A review by skavansieur
Fights: One Boy's Triumph Over Violence by Joel Christian Gill
4.0
4 STAR
A review copy was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
t/w: dead animal, death, blood, physical violence, profanity, abuse, sexual assault, racism
This is a memoir written in the form of a graphic novel about a light-skinned black man from a poor family, raised with violence all around him.
Nothing about this book is light. If you're looking for a light, fun and easy read, this is not a book you should pick up now, but I do recommend that you save it to read in the future.
This book sheds light on how trauma affects everyone and how children, especially, absorb the behaviour of their surroundings. It is definitely a wake up call, especially when violence, bullying and abuse cases are going up everywhere in the world.
In this book, the author uses a kindling fire above the characters as a visual representation of anger, of course, but I also understood it as events that eventually add together to cause someone to burst.
From a stylistic point of view, it does a great job in censorship, especially the scenes of sexual assault since it is a graphic novel. It is handled carefully, with a pitch-black scene and speech bubbles.
Although this book is a memoir, some characters were not exactly real but a combination of different people in the author's life. Though the ending was heartbreaking for me, since I really, really appreciated the character. But it also emphasised on the importance of checking up on our friends, especially those who were always the calm, levelheaded ones in most situations.
It isn't a preachy book, but it does make you reflect, especially when you see children bullying one another and picking up abusive and harmful behaviours from their parents. It's definitely our duty to heal from our traumas so we won't pass it on to anyone else.
A review copy was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
t/w: dead animal, death, blood, physical violence, profanity, abuse, sexual assault, racism
This is a memoir written in the form of a graphic novel about a light-skinned black man from a poor family, raised with violence all around him.
Nothing about this book is light. If you're looking for a light, fun and easy read, this is not a book you should pick up now, but I do recommend that you save it to read in the future.
This book sheds light on how trauma affects everyone and how children, especially, absorb the behaviour of their surroundings. It is definitely a wake up call, especially when violence, bullying and abuse cases are going up everywhere in the world.
In this book, the author uses a kindling fire above the characters as a visual representation of anger, of course, but I also understood it as events that eventually add together to cause someone to burst.
From a stylistic point of view, it does a great job in censorship, especially the scenes of sexual assault since it is a graphic novel. It is handled carefully, with a pitch-black scene and speech bubbles.
Although this book is a memoir, some characters were not exactly real but a combination of different people in the author's life. Though the ending was heartbreaking for me, since I really, really appreciated the character. But it also emphasised on the importance of checking up on our friends, especially those who were always the calm, levelheaded ones in most situations.
It isn't a preachy book, but it does make you reflect, especially when you see children bullying one another and picking up abusive and harmful behaviours from their parents. It's definitely our duty to heal from our traumas so we won't pass it on to anyone else.