Scan barcode
A review by jenbsbooks
Shay's Story by Scott Westerfeld, Devin Grayson
2.75
Almost all the graphic novels I've read to date have been adaptations of a novel ... this overlaps, but isn't "Uglies" ... it starts earlier, so we see Shay on her own prior to meeting Tally, and from Shay's POV. It ends earlier than "Uglies" also.
In my original review of Uglies (read 10+ years ago, then a re-read now) I mentioned how I didn't think this could be made into a movie ... the "perfect pretty" look, can that really be visualized, or does it need to be left to the imagination? I personally think there are SO many looks that can be beautiful, even if they are completely different. This graphic novel suffers from that same issue ... taking an idea and making it visual. I thought Shay was very pretty to start with. I know the "ugly" doesn't mean the same thing in this series as it does IRL now, but it's still a little hard to imagine, with the picture drawn down, how anyone could consider these characters ugly. The "pretties" just didn't look that different. I really liked the artist's style (I haven't in all graphic novels) ... it's just the whole point of the book is one better left to the imagination, it's too difficult to make it real.
It seemed a tad more sexual than Uglies ...
I did appreciate the setup up of the graphic novel ... sometimes I struggle to follow, wondering which block or blurb to read first. Here, the POV from within Shay's head, the storyline, is in blocks. Dialog is in bubbles. It was all b&w except for the cover.
In my original review of Uglies (read 10+ years ago, then a re-read now) I mentioned how I didn't think this could be made into a movie ... the "perfect pretty" look, can that really be visualized, or does it need to be left to the imagination? I personally think there are SO many looks that can be beautiful, even if they are completely different. This graphic novel suffers from that same issue ... taking an idea and making it visual. I thought Shay was very pretty to start with. I know the "ugly" doesn't mean the same thing in this series as it does IRL now, but it's still a little hard to imagine, with the picture drawn down, how anyone could consider these characters ugly. The "pretties" just didn't look that different. I really liked the artist's style (I haven't in all graphic novels) ... it's just the whole point of the book is one better left to the imagination, it's too difficult to make it real.
It seemed a tad more sexual than Uglies ...
I did appreciate the setup up of the graphic novel ... sometimes I struggle to follow, wondering which block or blurb to read first. Here, the POV from within Shay's head, the storyline, is in blocks. Dialog is in bubbles. It was all b&w except for the cover.