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jess_mango's review
3.0
BOOK RIOT READ HARDER CHALLENGE 2018 - fulfills #4: A comic written and illustrated by the same person.
This book was named as one of the best books of 2017 by NPR.
Everything is Flammable is a memoir done in graphic novel format. Gabrielle Bell is a cartoonist and did the artwork as well as the writing for this book. The book explores Bell's relationship with her mom. It is often tense and awkward. Bell herself admits in the book to mental health issues and an "interesting" relationship with her mother. They have gone years at a time without seeing each other. Her mother lives pretty much off the grid in a remote area, living for a short time in a greenhouse.
Reminds me of other books with strained mother-daughter relationships: The Glass Castle, etc.
This book was named as one of the best books of 2017 by NPR.
Everything is Flammable is a memoir done in graphic novel format. Gabrielle Bell is a cartoonist and did the artwork as well as the writing for this book. The book explores Bell's relationship with her mom. It is often tense and awkward. Bell herself admits in the book to mental health issues and an "interesting" relationship with her mother. They have gone years at a time without seeing each other. Her mother lives pretty much off the grid in a remote area, living for a short time in a greenhouse.
Reminds me of other books with strained mother-daughter relationships: The Glass Castle, etc.
nolansmock's review
4.0
This collection feels like being dropped right into Gabrielle Bell's world without context and I'm really looking forward to reading more of her stories because of it. It's mundane in a way, but I couldn't stop reading. I also spent a good chunk of time last year in and around an off-grid, communal living situation similar to what's depicted here so it felt oddly comforting in that way. Even if the reality of it was often a pain in the ass, one tends to romanticize those things later.
saidtheraina's review
4.0
I've always enjoyed Bell's work in the small-scale. There's a poignancy to her storytelling that hits me in my gut.
This is the first large-scale piece that really WORKED for me, though.
I'd heard about this book, and it turns out that my expectations were not quite correct.
I was expecting this to be a longform Graphic Novel (autobio, natch) in the larger sense. But Bell holds to her short-form style, and this feels very episodic, rather than like chapters of a whole. She eases us in, with a few comics (albeit full-color) that seem unrelated to the larger topic of her mother's living situation.
Once she got into the meat, I was riveted, though. Off-the-grid living is fascinating.
She doesn't dig as deep as my voyeur heart wanted, but the day to day logistics of building a home from scratch is interesting enough.
Pretty great.
This is the first large-scale piece that really WORKED for me, though.
I'd heard about this book, and it turns out that my expectations were not quite correct.
I was expecting this to be a longform Graphic Novel (autobio, natch) in the larger sense. But Bell holds to her short-form style, and this feels very episodic, rather than like chapters of a whole. She eases us in, with a few comics (albeit full-color) that seem unrelated to the larger topic of her mother's living situation.
Once she got into the meat, I was riveted, though. Off-the-grid living is fascinating.
She doesn't dig as deep as my voyeur heart wanted, but the day to day logistics of building a home from scratch is interesting enough.
Pretty great.
mvanhoeck's review
5.0
So good. This has stuck with me since finishing. Starts as a somewhat flip and familiar observation of daily life’s quirky corners but works its way toward something much deeper. Mom and daughter cobbling together a life post-trauma, together and apart. I feel my perspective altered - wider, more patient.
kricketa's review
4.0
I love reading Gabrielle Bell because she is so vulnerably honest, and also hilarious.
mpatshi's review
Intense and enjoyable
It took me a few pages to get into the storytelling and the art style but I quickly started to appreciate both.
I would love to read other work by Gabrielle Bell.
It took me a few pages to get into the storytelling and the art style but I quickly started to appreciate both.
I would love to read other work by Gabrielle Bell.