Reviews - Forest Hills Bootleg Society

283 reviews for:

Forest Hills Bootleg Society

Dave Baker

3.49 AVERAGE

kllyholt's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

matchasoo's review against another edition

3.25

adventurous medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I adored the art style of this book. I loved the limited color palette, scenery, and foliage in particular. The amount of detail in some panels is impressive but not that necessary to the story. It took a little bit to get used to the speech bubbles, and there were a lot of extra details about the background characters and settings. The story was decent and had an interesting premise. At best, I felt neutral towards the characters. I didn’t like how they treated each other, but it is a realistic friendship dynamic. I thought the ending was fitting, but it felt like there was something missing. Overall, it was an interesting read, and I enjoyed the book’s atmosphere.

missindyrose's review against another edition

4.5

emotional funny reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

valerie_reads's review against another edition

3.0

emotional funny reflective

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

e_flah's review against another edition

2.0

emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Between the cover and the blurb, I had high hopes for Forest Hills Bootleg Society. The color palette is gorgeous but there were two major elements of the book that didn't work for me. The detailed, description-heavy panels interspersed with the story kept distracting me from the narrative. I also kept wanting more character development done by showing rather than telling.

venomskyline's review against another edition

4.0

funny medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

tmastarb90's review against another edition

4.0

3.5 rounded up
I definitely agree with the reviews that it starts strong and then just drops off at the end. It wasn't a slow drop off either, I felt like I was thrown off a cliff in the last 5 or so pages.

I absolutely loved the concept and related to the characters as someone who would have only been a year or so younger than them in 2005. I loved the background notes of the background characters, the art style, the character history, and seeing myself in the main girls... That's probably why it hurt so much when it ended so quickly. Plus there was a secondary character that was getting background in the last two chapters and then he was just gone too.

I really did like this story, but dang... That ending was just unsatisfying.