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ngizmo's review against another edition
4.0
Al depender demasiado de las fronteras difusas en la imagen el body horror me da un poco de pereza en general, pero esta es una buena excepción. El odio racial/religioso como motor de demonios no es novedoso en sí por lo que el arte, algo caótico por momentos ajustado al género, sostiene la trama principalmente. El resultado me hace darle el beneficio de la duda a pesar de que me hace un poco de ruido hablar de islamofobia y misoginia siendo que el autor es ninguna de esas dos cosas.
n_gizmo's review against another edition
4.0
Al depender demasiado de las fronteras difusas en la imagen el body horror me da un poco de pereza en general, pero esta es una buena excepción. El odio racial/religioso como motor de demonios no es novedoso en sí por lo que el arte, algo caótico por momentos ajustado al género, sostiene la trama principalmente. El resultado me hace darle el beneficio de la duda a pesar de que me hace un poco de ruido hablar de islamofobia y misoginia siendo que el autor es ninguna de esas dos cosas.
st_orpheus's review against another edition
4.0
This story really nails on the head the paranoia and insidiousness of internal and external -isms. What happens to all our complicated feelings about race and religion when we die violently? How does all that unresolved uncertainty and misplaced hatred get distorted when face with the supernatural?
katiemack's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. It's a horrifying story about ignorance and racism with messy, scratchy art to further illustrate this point. The plot got a little confusing; it seems like details were sacrificed to further the horrific elements and themes.
scifi_geek's review against another edition
4.0
Definitely worth a read and although I personally won't be buying, I could recommend as a purchase as it would be worth a re-read.
mr_houses's review against another edition
3.0
Es una historia de cqasa encantada peeeero...
La casa encantada es un edificio de pisos y los fantasmas son racistas.
La premisa ya da idea de que el viaje puede merecer la pena y va a dar que pensar.
La casa encantada es un edificio de pisos y los fantasmas son racistas.
La premisa ya da idea de que el viaje puede merecer la pena y va a dar que pensar.
kliu's review
3.0
3.5 stars.
Sometimes a premise is interesting and novel enough that you can hang an entire novel on that alone, perhaps even building from there (think Dorian Grey, or The Matrix, or Groundhog day). Sometimes the premise is good for a novella or short story but doesn't stretch to a full novel.
Infidel does have an interesting premise; spirits/ghosts that seem to feed off of hate (specifically racism). It deals with the cycle of racism, the different ways racism rears its ugly head, and avoids the trap of "white people are the only ones who can discriminate based on race". The political commentary is there but it is handled relatively well. There are a couple of conversations between characters that feel a little too much like "here's the bit where the author gives commentary on racism", but overall they didn't feel too artificial or out of place.
The horror aspect is handled well, although I feel it aimed at more cinematic style horror than literary. Cinema has the liberty of controlling sound and editing to provide jump scares which are more difficult to succeed at in written form. I feel like a slower burning story with more focus on creepy/psychological horror could have worked better. Despite a strong premise, it did not feel all that fresh in the end. There is an interesting change in narrator part way however, while the ending wasn't exactly what I expected, the story lacks any surprising twists or turns.
I really enjoyed the art style, both for the horror elements and the everyday interactions.
Overall, the story didn't overstay its welcome and it provides a less common perspective to tell a story from in the west, and for that alone it's worth the read.
Sometimes a premise is interesting and novel enough that you can hang an entire novel on that alone, perhaps even building from there (think Dorian Grey, or The Matrix, or Groundhog day). Sometimes the premise is good for a novella or short story but doesn't stretch to a full novel.
Infidel does have an interesting premise; spirits/ghosts that seem to feed off of hate (specifically racism). It deals with the cycle of racism, the different ways racism rears its ugly head, and avoids the trap of "white people are the only ones who can discriminate based on race". The political commentary is there but it is handled relatively well. There are a couple of conversations between characters that feel a little too much like "here's the bit where the author gives commentary on racism", but overall they didn't feel too artificial or out of place.
The horror aspect is handled well, although I feel it aimed at more cinematic style horror than literary. Cinema has the liberty of controlling sound and editing to provide jump scares which are more difficult to succeed at in written form. I feel like a slower burning story with more focus on creepy/psychological horror could have worked better. Despite a strong premise, it did not feel all that fresh in the end. There is an interesting change in narrator part way however, while the ending wasn't exactly what I expected, the story lacks any surprising twists or turns.
I really enjoyed the art style, both for the horror elements and the everyday interactions.
Overall, the story didn't overstay its welcome and it provides a less common perspective to tell a story from in the west, and for that alone it's worth the read.
gunterbookshelf's review against another edition
4.0
Loved the artistic smashup of realism alongside some really horrendously beautiful and surreal ghosties. Overall felt text and dialogue flowed seamlessly and managed to insert a lot of political think-point moments without detracting from the suspense buildup
michaelclorah's review against another edition
5.0
Infidel is a stunning piece of art. It's one terrifying mother of a haunted house story, but of course, that isn't what's going to get it the attention it deserves. Infidel builds its horror out of very real, very inescapable conversations that we all have - about how people of other races and religions are viewed in our culture. What makes this particular book stand out, however, is the skill with which Mr. Pichetshote and Mr. Campbell address these complicated issues. Infidel isn't really about racism or Islamophobia at all. It's about how we struggle to talk about these important topics and how our failure to discuss these differences in cultural identification - our lack of the very basic vocabulary needed to talk about them - exacerbates these divides, causing deeper harms than even base hatred can muster. It's a powerful, emotional piece of horror and surviving a haunted house won't offer any easy solutions to the questions Infidel poses.