Reviews

Work-Life Balance: Malevolent Managers and Folkloric Freelancers by Wayne Rée, Benjamin Chee

piperhath's review

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

2.75

Thank you Tandem Collective for sending me a copy of this one as part of a recent read along. This is not a book I'd usually pick up so am very grateful to be able to diveristy my reading. 

 

Work-Life Balance is a graphic novel/regular novel mash up and is set in a world where a large mulit-national company arrives and creatues such as pontianaks, manananggals, raksasis, and ba jiao guis are forced out of their jobs. While some give in to the corporate lifestyle, others would rather fight then join the mundane 9-5. 

 

This one has been really hard to review... I really loved the idea of mythology interwoven in with mundane tasks such as going to work and I also really enjoyed the jump between graphic novel and regular novel as it made for quick and easy reading. On the other hand, I wasn't a fan of the execution as it was quite jumpy and difficult to follow, the flow was also quite off with this one. 

 

That being said, I still really enjoyed the concept but unfortunately, this one didn't do it for me. 

 

2.75 stars. 

janaleele's review

funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

sunshine_lorena's review

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

I recently finished this as part of the tandem global readalong. I loved the mix of comics and prose and it was a really refreshing format which was really engaging. The idea of using the modern workplace setting with fantastical/mythological characters from South-east Asian folklore who had to adapt to the corporate life was a great and funny to see how it worked out. It was great to see how the characters were supposed to look and the comic secrions really brought them to life. I found myself flying through this as it was an easy read. 

thereadingmum's review

adventurous dark informative fast-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? No

3.5

Ever since I discovered Brian Selznik's amazing creation, The Inventions of Hugo Cabret, I've loved the idea of a graphic-prose novel. In fact, all picture books use images and words in a symbiotic way to bring a story to life and it is a relationship that works. Most of the time.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Wayne Ree and Benjamin Chee's work. I thought the storyline was ingenuous and loved the inclusion of so many Asian folkloric characters. Chee's artwork is excellent and fits the theme really well. 

However, I didn't understand why the graphic portion was an interpretation of the prose portions. I was expecting it to continue and complement the prose portions instead of repeating the story in a different way. For such a small book, this repetition then feels like I'm being cheated of part of the story. For example, couldn't the graphic portion show the kinds of work Zee's emloyees did for them and/or how they then made the decision to go to the Company? It would be lovely if this were serialised and the story fleshed out more. 

reallyintoreading's review

funny informative reflective medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

aftereliza's review

adventurous funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.75

somethingarosie's review

2.5

Work-Life Balance is a very interesting and innovative book in theory; combining the traditional novel with graphic storytelling. In practice, however, it just did not work well. With the two modes of storytelling, the plot was incredibly difficult to discern. I really had to ~work~ to glean any sense of a storyline, and no book should require you to do that. Work-Life Balance has all the tell-tale signs of a half-baked idea. It would have been a fabulous book, if it had been fully cooked.

Additionally, I was under the impression that there would be a clear allegory here, Animal Farm style. The allegory in Work-Life Balance being the distorted relationship our society now has with our jobs and the hierarchy of professions. However, this did not turn out to be the case. At least it did not translate this way for me, leaving me wondering what point this book was trying to make.

A very unique concept, but unfortunately underdeveloped. This book would have benefited from another round or two of developmental edits.

2.5⭐️

*Thank you to #TandemReadalong for having me on this readalong.

larslovesbooks's review

informative slow-paced

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

3.0

 Interesting mix of graphic novel and prose. Enjoyed the introduction to new Asian creatures and the mythology/folklore about them.

I like the office setting and relatability to bad bosses (how often do we think of them as demons? Lol). 

fandomsandfiction's review

adventurous funny reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

What a great read! I read this book as part of a readalong and it was such an interesting and engaging experience. The idea of weaving Southeast Asian folklore into a story about the working world is both unique and exciting. The use of dual mediums - novel-like chapters juxtaposed with comic strips - only adds to the story's ambience. The way the creators mix Malaysian, Indonesian, Filipino, Thai, Chinese and other Asian mythical creatures into world of beautiful coexistence is nothing short of BRILLIANT. This little book, a graphic novel of sorts, manages to combine a sharp critique of capitalism, a comprehensive study of how different work suits different people, and a unifying celebration of the diversity of Asian myth into one entertaining and thought-provoking tale.

bookishspy's review

reflective fast-paced

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

2.5

This was such an intriguing concept for a graphic novel/novella.

The way the author and artist both worked together to expand upon the stories they were telling was well done.

Where I was a bit disappointed was when I started getting attached to a character, it would switch stories or switch to comics and be told slightly differently. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it did leave me wanting more of certain characters than I actually received.

It was also a little confusing at times, probably because of the slight differences between the novella and the comic parts. Also, because I didn't know about the guide at the back of the book until after I was pretty much done.

The artwork was absolutely stunning, though!

Overall, I kind of wished the comic would add to the story starting where the novella ended instead of just retelling with slight changes. That would've been amazing. But for now, I'm not sure I really loved this as much as I wanted to

➛ 𝟐.𝟓 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬

Thanks again to Tandem Collective Global and the authors for providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.