rickjones's Reviews (1.66k)

I found this book difficult to read for a variety of reasons, Jade sometimes sounds nonsensical, her thinly hidden history of surviving incestuous rape is harrowing, and the gore she describes witnessing is revolting. Yet I poured over her story within the span of a night, rapidly turning the pages as their mystery unraveled. The most striking element of My Heart Is a Chainsaw is unarguably Jade's voice. Jade is a pathological believer in the structure of slashers, and though her first person monologues are repetitive, winding, and hiding a deeper wound, her admiration for the mythology of these movies and determination to sway others to her perspectives of them are unwavering. Jones maintains Jade's authentic voice through emotional and physical tortures alike, even providing a number of essays on slasher lore written by our scarily knowledgeable protagonist. Each of these essays sheds light onto Jade's opinions, but also the situations that led to their development. Every word within them is written with the impatient excitement of a teenager who is immensely passionate about her material, but not for the formalized essay form she's meant to present it in.

I felt the most gratifying piece of this story was the slow reveal as to why Jade loves slasher movies so much in the first place. She devotes her life to analyzing them from a lens that provides her the emotional catharsis she desperately needs and has long been going without from other avenues. Jade is far from the only mistreated and lonely kid to find kinship in endlessly vengeful monsters, the girls who survive them, or both symbols at the same time, which is part of why she was such a believable protagonist to me. Her story in this first book concluded abruptly, but on a resounding note, and it will be difficult to wait until next year for it to continue. 

Earthlings has as many disturbing moments as there are stars in the sky. From the description I had expected a slightly off-putting tale about a delusional young girl, but Natsuki's detachment from reality spiraled beyond anything I could have imagined. Natsuki tells her life story with a straightforward acceptance of the world as she sees it, though it's impossible for the reader not to be saddened, and soon horrified, by her assessments of rational human behavior. While this story is well written even during its most repulsive moments, I don't think I would ever recommend it to another person. Natsuki recounts her experiences of sexual coercement with vivid description, which is upsetting enough in itself, but her inability to ever invoke empathy from anyone or heal from her trauma afterwards is almost even more so. I can appreciate this book as a work of fictional artistry, but it would be a stretch to say I enjoyed any part of reading it.

While some passages in this book were terribly dull to me, Wilde's dazzling language and audacious characters kept drawing my interest back in. I'm fortunate to have just read the works of a few of the philosophers referenced in this book for college, though I'm sure there were several references to other works of literature and ethics systems that went over my head. The edition of the book I had access to did not provide citations of other works Wilde referenced, but I imagine one that did would have only made my reading experience richer. 

I'm sure that most of what I can say about this book in regards to its philosophy and history has already been said by someone more knowledgeable that me, so I won't go into my thoughts on those matters. As a horror story I think it still holds up well in the modern day. Dorian's descent into soullessness grows more chilling by the chapter, as his sins culminate and lead to his ultimate end. Wilde's wit and descriptive language made the scenery and characters come alive, and as the book went on I felt it less challenging to make sense of his dense paragraphs and philosophies. I would recommend this book to other readers. It remains a classic not only for Wilde's adept writing, but the controversy it caused at the time of publication. 

I have somewhat ambivalent feelings about this manga... On one hand it's rewarding to read a story about an older gay couple in a serious relationship enjoying their evening routine of sharing homemade meals. However neither character really appealed to me, as they're both sort of shallow and made multiple comments causally disparaging bisexual and fat people. Most people they know direct homophobic microaggressions towards them in nearly every chapter, which was similarly uncomfortable to read, though I assume it was just the reality of what it was like to be gay in Japan at the time of the book's original publication. I'm not sure if I'll continue to read the next volumes. People who can look past elements of the story that were off-putting to me, and also those who take pleasure in cooking, may enjoy the series more though. 

This book is a thousand times more intense than what I had expected from the synopsis. The story's focal point seems to be depicting how much young people can develop in a few years, though sometimes this is for the worse. The amount of bullying occurring within Tsugu's old friend group is horrifying to witness, but I think it presents a realistic depiction of how cruel teenagers can be when they grow up angry, lonely, and with pride to defend. Tsugu alone seems to have maintained the innocence and positive outlook from her childhood, putting her in somewhat of a precarious position with people who aim to take advantage of her naivety. I definitely worry about how she intends to cope with her new life in the following volumes. 

The art for this manga is excellent, especially in its use of empty space, landscape and movement. I particularly enjoyed the electric feel of scenes where Tsugu plays her guitar. The character's expressions are all depicted with skill, so its simple to make sense of what they must be feeling and to empathize with them. The perspective and pacing of scenes adds to the pathos of the story, and invokes a sense of awe even for mundane moments, such as one where Tsugu is checking her text messages on her balcony. I would definitely recommend this manga to other readers who enjoy emotional stories and characters who have complex histories with each other, but please mind the content warnings below.

So far this remains my favorite manga series! All the guys are goofs and thoroughly entertaining, even when they're not trying to be. Multiple pages had me laughing out loud at their antics. I like how each chapter is written from a different perspective, allowing us to witness and understand not only how each guy views themselves, but how the other guys regard them. As a klutz myself it's nice to be reminded that we're usually harder on ourselves for our own silly mistakes than necessary, and others may think of us highly for the skills we do possess. 

In this second volume all of the guys have now met, and are starting to form mutual friendships. I like how the ages for the protagonists are staggered and their interests and personalities range widely so they each have something to learn from each other. I look forward to the next volume and being introduced to a new character!

You Died is a moving and rewarding anthology in which grief, hope, and variations of eternal life are intertwined throughout each narrative. Every contributor provided a story with the wisdom, humor, or a combination of both, necessary to view death with less terror and more gratitude. Many of these contributors tackled difficult subject matter and formed stories of hope and resilience around them. Their art and writing was all skillfully done and made each work engaging and meaningful. I would definitely recommend this anthology to other readers. As I mentioned, there are potentially triggering elements in some of these stories, but they are each handled with the respect and warmth they deserve. 

The illustration for this manga is by far its strongest element. The detail makes even the mundane scenes interesting, and the action-packed ones more dynamic. However the characters didn't endear themselves to me and the plot isn't one I feel inspired to follow further. I doubt I'll read the proceeding volumes of this series, though this first one was at least entertaining and contained art with an electric quality. 

This is a sweet story, but the chapters are somewhat repetitive. Essentially, Minegishi has a crush on Otsu, and regularly gifts him food to make him happy, yet Otsu doesn't believe someone so attractive and popular would have a crush on him and assumes Minegishi either has ulterior motives or must just be overly kind towards everyone. The adorable art and humor ensured that the book wasn't dull though, and some pages had me laughing out loud. Moments with fatphobia from Otsu's coworkers were uncomfortable to get through but provided insight as to why he tends to distrust others. I was happy to read that Minigishi thinks Otsu is perfect the way he is and even talks him out of attempting to diet with a warning that it may lead to undernourishment. I think this series may be more rewarding for me if these two move past the denial phase of their relationship, so I guess I'll have to keep reading to see if that ever occurs. 

The mysterious and musical aspects of Given are intriguing, but the characters didn't resonate with me yet. So far they fell into typical tropes for manga protagonists a little too easily, especially when it came to Uenoyama's standoffish attitude toward Mafuyu, the boy I'm assuming will soon serve as his love interest. The art was done well but somewhat unremarkable, as I'm having trouble trying to recall any scenes in particular a day later to evaluation them. This is especially disappointing in regards to the performance scenes. 

Honestly the reason I ignored to write a review for this book upon finishing it yesterday was that it didn't stir much emotion or opinion in me. I'm not sure if I'm interested enough in it to continue reading further. I really adore stories about rock musicians, but this one just failed to strike a cord that excited me.