The beauty of Soppy author Philippa Rice's Sister BFFs lies in its near-universal appeal. The dynamic between the illustrated Rice and her sister worked for this reader — a not-quite-only child with only one same-generation sibling — as a reflection of the BFF relationships I maintain. Although I highly recommend this book as a co-read … Continue reading Sister BFFs: A Review
Han Kang, Min Jin Lee, and Crystal Hana Kim have given us their own unique glimpses into the Korean peninsula's history and present, but few novels of South Korea have gone to so dark a place as Ancco's semi-autobiographical work, Bad Friends. This brief, striking vision of South Korea's early Sixth Republic presents a side … Continue reading Bad Friends: A Review
I was in my senior year of college before I learned to spot the widespread vilification of vulvas and vaginas. In reading Swedish artist Liv Strömquist's graphic novel, Fruit of Knowledge: The Vulva vs. The Patriarchy, I relived every emotion and thought I had at the moment of realization. For feminists looking to renew and … Continue reading Fruit of Knowledge: A Review
Among the many graphic novels that have attempted to capture the distinct feeling of facelessness that our all-digital, social media-minded age presents, Aisha Franz's Shit Is Real may come the closest to accurately portraying that experience. Following Selma — recently single, becoming isolated — as she floats through an increasingly weird landscape of strangers, Shit … Continue reading Shit Is Real: A Review
The fates of four parallel worlds collide in V.E. Schwab's A Darker Shade of Magic, the first in a trilogy of high-concept fantasy novels from the Monsters of Verity author. Pairing a plane-shifting magician with a ne'er-do-well teenage pirate, Schwab invites readers into a world in which magic is real, and another version of their … Continue reading A Darker Shade of Magic: A Review