renatasnacks's profile picture

renatasnacks 's review for:

Puerto Rico Strong by Hazel Newlevant
4.0

A beautiful collection for a good cause. This volume has a fine line to walk--there are obviously a lot of very heavy topics to cover here but overall succeeds at being an interesting and enjoyable read without just hitting you over the head about how terrible the hurricane damage was. I especially enjoyed some of the comics that went deeper into Puerto Rican history--there are a few about the horrible practice of American public health policy essentially tricking a third of Puerto Rican women into getting sterilized! (I had learned about that practice among other marginalized groups in the US but didn't realize it was so widespread in Puerto Rico.)

I also really liked Tristan Tarwater's futuristic story about Puerto Rico's future-history, and the handful of lighter-in-tone stories about food. (Also: I'm hungry, someone pls bring me an empanada.)

I also enjoyed the wide range of art styles in this anthology.