Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Are You Listening?

Something in the atmosphere of this book made me feel cold and lonely. The setting and plot have an apocalyptic aura, although this is not about an apocalypse -- the isolation of the two travelers from everyone else and even between themselves, the uncertainty of their situation and futures, the color palette of the backgrounds, which are sometimes black and sometimes red and orange like fire. Something about the combination of everything put this sense of anxious dread in me that was never fully relieved. It is an admirable quality for a story to make you feel these complex emotions, but at the same time, I didn't find this a particularly pleasant reading experience. Perhaps I read it at the wrong time, in the wrong headspace. Or maybe sometimes it is good for art to make you feel these things.

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mals_reads's review

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emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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mykes's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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sweetsxrrxw's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

this was a really nice story about the friendship of two women and how it helps them to face their traumas. my heart melted a bit during a bunch of parts

like when lou decides to teach bea how to drive, since she never learnt

i am supposing the author intentionally left several plot details to the imagination but i was expecting to get some reasoning. that was bit disappointing because there were many scenes (or even characters) that left me puzzled and i thought the author would deepen on them but that never happened.
oh, also, i am guessing this was intentional too but the main characters looked alike so that confused me a bit at the beginning.

i've seen many people saying they don't know what was the need of magic realism but i guess it just helps to explain their journey. i guess once they reunited after so long, they had flashbacks about their traumas, hence why the weather and the road were terrible. once bea meets the cat owner and has talked about her traume, she starts seeing everything in a brighter light. but, for lou, who is still feeling troubled, nothing changes.

so yeah it may not be the best story you'll ever read but it's not actually bad, in my opinion.

ps: i forgot to mention it earlier but the ending was a bit of a bummer :/ probably the author, once again, wanted the reader to assume what would happen.

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the_bookish_rose's review

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emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

This was a really quick read, as it is a graphic novel and it isn't complicated to read. I wish there was more to it, but it felt like it was just there. I wish I could've seen more development from the characters, but the art style is beautiful. It does cover some harsh topics such as assault, but it wasn't graphic. Overall a nice quick read, but not detailed enough for me.

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livcanread_'s review

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emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

one of my favorite coming out scenes ever :) funny and simple but also tender and heart-wrenching “was that the first time you told anyone? . . . you feel ok?”

needless to say i really loved bea and lou’s relationship and the way they slowly opened up to each other and truly saw and understood one another. the art is also spectacular and worked really well with the atmosphere of the book + also specific scenes. the pacing was maybe a little off for me, but i have very little experience in the magical realism genre and graphic novels, and to me this book was more about bea and lou anyway.

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bookish_gremlin's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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