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abelhinha's review
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
frankie_s's review
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
3.0
somethingdani's review
fast-paced
4.0
Unique! Very cool to see classic medieval illustration style (babies are proportioned like tiny adults along with other period appropriate quirks) combined with the fascinating embroidery he embellishes certain pages with. I also enjoyed the way demons and the spirit realm were illustrated and the use of color and how hellfire was often signified by burn marks on the pages.
Very heavy on religious themes and iconography and the power and destructiveness of the medieval Catholic Church, which I also appreciated.
Not necessarily a robust history of the plague and its true causes, but that isn't the point of the book.
Very heavy on religious themes and iconography and the power and destructiveness of the medieval Catholic Church, which I also appreciated.
Not necessarily a robust history of the plague and its true causes, but that isn't the point of the book.
thebooknerdscorner's review
1.0
This has got to be one of the weirdest books I've ever read. . . And not in a good way.
This book's pages are graced by horrific images of people/demons dancing, many people praying, and lots of death. And these images pretty much sum up the majority of the story. There's a (dancing) plague that was started by a mysterious cause though the people speculate that it was the Jews, women, or prostitutes (you got to love history). And many people go and dance their lives away, praying to God as they do so, until they die.
The scariest part about this book is the fact that it is based in truth. Medieval times were quite horrifying, and I feel this book does a great job of summing up why.
Overall, this book is not for me in any way, shape, or form. I know I'm not the target audience for this book, but I picked it up because I thought it might be funny. It was not. I'll leave it at that.
This book's pages are graced by horrific images of people/demons dancing, many people praying, and lots of death. And these images pretty much sum up the majority of the story. There's a (dancing) plague that was started by a mysterious cause though the people speculate that it was the Jews, women, or prostitutes (you got to love history). And many people go and dance their lives away, praying to God as they do so, until they die.
The scariest part about this book is the fact that it is based in truth. Medieval times were quite horrifying, and I feel this book does a great job of summing up why.
Overall, this book is not for me in any way, shape, or form. I know I'm not the target audience for this book, but I picked it up because I thought it might be funny. It was not. I'll leave it at that.
redheadreading's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.5
The combination of adding embroidery and pyrography to enhance the artwork and highlight divine/demonic visitation was so so cool! I wished there was a little more differentiation between the design if Mary and the other figures just because they often felt quite similar. Rather than attempting to explore all the possible explanations for the dancing plague, this centered around Mary's visions, flashing back between her previous experiences and the current unfolding of the dancing plague. I did want a little more from this narrative overall I think, but I feel like the very final section really brings home the refusal to engage with women's words and history that is being driven home.
riotsquirrrl's review
5.0
The weird, arty historical fiction of this graphic novel, illustrated with pyrography and embroidery on fabric, is exactly my wheelhouse. Brookes does a great job portraying the average people's feelings of helplessness and paranoia in the face of a mysterious plague.