Reviews - Forest Hills Bootleg Society

282 reviews for:

Forest Hills Bootleg Society

Dave Baker

3.5 AVERAGE

sarahcath's review against another edition

3.25

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

roaming_library's review against another edition

5.0

*4.6 rounded up

CW

Spoiler

bullying, slurs, homomisia, eating disorder, alcohol and drug use (side characters), on-page instance of abusive relationship (side character), cheating), religious trauma

The Forest Hills Bootleg Society succeeds in being down to earth, funny, and achingly sad all at once. It is a deeply skilled look into friendships and loneliness, and I enjoyed every second of it.

The premise is already amazing on its own--selling obscure, low-budget hentai to the boys at their christian bordering school, incredible,-- but add in distinct and memorable characters and some beautiful art and I am pretty much sold.

The thing I loved most, and what really set the graphic novel apart, was the creative layout and interjection of information--almost like footnotes but sprinkled in everywhere. These little tidbits about other characters or the town de-centers our main characters in a way that really emphasizes both the theme of loneliness and the grounded, observational tone of the story. It truly feels like were are dropped in to observe a moment of a real person's life, or multiple people's lives. It kinda makes everything seem small, in a way, because it brings to the forefront this idea that everyone is a complete person living out their own complex lives, even if they don't cross our in anyway.

That seems like a lot in a book about, again just to emphasize, selling bootleg hentai, but that's what makes it all so great. Like I sad, this book nails loneliness. The main girls are going through their own struggles, sure, but they are also surrounded by people they know nothing about. And we are only given the smallest glimpses in their lives, making you realize how difficult it is to connect completely to others. We see this with our main characters as well, as they all deal with their own obstacles but often fail to communicate them to others. It is beautiful and well done and made me feel some type of way.

On top of that, the book is genuinely funny at times, and consistently engaging. That art is really cool as well, I loved the style.

And sure there is the ending which

Spoiler

was not happy. at all. But i guess even that has it's merit. I mean, I do like how it felt real. It was a moment in these girls' lives and that happened to end badly. They were individuals that struggled with feelings of isolation and they, unfortunately, were not able to overcome those feelings in order to save their friendship. But, they are also like 16. I wouldn't expect them to be able to unravel all their complexities and know what to do with it. Sometimes relationships don't work and sometimes people grow apart. It is sad, but it happens and I can't fault a book for being sad. I do wish we could have gotten a little something more, but it did not really detract from my overall enjoyment of the book.

.

I have to say, I would absolutely recommend Forest Hills Bootleg Society. It is a sweet, sad, entertaining book about friendship and anime with some well done lgbt characters thrown in. A times it hits close to home, but that's what makes it so great.

alishaabrahamsreads's review against another edition

3.5

Started off so strong, but the ending began to fall off for me. It just felt unfinished? The attention to detail is crazy though - every little bit of information given to strangers, mc’s, etc. through the bubble layover was pretty cool. Also loved the art a lot.

carly_rael's review against another edition

3.0

emotional sad medium-paced

scoobierubie's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

batty_and_bookish's review against another edition

2.5

emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

agustplz's review against another edition

4.0

I actually really loved this graphic novel. I was pleasantly surprised at how rich the story was. We meet our protagonists on the cusp of trying to be something else, struggling to fit in and keep together, and we follow them through the bootleg scheme that eventually leads to the crumbling of their friendships. Along the way, we get these really cool moments where you see snippets about other characters on the page - not even characters who speak! - that made the story feel so layered and rich despite mainly centering around the four girls. It doesn't end with a ton of hope, which I appreciated - it's a very reflective story about the complications of being a teenager and growing up.

prev. review: I read "set in 2005" and a part of me died. THAT WASN'T THAT LONG AGO.