Reviews

Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis has wrenched my heart once again in the sequel of her first book. Satrapi brings us to her life abroad away from home in Vienna as she navigated puberty, adolescence, independence and adjusting to her new home.

Some of the panels really hit close to home for me. This book really divulges the migrant experience. I was older than Satrapi when I left home to a foreign country for a supposedly better life. Yet all the dialogue she presented in the book really resonated with me. Already early in the story I knew this book will hold a special place in my heart.

The realisations she had when she went home to Iran, and the psychological issues she endured on her conflict between her beliefs and conforming to the society at her home that only continues to strangle her. This book really made a profound effect to me as a migrant, it felt as if I saw myself in Satrapi. If only I was as courageous and strong as her.

Even with the bittersweet end that she accepted the cruel fact that her home was not the place for her to prosper, it did allowed her to find herself after being lost physically and mentally. And I think that's the most beautiful lesson in the book.

I highly recommend this graphic novel. I am now looking forward to purchasing my own copy of the series for my personal shelf soon.