Reviews

Black Ice by Bradford D. Smith II

yadira315's review

3.0

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an arc of this book. 

I enjoyed the graphics of this, I thought they were quite simple, but really work with the story. I like the social commentaries of that the author made in the book about race and discrimination. However, I did find that there was little to no conversations in the book and we pretty much only had Oscar’s inner monologue throughout the book which I was not a fan of. I also feel like I can’t really comment on the plot because most of the story was Oscar going on the journey to a wildfire and once we finally get to the wildfire, it’s cut short and the book ends without us getting any answers. 

I’ll be interested in reading the second one if there is a second book coming out because the story felt incomplete. 

elliott_roi's review against another edition

3.5

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

This graphic novel is definitely the start to a series since it ends on a cliffhanger and I felt it was a decent start. I think Oscar is an interesting character and I liked the themes and ideas established in this volume. I'm curious to see what happens next.

The art style took me a bit to get used to, since it could be very minimalistic at times. I can't help but wish that this graphic novel was in full colour because I feel like it would be absolutely gorgeous.

Overall, I rated it 3.5/5 (rounded to 4/5 for NetGalley).

nerolireads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

 

There better be a sequel coming..

No, but seriously. I literally devoured this graphic novel from start to finish and that ending. I need more. 

The story is about Oscar who has no idea what happened to him. Why he can suddenly sees black smokey shapes that seem to be spirits, why his eyes are different and why he's so, so cold. He's being called towards a huge fire without knowing why or who's calling him. 

The story contains flashbacks, through which we learn more about the world Oscar lives in, who he is and what happened to him. The world in which the story takes place touches on current events, it's world in which Black people are unalived because of their skin color. This is also why I feel the need to address an event in the middle of the book that can (=will) be triggering as Oscar has an encounter with a police officer. 

Oscar learns that not all spirits are friendly. It's a tense, but very intriguing story told in a very beautiful way and I seriously can't wait for the sequel (there will be one right???)

 

royallyreading's review

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is a beginning, so there isn't a whole lot of change just yet. Lots of mystery, lots of emotions, not a lot of action quite yet. Interested in seeing what a broader series of this would look like. 

lauryngreen's review

I just found the premise of this really difficult to follow. Maybe I needed to give it longer, but I just found myself getting distracted trying to piece it together. 

bookshelvesandtealeaves's review against another edition

emotional sad fast-paced

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

2.0

hsiglerrn's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-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? Yes

3.75

While reading Black Ice, there were times that I had no idea what was going on, but I feel like that is intentional. The story is told in Oscar’s point of view, and he doesn’t know what is going on. I enjoyed the simplicity of the art style and look forward to seeing what comes Oscar’s way in the future. #netgalley

visceralreads's review against another edition

2.5

 This was darker than I expected it to be. Emotional, but confusing too. There were lots of details left out as to why Oscar's like that, and whoever that woman was, or what the spirit thingies are exactly (the giant one near the end). The concept was interesting but it could've been executed better (I'm assuming there's a second book after this?)

TW for racism and police brutality 

darryn_gray's review

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This book had so much potential but needed to be more developed. It was good enoughthat I was interested until the very last page, but nothing felt like it was satisfied. Either needs to have a 2nd book immedietly follow it, or to be a longer one off book. I also wish the book on the inside had colors like the outside did, it would have been even better that way. The lack of colors around Oscar's eyes made it confusing at first about why everyone was talking about his eyes.

panic_at_the_bookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I can't pinpoint what happened in this story, but it did make me wonder why certain things happen in life. A part of me wants to know what really happened. Why did Oscar get these powers? Why did he have to save the fire and/or egg? What exactly does the ending mean? I feel like there wasn't a clear explanation. Maybe that was the intention of the author. Maybe there isn't one way to look at something, maybe the author wanted people to give their own meaning to this story and maybe that's actually not a bad thing. Maybe it's none of that, but perhaps that doesn't matter. 

The book was a fast read eventhough it mentioned a lot of heavy and very important stuff. Both the drawings and the writing style made it easier to read. Since it wasn't always obvious what was going on, things could get a little confusing to me, which made it harder for me to follow some of the main character's thoughts. Though maybe we don't have to understand someone in order to hear them, in order to see them for who they are and not for what we think they are.

This story sure gave me a lot of feelings and helped me reflect about certain things in life.