alyssamakesart's reviews
338 reviews

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow by Mariko Tamaki

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

If you watched and loved Buffy then I recommend this comic, if that doesn’t apply to you… it is still worth a shot especially if you like witchy stuff. The first issue kinda drug on for me because I had little context, but I was invested by the end of issue 2. That disconnect may be why I felt the art outshined the story instead of working in tandem. Some of the lettering choices left me confused about what was happening, so it isn’t the most beginner friendly. (Not that it is advertised as so.)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Death and Sexism

Cyclopedia Exotica by Aminder Dhaliwal

funny inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I was unaware until the comic officially starts that I had seen some of these online as a webcomic! This was such a fun title and cool to see the seemingly detached stories intersect. As a marginalized person in the way that the story reflects on there were sections that made me cringe but far more that made me laugh and made it clear that this was coming from a shared experience. (I just disagree with parts of the portrayal sometimes.) still would totally recommend reading if you like vignette webcomic story telling, experimental-but-still-readable comics, or just have a love for “monsters.”

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body shaming and Racism

Minor: Bullying, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Toxic friendship

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

challenging funny hopeful informative fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Sexual content, Transphobia, and Medical content

Minor: Blood, Grief, and Medical trauma

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, and Gaslighting

Minor: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Lesbophobia, and Colonisation

A Concise History of Modern India by Thomas R. Metcalf, Barbara D. Metcalf

challenging informative medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Hate crime, Violence, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, and War

Minor: Death, Genocide, Racism, and Torture

Feminism and Pop Culture: Seal Studies by Andi Zeisler

challenging funny informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

This very approachable work is perfect for someone interested in learning about this young relationship (pop culture + feminism). While I did cringe a few times at the phrasing somethings -after all this book was publishing over 15 years ago- it felt like a close friend speaking to you. Not just in the jokes, but also asides and perspective. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Sexual content

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Car accident, Abortion, and Classism

Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power by Kelly Nyks, Peter Hutchinson, Jared P. Scott, Noam Chomsky

challenging informative medium-paced

4.0

Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler by Ibi Zoboi

hopeful informative medium-paced

3.0

I don’t think this book was for me. I liked the contextualization of the world Octavia lived in and the biographical elements but not so much the creative writing bits where Ibi wrote in first person. It wasn’t bad I think, just uncomfortable. I’ll admit an interesting exercise that I have now experienced and won’t be reaching for in book form again. I still want to real their other work.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Racism, Sexism, and War

Let Me Stand Alone: The Journals of Rachel Corrie by Rachel Corrie

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

I don’t want rate this because not only is it a personal account this was an intimate look at Rachel’s life shared posthumously and without her consent. I will say that I think most people should read the last quarter of this book. 

It felt almost surreal seeing her adapt her language to trepidation to hopefulness and hopelessness and back to hopefulness before the book was ultimately cut short due to her murder by the IDF. I think the voices of Palestinians (there and abroad) and anti-Zionist Jews matter the most but there’s this string of familiarity reading the perspective of an American non Arab woman come to understand the genocide as I have. Our lives couldn’t be more different but also there’s a connection to the horror of understanding slowly and yet light years compared to most on how Israel/The US uses our tax dollars to fund the extermination of a people from a land into the 21st century. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Genocide, Islamophobia, and War

Minor: Child death, Death, Mental illness, and Transphobia

The World Record Book of Racist Stories by Amber Ruffin, Lacey Lamar

funny sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Bullying, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Body shaming, Pedophilia, Slavery, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Car accident