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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
This graphic novel centers around the protagonist's conflict about living up to his parents' expectations and wanting to play video games. I kind of identified with him when he dropped out of med school, realizing that he wasn't studying for the right reasons. My biggest complaint is that the graphic novel was very expensive and not very long.
It's okay.... I felt like things where missing, so to speak.
This is my second graphic novel that I've read by Gene Luen Yang, the first being American Born Chinese and it does NOT disappoint. I first heard of this comic from a YouTube video a few years back and I knew, me being a gamer, I would love this tremendously. After I read American Born Chinese and saw how much I enjoyed that story, it was a given that I was going to LOVE this book~ Well, the other day, I'm browsing the library and, lo and behold, there it was! On the shelf! In all its glory! I was ecstatic! I grabbed the comic with a speed faster than Sonic the Hedgehog and checked it out! And, boy, am I glad I did. This comic just SCREAMS for my inner gamer to grab all the video games in my house and play them all at once! This book is such an amazing coming of age story that anyone who feels trapped in their life can fully appreciate.
Gene Luen Yang is a fantastic story-teller... if a bit unconventional. However, I think because he steps out beyond the norm makes him a very unique story-teller in his own right. All of his stories have a message to them. There's always an underlying point he is trying to get across and he does it fairly well... most of the time. The message in this book is not so clear-cut and the comic suffers because of it. I think it's due to its length. The story felt short and I felt there needed to be a bit more in order for the message that he was trying to convey would have come across a bit more clearly. However, this is the only setback to the entire novel. Everything else about it was amazing! One of the best parts of this book is, of course, all the video game references! From Super Mario Bros. to The Legend of Zelda to even Pac-Man! It just pours all of the video game references all over you and if you are a gamer, like me, you will eat it up happily! The artwork is a bit cartoony but it works! For all the little jokes here and there, the artwork needed to be as cartoony as it was for it to actually make sense and I loved every minute of it.
The characters were a lot of fun to read about! The main character, Dennis, is a bit of a slacker and chooses to play more video games than to actually work hard at anything. He's goofy and a nerd but also tends to be very charming. He goes through so much growth by the end of the book that you are just cheering him on! You WANT to see him succeed in whatever he does. It's amazing! Kat, a friend of his, is badass in every sense of the word! She won't take anyone's crap and works hard for what she believes in. Ipsha, his first friend in college, is smart and caring. She wants to please her family more than anything. She's a lot like Dennis in that sense. He wants to please his father so he wants to do whatever it takes, even if it means putting aside his own happiness for it. Hector, another friend, is the perfect example of a person on the wrong track making a comeback and proving that he CAN make it in this world. I literally have nothing bad to say about these characters because they were all so colorful and fun to watch! I enjoyed them in everything they did. Man, what a riot they were!
What can I say? I love this book! This comic is one of the best I have read this year and I could continue to read this for years to come because it is THAT good! As I said, the message it is trying to convey isn't done the best as it should have and might leave the reader feeling confused. (It's kind of sending mixed messages.) But I don't think that it ruins the reading experience in any way! There's so much more to this comic that you can find it enjoyable regardless! For the humor, for the art style, for the concept, for whatever! It's just that good! If you are a gamer, I know you will definitely enjoy this. If you like graphic novels, read this book! If you're just curious and want to see what it's about, then read it! I think everyone and anyone will be able to enjoy this read. I know that I am going to keep a look out on anything else Gene Luen Yang creates because he is proving to be a pretty awesome person!
Gene Luen Yang is a fantastic story-teller... if a bit unconventional. However, I think because he steps out beyond the norm makes him a very unique story-teller in his own right. All of his stories have a message to them. There's always an underlying point he is trying to get across and he does it fairly well... most of the time. The message in this book is not so clear-cut and the comic suffers because of it. I think it's due to its length. The story felt short and I felt there needed to be a bit more in order for the message that he was trying to convey would have come across a bit more clearly. However, this is the only setback to the entire novel. Everything else about it was amazing! One of the best parts of this book is, of course, all the video game references! From Super Mario Bros. to The Legend of Zelda to even Pac-Man! It just pours all of the video game references all over you and if you are a gamer, like me, you will eat it up happily! The artwork is a bit cartoony but it works! For all the little jokes here and there, the artwork needed to be as cartoony as it was for it to actually make sense and I loved every minute of it.
The characters were a lot of fun to read about! The main character, Dennis, is a bit of a slacker and chooses to play more video games than to actually work hard at anything. He's goofy and a nerd but also tends to be very charming. He goes through so much growth by the end of the book that you are just cheering him on! You WANT to see him succeed in whatever he does. It's amazing! Kat, a friend of his, is badass in every sense of the word! She won't take anyone's crap and works hard for what she believes in. Ipsha, his first friend in college, is smart and caring. She wants to please her family more than anything. She's a lot like Dennis in that sense. He wants to please his father so he wants to do whatever it takes, even if it means putting aside his own happiness for it. Hector, another friend, is the perfect example of a person on the wrong track making a comeback and proving that he CAN make it in this world. I literally have nothing bad to say about these characters because they were all so colorful and fun to watch! I enjoyed them in everything they did. Man, what a riot they were!
What can I say? I love this book! This comic is one of the best I have read this year and I could continue to read this for years to come because it is THAT good! As I said, the message it is trying to convey isn't done the best as it should have and might leave the reader feeling confused. (It's kind of sending mixed messages.) But I don't think that it ruins the reading experience in any way! There's so much more to this comic that you can find it enjoyable regardless! For the humor, for the art style, for the concept, for whatever! It's just that good! If you are a gamer, I know you will definitely enjoy this. If you like graphic novels, read this book! If you're just curious and want to see what it's about, then read it! I think everyone and anyone will be able to enjoy this read. I know that I am going to keep a look out on anything else Gene Luen Yang creates because he is proving to be a pretty awesome person!
I first read Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese for a Graphic Novels and Manga class back in 2010, and having fallen madly in love with his skillful story wielding, being intrigued by his unusual characters, and really enjoying his humor, I recommended the book straightaway to my partner, who loved it so much that they picked up this graphic novel as well. And even though I'm reading so much later than I read American Born Chinese, I'm so glad I'm reading this book now, because boy is it an encouragement to the soul and the weary heart, when you're exhausted by the bullshit of family and life to the point where you don't even want to deal with it anymore, and you feel like you're carrying a shield and sword everywhere, fighting more than you're living. For such a short read, it was exponentially refreshing for the soul to read something that says, "Hey, you can do something that you love for a living. Trust me." Because I've been dealing with fucking holy hell about my life choices for a while now, and it's getting to be trying. I don't want to live up to anyone's expectations except my own anymore, and it's always a bigger struggle when the economy says, "Nah, you're not experienced enough," and I say, "WELL THEN GIVE ME A CHANCE TO GAIN SOME BLASTED EXPERIENCE, DAMN IT!" to no avail.
It was a solace and a pleasure. Soothing for the bitter soul. And a fun getaway from things, even as it brought up the very same problems I'm going through in my day-to-day life as it is. I'm really glad that Gene Luen Yang wrote this one as well, because it was great to read, and a real pleasure to see, with thanks to the illustrations by Thien Pham, who, I must add, created such an easy, engaging art style for this work that it allowed the much heavier and bigger themes to be engaged without being overwhelmed by them. Both of these amazing people made a great experience for me, and lifted my heart a little in this endless fighting that Life is right now for me. So I owe them a debt of gratitude and thanks. Thank you, guys. It was an unexpected help, and that's the most any reader can ask for when they're not even looking for it.
Loved this (autobiographical?) story of a college kid who just wants to play video games but struggles to live up to his father's posthumous expectations.
Video Games, Med School, and family all combine into a story of a young man with the tough decision of what to do with his life!
What can you say about this? American-Born Chinese was actually a very entertaining read. It was completely unlike anything I ever read. It wasn't a serious book, it brought in so many random elements...but it's playfulness and it's truthfulness really made me love it. That said, Level Up was actually very similar--it has that sense of unrealism (what with Pacman ghosts and angels that cook/clean/and encourage you to become a doctor)so you don't know whether he has schizophrenia or not. But this book's main character happens to be REALLY good at video games despite his father's disapproval of them. The main character was just...lovable in every way. It's a simple story about a simple Chinese boy and for some reason...it just works. It's funny, I love the way it's drawn, and I think it's just an amazing piece of literature just as good as American Born Chinese was.
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Hmm. Not quite what I was expecting - was expecting a lot more video game stuff, actually. Like the art, but I admit that it isn't brilliant. Storyline could have used just a little cleaning up, but it works. And I appreciate the fact that the story features a college kid - there just aren't enough of those.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes