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rickjones 's review for:

Sam Zabel And The Magic Pen by Dylan Horrocks
4.0

This was an engaging story with an important message, but I was unable to fully enjoy it for one reason in particular. 

When creating stories that detail sexual abuse and exploitation, specifically ones told through a visual medium, there is a vague line I believe the author needs to consciously avoid crossing for their work to not read as aggressive and exploitative in itself. Unfortunately this line almost seemed to be leaped over, especially during one of the last chapters of the book. If sexual abuse depictions trigger you this is probably not something you could feel comfortable reading, which is a shame since the narrative did have many moments that existed to call out male cartoonists who create horrifyingly misogynistic and distorted works of fiction to satisfy their own 'private' fantasies. 

That being said I still appreciate the sentiment of this work, and hope it opens a dialogue that will impact readers to grapple with their own fantasies and the way fiction inevitably influences the real world around them.