Reviews with content warning for Murder - Something Is Killing The Children: Non andate nel bosco

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Something Is Killing The Children: Non andate nel bosco by James Tynion IV

34 reviews

paigehf's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

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bethanie_l's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Really great mystery so far, I enjoy the art style a lot. Even in still frames there's a sense of motion. This story got me to say "what the fuck!" out loud multiple times. I'm intrigued by basically everything. The grief was palpable, everyone is acting in a fucked up way but you get it because this entire town is going through a mass trauma together. Every character in this story is broken in some way.

I don't usually read very fast, but I read this during basically all of my very little free time.

I think it probably goes without saying because of the title, but to be clear: this is about children being slaughtered. It is shown in graphic detail. If you can't handle seeing a half-alive dismembered child, which is super understandable, then this story is not for you. It's not that it's as realistic as a movie, that's obviously not possible. It's just really, really gruesome. I have a strong stomach and I had a hard time with this, but it was worth it.

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that_grey_chick's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

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mermaidsherbet's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Gory and mysterious, an excellent graphic novel for adults. Gave me big Stranger Things-meets-Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibes and I absolutely loved it. The art is fantastic and I can’t wait to continue the series. A nice quick read for Halloween that ended on a cliffhanger.

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rosalielearnd's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

5.0

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wasabipopsicle's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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megwilli's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

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ksuazo94's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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maedae4's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This comic was recommended to me by my friend Joe and I wasn't sure I would like it because I don't usually read comics/image-text/graphic material like this. Plus, the art was different from what I normally read--it's quite realistic, gritty, dark, and sketched out.

But wow, this is great! And utterly horrifying. Definitely some of the most horrifying visuals I've seen in a long time. But it relates to something James Tynion said in an interview (which is included in the final pages of my edition): "Horror and comedy... are trying to elicit reactions from an audience more than they are trying to tell an audience something. They can be blunt instruments, because it's less about the blow [and] more about the aftermath of that blow." It also relates to this point about how comics can achieve dread through or in spite of visual pacing: "you need a complicated enough image that you force the reader to look at it for more than a split second to absorb the horror of it, and then you use the dialogue coming out of the scene to carry that feeling forward, or turn away from it." I find both of these quotes to represent my reading experience. Werther Dell'edera does such an amazing job with these gut-wrenching visuals of dead and dying bodies that I feel horrified and also compared to investigate every square inch of the bodies. It's a conflict that forces me to look inward, question myself, and also stretches out that feeling of dread.

For the most part, I found the story wonderfully understated and intimate. No one is ever killed without a visceral, if brief, look at how that death has shocked other people to their core. Dell-edera captures the look (that I can fortunately only imagine) of someone being actively rewritten by what they've witnessed. Erica is a fascinating character who doesn't quite fall into the hot girl monster hunter she could be (even though she IS a hot girl monster hunter); she's not a hero, not clean and tidy, she's strange and alienating and not always good at communicating. At the same time, she contains multitudes, because she can be great at communicating with the kids and frightened adults she's trying to help and she's the only one at House of Slaughter who actually seems to care about protecting human beings. The authority figures who come from local systems are totally disillusioned, clueless, and emotionally worn, but their grumpiness feels real and heartrending rather than gruff and vaguely masculine. The exposition about monsters and Erica's career are sprinkled in mysteriously and subtly rather than frontloaded, which would break the spell of realness in this story. Overall, the story manages to be stylized but also grounded and real.

Even though I'm not sure why Bian had to be there for the ritual at the end (unless she helped create the monsters too?), I still loved her presence and I loved the way that she bounced off of Erica, as well as the way James bounced off of her. They make an unusual but appropriate team. It's also meaningful that a kid like James is at the center of this debacle. He's an awkward, shaggy queer kid who's too guarded to ever show his face except for the ritual, when he has to face the source of the monsters and the extent of his responsibility (something he's been struggling with throughout the story). He's probably been made to feel like he doesn't deserve to take up any space. But he want to help and he doesn't want to give up on his life--he says as much in his post-gunshot delirium. I can take that as a statement that we can face the horror of ourselves and our role in a problem without abandoning hope or self-respect or a will to live. And it feels poignant that the monsters exist because James could imagine them in the first place. It sends an interesting message--the worst things you can imagine are real. Maybe that's the underlying horror of the book and its images, which I would call audaciously violent if they weren't, somehow, so subtle.

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