A review by rnbhargava
The Collected Essex County by Jeff Lemire

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is an incredible book of interconnected stories of people living in the title rural county. It’s emotional and gripping with Lemire’s signature art style throughout. It really gets to the heart of the hopes and struggles of people living in small rural communities. 5 stars

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

There’s some sports related violence, a major theme is feelings of isolation in the title rural county. There’s some depictions of elderly characters toward the end of their lives that could incite triggering feelings toward personal losses that some may want to at least pace themselves through if not fully avoid if you have a big problem around that. One of the sections also has infidelity and family estrangement as a major theme. I absolutely love this book but please keep in mind that this book depicts people’s lives and frustrations living in a very small town.