues like what to do about food/water and protect themselves from predators. Groups are formed and there are a few stand out characters, but there is a large cast and not all of them get enough attention. That's okay for this collection as it is creating a tone for the larger story. I would expect there to be a greater character focus in the next volume.
I dig the illustrations in this book. Things start out sort of chaotic to match the business of the airport, which is a nice touch. The backgrounds are shown nicely and I like the character drawings. There are a few times when a character looks odd because of proportions, but it didn't ruin the story.
whitecat5000's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
4.0
This was a great start. Super dark and mysterious.
honguan's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
nobodyatall's review
2.0
Nice art, interesting concept.
Found it a bit boring and simplistic though. Too many characters to really care for any of them as they weren't developed enough.
Found it a bit boring and simplistic though. Too many characters to really care for any of them as they weren't developed enough.