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froydis's review
4.0
Brilliant storyline, very complex and detailed drawings throughout. Really gripping story.
lynnietakalele's review
4.0
Loved the complex storyline and wealth of multi-dimensional characters. I really felt close to them, even the ones in the periphery. The main character seemed so believable, the way he ebbed and flowed with his sexuality, and commitment to civil rights. Plus, he seemed like he enjoyed a lot of friends, and I envied their closeness, fun times, and loyalty to each other. I was disappointed by the ending. Bummed by the way the characters turned out.
xoxojillzian's review
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
bored and disappointed
mimesatwork's review
5.0
This is probably one of those graphic novels that's more liked by people who do comics than people who read them or only read them occasionally.
In brief it's a coming-of-age/coming-out story of a young white man set in the 1950-60s American South and it's narrated by his older self. So the setting is such that you feel safe that no matter how bad things might get for the protagonist, there will be a happy ending (of sorts).
This is a heavy book. A very dense book. Core group of characters takes a while to establish, as do their relationships with one another. There are no info dumps, everything moves along at its own pace like life does. The pace and lack of explanations is something that people more used to condensed written fiction might not enjoy. The other point of content will be the art. I loved it. I could pour over the book again just to look at the layouts and details and gutters and use of space and that beautifully meticulous cross-hatching. The technical skill is exhausting. At the same time, the art will not appeal to many because it has an Archie-comics quality with the cartoony character design, combined with the more realistic cross-hatching which will come off as too soft or weird or too uniform or unrelatable to many.
For me, this book was near perfect. Better than anything I've read in a while on all levels. Now I'll have to go through it again and just stare at the art, before returning the book to the library.
In brief it's a coming-of-age/coming-out story of a young white man set in the 1950-60s American South and it's narrated by his older self. So the setting is such that you feel safe that no matter how bad things might get for the protagonist, there will be a happy ending (of sorts).
This is a heavy book. A very dense book. Core group of characters takes a while to establish, as do their relationships with one another. There are no info dumps, everything moves along at its own pace like life does. The pace and lack of explanations is something that people more used to condensed written fiction might not enjoy. The other point of content will be the art. I loved it. I could pour over the book again just to look at the layouts and details and gutters and use of space and that beautifully meticulous cross-hatching. The technical skill is exhausting. At the same time, the art will not appeal to many because it has an Archie-comics quality with the cartoony character design, combined with the more realistic cross-hatching which will come off as too soft or weird or too uniform or unrelatable to many.
For me, this book was near perfect. Better than anything I've read in a while on all levels. Now I'll have to go through it again and just stare at the art, before returning the book to the library.
schellenbergk's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
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? N/A
4.0
tangleroot_eli's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Not sure how I've missed this classic queer graphic novel for so long! Beautifully (in terms of both narrative and art) situates one young gay man's coming-out journey in the US South in the early '60s within the contexts of other cultural struggles going on at the time. Sometimes painful but always honest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Hate crime, Racism, Alcohol, Racial slurs, and Homophobia
Moderate: Pregnancy, Death of parent, Drug use, Police brutality, Sexual content, War, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical content
Minor: Animal cruelty
liorallen's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
chelseamartinez's review
4.0
I loved this comic's visual style; the dense stippled textures and the crowdedness of most pages and panels makes you slow down and consider what's going on a little more carefully. The meetup in San Francisco many years later seemed a little bit too tidy for me but made an otherwise impossible semi-reconciliation possible through the magic of DRUGS.
shea_reads's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0