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sizrobe's review
4.0
I loved the art in this book. It uses only black and red in a sketchy style that feels emotional in a raw sort of way. The only thing I can really complain about is that it feels like it had no end. I know that since it's taken from real events, not everything can get wrapped up in a bow, but I feel like she should have waited a little more to get some closure on the story she wanted to tell.
panelparty's review
4.0
Read for Read Harder 2020 prompt Main Character with a Disability
A mostly powerful graphic novel about the struggles Webber goes through when she loses her voice for unknown reasons for an unknown period of time. I think the art is really cool, showing her increasing despair as the book goes on, and how clueless some of the people around her are. She also deals with things you may not think of: how do you work without a voice? How do you communicate - notebook, whiteboard, text? How do you stay calm when you have no idea when something will end? (relatable)
It's a pretty quick read, I'd recommend it!
A mostly powerful graphic novel about the struggles Webber goes through when she loses her voice for unknown reasons for an unknown period of time. I think the art is really cool, showing her increasing despair as the book goes on, and how clueless some of the people around her are. She also deals with things you may not think of: how do you work without a voice? How do you communicate - notebook, whiteboard, text? How do you stay calm when you have no idea when something will end? (relatable)
It's a pretty quick read, I'd recommend it!
syntaxx's review against another edition
3.0
Read for the Book Riot - Read Harder 2023 challenge prompt: Read a comic or graphic novel that features disability representation.
snchard's review
3.0
I really liked the style of the book, but found the narrative a little hard to follow at times. This is likely just because I have trouble connecting vignettes when the timeline is not always being defined.
kickpleat's review
3.0
An interesting story about someone losing their voice - permanently or temporarily? The graphic novel captures about a year in her life as she copes with her new puzzling disability - so much anguish, anxiety and frustration is visible with every drop of ink and brushstroke. While I appreciated this book, I just couldn't fully get into it and was left with wanting to know more about the author/artist.
jessrock's review
3.0
Mixed feelings about this graphic memoir by a woman living with an undiagnosed and invisible disability. The author was in her 20s when she found that speaking was increasingly painful for her. After a few months, she went to a doctor who was largely dismissive, implying that she'd done this to herself by talking or singing too much, and who told her that it would go away if she stopped talking for a few months and gave her voice time to heal. She followed his orders while struggling to maintain her friendships by silently mouthing her words, writing them on paper, and texting, but found herself increasingly socially isolated. She had to quit her job in a cafe and began wrestling with the unending layers of bureaucracy and paperwork that come with trying to go on unemployment and disability.
This kind of story is so important to tell. The art style suits the story well, with lots of things scribbled out or obscured to represent the swirls of thoughts she couldn't articulate, the conflicting emotions, and her struggle to figure out how to depict an invisible disability in her art. However, the level of stress and frustration conveyed in the partially scribbled out art sometimes makes it a stressful and frustrating experience to try to read the pages, too. I'll also mention that the book is set in Montreal and occasionally has panels written in French, which I wasn't expecting after the whole early part was in English - you won't miss a lot if you can't read the language, but I imagine it would make a reader feel even more shut out of the story to wrestle with both the art and the French.
The book ends with her beginning to try working with a vocal coach, followed by several wordless pages in a different style, entirely in red ink. I honestly don't know if the red pages are supposed to be the final pages of the story or if they're outtakes/extras. I don't feel like the book actually ended. She gave us so much introspection and emotion throughout the book that I was surprised it dropped off where it did without any kind of final "here's where I'm at, here's where I'm trying to go next."
This kind of story is so important to tell. The art style suits the story well, with lots of things scribbled out or obscured to represent the swirls of thoughts she couldn't articulate, the conflicting emotions, and her struggle to figure out how to depict an invisible disability in her art. However, the level of stress and frustration conveyed in the partially scribbled out art sometimes makes it a stressful and frustrating experience to try to read the pages, too. I'll also mention that the book is set in Montreal and occasionally has panels written in French, which I wasn't expecting after the whole early part was in English - you won't miss a lot if you can't read the language, but I imagine it would make a reader feel even more shut out of the story to wrestle with both the art and the French.
The book ends with her beginning to try working with a vocal coach, followed by several wordless pages in a different style, entirely in red ink. I honestly don't know if the red pages are supposed to be the final pages of the story or if they're outtakes/extras. I don't feel like the book actually ended. She gave us so much introspection and emotion throughout the book that I was surprised it dropped off where it did without any kind of final "here's where I'm at, here's where I'm trying to go next."
atalinay's review
First, I did like reading about her perspective as she struggles with not being able to speak. It covers difficulty with wellfare and getting access to helpful treatment, and on top of that struggling to be understood all the while well-meaning people actually making it difficult.
That being said I found some parts hard to read because of the hand-written font and how it was placed within the panels. Some of this was intentional especially in the places where it was more journal/draft-like. Reading some other reviews I realize this isn't entirely a me-problem, but could have actually been done better. Some text was intentionally word soup and obscured by drawings, but that had a clear purpose, whereas other times it just made the reading experience difficult for no reason.
Another review mentioned how starting before the incident would have given better perspective to the story as we would've been able to see the drastic changes first hand.
That being said I found some parts hard to read because of the hand-written font and how it was placed within the panels. Some of this was intentional especially in the places where it was more journal/draft-like. Reading some other reviews I realize this isn't entirely a me-problem, but could have actually been done better. Some text was intentionally word soup and obscured by drawings, but that had a clear purpose, whereas other times it just made the reading experience difficult for no reason.
Another review mentioned how starting before the incident would have given better perspective to the story as we would've been able to see the drastic changes first hand.