panelparty's review
3.0
Read for the IRCB Recommended Reading Challenge 2018.
As a former spelling bee champ, I wanted SO badly to like this book. I love the concept - the spelling bee circuit also has a seedy underbelly of underground bees, cool codenames, and oh yeah - when you spell stuff out in a bee you can end up giving damage (as many other reviewers said, this reminded me of manga-type action and it was neat). With all that going for it, I still found myself having to push to keep reading - the story felt somewhat disjointed and at times too rushed.
The layout of the pages was sometimes confusing and I found myself re-reading dialogue multiple times like, "Did that character really say that? I thought that was the other guy's thing...?" but I enjoyed the art style, all black and white with pops of yellow.
Recommended if you are interested in Scrabble cults, dorky codenames, and beating the shit out of an immortal being with your knowledge of Hawaiian fish.
As a former spelling bee champ, I wanted SO badly to like this book. I love the concept - the spelling bee circuit also has a seedy underbelly of underground bees, cool codenames, and oh yeah - when you spell stuff out in a bee you can end up giving damage (as many other reviewers said, this reminded me of manga-type action and it was neat). With all that going for it, I still found myself having to push to keep reading - the story felt somewhat disjointed and at times too rushed.
The layout of the pages was sometimes confusing and I found myself re-reading dialogue multiple times like, "Did that character really say that? I thought that was the other guy's thing...?" but I enjoyed the art style, all black and white with pops of yellow.
Recommended if you are interested in Scrabble cults, dorky codenames, and beating the shit out of an immortal being with your knowledge of Hawaiian fish.
iffer's review
4.0
This is a fun, funny graphic novel in which spelling bees are portrayed like a shonen fighting series. It's entertaining to note the words that come up, and which are used as "weapons," and I like the angular, expressive black and white art that uses yellow as an accent color.
carroq's review
4.0
I liked this book quite a bit. Spelling bees have become huge. Like insanely popular for some reason. It even leads to underground spelling bee competitions. And everyone has a style of spelling that lets them attack their opponent. The premise makes me feel like this could have been a manga. And the art leans that way too, but it is not quite as stylized as most manga tend to be.
The story is pretty straight forward. Webster is a young man who is just entering high school, he has been studying like mad, and he happens to run across an illegal bee that jumpstarts the whole book. The characters he meets there shape how he approaches the rest of the challenges in the book. Of course, they have their own motives and hope that Webster can help them achieve their goals. There is even a group of people out to oppose them. They aren't necessarily bad guys or villains though. It takes on sort of a heist style feeling as Webster and his friends try to take down the group known as the Spelluminati.
Where the book really stood out to me is in the art. The use of color is fantastic. The art is mostly black and white with patches of yellow thrown in to accentuate the characters or events. This really sticks with the whole bee theme going on in the book. The style of the art is cartoonish. It works well with the story and lets the spelling bee moments become a bit more interesting as you see the character spelling the words and shaping the world around them. This was actually quite a bit different in tone and story than I was expecting and the book is better for it.
The story is pretty straight forward. Webster is a young man who is just entering high school, he has been studying like mad, and he happens to run across an illegal bee that jumpstarts the whole book. The characters he meets there shape how he approaches the rest of the challenges in the book. Of course, they have their own motives and hope that Webster can help them achieve their goals. There is even a group of people out to oppose them. They aren't necessarily bad guys or villains though. It takes on sort of a heist style feeling as Webster and his friends try to take down the group known as the Spelluminati.
Where the book really stood out to me is in the art. The use of color is fantastic. The art is mostly black and white with patches of yellow thrown in to accentuate the characters or events. This really sticks with the whole bee theme going on in the book. The style of the art is cartoonish. It works well with the story and lets the spelling bee moments become a bit more interesting as you see the character spelling the words and shaping the world around them. This was actually quite a bit different in tone and story than I was expecting and the book is better for it.
codeimagine's review
3.0
Underground spelling bee? What? Its pretty interesting considering its in similar style of Scott Pilgrim.
bookdingo's review
4.0
This is a graphic novel with all these fun little things involving word obsession. The sibling protags are named Merriam and Webster, the police are called the Buzz (it's a spelling bee thing), and *snort*.
The most epic spelling bee related violence you'll ever read!
The most epic spelling bee related violence you'll ever read!
venerablemonster's review
4.0
Much more than I expected on levels of art. After all, it's about spelling bees, right? This was a quick and energetic romp that I thoroughly enjoyed.
rainbowbookworm's review
5.0
This may very well be my favorite graphic novel. I think real-life spelling bees are pretty badass, but this takes it to another level.
blinkfraid's review
3.0
I was both excited and reluctant to pick up this graphic novel--not because of the subject matter or the author, but because of the artist. It took me many years to stop being sore about Tess abandoning "Hanna is Not a Boys Name." I'm sure she had her reasons unseen, but she was a big influence in me continuing reading webcomics and continuing my own art. This book was the first bit I'd heard or seen of her in years and it sat on my shelf for just as long till I finally finished it in one sitting.
And I can say that it's definitely redeeming.
I saw it as a fun, nerdy story that I kind of saw the ending happening before I got there, but I did NOT expect it to be about literal word wars. The story will make any word nerd tingle a bit on the inside. Though I will say at some point it gets visually hard to follow at times, but it's for dramatic effect. I think my ONLY issue with the story is the very quick push out of backstory per character. One of the characters unraveled a bit too strangely and I think I might need another read through to figure out what their full story is. I think all the choppiness at the end and the quick exposition was trying to stuff everything into one book and maybe too few pages. I still recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the underdog story.
And I can say that it's definitely redeeming.
I saw it as a fun, nerdy story that I kind of saw the ending happening before I got there, but I did NOT expect it to be about literal word wars. The story will make any word nerd tingle a bit on the inside. Though I will say at some point it gets visually hard to follow at times, but it's for dramatic effect. I think my ONLY issue with the story is the very quick push out of backstory per character. One of the characters unraveled a bit too strangely and I think I might need another read through to figure out what their full story is. I think all the choppiness at the end and the quick exposition was trying to stuff everything into one book and maybe too few pages. I still recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the underdog story.