This graphic novel takes you on a trip through infamous rock and roll legend Jimi Hendrix’s life from the beginning to the tragic end and even into the afterlife.

     First of all, I’ve been a fan of Jimi Hendrix’s music for years and I was so excited to get to know more about his life. I feel like this graphic novel gave me that in a beautiful way. I loved the artwork and vibrant colors of the illustration! And although it’s stated at the end of the book that some of the scenes were fictional, I still learned new things about Jimi, from his upbringing to the problems between him and Little Richard. 

     However I did have a few problems. First, I got confused at times with who characters were. I think maybe I was just expected  to know some of them as rock stars, but I didn’t and I think the book should’ve been a little more friendly to those that aren’t very familiar with some of the popular bands and managers of the time. But my big problem with this book was that some things made me, as a Black person, uncomfortable. There is a scene where Jimi is depicted as a monkey. After finishing the book, in the author’s notes, it said that scene was in reference to the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. I’ve never seen the movie, so I don’t understand the context at all. But, non-Black authors and illustrators, understand that it is never okay to depict a Black person as a monkey. Also I felt the author tried to depict the Black people that were protesting after Martin Luther King Jr. died as unreasonable. And I didn’t appreciate that either.

     It’s hard to rate this book because of those problems, but I do think it did its job of teaching me a little more about Jimi Hendrix’s life.

Thank you Diamond Book Distributers/Ablaze and NetGalley for this arc. All opinions are my own.

TW: nudity and drug use