Reviews with content warning for Racism - Bitter Root, Vol. 1: Family Business

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Bitter Root, Vol. 1: Family Business by Chuck Brown, David F. Walker

14 reviews

jasbeingjas's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

I went into this not knowing much about the story, or what to expect, so the beginning was much heavier than I was prepared for. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series as vol. 1 feels like the foundation for the story and I can't wait to see the way themes of hate, grief, and trauma come together. The artwork is stunning, but I think I most appreciated the essays at the back of the book. It's so easy to breeze through comics but the essays helped me slow down and truly appreciate the contributions of this work to the larger culture of Black futurism, Conjure, and EnthoGothic art.

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grey_jayne's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This comic is absolutely gorgeous. The demon reveals are epic and it feels like they're climbing out of the page. The pace zips along with most of the writing being dialogue, leaving plenty of time to pore over the wonderfully detailed artwork. Loved the experience of reading each issue.

The Sangeryes are a 1920s Black family fighting demons in Harlem. Why say more? You need to read this.

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blubonby's review

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adventurous fast-paced

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

5.0

Everything from the plot to the art was perfect.

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avisreadsandreads's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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leniece94's review

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adventurous dark fast-paced

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

3.5

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rorikae's review against another edition

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challenging dark fast-paced

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

4.5

'Bitter Root' is an engaging graphic novel that explores how racism transforms human souls through literal transformations into monsters. The story follows the Sangerye family who battle against monsters that were once people who have now been transformed by their hate and racism. It presents intriguing commentary on how hate affects humanity and one family's way of combating it. The artwork is beautiful. The story moves quite quickly and there are a lot of characters introduced so it can take a second to get acquainted with all of the characters. One of my favorite aspects is that the back actually includes a number of essays that discuss topics central to the graphic novel, including genre, root magic, and more. I'm interested to see what happens in volume 2 and where this story goes next.

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shector1's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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sup3r_xn0va_maya's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I really enjoyed this! The art and storyline were really interesting and unique, I can't wait to dive into volume 2.

I'm giving this a 5 out of 5 stars.

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sjones08's review

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

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librarianryan's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book was simply amazing. It is an extremely alternative history of the Harlem Renascence. In this world, people with a corrupted soul become these monsters that must be killed or must be cured. And being it’s the 1920’s and his is Harlem and most of the monsters were people who believed in lynching and segregation. But there is one family that is the best at making their bitter root brew that can save someone from this life. They work with the police and everything, because they want a better world. On its own, the story is amazing, and the artwork is so detailed. But add historical reference I knew nothing about, and I was googling “red summer”, 1919 deaths etc. This book, a historical fantasy about monster killing, read this reader down a research hole to learn about things not taught in schools. It makes the reader curious, and eager to learn more and only the best books can do that.

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