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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I am amazed at Gene Yang's graphic novels! Review to follow shortly...
This was not for me at all. Luckily I didn't pay for it. I won it on here. I thought it was pretty stupid. Good thing it only took about 30 minutes of my life from me.
I had a lot of hope for this book, as it touches on a number of topics that I find really interesting. Specifically, I'm interested in stories where characters struggle to find what it is they're passionate about in life while navigating the expectations of others, especially parents. Also, growing up in the 90s, I strongly relate to video games, to the way they can become an all-consuming world.
Unfortunately, I feel as though the story never really dug into its themes. There's a lot of untapped potential here, Dennis' relationship with his parents being the best example. There are a number of touching scenes in this regard, but they're inconsistent and sporadic. This is even more true of his relationships with his friends. They just kind of come and go, and they never satisfactorily resolve. Granted, that is often the way things happen in real life, but I generally crave a bit more structure and meaning from stories. The last few story arcs feel especially slapdash. It's not that I don't like where it ends up, but the journey could have been a lot more satisfying. Finally, the art, while cute, didn't really hold my interest. I have heard many good things about Yang's "American Born Chinese" and I still intend to read it, but I found myself pretty unimpressed by Level Up.
Unfortunately, I feel as though the story never really dug into its themes. There's a lot of untapped potential here, Dennis' relationship with his parents being the best example. There are a number of touching scenes in this regard, but they're inconsistent and sporadic. This is even more true of his relationships with his friends. They just kind of come and go, and they never satisfactorily resolve. Granted, that is often the way things happen in real life, but I generally crave a bit more structure and meaning from stories. The last few story arcs feel especially slapdash. It's not that I don't like where it ends up, but the journey could have been a lot more satisfying. Finally, the art, while cute, didn't really hold my interest. I have heard many good things about Yang's "American Born Chinese" and I still intend to read it, but I found myself pretty unimpressed by Level Up.
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Went in with high hopes, but this had nothing on American Born Chinese. This felt like a quarter of a graphic novel, with all the character development scalped out and the plot thinned to meet some sort of low page count requirement. The bones were there, and the skeleton was good, but there was no meat on 'em.
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
A quick, entertaining read with great illustrations and an important message.
This did not go where I thought it would have gone. a very honest, realistic story about a youn man tring to decide his path in life, struggling between happiness and practicality. Superbly written, well illustrated, an excellent read.