whataudreads's review against another edition
3.0
This was pretty interesting! I wasn't too familiar with Anonymous outside of the creepy masks, and I think this did a decent job of providing some backstory. I kinda totally loved the concept of illustrating a traditional interview as a graphic novel, as it helped to provide more context and visuals for various exploits of the group. However, because this was an interview, you don't get much background on the interviewer, and it's hard to connect to the characters as characters.
This definitely also could've been longer. It felt like an abrupt ending and I was expecting more twists to come back or develop the plot. But it really is just like an interview. And because it's an interview with a member from Anonymous, it does feel biased towards the group and ignores a lot of the more negative aspects.
This is a good resource on Anonymous from a member's experience and point of view. However, due to its length and bias, it certainly isn't the whole story.
This definitely also could've been longer. It felt like an abrupt ending and I was expecting more twists to come back or develop the plot. But it really is just like an interview. And because it's an interview with a member from Anonymous, it does feel biased towards the group and ignores a lot of the more negative aspects.
This is a good resource on Anonymous from a member's experience and point of view. However, due to its length and bias, it certainly isn't the whole story.
raychelbennet's review against another edition
3.0
Overall, I thought this was a fun graphic novel. I have had little experience with Anonymous, but I will say that I have been inclined to support some of their operations in the past. I was aware of their involvement in regards to Scientology and Steubenville, but I did not know about #opFerguson. I feel like this graphic novel was biased towards Anonymous and there was not much discussion on the negative aspects of their campaigns. It also seemed a bit unfinished. It felt like I was looking for clues (like how on pages 9 and 10 the journalist threw away the contact information for Mr. X in a garbage can rather than disposing of it in a different way) that never resurfaced.
I think the teens in my library would enjoy this, so I am probably going to put in a purchase request for it in my branch.
I think the teens in my library would enjoy this, so I am probably going to put in a purchase request for it in my branch.
jasonswrench's review against another edition
4.0
A for Anonymous: How a Mysterious Hacker Collective Transformed the World is a new graphic novel by David Kushner. If you're not familiar with Anonymous, this book provides a really interesting discussion of what the hacker collective is and its origins. For obvious reasons, the book is really based primarily on publicly sourced materials and not in-depth knowledge from within the organization, which admittedly would be almost impossible.
If you're interested in hacking culture or just interested in what Anonymous is and their aims are, then I would strongly recommend reading this book. It's a quick read, so it doesn't take too much time to get a really interesting overview.
Furthermore, I appreciated the graphic novel approach to explaining Anonymous. There are other books that go into a lot more detail about Anonymous, but I think this one is great for those who just want a really fast introduction and like graphic novels.
If you're interested in hacking culture or just interested in what Anonymous is and their aims are, then I would strongly recommend reading this book. It's a quick read, so it doesn't take too much time to get a really interesting overview.
Furthermore, I appreciated the graphic novel approach to explaining Anonymous. There are other books that go into a lot more detail about Anonymous, but I think this one is great for those who just want a really fast introduction and like graphic novels.
rebus's review against another edition
3.25
Decent, but not great, filled with so many distortions and outright lies as to become mere propaganda at times. While there is some good stuff herein, one should be skeptical of the author's intent and do a little research on some of his 'facts'.
About 1/3 of this is wholly untrue.
About 1/3 of this is wholly untrue.
lillanaa's review against another edition
4.0
This book was received as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I wasn't quite sure if this would be something I'd judge or be actually interested in, but it has a sort of charming quality to it. Graphic novels are something that it can be difficult to convey a ton of information, but this doesn't feel lacking by any stretch. It definitely feels closer to "article" than book, you could convey the same amount of information in a two page spread of a magazine if you so desired, but that doesn't take away from the quality.
The art doesn't detract from the message, which is what I quite enjoy. It's clean, and does the job nicely. I'm not sure how accurate it is to depicting the people who it's supposed to be, but in something like this I don't think that's the most important part of it all. It's about the essence of the thing, rather than the accuracy, and that's what the art is there to convey.
This is one that I don't know if I'd recommend it lightly, but I will be recommending it to people. It's one of those things that you're really only going to be interested if you like or know of the topic, and that's really unfortunate because it's a very good outline of how the movement began.
I wasn't quite sure if this would be something I'd judge or be actually interested in, but it has a sort of charming quality to it. Graphic novels are something that it can be difficult to convey a ton of information, but this doesn't feel lacking by any stretch. It definitely feels closer to "article" than book, you could convey the same amount of information in a two page spread of a magazine if you so desired, but that doesn't take away from the quality.
The art doesn't detract from the message, which is what I quite enjoy. It's clean, and does the job nicely. I'm not sure how accurate it is to depicting the people who it's supposed to be, but in something like this I don't think that's the most important part of it all. It's about the essence of the thing, rather than the accuracy, and that's what the art is there to convey.
This is one that I don't know if I'd recommend it lightly, but I will be recommending it to people. It's one of those things that you're really only going to be interested if you like or know of the topic, and that's really unfortunate because it's a very good outline of how the movement began.
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