This is kind of like a mix between 1984 and (anti-)Nazi Germany inspired politics, packaged as a graphic novel.
The story takes place in|| 2.0 stars ||
This is kind of like a mix between 1984 and (anti-)Nazi Germany inspired politics, packaged as a graphic novel.
The story takes place in a dystopian society under a fascist regime that indoctrinates all of its citizens and sends everyone who falls outside of their idea of ‘perfection’ to a concentration camp (those people include gays, people of colour, socialists, etc.). In these concentration camps certain experiments take place, and one of these involuntary participants is our main character V. We are not entirely sure what kind of experiment he was used for, but we do know he escaped and is now out for vengeance. He wants to spread chaos and anarchy as an anonymous vigilante; he wants to overthrow the totalitarian regime by taking away the propaganda tools the leaders use to manipulate people. However, is V doing this out of the kindness of his heart? Does he have ulterior motives? Is he simply just insane after the experiments he has endured?
The other protagonist is Evey, and she becomes more important in the second half of the story. She is a desperate girl living under the regime and she is saved by V early on in the comic, after which they develop a hard too define and extremely troubled relationship. I don’t want to say too much about her journey because it would be a spoiler, but her storyline is quite sad. I personally did feel like her characterization was weak and her character oftentimes felt rather empty. She could have been a much more impactful character if she was written better, and not only as a naive, stupid, silly, pleading and frail girl. She simply didn’t have much of a real personality, which was a shame. She did have one powerful scene somewhere in the middle of the comic, but that was quickly forgotten afterwards and she just became uninteresting again. In summary, most of what she did was ask unanswered questions and follow V around: It wasn’t very impactful or intriguing.
Despite the story having a very fascinating and compelling premise, it was hard to feel a powerful emotional connection to the characters or any of the action. The writing simply lacked feeling and it was honestly a little stale. It often read like a political pamphlet or a theology lesson. Some of the writing was also a little too flowery. I didn’t really like that so much was said in such hard too follow prose like it was a pretentious little riddle (especially when V was talking) or when the words were written down in certain accents. I have to admit to not being able to understand what was going on sometimes. It was annoying and often gave me a headache. I mean, there were times when I genuinely had no clue what we were even talking about, to whom was being spoken to, why something was happening, where we were, etcetera. It could all be very... confusing. There was also a lot of it that felt quite repetitive and it almost became rather preachy. A lot of scenes were honestly just boring, and they didn’t matter to me at all.
I didn’t really like the drawings in this comic either. The lines weren’t very pronounced, and there were a lot of dark spots. I found it hard to distinguish between different faces or different facial expressions. I honestly could not tell any of the characters apart (other than V and Evey), and I didn’t find any of the pictures particularly well done. It was honestly hard to see anything clearly; the pictures really didn’t add much to the story for me, and I think that’s a very bad thing indeed for a graphic novel.
All in all, I wish I would have just watched the movie. I will probably still do that sometime in the future anyway, because I think the story has the potential to be great, it was just the execution of it that was a fail for me....more
This book is very poignant and extremely capable at describing this culture and way of life in 19th century Nigeria with which I was pr|| 3.5 stars ||
This book is very poignant and extremely capable at describing this culture and way of life in 19th century Nigeria with which I was previously completely unfamiliar. I was very engrossed in this aspect of the book and was thrilled to find out more and more about it as the story went along. Unsurprisingly, I thus found it to be very heavy and shocking to have to then watch that entire society crumble and be overthrown by "the white men". I found it particularly chilling to see how the main character, who had fought his entire life and put his entire mental state into being what his village's customs demanded from him, be completely destroyed by these sudden yet gradual changes in his society. I can't really explain it, you need the whole book for that, but I found this all to be very powerful....more
The grotesque and unethical nature of this essay's proposal is meant to shock people into altering the|| 2.0 stars ||
This did not really do it for me.
The grotesque and unethical nature of this essay's proposal is meant to shock people into altering their perspective or igniting change, but it kind of left me cold. I understand the thought behind the essay and I respect it for trying to accomplish change, especially when putting the text in its original time period, but I don't think it really accomplishes anything. It can too easily be shoved under the rug as ridiculous, weird and unnecessary. It did not set me to think, even though that was obviously its intent.
I was also not the biggest fan of the writing style. The whole thing is obviously meant to be satire content wise, and I think the writing style could have played with that a bit more. It felt a bit stiff and could have been more humorous. And if it was not going to follow the humour route, it could have at least tried to convey more emotion or spark any type of feelings in me. Now, it did neither.
All in all, I appreciate the thought, but this severely lacks in its execution. It's a no from me....more
This essay is clear and straight to the point. It points out the root issue and zones in on it. There is no opportunity left for rebutt|| 4.0 stars ||
This essay is clear and straight to the point. It points out the root issue and zones in on it. There is no opportunity left for rebuttal. The text shows us that these are the facts and we need to face them.
The writing style of this essay was extremely pleasant and fitting for what it was trying to achieve. No flowery prose or philosophical musings that go way off topic. Just a listing of gender inequality in Africa (and somewhat in America as well), and a simple outline of how some of these gender stereotypes came to be.
I think even people who do not consider themselves to be ‘feminists’ will have a hard time arguing this essay. After reading it, it would be hard to not admit that everyone needs to get over themselves and see what is right in front of them: genders are often not treated the same way (especially in non-Western countries), and in most situations they really should be. Men and women are not identical, but they are equal. Let’s start acknowledging that. Ignoring the issue is not going to make it disappear....more
This book started off fan-fucking-tastic. I was immediately drawn in and the pacing of the story was super pleasant. The characters wer|| 4.0 stars ||
This book started off fan-fucking-tastic. I was immediately drawn in and the pacing of the story was super pleasant. The characters were easy to care for and appeared vulnerable in a way that made their experiences feel real. The general plot was also rich and full of very authentic problems and insecurities.
There is no doubt in my mind that Weston and Anson love each other deeply, and that's honestly amazing. Their romance felt like it was really fleshed out and developed on an emotional level. Maybe their relationship became a bit too intense though, which made the novel become slightly repetitive at the end. Don't get me wrong, I loved their deep bond, but it could have perhaps been shown somewhat less. Instead, maybe throw in some more conflict in there between the two of them? Other than that, West and Anson were a great couple and shared a super entertaining, yet emotional, journey together that had me swooning plenty of times.
'Atlanta Lightning' series: 1. The Endgame - 4.0 stars 2. The End Zone - 3.0 stars...more
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