Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Moi, ce que j'aime, c'est les monstres : Livre premier by Emil Ferris

3 reviews

nmcannon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

 Back in…2019…I read this amazing blog post by Casey the Candian Lesbrarian about the best books she’d read that year. My Favorite Thing is Monsters was on it, and I put it on my TBR, so future!Natalie would remember. Future!Natalie came through.

Karen Reyes is a ten year old girl obsessed with horror movie monsters. With bullies, a best friend lost to homophobia (still alive, but heavily forced into the closet by parents), and the stress of working class ‘60s Chicago, she has a A Lot to process. And that’s before her upstairs neighbor Anka is murdered, her older brother becomes the prime suspect, and her mom gets a cancer diagnosis. Trusty sketchbook and fedora in tow, Reyes decides to figure out whodunit. What she doesn’t bargain for are tapes of Anka telling her life story in Nazi Germany, rife with parental abuse, rape, and pedophilia.

The entire, hefty book of My Favorite Thing is Monsters is styled as Reyes’ journal and sketchbook. The art is GORGEOUS. The book is art and art is the book. I was reminded of coffee table books, which are set out to entertain guests. Then again, the subject matter is not for the light of heart. Ferris pulls no punches, and her heroine’s lives are dark. A serious dead dove; don’t eat situation. I thought the story would focus more on the intersection of queerness and horror, and it does to a certain extent. There’s just a whole lot more. Anka’s flashbacks take up more pages, which makes sense because Reyes is ten and Anka died in her fifties. While Anka and Reyes are twin pole stars, the other characters aren’t neglected at all. The depth of character is truly incredible and incredibly colorful.

Despite the grim subject matter, there’s a thread of youthful hope throughout the story. If you can grasp it and hold tight, I highly, highly recommend Ferris’ masterwork. My Favorite Thing is Monsters is a beautiful, heart-wrenching magnum opus.

Casey’s blog post: https://caseythecanadianlesbrarian.wordpress.com/2019/01/08/my-2018-year-in-reading-favourite-books-of-the-year-most-memorable-character-best-cover-and-more/

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol, War, and Deportation

Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Medical content, Dementia, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, and Classism

I'd say the majority of the CWs are period-typical considering the setting is pre-Holocaust, Holocaust, and 1960s working class Chicago. Reyes is a young, queer woman of color, and she experiences period-typical racism, lesbophobia, classism, and misogyny.

melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

The illustrations in this book are absolutely beautiful! The content is very difficult. It is a lot of sadness upon sadness without much respite at all, expect in a few small places.

The characters are very interesting and I really enjoyed reading about their stories. I know that parts of this are inspired by true events.

I will definitely read the sequel when it comes out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

boy_topics's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

This book is heart-breaking and can be hard to read. Its super queer and you can definitely do trans readings of it as well. The art style is one of a kind. I took some stars off because there is a lot of suspense that leads to a not so conclusive ending that seemed kind of rushed. Too many loose endings for my liking. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder