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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
I was assigned this book, and its partner Saints to read for my YA media class. I read the duo technically backwards, having read Saints then Boxers, but honestly it doesn't matter. To get a full understanding of the story, I highly recommend reading both stories, but I do not think it is at all necessary to read them in 'order' to understand them. This graphic novel is a historical fiction novel set during the Boxer Rebellion in China. The main character is Little Bao who becomes a leader of the Boxer Rebellion, and the story is told from a third person point of view. We are with Little Bao from the time he's a young child playing with teeth, to the time he's leading an attack on a Christan strong hold. In this story we get an interesting look at this rebellion from the point of view of the Chinese who saw Christians as evil. I thought this book was especially interesting as an American because we don't always get a look at ourself from the other side. While reading this book, I often felt that I understood why these rebels felt the way they did, and why the reacted the way they did. It also shows that neither side of this story is innocent. Both parties committed some pretty terrible acts, and Boxers doesn't try to hide that.
I read this book in just under an hour, and it was a very fun read. I highly recommend this book to everyone, but as I read this book in my YA class I want to stress that I think this is a great book for young readers. If you have reluctant readers I would suggest manga and graphic novels in general, but I really enjoyed this one.
I read this book in just under an hour, and it was a very fun read. I highly recommend this book to everyone, but as I read this book in my YA class I want to stress that I think this is a great book for young readers. If you have reluctant readers I would suggest manga and graphic novels in general, but I really enjoyed this one.
I was enthralled by this graphic novel! It's incredible how, despite the violent and serious nature of the story, there is still humor and friendship and family. All the good things of life are entwined with the horrifying circumstances of the Boxer Rebellion.
Little Bao is an ordinary youngest son being picked on by his older brothers, but when his father is beaten by "foreign devils" and his village is cheated by the Christian Chinese, little Bao learns to fight and begins a journey seeking for justice and revenge.
With the help of the magical Chinese gods and heroes of the past, Little Bao and his brothers raise an army to protect the country villages, but circumstances push them to larger fights until Bao loses control of the movement he helped to start. He must choose to cling to the ideals of his teachers, or follow the gods in their merciless ambitions for China.
It's definitely an operatic tragedy, since Little Bao loses everything and everyone he ever cared about.
Sometimes I liked Little Bao, whenever he was having a normal moment; conversing with a friend, enjoying a cup of tea, flirting with a girl, learning from his teacher, or admiring his father.
But most of the time, I did not like Bao at all. He always seems to be making bad decisions; violent and destructive decisions.
I definitely appreciated how Bao started out trying to do good, and the circumstances pushed him into doing evil. Other people put pressure on him, and the gods and heroes haunt him to make the same decisions they made in Chinese history, and poor Bao is caught in the middle.
Eventually he becomes convinced that he IS doing good when he acts destructively. He believes that he is doing what is best for his nation, and that spurs him to murder children, set fire to cities, and destroy priceless books. All his actions fall back on him though, and his own losses are directly connected to his decisions to destroy others. That was truly brilliant writing!
Plot is fast-paced and intricate. Artwork is gorgeous! Characters are everything they should be- interesting, varied, deep, relatable, and of course beautifully complex.
I love it!
Little Bao is an ordinary youngest son being picked on by his older brothers, but when his father is beaten by "foreign devils" and his village is cheated by the Christian Chinese, little Bao learns to fight and begins a journey seeking for justice and revenge.
With the help of the magical Chinese gods and heroes of the past, Little Bao and his brothers raise an army to protect the country villages, but circumstances push them to larger fights until Bao loses control of the movement he helped to start. He must choose to cling to the ideals of his teachers, or follow the gods in their merciless ambitions for China.
It's definitely an operatic tragedy, since Little Bao loses everything and everyone he ever cared about.
Sometimes I liked Little Bao, whenever he was having a normal moment; conversing with a friend, enjoying a cup of tea, flirting with a girl, learning from his teacher, or admiring his father.
But most of the time, I did not like Bao at all. He always seems to be making bad decisions; violent and destructive decisions.
I definitely appreciated how Bao started out trying to do good, and the circumstances pushed him into doing evil. Other people put pressure on him, and the gods and heroes haunt him to make the same decisions they made in Chinese history, and poor Bao is caught in the middle.
Eventually he becomes convinced that he IS doing good when he acts destructively. He believes that he is doing what is best for his nation, and that spurs him to murder children, set fire to cities, and destroy priceless books. All his actions fall back on him though, and his own losses are directly connected to his decisions to destroy others. That was truly brilliant writing!
Plot is fast-paced and intricate. Artwork is gorgeous! Characters are everything they should be- interesting, varied, deep, relatable, and of course beautifully complex.
I love it!
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
fast-paced
So rich with context and history love the fantasy elements and how Yang uses color to convey them.
3.5 out of 5.
I liked the story and the artwork was fantastic, but I think I would've enjoyed this more if I knew more about the Boxer Rebellion than my vague memories from high school history. The story explained it well enough to make sense within the narrative, but I wanted a little more.
I liked the story and the artwork was fantastic, but I think I would've enjoyed this more if I knew more about the Boxer Rebellion than my vague memories from high school history. The story explained it well enough to make sense within the narrative, but I wanted a little more.
I read American Born Chinese a while back and felt like I was the only person in the world who absolutely disliked it, so I didn't have any plans of picking up more of Yang's work (aside from the Avatar comics he's worked on, which I think I enjoy more because they aren't his original content). That said, when Boxers was assigned reading for my Children's Lit class this semester, I picked it up, hoping maybe I would have better luck. Sadly, nope, I think Yang's stories just aren't for me. I don't find his storytelling style entertaining, I don't care much for the artwork, and something about the over-arching tone of depicting the Boxers as "secret villains" from the start... I don't know. Yang is an own-voices author for the Chinese representation, but he's also a Christian, and that inherently gives his version of the story some bias that I don't feel qualified to comment on as a pagan white person. I'll just leave it at saying certain elements didn't sit well with me. I really wish I could find some own-voice reviews from non-Christian Chinese readers, so if anyone has any to offer, please feel free to drop links in the comments!
An engrossing depiction of the Boxer Rebellion, clearly told but without sparing subtleties or gray areas. Yang does interesting things (as in American Born Chinese) using magical realism elements, layering on Chinese opera, traditional deities, and superhero signifiers.