A review by ajt_99
Shanghai Red by Christopher Sebela

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Started reading: January 11th, 2024
Finished reading: January 12th, 2024 

THE GOOD STUFF:

• The art: Joshua Hixon's art is by far my favorite thing about this book, hands down. It has a rough-around-the-edges quality which compliments the story. I particularly found his use of color and shading to be particularly striking. The illustrated depictions of brutality are also appropriately visceral and bloody.
• The tone: A revenge story set in late 1800's Portland is going to lend itself to a particular level of grit, and Shanghai Red has grit for days. Like I said, the art aids a lot in accentuating the grunginess of the characters and setting, but so too does the dialogue. Everyone speaks in period-accurate vernacular and many of the lines, especially those from Molly/Jack have a certain over-the-top edgy charm.
• The pacing: Typically, revenge tales like to take the slow and methodical route or the savage hit-and-run approach. This book is definitely an example of the latter. Everything moves at a rapid clip and the story remains engaging without feeling rushed.

THE NOT-AS-GOOD STUFF:

• The story: While I praise the story for its pacing, I do find its actual content to be a bit lacking. It is by no means a bad story, but it is one that has been done many times before and this particular take on the revenge quest does little to alter the formula.
• The characters: The main character of the book, Molly, is decent enough for this type of story. She has understandable motivations, is a scrappy and clever fighter, and she is made a bit more interesting than she might have been otherwise due to having a sort of alternate persona in the form of Jack. One could even argue that she is an example of a
  trans character due to him choosing to adopt the Jack identity full-time at the end of the story and changing his pronouns
  . The other characters are unfortunately not as interesting. They were mostly all very forgettable, especially the villains, who are never really fleshed out or made to be delightfully hateable, which is unfortunate because a revenge story sort of needs to have a really interesting, despicable villain for the hero to seek vengeance upon because it lets the audience become more engaged in the protagonist's mission and makes the payoff all the more satisfying.

Overall verdict: Shanghai Red is a by-the-numbers revenge story with some great art and a decently interesting main character. If you go in expecting that and not seeking anything beyond that, I'm sure you'll enjoy it just fine, which I did. If you've read or watched any number of revenge-based narratives, you will see many similarities with them here, and that is my main issue which holds me back from liking it more. I just felt like nothing really new was added to make this particular revenge story stand out from those countless other revenge stories other than having a female lead, but even that isn't very new or groundbreaking in modern times. The dark and gruesome appeal of the art, the seedy and edgy mood of the story, and the brisk pace are really the things that hold up this book, aside from the adequately engaging central character. An entertaining read for sure, but by no means an innovative one.