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A review by ponch22
Boxers by Gene Luen Yang
4.0
It feels only right to review [b:Boxers|17210470|Boxers (Boxers & Saints, #1)|Gene Luen Yang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1359199413l/17210470._SX50_.jpg|23691809] and [b:Saints|17210471|Saints (Boxers & Saints, #2)|Gene Luen Yang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1359199657l/17210471._SX50_.jpg|23691810] together since they're companion pieces, each telling a similar story from two different points of view.
[a:Gene Luen Yang|68959|Gene Luen Yang|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1415919636p2/68959.jpg] tells a fictionalized version of the Boxer Rebellion from the POV of Little Bao, a young man who ends up becoming a leader of the Boxers, and from the POV of Four-Girl, a young girl from Bao's village who becomes a Christian after being visited by the spirit of Joan of Arc (not yet Saint-ed).
I read the larger Boxers first & loved Yang's illustrations and [a:Lark Pien|2679817|Lark Pien|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s colors. The slimmer Saints has a much more muted color palette (I suppose to make the ghostly Joan glow all the more?) but goes well as the second book read. (I feel like a reading of Saints before Boxers would have been wrong, especially since the epilogue of Saints negates the powerful ending of Boxers)
While I've heard of the Boxer Rebellion before, I never knew much about what it was (or even who fought in it). These two stories do a good job setting up the pros & cons for both sides—neither group is presented as fully good nor fully evil. It was interesting seeing the handful of scenes that are in both volumes. Boxers definitely feels like the stronger book (given its length, more details, and stronger ending); as I said previously, the Epilogue in Saints felt lazy when looking back at the first book's ending (although I did enjoy the quick callback to the prayer Four-Girl seemingly teaches without any text).
[a:Gene Luen Yang|68959|Gene Luen Yang|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1415919636p2/68959.jpg] tells a fictionalized version of the Boxer Rebellion from the POV of Little Bao, a young man who ends up becoming a leader of the Boxers, and from the POV of Four-Girl, a young girl from Bao's village who becomes a Christian after being visited by the spirit of Joan of Arc (not yet Saint-ed).
I read the larger Boxers first & loved Yang's illustrations and [a:Lark Pien|2679817|Lark Pien|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s colors. The slimmer Saints has a much more muted color palette (I suppose to make the ghostly Joan glow all the more?) but goes well as the second book read. (I feel like a reading of Saints before Boxers would have been wrong, especially since the epilogue of Saints negates the powerful ending of Boxers)
While I've heard of the Boxer Rebellion before, I never knew much about what it was (or even who fought in it). These two stories do a good job setting up the pros & cons for both sides—neither group is presented as fully good nor fully evil. It was interesting seeing the handful of scenes that are in both volumes. Boxers definitely feels like the stronger book (given its length, more details, and stronger ending); as I said previously, the Epilogue in Saints felt lazy when looking back at the first book's ending (although I did enjoy the quick callback to the prayer Four-Girl seemingly teaches without any text).