reibureibu's reviews
75 reviews

Bear by Staffan Gnosspelius

dark hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Incredibly beautiful artwork from Staffan Gnosspelius.

Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour by Bryan Lee O'Malley

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

NGE for white people. I'm white people.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe by Bryan Lee O'Malley

emotional lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

I'm getting the feeling that Bryan O'Malley can't write — or at least he can only write one thing and as soon as it runs its course he resorts to reconfiguring it over and over and over again and hoping we don't notice. Despite some real great moments here, this is by far the most frustrating chapter and where his tendency for artificial conflict rears its head; I expect some of these to be explained in the next and final chapter but others are just irredeemable. There's nothing I hate more than backwards character development.

Scott Pilgrim Vol. 4, Volume 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together by Bryan Lee O'Malley

emotional lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

2.5

A Half-Korean writing about a Chinese wielding "samurai swords" is a new level of headache-inducing boba-ism. Otherwise just kind of okay and is solely redeemed by 1. how great of a character Lisa is and 2. how great this is at conveying the lonely but investing feeling of finally getting your shit together in your 20s as you realize what you've been holding on to was never real in the first place.

Scott Pilgrim & The Infinite Sadness by Bryan Lee O'Malley, Nathan Fairbairn

emotional lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

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

3.5

The ties that bind / the violence of propinquity / the state of things / and so forth.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World by Bryan Lee O'Malley

emotional lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

So much better than the first it's almost baffling. Whereas the first has a veneer of melancholy overlaying immature whimsy, here it's the reverse. As such the silences speak volumes more and the pain (both individual and collective) is felt with infinitely more resonance. Growing up is hard.

Also, still kinda boba lib but not nearly as bad.

Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O'Malley

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I can smell the boba lib from here.

Ernesto by Umberto Saba

emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

Beautiful in its sheer plainspokenness, its direct capture of complex emotions that are somehow always much simpler than they appear to be (that is, such complexity being born of social mores) and somehow always much more affecting than they have the right to be. Perhaps that is as it should be, and Saba here simply shares how much simpler (and, of course, happier) life would were it so.

Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

We were never postdiluvian.

The Squat Bible: The Ultimate Guide to Mastering the Squat and Finding Your True Strength by Travis Neff, Aaron Horschig, Kevin Sonthana

informative fast-paced

4.0

Enlightened me to all the answers of every mysterious squat problem I've ever had. Essential if you don't skip leg day.