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A review by joshhansonhorror
La Perdida by Jessica Abel
2.0
This really isn't so much a "could not finish" as much as a "felt no real compulsion to renew this from the library yet again in order to complete the last quarter of the book."
I've been reading a lot of graphic novel memoirs, as they seem to be critical favorites, and they have been startlingly great (Fun Home, Persepolis, Etc.) and manage to avoid the dullness that so often attends the memoir. La Perdida is not a memoir, but it has all the tedium of real life. Despite a kidnapping and lots of drunken arguments, this just feels too real, too blah. The main character is purposefully dense, presumably to show her development over time, but I never connected. Finally, it feels like someone showing you a slide show of their mexican vacation, with a great deal of exposition.
I've been reading a lot of graphic novel memoirs, as they seem to be critical favorites, and they have been startlingly great (Fun Home, Persepolis, Etc.) and manage to avoid the dullness that so often attends the memoir. La Perdida is not a memoir, but it has all the tedium of real life. Despite a kidnapping and lots of drunken arguments, this just feels too real, too blah. The main character is purposefully dense, presumably to show her development over time, but I never connected. Finally, it feels like someone showing you a slide show of their mexican vacation, with a great deal of exposition.