A review by ntembeast
Level Up by Gene Luen Yang

5.0

I first read Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese for a Graphic Novels and Manga class back in 2010, and having fallen madly in love with his skillful story wielding, being intrigued by his unusual characters, and really enjoying his humor, I recommended the book straightaway to my partner, who loved it so much that they picked up this graphic novel as well. And even though I'm reading so much later than I read American Born Chinese, I'm so glad I'm reading this book now, because boy is it an encouragement to the soul and the weary heart, when you're exhausted by the bullshit of family and life to the point where you don't even want to deal with it anymore, and you feel like you're carrying a shield and sword everywhere, fighting more than you're living. For such a short read, it was exponentially refreshing for the soul to read something that says, "Hey, you can do something that you love for a living. Trust me." Because I've been dealing with fucking holy hell about my life choices for a while now, and it's getting to be trying. I don't want to live up to anyone's expectations except my own anymore, and it's always a bigger struggle when the economy says, "Nah, you're not experienced enough," and I say, "WELL THEN GIVE ME A CHANCE TO GAIN SOME BLASTED EXPERIENCE, DAMN IT!" to no avail.

It was a solace and a pleasure. Soothing for the bitter soul. And a fun getaway from things, even as it brought up the very same problems I'm going through in my day-to-day life as it is. I'm really glad that Gene Luen Yang wrote this one as well, because it was great to read, and a real pleasure to see, with thanks to the illustrations by Thien Pham, who, I must add, created such an easy, engaging art style for this work that it allowed the much heavier and bigger themes to be engaged without being overwhelmed by them. Both of these amazing people made a great experience for me, and lifted my heart a little in this endless fighting that Life is right now for me. So I owe them a debt of gratitude and thanks. Thank you, guys. It was an unexpected help, and that's the most any reader can ask for when they're not even looking for it.