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saidtheraina's review against another edition
3.0
This is an earlier, less mature work by the author of [b:Joe & Azat|6772186|Joe & Azat|Jesse Lonergan|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51P-AQ9RlLL._SL75_.jpg|6971804], which I LOVED.
In some ways, this is a more poetic piece. There are some really fantastical sequences from a party, there are some dream depictions which make good use of visual metaphor.
For me, I think the main weakness here is panel size uniformity. Almost all the pages (except for title pages for chapters) have six panels, in roughly the same proportions. There are some moments and sequences when I really wanted to rest my eyes, but the pacing here kept me flipping pages. Also, Comics Lit published this in a relatively small size and some of the pages feel like they'd be more impactful in larger scale.
The story itself is pretty par for the course for a reader who partakes in a lot of semi-autobiographical graphic novels. Bitter-sweet, wistful, two-freaks-stuck-in-a-doomed-cliche. I feel like the characters could have been fleshed out a bit more - the work and goal drama is a little out of the blue. But maybe everypeople are what Lonergan's going for here.
I find his drawing style more aesthetically pleasing here than in Joe & Azat, and though the storytelling is a bit more experimental, it also feels less mature than in that other work.
In some ways, this is a more poetic piece. There are some really fantastical sequences from a party, there are some dream depictions which make good use of visual metaphor.
For me, I think the main weakness here is panel size uniformity. Almost all the pages (except for title pages for chapters) have six panels, in roughly the same proportions. There are some moments and sequences when I really wanted to rest my eyes, but the pacing here kept me flipping pages. Also, Comics Lit published this in a relatively small size and some of the pages feel like they'd be more impactful in larger scale.
The story itself is pretty par for the course for a reader who partakes in a lot of semi-autobiographical graphic novels. Bitter-sweet, wistful, two-freaks-stuck-in-a-doomed-cliche. I feel like the characters could have been fleshed out a bit more - the work and goal drama is a little out of the blue. But maybe everypeople are what Lonergan's going for here.
I find his drawing style more aesthetically pleasing here than in Joe & Azat, and though the storytelling is a bit more experimental, it also feels less mature than in that other work.
erinmp's review against another edition
3.0
Kyle is a lonely twenty-something--an aspiring writer, just moved to a new city, hates his job, and has a mediocre apartment borrowed from his traveling uncle. He soon meets Erika, a pretty girl next door and the two quickly fall into a relationship built more on convenience than anything else. Kyle and Erika's quarter-life crises conicide. A graphic novel for those searching for...something.
I'm not the biggest fan of graphic novels (I know that looks weird considering I have a category devoted to them), but I thought this looked interesting. It was fine. Nothing spectacular, but a good look at the mentality of the quarter-life crisis that's all the rage these days (I'm still having a bit of one at 30). I have to admit that the dream sequence just plain freaked me out; but other than that, a decent book.
I'm not the biggest fan of graphic novels (I know that looks weird considering I have a category devoted to them), but I thought this looked interesting. It was fine. Nothing spectacular, but a good look at the mentality of the quarter-life crisis that's all the rage these days (I'm still having a bit of one at 30). I have to admit that the dream sequence just plain freaked me out; but other than that, a decent book.
peyjturner's review against another edition
3.0
A black and white comic about loneliness and how people fall into and out of it. I've seen other folk tackle the subject matter better than Lonergan has, but this is still pretty good.
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