School of Love Vol. 1 Review

 

 

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis: Middle-school best friends Linon and Garance decide to conduct a little research around their school to see how different students perceive the concept of love.

 

Little Sister Review

 

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis: Set in 1950s Newark, Little Sister follows the daily life of 8-year-old Jewish girl Susie and her older sisters Effie and Sandra who are 14 and 18 respectively.

 

The Secret Garden Vol. 1 Review

 

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis: Based on the book by classic British children’s novelist Francis Hodgson Burnett (which I have not read), The Secret Garden follows 10-year-old Mary who moves to her uncle’s English mansion from India after her parents’ death. There, she finds a door leading to the titular enchanted garden where whimsy adventures ensue.

 

Mademoiselle Baudelaire Review

 

Rating: 3/5

Synopsis: This historical memoir takes a poetic, passionate look into 19^th-century French poet Charles Baudelaire’s affair with Creole mistress Jeanne Duval.

Disclaimer: This being part erotica, expect some graphic descriptions ahead try as I might to tastefully present it.

My Thoughts: Plot (4/5) – While ample information on Baudelaire’s life is available, Jeanne Duval has become more of a figure mythologized as Black Venus in his body of work with little else known. Therefore, this book takes several creative liberties with its interpretation of their relationship, making this mostly a historical dramatization which was a sufficient premise for me given how many works there are focusing on mysterious figures, a subject I tend to find fascinating.

Pacing (2/5) – This is where most of my problems lie. Throughout much of the narrative, there are paragraphs of waxing poetic from Baudelaire’s flowery monologuing to the continual epistolary exchanges between the characters, the latter of which’s perspective became confusing to discern. The writing itself is articulated with descriptive beauty galore and would have been perfect in prose, but it clogs up so much of the panels’ space that it feels more distracting and grueling to read through considering how much of the story is conveyed through visual metaphor.

Art (5/5) – I would consider this part the book’s strongest suit. Yslaire masterfully used his thinly sketched lineart and harsh, fuzzy colors to convey a dreary tone that complemented the actions well. The hallucinatory imagery was particularly a marvel to the eyes, amplifying the symbolism throughout. My favorite instance of this is how Baudelaire’s penis is depicted as a serpent insatiable in its voracious lust for pleasure while Duval is juxtaposed to a wild leopard which tragically reflected upon how he views her as a person. That is to say, a savage beast which he has tamed into civility with Western assimilationism, an ethnocentric bar which a lot of society still sets to this day.

 

Final Thoughts: Mademoiselle Baudelaire is an ambitious project which, while successful on an artistic level and thematic level, was heavily bogged down by its bloated text thus leaving an average impression overall. However, if this is something you can get past, you might enjoy this graphic novel.

 

Thanks to Europe Comics and NetGalley for providing me with my first advance ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

Magic Vol. 1 Review

 

Rating: 3/5

Synopsis: A purple-haired girl named Evelyne is sent to live with a convent of nuns and later apprentice by her parents who suspect she’s a witch.

 

Nightmare in Savannah Review

 

Characters from left to right: Alexa, Chloe, Skye, and Fae

Rating: 2.5/5

Synopsis: After rebuilding her life in Savannah, Alexa joins a clique of girls at her new high school who turns out to be more mysterious and eerie than expected.

 

Lost in the Future Vol. 1 Review

 

Rating: 4.5/5

Synopsis: After a class group of five kids fall into a pit, they subsequently find themselves in the future and embark on a journey back home.

 

Tunnels Review

 

Rating: 2.5/5

Synopsis: Rutu Modan’s third graphic novel follows explorer Nili Broshi who enlists a motley crew to search for the famed Ark of the Covenant which escalates to heated strifes over who should have it.

 

The Keeper of the Little Folk Vol. 1 Review

 

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis: Elina finds out she’s the next Keeper of the Little Folk, a society of fairies and other small fantastical beings, to succeed her now incapacitated grandmother.

 

September 11, 2001 Review

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis: This dramatized narrative follows a young French woman as she recounts the events surrounding the September 11 attacks and how they affected her life.

 

Days of Sand Part 1 Review

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis: Set during the 1930s. Days of Sand follows East coast photographer John Clark who is sent on a journalistic assignment to the mid-west to record the aftermath of the Dust Bowl on the rural populace.

 

Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters Vol. 1 Review

 

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis: Orphan wanderer Rainbow is in search in the wild for her sister Jonna who has been missing for a year, only to discover a world with larger-than-life beasts in the first volume of this epic fantasy adventure.

 

Hematite Vol. 1 Review

 

Rating: 4.5/5

Synopsis: Hematite is a young adolescent vampire who is dealing with many things common in younglings her age such as high expectations from her illustrious parents and as well as a crush on the human boy Emile.

 

The Lost Ages 1 Review

 

Rating: 3.5/5

Synopsis: A few millenniums after the fall of a French civilization in the year 1000AD into the titular lost ages, modern society as we know it has crumbled and rebuilt itself from scratch. In this rough terrain follows the conflicts between Anglia and other neighboring tribes as they try to survive.

 

Love Love Love 1 Review

 

Rating: 4.5/5

Synopsis: Set in a futuristic Paris, this sci-fi romance focuses on Elle, a young woman whose life seems to be stuck in murky waters, and Karel, a sentient bot (or as they’re called in the future mechas) whose energy source runs on the love of others while dealing with the casual discrimination against his kind.