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multimindz's reviews
41 reviews
5.0
Read it. You will like it.
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I suppose it's a good glimpse inside the head & life of the average mass shooter and how they're so caught up and stuck on themselves. It is a good (though overly White) perspective of how trauma can really disrupt a person, how depression can deeply warp your perspective, and how it takes a villiage to fail a child but it isn't one I would recommend.
Herr Silvermann seemed ok, at least he tried to do his job, which does show a great example of how the actions of one person going on a limb and giving a care can mean the world to someone else, even if they're on the brink. And the ending isn't neat but shows the problems are still ongoing, which makes sense, real life doesn't always have a happy ending, esp if nothing changes where it counts.
Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Racial slurs, and Mental illness
Moderate: Sexism, Violence, Antisemitism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Religious bigotry, Racism, and Cursing
Minor: Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Antisemitism
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This is the book everyone thinks of when I mention my disorder or they discover it - and then fire/evict/threaten me?
I usually would say "People can be stupid" but this is far beyond the pale. It's sh*tty writing that confused me from start to finish. DID can change your demeanor (doesn't make you trample others, you're thinking of what people without DID do ... and then hunt for an excuse dumb people will believe), even your accent and vocal timbre - but you still have the same body and face. The more concerning people in this story are the ones without the DID, given how coldhearted they are the nanosecond someone shows any sign of mental malady. No compassion, all hate and "should have been born a better person".
Everyone, you're all aware this is a fictional story written by a guy who read the first known case of Dissociative Identity Disorder in the West (some guy in France in the 1800s was discovered to have it) in the newspaper and went "I have a crappy idea, let me share it with the world!" - and not a How-To guide on how to treat people with disorders, especially DID, right?
If anyone in the work had a shred of compassion - or, better yet, took a minute to think outside their gravely myopic egos - it would have at least been minorly better written.
The book was dreck, long story very short.
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Mental illness, and Suicide
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
4.75
Brilliant and a perfect book for Black teens, especially boys, who want to read fantasy with a bit of sci-fi (or anything isekai style) with realistic characters and no race pain/Black trauma storylines (because those storylines are made for the White readers that can't get enough of Black suffering, not for Black folks who simply want something fun to read) and is penned by someone Black. The writer handles writing women characters well, also! Great book! Better than most I have read on fantasy, definitely won't put you to sleep like the classics. The chapters are filled with action and awesome
5.0
5.0
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
I liked the movie waaaaaaay more than the book. The movie storyline was more succinct whereas in the book, I sometimes had problems following the different storylines. The book made sense but it felt more like White Guy Meandering & Mulling About Society whereas the movie got straight to the point.
What knocked my score to the 3's (I wanted to give it a 5 because it is V for Vendetta alone but that's not fair) is the use of Black People As Society's Canaries trope, where there are no active Black characters talking, living, etc in the forefront. Nope, we're in the background being .... murdered and treated poorly and all the White folks who star in the work do is go "Wow, look at how poorly the Black people are being treated, they're always the first to go." They do nothing but wait for all or most of the Black folks to be eradicated before doing anything, while all the while going "This world is sick, look at how they treat the Black people [and how I do nothing because why have genuine human compassion for Black people, who are also human (News Flash, it's true), until they die. Which works best for me because at least they're gone, I just have to act sad about it]." There are smarter & more humane ways to say or depict the issues of totalitarianism, facism and wide-spread prejudice. The movie handled it better, at least removed the "Black People as Society's Canary" trope.
The sexism is wowser in the book. You have the daft-but-cute 16 yr old Evey Hammond (aged up in the movie and good thing, that!) who seemed to be an easily led, doe-eyed lamb that constantly trailed out things that made V look impressive, how she would go "oh, I'm so weak and frail but you're so big and strong" (I'm paraphrasing here). It clearly didn't look like some super meta-cognitive move to quip on society's sexism by Alan Moore, it just looked like standard White Straight Cis Man Makes Comic Books And Includes Gender Beside "Man" behavior. He triiiiiiiiied? 🤷🏿♀️ And flopped. Even had a Lady Macbeth type character that I almost expected to say "Out, out, damned spot" at one point." I get the whole "messed up ppl like power" thing but that all could have been told way better, when it came to the women. It instead read more like "What I, a straight man, believe a woman gunning for power would act like." The movie was a bit better, had it's drawbacks (thanks to the source material, they can only do so much) but the book was more heavy handed & leaded with the built-in sexism.
It's like Alan Moore was trying to say very poignant things about society but because it's clear via his work he doesn't really interact much (if at all) with whole slices of society (*koff*AnyoneNotWhite,NotMan,NotStraightAndEspeciallyNoCombos/Intersections*wheeeeeeeeze**koff*) it comes off as very "White Man Muses About Society, Ignores His Own Glaring Blindspots", which, bro, is already so many books, dear gods. We already have 1984, Brave New World, the list goes on and on and on and! At least the movie was good. I think if Alan Moore widened up his friend circle (at least to the point a group picture wouldn't look like something the National Front would hardly blink at) before and during the time he created this graphic novel, it would have been a super knock-out, probably.
Perhaps I'm also just tired of "White Guy Muses About Society, Ignores Own Blindspots" works. Been hearing and reading them since I was a kid (usually not by choice, at least this time was), it's lame, myopic af and they miss a lot.
Those two things I mentioned mostly knocked the score to 3.75. I recommend the movie over the graphic novel. At least the movie is thrilling
Graphic: Deportation, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Abandonment, Confinement, Toxic friendship, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Racism, Xenophobia, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Infidelity, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, War, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Torture
Minor: Rape