lauren_mccune's review
4.0
I can't remember how I found-out about this book, maybe in "BUST" magazine...anyway, it's an engaging & refreshingly political graphic novel. Story of an American gringa who comes to Mexico City in search of her history & identity in the early '90s. There is a surprisingly large amount of anti-woman violence in this book, and this made it difficult for me to stomach at times.
jcschildbach's review
4.0
This is more like a 3.5 for me, but I'm rounding up.
In some ways, I think the format of the graphic novel is somewhat limiting to the subject matter, since it involves issues of race and identity, and what it means to be of mixed ethnicity--which is some rather complicated stuff to convey with simple line drawings, dialog and occasional narrative.
The main character, Carla, has grown up in the U.S., always speaking English and only English, but moves to Mexico City and gets caught up in trying to live an 'authentic Mexican' life there. Unfortunately, her means of doing this is to fall in with the first group who will have her. And while several members of this new cluster of friends rail against tourists, whites, capitalism, and the United States, they seem to connect to Carla exactly because that is what she represents--and because they think she may provide them some advantage from her ties to the United States and the world of privilege. But they are fooling themselves just as much as Carla is fooling herself about her ability to become Mexican--or even half-Mexican--by rejecting some of the more obvious connections to the world of the expats.
So characters like Memo attempt to impress Carla by inviting her along on 'authentic' excursions which he admits to his friends are only meant to impress gullible American women. And Oscar, who becomes Carla's boyfriend, seems to be perpetually bugging her for money (which she doesn't have) or to connect him to Americans who can further his DJ career--a career he never really pursues in any meaningful way. Carla believes she is finding herself, but is mostly just drifting. Her story could be like that of many people in their early to mid-20s, running around to parties, not having any real direction, and making plenty of bad choices--she just chooses to do it in a city that is foreign to her.
I was somewhat disappointed with what occurred in the final act--it seemed a bit too easy to go that direction, especially when, up to that point the entire story had been more about relationships and connections between people. Although looking back I realize that Abel was leading up to that kind of conclusion, I think I had been blinding myself to it, in the hopes of a more 'down to earth' end to the story.
Still, there is plenty of good material here, and it's easy to identify with much of it, and the misguided decisions Carla and those around her make. For instance, it's very telling when, near the end of the story, Carla realizes she never even bothered to look up the village where her father's family came from, or made any effort to track down any of her blood relatives. There were ways for her to connect with (half) her roots, but she left those paths unexplored.
In some ways, I think the format of the graphic novel is somewhat limiting to the subject matter, since it involves issues of race and identity, and what it means to be of mixed ethnicity--which is some rather complicated stuff to convey with simple line drawings, dialog and occasional narrative.
The main character, Carla, has grown up in the U.S., always speaking English and only English, but moves to Mexico City and gets caught up in trying to live an 'authentic Mexican' life there. Unfortunately, her means of doing this is to fall in with the first group who will have her. And while several members of this new cluster of friends rail against tourists, whites, capitalism, and the United States, they seem to connect to Carla exactly because that is what she represents--and because they think she may provide them some advantage from her ties to the United States and the world of privilege. But they are fooling themselves just as much as Carla is fooling herself about her ability to become Mexican--or even half-Mexican--by rejecting some of the more obvious connections to the world of the expats.
So characters like Memo attempt to impress Carla by inviting her along on 'authentic' excursions which he admits to his friends are only meant to impress gullible American women. And Oscar, who becomes Carla's boyfriend, seems to be perpetually bugging her for money (which she doesn't have) or to connect him to Americans who can further his DJ career--a career he never really pursues in any meaningful way. Carla believes she is finding herself, but is mostly just drifting. Her story could be like that of many people in their early to mid-20s, running around to parties, not having any real direction, and making plenty of bad choices--she just chooses to do it in a city that is foreign to her.
I was somewhat disappointed with what occurred in the final act--it seemed a bit too easy to go that direction, especially when, up to that point the entire story had been more about relationships and connections between people. Although looking back I realize that Abel was leading up to that kind of conclusion, I think I had been blinding myself to it, in the hopes of a more 'down to earth' end to the story.
Still, there is plenty of good material here, and it's easy to identify with much of it, and the misguided decisions Carla and those around her make. For instance, it's very telling when, near the end of the story, Carla realizes she never even bothered to look up the village where her father's family came from, or made any effort to track down any of her blood relatives. There were ways for her to connect with (half) her roots, but she left those paths unexplored.
leavingsealevel's review
2.0
I feel sorta bad being negative about this one, since the person who recommended it to me is on Goodreads, but that's how it works right? Not everyone is going to love everything you recommend...I'm sure I've rec'd things people hate.
This is just. so. hipstery. I'll write a longer review on my blog when I get around to it and can think about things other than real estate, at this point that pretty much says it all.
This is just. so. hipstery. I'll write a longer review on my blog when I get around to it and can think about things other than real estate, at this point that pretty much says it all.
kricketa's review
2.0
none of the characters were likable and the artwork wasn't my favorite. i did finish this though, because i wanted to find out how it ended. i found out. meh.
evelynpinacolada's review
2.0
I have mixed thoughts on this book. I read the majority of this in a day, and the reason being was that it's very intriguing… but I felt like it was disjointed. There was a lot of themes that could have be explored and were barely touched on: Carla's first time learning Spanish, the GOOD side of El D.F., how the U.S. media only cares about foreign attacks/bombings/etc if one of theirs is involved (however minor), the privilege that comes with Carla's white side, the "wetback" comments towards her little brother (wtf...), ETC.
I thought this would be a coming-of-age story about a young woman understanding her heritage and it kinda was at the beginning? I mean she felt out-of-place and argued with Harry on his views, which was interesting. What I didn't like was how the second part of the book felt like a rushed crime drama… was not expecting that.
I thought this would be a coming-of-age story about a young woman understanding her heritage and it kinda was at the beginning? I mean she felt out-of-place and argued with Harry on his views, which was interesting. What I didn't like was how the second part of the book felt like a rushed crime drama… was not expecting that.
moyir90's review
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.75
marijuanerareads's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
elisala's review
3.0
Une BD-pavé, assez consistante, mais ça se laisse lire comme il faut, comme un roman policier, en fait.
Même si ce n'est pas mon dessin préféré (un peu trop brouillon parfois dans les expressions), ça reste très agréable, et l'intrigue, vraiment, prend aux tripes, et ce, de manière assez inattendue, c'est-à-dire que c'est très bien construit, avec un début un peu l'air de rien, tout en sachant qu'il va se passer des choses, et puis voilà que ça se passe, et là faut un peu s'accrocher.
Une réflexion derrière tout ça assez intéressante sur la recherche de retour aux sources, sur le tourisme en pays pauvre, tout en restant dans le débat, sans donner de solution toute faite.
Même si ce n'est pas mon dessin préféré (un peu trop brouillon parfois dans les expressions), ça reste très agréable, et l'intrigue, vraiment, prend aux tripes, et ce, de manière assez inattendue, c'est-à-dire que c'est très bien construit, avec un début un peu l'air de rien, tout en sachant qu'il va se passer des choses, et puis voilà que ça se passe, et là faut un peu s'accrocher.
Une réflexion derrière tout ça assez intéressante sur la recherche de retour aux sources, sur le tourisme en pays pauvre, tout en restant dans le débat, sans donner de solution toute faite.
joshhansonhorror's review
2.0
This really isn't so much a "could not finish" as much as a "felt no real compulsion to renew this from the library yet again in order to complete the last quarter of the book."
I've been reading a lot of graphic novel memoirs, as they seem to be critical favorites, and they have been startlingly great (Fun Home, Persepolis, Etc.) and manage to avoid the dullness that so often attends the memoir. La Perdida is not a memoir, but it has all the tedium of real life. Despite a kidnapping and lots of drunken arguments, this just feels too real, too blah. The main character is purposefully dense, presumably to show her development over time, but I never connected. Finally, it feels like someone showing you a slide show of their mexican vacation, with a great deal of exposition.
I've been reading a lot of graphic novel memoirs, as they seem to be critical favorites, and they have been startlingly great (Fun Home, Persepolis, Etc.) and manage to avoid the dullness that so often attends the memoir. La Perdida is not a memoir, but it has all the tedium of real life. Despite a kidnapping and lots of drunken arguments, this just feels too real, too blah. The main character is purposefully dense, presumably to show her development over time, but I never connected. Finally, it feels like someone showing you a slide show of their mexican vacation, with a great deal of exposition.
ethne100's review against another edition
4.0
im on a roll of accidentally picking books where a young woman gets into abusive relationships/ friendships! well, i am glad i am reading these experiences instead of having them. something that happens so much in teens/early twenties, and i am glad to not experience it myself, and just see the red flags in fiction instead.
i really enjoyed the first half of this book! i personally wasnt the biggest fan of the path it went down, and was hoping to see more of the city and of her experiences, instead of focusing on one specific story.
i will say that i felt sympathy for so many characters even if i found them annoying, i think what annoys me most is actually when someone reminds me of qualities i dont like within myself….
cant wait for jacaranda season here…
i really enjoyed the first half of this book! i personally wasnt the biggest fan of the path it went down, and was hoping to see more of the city and of her experiences, instead of focusing on one specific story.
i will say that i felt sympathy for so many characters even if i found them annoying, i think what annoys me most is actually when someone reminds me of qualities i dont like within myself….
cant wait for jacaranda season here…