A review by gen_wolfhailstorm
Killing and Dying, by Adrian Tomine
3.0
I went into this with not the highest expectations but still relatively up there. I got the impression that this was going to be a collection of thought-provoking short stories, with a literary fiction feel in graphic novel form. For the most part, I didn't get that and was underwhelmed and a bit bored.
I especially felt underwhelmed by the first story: Hortisculpture, because I didn't care about anything or had a connection and felt like Harold turned into an incredibly dislikeable character.
I don't know why Killing and Dying got the graced honor of being the title of the collection because I found it to be rather dull, boring and awkward. Intruders was mediocore, but I liked the interesting concept it explored and choice in colour scheme. I liked the muted and dull colours of The Owls and it took a sad turn with topics including alcohol/drug/domestic abuse. It expressed these themes wonderfully in such a thoughtful way, with so little words and so little time and had the most depth out of all of the stories I think.
Out of all 6 short stories, I only thoroughly enjoyed Amber Sweet and TRANSLATED, from the JAPANESE, the former being my ultimate preference. I will say I was left a bit perplexed by the ending of TRANSLATED and had a strange collection of emotions. However I did enjoy its more completed looking art style (by which I mean fully coloured and definite shapes and pen strokes, etc) and loved the way it was written. I really enjoyed Amber Sweet despite its simplicity, but it was a rather unique idea and the storytelling was quite peaceful and pleasantly normal, despite the situation. Again, I enjoyed the colour, but the story ended a bit abruptly.
Overall, it was a decent and quiet read, with beautiful illustrations and is certainly a gorgeously published book. Unfortunately I was just left pretty disappointed with the quality of stories we got as a whole and didn't enjoy that there were a few race driven jokes or throw away sentences. I loved all the different styles of art expressed for each story, but wish they all left me feeling something more.
Pick or up, give it a go and enjoy! ^^
Gén
I especially felt underwhelmed by the first story: Hortisculpture, because I didn't care about anything or had a connection and felt like Harold turned into an incredibly dislikeable character.
I don't know why Killing and Dying got the graced honor of being the title of the collection because I found it to be rather dull, boring and awkward. Intruders was mediocore, but I liked the interesting concept it explored and choice in colour scheme. I liked the muted and dull colours of The Owls and it took a sad turn with topics including alcohol/drug/domestic abuse. It expressed these themes wonderfully in such a thoughtful way, with so little words and so little time and had the most depth out of all of the stories I think.
Out of all 6 short stories, I only thoroughly enjoyed Amber Sweet and TRANSLATED, from the JAPANESE, the former being my ultimate preference. I will say I was left a bit perplexed by the ending of TRANSLATED and had a strange collection of emotions. However I did enjoy its more completed looking art style (by which I mean fully coloured and definite shapes and pen strokes, etc) and loved the way it was written. I really enjoyed Amber Sweet despite its simplicity, but it was a rather unique idea and the storytelling was quite peaceful and pleasantly normal, despite the situation. Again, I enjoyed the colour, but the story ended a bit abruptly.
Overall, it was a decent and quiet read, with beautiful illustrations and is certainly a gorgeously published book. Unfortunately I was just left pretty disappointed with the quality of stories we got as a whole and didn't enjoy that there were a few race driven jokes or throw away sentences. I loved all the different styles of art expressed for each story, but wish they all left me feeling something more.
Pick or up, give it a go and enjoy! ^^
Gén