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Reviews tagging 'Racism'
Everything Is Beautiful, and I'm Not Afraid: A Baopu Collection by Yao Xiao
8 reviews
litematcha's review
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Sexual harassment
Trypophobia warning for pictures on pages 12-14 of the paperback version.librarymouse's review
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
This collection of comics is eye catching, tender, and incredibly vulnerable. It's a quick read, but what I really want to do with it is read it while wrapped around it under the blanket with a flashlight, curling back the pages in a way that breaks the spine, like I did with my books as a child. This collection tastes of nostalgia, and makes tangible the feeling of liminality when you're young, unmoored from home, and can't go back.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Biphobia, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Racism, and Blood
inkdrinkers's review
fast-paced
5.0
"I dare to be soft again."
Everything is Beautiful, and I'm not Afraid is a collection of comics merged with poetry, spanning the author's experiences with being a queer immigrant in America.
I feel like this is a very personal collection and thus, it makes it a little hard to rate. Luckily, for me, I adored the overall tone and message that ran throughout it. Yao Xiao tackles so many topics in these pages, from mental health to racism to immigration to queerness to parental relationships - there are so many topics interwoven together that really paint the picture of human experience and emotion. The art is stunning, featuring rich colors and details that highlight this emotion in each piece.
I really adored this. I feel like, though not an easy collection to read, it's an important one. It almost feels like it serves dual-purposes, one to remind the reader they aren't alone in any struggles they might be facing, and the other to allow the reader to step into someone else's shoes who might experience the world entirely different from the way they do. I'm always a sucker for a collection of art/poetry that acts as a memoir, and this was both for me.
I received a free physical copy of this book via Andrews McMeel's influencer program, all opinions are my own.
Everything is Beautiful, and I'm not Afraid is a collection of comics merged with poetry, spanning the author's experiences with being a queer immigrant in America.
I feel like this is a very personal collection and thus, it makes it a little hard to rate. Luckily, for me, I adored the overall tone and message that ran throughout it. Yao Xiao tackles so many topics in these pages, from mental health to racism to immigration to queerness to parental relationships - there are so many topics interwoven together that really paint the picture of human experience and emotion. The art is stunning, featuring rich colors and details that highlight this emotion in each piece.
I really adored this. I feel like, though not an easy collection to read, it's an important one. It almost feels like it serves dual-purposes, one to remind the reader they aren't alone in any struggles they might be facing, and the other to allow the reader to step into someone else's shoes who might experience the world entirely different from the way they do. I'm always a sucker for a collection of art/poetry that acts as a memoir, and this was both for me.
I received a free physical copy of this book via Andrews McMeel's influencer program, all opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Biphobia, Mental illness, Racism, and Xenophobia
u_0's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
I enjoyed it and I'm glad I read it! Nothing wrong, just wasn't my favorite.
The cons:
- I guess it just doesn't resonate with me too much since I've already moved past growing up in an unaccepting family and longing for a home country.
- A lot of the panels or stories kinda repeat the same message or thought.
- The title was a little misleading for me since I thought this was going to be an uplifting book.
- the art style was cool and very creative at times but the color palette, line thickness, and minimal shading weren't that pretty to me
The cons:
- I guess it just doesn't resonate with me too much since I've already moved past growing up in an unaccepting family and longing for a home country.
- A lot of the panels or stories kinda repeat the same message or thought.
- The title was a little misleading for me since I thought this was going to be an uplifting book.
- the art style was cool and very creative at times but the color palette, line thickness, and minimal shading weren't that pretty to me
Content Warnings
Moderate: Biphobia, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexism
nikmalikov's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Biphobia, Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Racism
readingwithkt's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Swithered between giving this 4 or 5 stars so I'm going to sit on it and see how I feel about it over time.
My immediate feeling is that this is a beautiful graphic novel that explores identity, belonging, family ties, and mental wellbeing. The graphic novel is compiled of various short comics which build out an overall narrative of a queer Chinese immigrant in the USA, finding their place in their new home and feeling out their identity (loved the comic on the boxes we fit in/choose).
So many of the comics in this memoir-esque graphic novel really moved me - definitely one I'd like to buy and reread (I read a library copy).
My immediate feeling is that this is a beautiful graphic novel that explores identity, belonging, family ties, and mental wellbeing. The graphic novel is compiled of various short comics which build out an overall narrative of a queer Chinese immigrant in the USA, finding their place in their new home and feeling out their identity (loved the comic on the boxes we fit in/choose).
So many of the comics in this memoir-esque graphic novel really moved me - definitely one I'd like to buy and reread (I read a library copy).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, and Racism
therainbowshelf's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I greatly enjoyed this collection of one-shot webcomics. Yao explores mental health, bisexuality, having strained relationships with parents, and being an immigrant. I agree with other reviewers that some organization and section titles might have enhanced the reading experience.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia