A review by liralen
As the Crow Flies by Melanie Gillman
3.0
Charlie is thirteen and black and maybe queer and at an almost all-white Christian summer camp. As the book opens, she's in a sort of teenaged limbo, not sure she wants to be there. And as the book closes, she's still in a sort of teenaged limbo, because the story is unfinished. There's no real satisfaction to be had here.
As the Crow Flies started as a webcomic. The entire text to date is still available online (there's a note here that says the whole story is eventually meant to be published in two volumes; the first volume, this book, covers the story the author had put online up to that point). But whether the story will ever be finished is unclear: the webcomic version hasn't been updated since June of 2017, and there's no obvious way to tell whether it's been back-burnered or whether Gillman is storing the material up for print publication. Not a big deal if the latter, but frustrating to go into a book that you think is one-off and find that the story is incomplete.
The story itself...it's okay. The art is lovely. It's not clear where on the sexuality spectrum Charlie identifies; the back of the book tells us that she's queer, but as far as the actual content she could easily just be socially aware and prone to platonic crushes. I'm not quite sure if she wanted to be at this camp (until she realised just how white it was) or if it was all her parents' doing; I'm also struggling to understand why Sydney chose to be there.
I hope, if the story continues, there will be some insight into Bee, the trip leader. So far she seems to be a strange, contradictory combination of militant feminist and conservative Christian. I also have serious concerns about her preparedness as a trip leader, although those concerns come most from the part of the comic online that goes beyond the end of this book.
As the Crow Flies started as a webcomic. The entire text to date is still available online (there's a note here that says the whole story is eventually meant to be published in two volumes; the first volume, this book, covers the story the author had put online up to that point). But whether the story will ever be finished is unclear: the webcomic version hasn't been updated since June of 2017, and there's no obvious way to tell whether it's been back-burnered or whether Gillman is storing the material up for print publication. Not a big deal if the latter, but frustrating to go into a book that you think is one-off and find that the story is incomplete.
The story itself...it's okay. The art is lovely. It's not clear where on the sexuality spectrum Charlie identifies; the back of the book tells us that she's queer, but as far as the actual content she could easily just be socially aware and prone to platonic crushes. I'm not quite sure if she wanted to be at this camp (until she realised just how white it was) or if it was all her parents' doing; I'm also struggling to understand why Sydney chose to be there.
Spoiler
The camp is all-female with a sort of anti-male slant, and it's clear that Sydney, who is trans, might not be accepted. (Nobody, including the adults, knows.) And guys—it's not that I have a problem with Sydney being there. I would argue strenuously for her inclusion. It's that I don't understand how her parents think it's a better plan to send their daughter off with mace in her bag than to check ahead of time whether the camp will be inclusive/supportive.I hope, if the story continues, there will be some insight into Bee, the trip leader. So far she seems to be a strange, contradictory combination of militant feminist and conservative Christian. I also have serious concerns about her preparedness as a trip leader, although those concerns come most from the part of the comic online that goes beyond the end of this book.