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thesaltiestlibrarian's review against another edition
1.0
Just a whole bunch of edgelord "not like the other normies" art and eksdee random stuff. Had I discovered this as an angst-ridden teenager, considering the first ever issue was published a couple years before my middle school days, I would have latched onto Emily with an embarrassing amount of glee.
larrys's review against another edition
2.0
Straight from the official blog:
Emily continues to be a voice for individualism and self-awareness, and her appeal is especially strong among alternative-minded young women and girls who identify with her signature singularity. Her presence in the worlds of art, pop culture, literature, and fashion celebrates non-conformist and reminds us all to cultivate that which makes us unique.
Emily the Strange may be a little TOO strange for many readers. Certainly, the YA novels jump around a lot from thought to thought, and we really do get a glimpse into a strange girl's mind.
Emily is outward looking. She is constantly trying to make sense of the world around her. You won't find Emily staring into a mirror because she's worried about a spot on her chin. Emily has a very high opinion of herself, which borders on arrogant, and she is therefore a refreshing change from all those YA female characters with serious (though realistic) self-image issues.
I'm beginning to think male writers should partner up with female writers more often. Perhaps men have a lack of insight into typical adolescent female neuroses, and are therefore able to create something fresh?
In an interview with Rob Reger, I could see how much Emily's creator prizes individualism. Little wonder it comes across in the books.
As a side note, I really really love the book design of the young adult Emily novels. The ones I've seen are black, white and primary red, and every page features artwork from Reger. Emily the Strange started out as art and only turned into books later, so I guess this isn't too surprising either. Perhaps because of advances in printing, more and more YA books feature a lot of original page design. I'd like to see even more original page design as readers migrate from paper books to digital editions. Even without the artwork, Emily the Strange book designers make use of every kind of formatting trick there is. That may annoy some readers, but I really enjoy the lists, the bold, the size variation and font combinations. In this series, the book designers really knew their stuff.
The Emily books may not appeal to readers who are annoyed by 'diary style' writing, with shortened sentences, made popular (I think) by Bridget Jones' Diary and similar.
Also, these books aren't for everyone. I don't even think they're for me. Noted succinctly in Goth: Undead Subculture (Goodlad and Bibby):
"Emily the Strange is nothing so much as a brand name trading off the worldwide cachet of goth subculture. Such attempts to turn goth into a brand are the all but inevitable sequels to the mid-1980s commodification of the concept of subculture. And while the advent of Emily the Strange can be read as the *ne plus ultra* of late-capitalist commodification, it is also continuous with the practices of a subculture that, long before goth lists were published on Amazon.com, anchored the constitution of goth identities to privileged forms of consumption. Cosmic Debris's promotion of a class of well-heeled, teeny-bopper goth wannabes may well affront the sensibilities of some who, like blood_rose, equate goth with lived authenticity and subcultural purity. On the other hand, there is no telling how many goths experience pleasure in finding the image of a little goth girl on a black diary for sale at Barnes and Noble, or how many young girls who acquire such goods will grow up to be self-styled goths."
Emily continues to be a voice for individualism and self-awareness, and her appeal is especially strong among alternative-minded young women and girls who identify with her signature singularity. Her presence in the worlds of art, pop culture, literature, and fashion celebrates non-conformist and reminds us all to cultivate that which makes us unique.
Emily the Strange may be a little TOO strange for many readers. Certainly, the YA novels jump around a lot from thought to thought, and we really do get a glimpse into a strange girl's mind.
Emily is outward looking. She is constantly trying to make sense of the world around her. You won't find Emily staring into a mirror because she's worried about a spot on her chin. Emily has a very high opinion of herself, which borders on arrogant, and she is therefore a refreshing change from all those YA female characters with serious (though realistic) self-image issues.
I'm beginning to think male writers should partner up with female writers more often. Perhaps men have a lack of insight into typical adolescent female neuroses, and are therefore able to create something fresh?
In an interview with Rob Reger, I could see how much Emily's creator prizes individualism. Little wonder it comes across in the books.
As a side note, I really really love the book design of the young adult Emily novels. The ones I've seen are black, white and primary red, and every page features artwork from Reger. Emily the Strange started out as art and only turned into books later, so I guess this isn't too surprising either. Perhaps because of advances in printing, more and more YA books feature a lot of original page design. I'd like to see even more original page design as readers migrate from paper books to digital editions. Even without the artwork, Emily the Strange book designers make use of every kind of formatting trick there is. That may annoy some readers, but I really enjoy the lists, the bold, the size variation and font combinations. In this series, the book designers really knew their stuff.
The Emily books may not appeal to readers who are annoyed by 'diary style' writing, with shortened sentences, made popular (I think) by Bridget Jones' Diary and similar.
Also, these books aren't for everyone. I don't even think they're for me. Noted succinctly in Goth: Undead Subculture (Goodlad and Bibby):
"Emily the Strange is nothing so much as a brand name trading off the worldwide cachet of goth subculture. Such attempts to turn goth into a brand are the all but inevitable sequels to the mid-1980s commodification of the concept of subculture. And while the advent of Emily the Strange can be read as the *ne plus ultra* of late-capitalist commodification, it is also continuous with the practices of a subculture that, long before goth lists were published on Amazon.com, anchored the constitution of goth identities to privileged forms of consumption. Cosmic Debris's promotion of a class of well-heeled, teeny-bopper goth wannabes may well affront the sensibilities of some who, like blood_rose, equate goth with lived authenticity and subcultural purity. On the other hand, there is no telling how many goths experience pleasure in finding the image of a little goth girl on a black diary for sale at Barnes and Noble, or how many young girls who acquire such goods will grow up to be self-styled goths."
jrt5166's review against another edition
2.0
Not so much a graphic novel as an advertisement for the character in other works. If I were fifteen again, I think Emily's sort of classically misanthropic "not like other girls" characterization would have had me scrambling to find out if the main Emily the Strange property is a series of novels or a web comic or what, so I could dive in. As I am not, I think I'll just return this odd little book to the library.
sarasreadingnook's review against another edition
1.0
I give very few one star ratings, but gosh, I didn’t like this one. I think that the artist is talented but each page too busy to get through. The stories within were just not for me.
Read this as part of the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge.
Read this as part of the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge.
booksatlunch's review against another edition
2.0
This was not at all what I expected. I was hoping for something more than a book with just a few sentences.