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lattelibrarian's review
4.0
Leslie Stein's use of color and watercolor is just absolutely amazing. I love her illustration style, how simple and yet how detailed it is. It's just all around fun--which is exactly what it should be. In a way, this comic anthology is also part memoir, and it details Stein's everyday life as artist and bartender, offering perspectives on her regulars, her struggle as an artist, and her successes.
While other comics might fail at being separate yet cohesive, Bright-Eyed succeeds and succeeds well. It's a pleasant turn of the decade read as we all head onto new horizons.
Review cross-listed here!
While other comics might fail at being separate yet cohesive, Bright-Eyed succeeds and succeeds well. It's a pleasant turn of the decade read as we all head onto new horizons.
Review cross-listed here!
bengriffin's review
3.0
I love the art style and I love the idea of doing something creative and productive when you can't sleep but I have no clue what the majority of the book was about and not sure who, outside of herself, her friends, and family, would get anything out of the abstract fragments of her daily life.
audjmo91's review
2.0
Two stars for the lovely art, which is what convinced me to buy this book in the first place.
I suppose I came in with the wrong expectations, given that this was just a collection from a daily journal, and not really a story with a plot, but even so, it was too meandering and disconnected and empty to really hold my focus.
Even the points that might have had greater relevance (bits about childhood, her mother) were over in a flash of 2 pages and a handful of words, leaving them more like glimpses of moments than true moments of their own.
I suppose I came in with the wrong expectations, given that this was just a collection from a daily journal, and not really a story with a plot, but even so, it was too meandering and disconnected and empty to really hold my focus.
Even the points that might have had greater relevance (bits about childhood, her mother) were over in a flash of 2 pages and a handful of words, leaving them more like glimpses of moments than true moments of their own.
bannisterb's review
I wanted to like this, but I think for entirely shallow reasons: it's a very attractive book and has cute illustrations. Sure, I said it -- that's what catches my eye first when it comes to graphic novels (and likely other books, too). But I still need engaging content on the inside, once I crack the binding. And in this case, all the pretty binding and art weren't enough. I barely read a dozen pages; I was lost immediately and had no idea what was going on, what was dialogue or internal monologue, and who was speaking. Like others have said, it has no organizing structure. It was pretty, but the internal content wasn't enough to keep my attention and it was irritating. Perhaps I'm not the right audience -- a fellow art student, aspiring artist, or insomniac might be more intrigued.
andrealaurion's review
3.0
Probably give it a 3.5. I have a soft spot for daily diary comics and the art in this one is really beautiful. However, the transitions between stories can be a bit confusing and a few feel incomplete.
kateelam's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
2.0
This was very so-so. I wouldn't call it a graphic novel of any kind, it's really just random thoughts and semi-diary entries. The first half of the book is rough. The entries make little sense, some of the pages are just doodles, and some "stories" just feel like random, personal thoughts that probably have meaning tot he author but serve no purpose to the reader.
The latter half of the book is a little more thought out but I still felt like I was just witnessing random thoughts from someone's journal. Any time there were entries that started to get deeper than surface-level emotion, the story would just end abruptly like it was trying to be fit on one or two pages only.
I did really like the artwork and the handwriting but overall this was too convoluted to recommend.
The latter half of the book is a little more thought out but I still felt like I was just witnessing random thoughts from someone's journal. Any time there were entries that started to get deeper than surface-level emotion, the story would just end abruptly like it was trying to be fit on one or two pages only.
I did really like the artwork and the handwriting but overall this was too convoluted to recommend.