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A review by emilycait
Waverider by Kazu Kibuishi
medium-paced
2.0
Let me preface this by saying, when I first got into this series as an Indigo employee (seeing it recommended everywhere, seeing customers get excited to pick up the latest volume, etc) I was absolutely captured by the worldbuilding and gorgeous illustrations.
But in the 6 years between Amulet 8 (2018) and Amulet 9 (2024), I've read A LOT more middle grade and a lot more graphic novels. And I was honestly expecting more from the conclusion to this hyped series.
STRENGTHS:
- the ART!! As always, Kibushi's characters are adorable and stylized in a way that doesn't give me the uncanny valley heebie-jeebies
- the scenes of the fantasy world, the use of colour, is absolutely stunning! A feast for the eyes 100%
- the ending: no spoilers, but I like the conclusion to Emily's role in the story/grand scheme of things
WEAKNESSES:
- the pacing: parts of this felt too rushed, other parts it felt like we spent too much time with
- Emily hopped from thing to thing randomly based on *feelings* (like the feeling that following the golden dragonfly thing would bring her to her family... and it conveniently does)
- the dialogue: maybe the dialogue was always this bad and I've just read more middle grade graphic novels since 2018, but holy cow is the dialogue awkward and stunted
- the speech bubbles are often used to tell readers things that happen to quickly resolve a problem in ways that feel really unsatisfying
OPPORTUNITIES:
- another volume: it's too late for this, but it feels like there is plot for two books that probably for publishing deal reasons (or maybe creator fatigue given the 6 year gap btwn volumes 8 and 9?) was smashed into one volume
- there were a lot of moving pieces that needed to be wrapped up, and the solution seems to be (see above) telling readers how it concludes via dialogue instead of exploring a conclusion with characters doing things
Overall, I'm happy I finally finished the series after getting sucked into the hype. It's nice to see how Emily's story ends. But it was also hugely disappointing. I'm curious if folks who are reading the whole series in 2024 now that it's complete will find the ending as disappointing as I did or if not having to wait six years means their hopes weren't as high.
But in the 6 years between Amulet 8 (2018) and Amulet 9 (2024), I've read A LOT more middle grade and a lot more graphic novels. And I was honestly expecting more from the conclusion to this hyped series.
STRENGTHS:
- the ART!! As always, Kibushi's characters are adorable and stylized in a way that doesn't give me the uncanny valley heebie-jeebies
- the scenes of the fantasy world, the use of colour, is absolutely stunning! A feast for the eyes 100%
- the ending: no spoilers, but I like the conclusion to Emily's role in the story/grand scheme of things
WEAKNESSES:
- the pacing: parts of this felt too rushed, other parts it felt like we spent too much time with
- Emily hopped from thing to thing randomly based on *feelings* (like the feeling that following the golden dragonfly thing would bring her to her family... and it conveniently does)
- the dialogue: maybe the dialogue was always this bad and I've just read more middle grade graphic novels since 2018, but holy cow is the dialogue awkward and stunted
- the speech bubbles are often used to tell readers things that happen to quickly resolve a problem in ways that feel really unsatisfying
OPPORTUNITIES:
- another volume: it's too late for this, but it feels like there is plot for two books that probably for publishing deal reasons (or maybe creator fatigue given the 6 year gap btwn volumes 8 and 9?) was smashed into one volume
- there were a lot of moving pieces that needed to be wrapped up, and the solution seems to be (see above) telling readers how it concludes via dialogue instead of exploring a conclusion with characters doing things
Overall, I'm happy I finally finished the series after getting sucked into the hype. It's nice to see how Emily's story ends. But it was also hugely disappointing. I'm curious if folks who are reading the whole series in 2024 now that it's complete will find the ending as disappointing as I did or if not having to wait six years means their hopes weren't as high.