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A review by supermilne
The Wall by Mario Alberti, Antoine Charreyron
2.0
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with this ARC of The Wall by Antoine Charreyron and Mario Alberti. I’m grateful for the opportunity to have read it and give feedback.
The Wall follows a young mechanic and his kid sister in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Her medicine runs out, and the last place they can go for more is in a fortified enclosure defended by an insanely huge robot. There are twists and turns, but think Elysium, Mad Max, and World War Z.
First off, the art was gorgeous. I loved the look of the Wall, and the community within, as well as how desolate the outside really is. I thought it was quite original, but there are a few things that irked me to the point where it was an unenjoyable read.
So much of this could have and should have worked, if not for the bizarre pacing. It felt very choppy at times and I’m not quite sure why it was done that way. It resulted in things moving far too quickly, especially in times where it shouldn’t be moving that quickly. Maybe it was to keep the page-count short or to give it an “action” feel? I don’t know.
While I do think the art is stunning (especially behind the wall), I honestly had no idea what was happening half the time. At times, it felt more like storyboarding for a movie (which didn’t translate well into a book like this) and so I think it was the focus on action that gave the art such a disjointed feel. I really had to think and squint to see who was who, or even what they were doing half the time.
All in all, I was pretty disappointed by this. It sounded really interesting, and despite a couple of hiccups along the way, the twist at the end of the first chapter/book really intrigued me. But after that it just seemed to devolve into mindless (and confusing) action that didn’t make much sense to me.
The Wall follows a young mechanic and his kid sister in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Her medicine runs out, and the last place they can go for more is in a fortified enclosure defended by an insanely huge robot. There are twists and turns, but think Elysium, Mad Max, and World War Z.
First off, the art was gorgeous. I loved the look of the Wall, and the community within, as well as how desolate the outside really is. I thought it was quite original, but there are a few things that irked me to the point where it was an unenjoyable read.
So much of this could have and should have worked, if not for the bizarre pacing. It felt very choppy at times and I’m not quite sure why it was done that way. It resulted in things moving far too quickly, especially in times where it shouldn’t be moving that quickly. Maybe it was to keep the page-count short or to give it an “action” feel? I don’t know.
While I do think the art is stunning (especially behind the wall), I honestly had no idea what was happening half the time. At times, it felt more like storyboarding for a movie (which didn’t translate well into a book like this) and so I think it was the focus on action that gave the art such a disjointed feel. I really had to think and squint to see who was who, or even what they were doing half the time.
All in all, I was pretty disappointed by this. It sounded really interesting, and despite a couple of hiccups along the way, the twist at the end of the first chapter/book really intrigued me. But after that it just seemed to devolve into mindless (and confusing) action that didn’t make much sense to me.