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chamrosh's reviews
98 reviews
fast-paced
I liked this volume, but I can’t give it above a three because this is a political comic, from the 90s. some aspects will understandably feel dated.
Others will call it corny, but the live report of the “riot” having the power to pull back the cops was very moving to me. Journalism used to mean something, you know? It still does sometimes, but nowhere near that level of ‘truth prevailing.’ Sucks, man.
Others will call it corny, but the live report of the “riot” having the power to pull back the cops was very moving to me. Journalism used to mean something, you know? It still does sometimes, but nowhere near that level of ‘truth prevailing.’ Sucks, man.
dark
inspiring
Really intriguing start to this universe's Gotham, which only gets more and more insane with every issue going forward. Love the character building of Absolute Batman and seeing all the ways Bruce can differ from his traditional iconography yet still retain the same qualities!!!
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Tomorrow will come soon enough [. . .] And I will pass and this place will pass and stars will fall and suns will rise. And you will be a woman looking back on the many decades of your life, the terrors and the triumphs. And perhaps you will think of your father then and perhaps you will remember whatever has happened, whatever pain you have ever endured...
you are still my little girl.
I could not have picked a better time to read this. Not just for the movie coming out next year lol. It really helped me sort out certain feelings about recent personal events. Kara's father reminds me of mine so much, and reading those pages destroyed me. This whole comic destroyed me, in the best way possible. I haven't had a cry this good in so long. I felt like the giant in chapter four who couldn't grieve her losses and feared she would be detached from her life forever. One of the best comics I've ever read, and I cannot wait to see how it's adapted on the big screen.
dark
mysterious
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
I'm really excited to read more from this series. The political angle can come off a bit heavy handed, but that kind of comes with the territory of this plot. The art is incredible and really reflects the manic tone of the story. There's intrigue and mystery flowing through every page!
dark
funny
sad
This disturbing little story is commonly read as a critique of Russian communist society, and yes, it's very obvious there's a lot of implications on that end, but my own attention caught on the textual story being told.
Philip treats Sharikov well when he's a dog because he's clearly a "lesser" being, and one that can be used and taken advantage of through a few showings of false love. After Sharikov turns human by Philip's own hand, this all changes. It was an unintended result of a disgusting experiment, yet Philip cannot deal with the fact that the result is his own fault since he took that first atrocious step. He takes it out on his victim and picks on him for every little thing, while also implying there's very little use in his existence. None of the characters see the injustice in mistreatment of a living creature only now forced into the box of humanity. The only empathy to be found for the living is for humans affected by how horrible and unsophisticated the animal is acting. The mistreatment of Sharikov is justified to the cast of characters by the fact that in the first place, he was a dog. Something beneath them. It made for an interesting and infuriating read. Still managed to be funny, too.
Sometimes I get stuck in the mindset that only certain types of people have a capacity for real cruelty, and I'm glad for stories like these to remind me I'm wrong. People are equally capable of being outright horrible, even if each reason stems from a different view or place, and it's good to remember that in times where everyone seems to frame things in such black and white "good vs. evil" perspectives.
Sometimes I get stuck in the mindset that only certain types of people have a capacity for real cruelty, and I'm glad for stories like these to remind me I'm wrong. People are equally capable of being outright horrible, even if each reason stems from a different view or place, and it's good to remember that in times where everyone seems to frame things in such black and white "good vs. evil" perspectives.
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I have a lot of words. I’m very confused. This cannot be the same Octavia Butler whose talent with the pen is so universally beloved.
Fledgling is an absolute miserable slog. Is it a novel, or is it 300 pages of outline draft? The world is developed, but unfortunately there fails to be any sort of meaningful or interesting story taking place inside of that world. The intrigue of the set-up dies out within the first few chapters when she meets a relative of hers and starts receiving answers on everything she wants to know at the very moment she asks. The book, from then on, plays without any mystery, intrigue or suspense. Particularly egregious is the trial that takes up the entire second half of the story. It’s so incredibly obvious right off the bat who is in the wrong, and that they WILL be punished for it. Not for a moment does the book even try to make you believe something interesting will happen, that there will be some sort of intense conflict that drives any part of the plot. The story is unfinished feeling and also slightly cheesy. A book about murder and amnesia really needs intensity.
What Fledgling did NOT need, what did not amount to anything symbolically meaningful or interesting and what cannot be excused or explained because there weren’t ANY narrative reasons given for its presence: pedophilia. Every chapter, grown adults kiss up to the main character, who is in the body of a little ten year old girl. Sure, she’s 53 by her species’ standards, but even BY her culture’s way, she is nowhere near considered an adult. The adult “partners” in her life feel absolutely nothing about this, and there’s never a conversation or even a hint that anyone might be uncomfortable with the relationship dynamic at play. This is disgusting and vulgar on its own, but if it were there for a thematic reason, obviously that would change things. Alas. It is not, so it has not. It’s just weird and uncomfortable and utterly useless. Not to mention the fact that literally no-one in this main relationship can provide proper consent.
The dynamic between the vampires and those they feed off of is also entirely gross, and I would much have preferred a book about this world and this kind of vampire to be written on how horrifying being a victim of these creatures would be. From the moment they drink your blood, you fall head over heels and want nothing more than to be their servant, to be with them wherever they go. To give them whatever they want. It’s fucking disturbing, but it is NOT TREATED THIS WAY BY THE NOVEL. The first victim mentions it, but beyond one chapter the fear and confusion from this life-altering realization completely drops away. There were so many threads in this book that could have gone places, could have made for interesting explorations on the subjects it gently grazes, but time and time again it chooses the most infuriatingly bland option available.
This book should have been horror, should have been about how completely horrifying it is to have your mind invaded and rewritten to be unbothered by intense moral boundaries such as “don’t fuck 10 year olds.” Thanks for the at once uncomfortable and disgusting, and infuriatingly boring time.
Fledgling is an absolute miserable slog. Is it a novel, or is it 300 pages of outline draft? The world is developed, but unfortunately there fails to be any sort of meaningful or interesting story taking place inside of that world. The intrigue of the set-up dies out within the first few chapters when she meets a relative of hers and starts receiving answers on everything she wants to know at the very moment she asks. The book, from then on, plays without any mystery, intrigue or suspense. Particularly egregious is the trial that takes up the entire second half of the story. It’s so incredibly obvious right off the bat who is in the wrong, and that they WILL be punished for it. Not for a moment does the book even try to make you believe something interesting will happen, that there will be some sort of intense conflict that drives any part of the plot. The story is unfinished feeling and also slightly cheesy. A book about murder and amnesia really needs intensity.
What Fledgling did NOT need, what did not amount to anything symbolically meaningful or interesting and what cannot be excused or explained because there weren’t ANY narrative reasons given for its presence: pedophilia. Every chapter, grown adults kiss up to the main character, who is in the body of a little ten year old girl. Sure, she’s 53 by her species’ standards, but even BY her culture’s way, she is nowhere near considered an adult. The adult “partners” in her life feel absolutely nothing about this, and there’s never a conversation or even a hint that anyone might be uncomfortable with the relationship dynamic at play. This is disgusting and vulgar on its own, but if it were there for a thematic reason, obviously that would change things. Alas. It is not, so it has not. It’s just weird and uncomfortable and utterly useless. Not to mention the fact that literally no-one in this main relationship can provide proper consent.
The dynamic between the vampires and those they feed off of is also entirely gross, and I would much have preferred a book about this world and this kind of vampire to be written on how horrifying being a victim of these creatures would be. From the moment they drink your blood, you fall head over heels and want nothing more than to be their servant, to be with them wherever they go. To give them whatever they want. It’s fucking disturbing, but it is NOT TREATED THIS WAY BY THE NOVEL. The first victim mentions it, but beyond one chapter the fear and confusion from this life-altering realization completely drops away. There were so many threads in this book that could have gone places, could have made for interesting explorations on the subjects it gently grazes, but time and time again it chooses the most infuriatingly bland option available.
This book should have been horror, should have been about how completely horrifying it is to have your mind invaded and rewritten to be unbothered by intense moral boundaries such as “don’t fuck 10 year olds.” Thanks for the at once uncomfortable and disgusting, and infuriatingly boring time.
funny
lighthearted
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I adored this. The whimsical nature of Diana Wynne Jones' voice made reading feel like lounging on a cloud high up in the sky. All of the characters are so lovable and endearingly self-troubled, creating problems for themselves in the most casual manner. In particular, Michael was such a sweetheart, and I'm more than a little miffed that he was absent from the Ghibli adaptation.
The only issue I had was the pacing near the end. Everything seemed to speeeeeed once the book remembered it needed a conclusion, the climax was out the door just as soon as it said hello. I also felt like the gathering just beforehand was somewhat unneeded. The last few pages were heartwarming and sweet though, and keeps the rating and my feelings on the book as a whole high.
The only issue I had was the pacing near the end. Everything seemed to speeeeeed once the book remembered it needed a conclusion, the climax was out the door just as soon as it said hello. I also felt like the gathering just beforehand was somewhat unneeded. The last few pages were heartwarming and sweet though, and keeps the rating and my feelings on the book as a whole high.
adventurous
mysterious
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Death loves death, not life. Dying people love to know that others die with them. It is a comfort to know that you are not alone in the kiln, in the grave.
I love Ray Bradbury, I love his writing, I love his silly science---but I don't think I've ever enjoyed a longer short story collection. I think it's the short story formula that gets tiring for me around halfway through no matter if I'm reading horror, sci-fi/fantasy, lit fic, or a mix and match of many different genres. The stories were fun, but only three really captured my attention. Those were: "The Last Night of the World," "The Other Foot," and "Kaleidoscope."
I also have come to somewhat resent how few women are involved in Bradbury's stories, but this is a ME problem, too. I need to seek out more stories written by and about women!
I also have come to somewhat resent how few women are involved in Bradbury's stories, but this is a ME problem, too. I need to seek out more stories written by and about women!
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
The Council is wrong. Yet, observe that none of us will risk telling it so, for fear of the consequences.
I really appreciated the theme of complicity versus fighting back, and the way the story's told is creative. The characters were all wonderful and I was invested in their struggles on a personal level, which I think other people have an issue with when reading epistolary. For me, I see epistolary novels as more personal expressions of thought and because of that easily compelling.
Ella Minnow Pea didn't blow me away, but it also never failed to induce my emotions. It's worth a read!
Ella Minnow Pea didn't blow me away, but it also never failed to induce my emotions. It's worth a read!