Scan barcode
geekwayne's review against another edition
5.0
A young woman named Jennie, her crazy Uncle Ivan, her talking cat Bulka, and a couple crazy hitmen are a few of the wonderful characters to be discovered within Domovoi, a brilliant graphic novel by Peter Bergting. Within the first few pages, Jennie is being chased through the streets by a car driven by supernatural hit men, and the journey from there only gets stranger as secrets from the past are threatened to be revealed and must be protected.
Setting the story in the old town of Stockholm gives the story a classic fairytale feel, but touches of the modern world poke out around the edges in unexpected ways. Also, if all cats were like Bulka, the adorable and wise talking cat, I might actually like cats. Jennie is a smart, capable heroine who is in over her head, but willing to do whatever it takes to solve the problem. The hitmen provide some unexpected humor, when they are not trying to kill Jennie, and the story has some good twists and turns before it's all done.
The art is stunning. The panels don't feel crowded, but there is an amazing array of details and textures. This is an artist who knows how to use space. The color palette is subdued and tends to darken subtly as the story moves along. There are a limited number of colors used on each page, but they are used to great effect as colors highlight brighten, but never overwhelm. John Arcudi's introduction to the book is glowing of the talent here and I couldn't agree more. It all feels so well planned and deliberate, and I highly recommend it.
Setting the story in the old town of Stockholm gives the story a classic fairytale feel, but touches of the modern world poke out around the edges in unexpected ways. Also, if all cats were like Bulka, the adorable and wise talking cat, I might actually like cats. Jennie is a smart, capable heroine who is in over her head, but willing to do whatever it takes to solve the problem. The hitmen provide some unexpected humor, when they are not trying to kill Jennie, and the story has some good twists and turns before it's all done.
The art is stunning. The panels don't feel crowded, but there is an amazing array of details and textures. This is an artist who knows how to use space. The color palette is subdued and tends to darken subtly as the story moves along. There are a limited number of colors used on each page, but they are used to great effect as colors highlight brighten, but never overwhelm. John Arcudi's introduction to the book is glowing of the talent here and I couldn't agree more. It all feels so well planned and deliberate, and I highly recommend it.
paperqueen69's review against another edition
3.0
it was ok, but it was hard to understand what was happening.
crystal_e_fall's review
1.0
Fina illustrationer och okej tidsfördriv, men förstod inte handlingen nästan alls (mest pga den styltiga dialogen) eller varför karaktärerna gjorde som de gjorde? Kändes som mycket historia saknades för att göra den helhetlig och alls fångande för min del.
crookedtreehouse's review against another edition
2.0
It's hard to tell if this is a cool concept/story because the dialogue is just incomprehensible. It reads like it was translated by Google.
The art is beautiful but not extraordinary enough that I could get over the dialogue.
The art is beautiful but not extraordinary enough that I could get over the dialogue.
joth1006's review against another edition
3.0
För många scener och detaljer lämnades outskrivna, och läsningen blev ganska krånglig. Väldigt snygg dock!
stewartfritz's review
3.0
Great artwork, looks a bit like Mignola's Hellboy stuff but with it's own personality. The story is pretty interesting, too- I'm not very familiar with European folklore and supernatural horror so this was a fun change of pace as far as my graphics reading is concerned. The main problem I had is that the story literally just ends over the space of two pages, and while there's some creepy ambiguity about what really happened it's not enough to carry the weight of the rest of the book, in my opinion.
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review
4.0
Disclaimer: Dark Horse allowed me to read this as an ARC via Netgalley. Thank you both!
Most people like to think fairy tales are sweetness and light, which, let’s face it, makes them cotton candy. Nice to eat but hardly satisfying no matter how much you wanted it. This is way, in most cases, the older folklore is far better than the clean version read to today’s children. It’s why authors (Gaiman, Pratchett, Rowling) that remember and even embrace that darkness tend to gain popularity because even though their stories might end happily, the darkness is not sugarcoated. Look at Andersen, darkness is even in the Ugly Duckling.
Peter Berting keeps to this traditional of folklore in his excellent graphic novel Domovoi. This is old time storytelling, influenced by not only Swedish folklore but Russian as well. Answers might not be what you want or even answers. For some reason, this way is better.
The story opens in Stockholm and introduces to Jennie. Jennie is in the tradition of Tiffany Achling and the Witches in Pratchett, though she is young. In other words, she is not typical YA (or new adult, whatever that is) female protagonist. She is young, but not stupid. She questions but actually thinks about the answers and takes advice. Her quest involves actions that her grandmother took years ago, and her helpers include her friend Bulka, Uncle Ivan, and two Poleviki (think lower level mobsters, who like waffles but not crayfish). Her means of transportation are a magical car that beats the one in Harry Potter by a mile.
There is magic in this tale, quite a bit, but like all good fairy and folk tales, the emphasis is on compassion and brain power. This isn’t to say that there isn’t plenty of action, but it is combined with great effectiveness with the use of compassion and intelligence. This is most powerfully done in the sequence with the Rusalka and Topielek.
And there is humor – not just with the waffle loving Poleviki.
And the art. Where to start with the art? The art manages to be both dark and light. It suits the moment from the first panel with Bulka’s comment on the beautiful morning to the last. Additionally, several panels hearken to Russian fairy tale and box illustrations, especially in regards to the use of shadow and light.
Berting has managed to capture the journey at the heart of any old story, the desire to grown and became not so much wise but to wade into the stream of life. He does this far better than most new Young Adult or New Adult books which seem to be about the young girl realizing that bad boy is the one for her and caving into him (in more ways than one). Berting’s graphic novel is for all ages, but thankfully features a young woman protagonist who does not have a tormented love life, does not want to marry Mr. Wrong, and does not condemn every other girl she meets. How come only men seem to write chosen young women like this? Don’t worry. You discover why Jennie is such a wonderful person by meeting her grandmother.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in folk and fairy tales, in particular stories from Russia as well as any person looking for a female central character who has something else besides boys on her mind. I can only hope that Jennie will make another appearance because I dearly want to read more of her adventures.
If you want music to go along with this graphic novel, I suggest Fairy Tales by Ole Lukkoye
Most people like to think fairy tales are sweetness and light, which, let’s face it, makes them cotton candy. Nice to eat but hardly satisfying no matter how much you wanted it. This is way, in most cases, the older folklore is far better than the clean version read to today’s children. It’s why authors (Gaiman, Pratchett, Rowling) that remember and even embrace that darkness tend to gain popularity because even though their stories might end happily, the darkness is not sugarcoated. Look at Andersen, darkness is even in the Ugly Duckling.
Peter Berting keeps to this traditional of folklore in his excellent graphic novel Domovoi. This is old time storytelling, influenced by not only Swedish folklore but Russian as well. Answers might not be what you want or even answers. For some reason, this way is better.
The story opens in Stockholm and introduces to Jennie. Jennie is in the tradition of Tiffany Achling and the Witches in Pratchett, though she is young. In other words, she is not typical YA (or new adult, whatever that is) female protagonist. She is young, but not stupid. She questions but actually thinks about the answers and takes advice. Her quest involves actions that her grandmother took years ago, and her helpers include her friend Bulka, Uncle Ivan, and two Poleviki (think lower level mobsters, who like waffles but not crayfish). Her means of transportation are a magical car that beats the one in Harry Potter by a mile.
There is magic in this tale, quite a bit, but like all good fairy and folk tales, the emphasis is on compassion and brain power. This isn’t to say that there isn’t plenty of action, but it is combined with great effectiveness with the use of compassion and intelligence. This is most powerfully done in the sequence with the Rusalka and Topielek.
And there is humor – not just with the waffle loving Poleviki.
And the art. Where to start with the art? The art manages to be both dark and light. It suits the moment from the first panel with Bulka’s comment on the beautiful morning to the last. Additionally, several panels hearken to Russian fairy tale and box illustrations, especially in regards to the use of shadow and light.
Berting has managed to capture the journey at the heart of any old story, the desire to grown and became not so much wise but to wade into the stream of life. He does this far better than most new Young Adult or New Adult books which seem to be about the young girl realizing that bad boy is the one for her and caving into him (in more ways than one). Berting’s graphic novel is for all ages, but thankfully features a young woman protagonist who does not have a tormented love life, does not want to marry Mr. Wrong, and does not condemn every other girl she meets. How come only men seem to write chosen young women like this? Don’t worry. You discover why Jennie is such a wonderful person by meeting her grandmother.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in folk and fairy tales, in particular stories from Russia as well as any person looking for a female central character who has something else besides boys on her mind. I can only hope that Jennie will make another appearance because I dearly want to read more of her adventures.
If you want music to go along with this graphic novel, I suggest Fairy Tales by Ole Lukkoye
booksandcecilia's review
4.0
Hade lite svårt att komma in i handlingen i början, men när jag väl hade läst ett tiotal sidor blev det mycket lättare. Som vanligt älskade jag Bergtings illustrationer!
Read my whole review at Book Obsession
Read my whole review at Book Obsession
nonesensed's review
4.0
A very enjoyable read if you're in the mood for a fairytale (which you can see from my rating that I was.) The plot is clear-cut and the setting is interesting, with a lot of implied world-building. I say implied because the story isn't a long one and thus there's only room for so much exposition and backstory. Personally I think that fit the story. While it leaves the reader without a deeper understanding of the characters' motivations, they are still developed enough through dialogue and action to be understandable. That said, some motivations are unknown or only hinted at, which creates a feeling of being an observer, a listener to a fairytale that takes place in a world I'd love to know more about.
Also, talking cats are always awesome.
Also, talking cats are always awesome.
rattletheshelves's review
Ugh, too many liberties with Slavic mythology and too much confusion of Polish/Ukrainian/Russian IT'S NOT THE SAME LANGUAGE AND NOT THE SAME CULTURE