Life On Earth Book 1: Losing the Girl
Written by Marinaomi
Published by Graphic Universe
Summary:
Losing the Girl stars a group of high school kids named Nigel, Emily, Brett, and Paula, as they experience high school. This involves breakups, pregnancy, and parents being really really bad at their job, while in the background some strange possibly extra-terrestrial weirdness is going on. These teens desperately try to mend bridges while they continuously burn them down, and not everything works out..
Art:
This is another book that uses multiple art styles for each character's chapter, but it isn't as drastic as some other books (say, Home Time for example). They all look visually similar and go together. The art can be off putting at times with a very abstract way of drawing the human characters that shifts depending on things like their emotions and who else is there. In the end, the art really helped the story and gave more depth to these characters.
Characters:
This is the best part of the entire book. The characters are all very well written and play off each other nicely. They fight and bicker and try to mend things, and it's all well written and believable. Someone finally was able to write good teen characters! The adult characters were a bit off at times though, seeming hyperbolic flawed, but over all, they were good.
Setting:
The setting isn't important or interesting. It's suburbia and high school. While it is reasonable enough, it neither adds nor subtracts from the story.
Plot:
The plot acts more of a through line between character moments. It is entirely driven by the characters and their actions, and is more of a slice of life drama with hints of something strange and otherworldly with a missing girl and aliens. It acts as more of a character study of these four, and the strange place they have all found themselves in.
TL;DR:
Losing the Girl is a great slice of life story about relationships in high school, and I am excited for the sequel.
8/10
Anya's Ghost
By Vera Brosgol
Published by First Second
Summary:
Anya's ghost is another book about ghosts and high-schoolers getting involved in shenanigans. This time it stars our titular main character Anya, a Russian immigrant to the US and high-schooler struggling to get through while existing at the bottom of the pecking order. When she trips and falls into a well, she finds a ghost. After they get out, they help each other out. Anya helps the ghost see the world again and the ghost helps Anya with grades and talking to boys. But things slowly start to morph and twist as the story goes on, and not everything said is entirely true.
Art:
The art is good. It's monochrome with a bubbly design which allows for more expression in the characters. The backgrounds are pretty bleak, with the art style reveling in the banality of the setting. over all, it's fine. Nothing I haven't seen before though.
Characters:
The characters pretty good. Most of them are pretty cynical at times, and the main character can be a little irritating in her selfishness, but the arcs are good and some of the characters have very good chemistry. I enjoyed the interactions between Anya and the ghost especially. There were a few characters that were nothing but tropes, but over all they were good.
Setting:
The setting is bland and boring. It's suburbia with some forests, and looks and acts the part. Of course, not much can be done with a setting when it's supposed to mimic the real world, so points for realism. It does feel pretty hyperbolic at times.
Plot:
The plot is quite good. After a slow start, it gets much more interesting as our two leads interact more, and Anya begins to learn more and more about what's happening around her. In the second half the story the cynical darkness is turned up a lot, especially in the party scene. I won't spoil it, but it really sells the story. The ending feels rushed, but over all, the story was good.
TL;DR:
Anya's Ghost is a pretty good story about ghosts and high-schoolers. It is bland and boring at times, saved by the second half.
7/10
Diesel Ignition
Written by Tyson Hesse
Published by BOOM BOX
Summary:
Sorry for not posting for three months. Diesel Ignition stars Dee, a hot headed aspiring leader who's bound to be the captain of her late father's flying city, but isn't much of a leader or an engineer. When he home is destroyed by a marauding band of bird people, she finds that he father might be alive, and that a war is brewing between the bird people below the clouds and the humans who banished them there. In her struggle to try and find her family again, Dee must use her special powers to try and stop the bird invasion. That wasn't the most glamorous of a plot summery but I've lost my knack. It's really interesting and complicated.
Art:
The art is great! Colors are good, contrasting the characters and the two different worlds (Above and below the clouds) and is varied, giving the reader something interesting to look at. The characters are all very varied, matching their personalities and powers. The steampunk-ish aesthetic works well for the setting, and looks good over all.
Setting:
The setting is very complex and isn't explained very well. At the start of the book you are thrown into this new and complicated world, and have to figure out what and where everything is. Eventually, you can learn enough to get a basic understanding about everything, but a lot of it remains unexplained. the clouds separating the two worlds is an example. You know it exists and acts the way it does because of how the characters interact and talk about it, but you never learn why it's there. Over all, I like the setting, but I'd love to see more of it and learn more about how it works and where everything is. A map would be nice, for example.
Characters:
The Characters are all nicely varied and have good chemistry. I enjoyed seeing their interactions, and wanted them all to succeed. The main character was rather despicable at times and was very mean-spirited at times, but by the end of the book I thought she got much better and improved. Her arc worked well, and I came to like her as a character. Over all, they were well fleshed out and had good arcs, helping with the world and the story.
Plot:
This is very much the first book in a series, but I am excited to see where it goes. It has a good smaller narrative within it, but has a great open ended structure that allows for the continuation of the story. The narrative is well contained, with well placed flashbacks that help us understand the characters and don't break the flow. Over all, it works well.
TL;DR:
Over all, I very much enjoyed this book. It does have a lot of death and complex themes, but it is worth the read.
8/10
