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crookedtreehouse's review against another edition
3.0
Using very basic language, and deceptively simple but beautiful art, Lannes's story of a woman who loses herself in love is exquisitely panelled. The alternating black or white pages also added to how aware Lannes is of how to design this story. While the pacing of this particular story wasn't the kind I usually enjoy, I will still absolutely pick up any book I see with Lannes's name on it. I can't wait to see what she does next.
sunday's review against another edition
5.0
Stunning art. A perfect horror story, where the disappearing body lets us ingest the terror of the relationship in these pages.
seawarrior's review
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
gilldaniels's review against another edition
4.0
Eerie, terrifying, and completely visceral. Laura Lannes is massively talented.
hypops's review
4.0
John, Dear is a nightmarish and harrowing fable of a woman’s self-effacement and what it means for her to be with an emotionally abusive partner. This short book is so emotionally volatile and resonant that it feels like it might be too soon for me to voice my thoughts about it. It’s still actively rolling around in my head and will be for some time.
And maybe that’s the point: it’s an unsettling book that, if it has done its job, recreates the experience of emotional abuse insofar as feelings never feel like one’s own (what is this strange illness?) and feelings are never allowed to coalesce into solid things (am I crazy?). If ghosts really are the result of unresolved trauma, then this woman lives a phantom-like existence. She is disallowed from finding emotional resolution and so must live in a ghostly limbo, receding ever further into a horrifying, dark nothingness.
And maybe that’s the point: it’s an unsettling book that, if it has done its job, recreates the experience of emotional abuse insofar as feelings never feel like one’s own (what is this strange illness?) and feelings are never allowed to coalesce into solid things (am I crazy?). If ghosts really are the result of unresolved trauma, then this woman lives a phantom-like existence. She is disallowed from finding emotional resolution and so must live in a ghostly limbo, receding ever further into a horrifying, dark nothingness.
bookscomics's review
4.0
When life turns into a horrible waking nightmare. A woman loses her mother and soon after finds herself in a romantic relationship with a man named John. Starts off great but after a while the relationship turns kinda bad, kinda toxic. Probably triggered by that and her mother's death (tons of stress and anxiety), the woman develops a weird disease where holes appear all over her body. At one terrible point white worms come out from those holes while she takes a hot bath.
She wakes up in the middle of the night attempting to speak to her mother (who is dead), her relationship with John is nearly nonexistent (they're still together but neither of them is getting anything positive from staying in the relationship), holes spread all over her body to the point where she's basically disappearing, she tries to get better but everything is just worse. Great illustrations, really like how it started off, but ends kind of abruptly. Definitely not an optimistic ending.
She wakes up in the middle of the night attempting to speak to her mother (who is dead), her relationship with John is nearly nonexistent (they're still together but neither of them is getting anything positive from staying in the relationship), holes spread all over her body to the point where she's basically disappearing, she tries to get better but everything is just worse. Great illustrations, really like how it started off, but ends kind of abruptly. Definitely not an optimistic ending.
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