A review by carlasofiaferreira
Portugal by Cyril Pedrosa, Ruby

3.0

As the daughter of Portuguese immigrants to the US and as someone who spent a year living in France, I really really wanted to love this book. Instead, I just liked it somewhat, in the moments I wasn't annoyed by it. The artwork is inventive and thoughtful; the code-switching was really delightful; I enjoyed seeing the carefully woven family dynamics at work. But oh my gosh, the trope of the struggling artist who just can't decide what to do with his life coupled with the casual sexism thrown in at nearly every other juncture of the story, it felt tired and unoriginal. How many more stories of sad white men who blame their fears of commitment on hyperbolically "pushy" girlfriends? It was a recurring theme of the comic and cheapened what otherwise could have been a lively look at the creative process and the journey of finding identity as an immigrant. The artwork merited at least an extra half-star and its personal significance to me another half, which is why I ultimately gave this 3 and not 2 stars.