Reviews

Spring Rain: A Graphic Memoir of Love, Madness, and Revolutions by Andy Warner

lostkairos's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense

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ashleyholstrom's review against another edition

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2.0

There’s a lot going on here — unrest in the Middle East while our narrator is studying abroad, doing a lot of drugs, and having a mental breakdown of sorts. I’m not sure what we’re supposed to take away from it. It never goes too deeply into any of the deep ideas presented. Meh. The art is stunning, though.

librarylapin's review against another edition

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4.0

This book was full of multidimensional intensity. In the backdrop of a historical moment the author describes and intense moment of mental illness and touch of his own history. The illustrations were impactful and the layering of stories, evocative.

crankyisgood's review against another edition

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5.0

This remarkable book encapsulates a huge amount of personal/family and international trauma / history. I didn’t always like the author - he clearly didn’t always like himself - but he stays just this side of self-pity in the retelling (if not in his actual life experience). In some ways, I wanted more from the story, more understanding of the “madness” in the subject line. I’m not sure if I would have liked the book any more for that though.

bridget1989's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

3.75

missprint_'s review against another edition

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3.0

This is one of the most cohesive graphic memoirs I’ve read but it’s still messy. I appreciate that Warner acknowledges in the text both at the start and end that this kind of story is inherently navel gazing and therefore subjective and flawed. I also appreciated the dedication that acknowledges some of Beirut’s story isn’t his, an an outsider, to tell.

Good artwork and really tightly plotted. I 100% see this being from Warner’s own experience but I also wish there had been more about mental illness—like some kind of note with resources. Because that was essentially dropped as the story moved in other directions which while probably true to Warner's experience feels like a disservice to readers.

Supplemental materials included a map of Lebanon and a political timeline. Not a me book and I’m not sure who I’d recommend it too. Interesting backdrop but I didn’t know much about Lebanon/Syria before reading this and don’t feel particularly more informed after because so much of that became window dressing for an intensely personal story.

usernameinvalid's review against another edition

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informative reflective slow-paced

3.75

semiiii's review against another edition

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4.0

Firstly, I commend this author for his courageous vulnerability in authoring this autobiographical piece. The moments where we delved into his instability, fear, shame, and depression were beautifully written and exceptionally drawn. While I appreciated the glimpse into conflict-ridden Beirut, those were unfortunately the times I was removed from the book. I was significantly more interested in the authors relationships, emotions, and travel stories. The conflict in Beirut did provide a strong mirror and landscape for the author’s mental state, I just personally didn’t feel like it helped the story along smoothly.

pjain32's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

3.25

nillen's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-paced

3.75