Review: Shoplifter by Michael Cho

"What will you do now?""I'm not sure. Whatever it is, I know I have to find it, instead of waiting for it to fine me." - Michael Cho, Shoplifter

Hello, friends! Book Review Wednesday returns with another mandatory school reading! (Hip hip!)

When Corrina Park finally got her English degree, she had a plan--move to the city, get a day job to eliminate crippling debt, and write, write, write, until she becomes the author she always wanted to be. Five years later, though, she's still working at the same ad agency, no real friends, no romance on the horizon, and she hasn't written a real word since graduation. Bored, tired, and frustrated, she starts shoplifting from the local convenience store to shake things up. Soon, she develops the perfect strategy, and slipping magazines between the pages of her newspaper soon become the highlight of her days.

Petty theft is far from the meaning she's looking for, but how can one find themselves when they're lost in the crowd of a big city?

First of all, it was really, really hard to disassociate this book with my future. Notice the keywords--crippling debt and English degree and author...I mean, good 'ol Cho here is basically acting as a mystic determining destiny. It is very, very easy to picture myself falling into this same trap, which is utterly terrifying and also somewhat comforting, considering that she ends up in some form of inner peace by the end of it. (Uh...spoilers?)

I think, out of all the books I've been reading for my Canadian Comics class, this one (along with Two Generals) had some of my favourite styles in it. I loved the two toned look, the "lost line" style, and just the way he drew the city scape in general. (I'm writing my end-of-term research paper on Shoplifter's city setting, so that last bit isn't really all that surprising.) It was just very aesthetically pleasing to read, especially compared to some of the other, more disorienting styles I've encountered in the course.

One of my biggest problems with this read, though, was that the resolution seemed almost...too quick? Her frustrations took an almost 180, resulting in a very neat and tidy resolution that didn't really...fit with the way the rest of the book had gone. I did like the ending, though, and how open and hopeful it felt. I thought it left Corrina in a very good place, far enough from where she started to give us a good resolution (even if it did feel sudden), but not far enough that we were introduced to too many different plot points.

Final rating: 3.5/5.

Until later,

- Justyne

Review: Louis Riel: A Comic Strip Biography by Chester Brown

School is back in session, and I'm in three different English courses, which means I have a crap ton of academic-related reading to do. As such, most of my reviews will be about books I read for class--including this one. (And, bare with me, some of them might sound a bit more academic after discussing them in class for so long.)

Louis Riel: A Comic Strip Biography is...well, exactly what it says it is. For those of you non-Canadians who are unfamiliar with our history, Louis Riel was a Métis politician back in the 19th century. He helped found Manitoba (the province I live in now), and lead a couple rebellions against the Canadian government for their mistreatment towards the Métis while establishing the Canadian prairie provinces. If you want to learn more about him, you can...well, you can pick up the book, because it does a pretty good job of getting everything across.

Louis Riel is either a hero or a traitor, depending on who you ask. But what I was most impressed about in terms of the book was how Brown managed to, like, not take a side. I mean, he takes a side to an extent--he definitely villanizes the government, and thus sympathizes with the Métis cause. But in terms of Riel himself, he just kind of portrays him in a neutral way. He's careful not to over-embellish his positive traits or his negative traits, and creates the much-needed but often-missed unbiased portrayal of an historical figure.

The reading, though, was a little...dry. This was not written to be light hearted and fun--it's an educational text. The narrative has been changed and shifted slightly from true events, but all changes are recorded in Brown's note section in the back. The comic is very text-heavy (although it does have its silent sequences, too), and the panels are very strictly laid out in a three-by-three grid pattern. Unless you are genuinely interested in learning about Louis Riel and Canadian history, you might not have a fun time with this book. (It does have its moments, though.)

Final rating: 3/5

Until later,

- Justyne

Review: This One Summer

WARNING: The following blog posts contain spoilers for the novel under review, ranging from mild to heart wrenchingly major. If you have yet to read this novel and dislike being spoiled, leave now and return upon completion.

If you HAVE read this novel (or just don't give a crap about spoilers), then continue on.

But don't say I didn't warn you.

~~

HELLO, FRIENDS! Today we're going to be talking about This One Summer by Canadian cousin duo Jillian and Mariko Tamaki.

THE PLOT-Y BIT

Awago Beach is your typical beach town community, filled with local shops, tourist attractions, and several cabins within walking distance of the ocean. Rose and Windy have been best friends, practically sisters, since Rose and her family started visiting the cabin when she was five. With Windy's cabin mere minutes away, summers have been filled with joint family campfires, swimming expeditions in the ocean, and trips to the local museum in town for as long as Rose can remember.

But this summer, things are different. Tensions are running high between Rose's parents, and a crush on a local leads Rose to discover a whole new world of drama with the teenagers of Awago. This year, Rose will need Windy and their friendship more than ever to survive this, the hardest summer of her life to date.

THE REVIEW-Y BIT

I don't even know what to say about this book, to be honest. I just...really didn't like it.

I wasn't particularly fond of Rose and Windy. I couldn't really relate to them, and I felt like their friendship seemed really shallow. The plot synopsis describes Windy as "the little sister Rose never had", but I really didn't get that vibe from them. None of the few fights they had were properly dealt with or resolved, which irritated me to no end. I just couldn't force myself to care about what happened to them--or any of the side characters, for that matter.

Aside from that, all of the major conflicts in this book seemed to happen to everyone around the two friends, but didn't really seem to affect them as characters. Yes, Rose's parents were fighting a lot, and we saw her reaction to it, but overall it felt like she was more of an observer than anything. The conflict with Rose's mom and her miscarriage the previous summer was probably the only aspect of the story that I was really interested in, and even as the fighting and tension that came as a direct result of that filled the book, the actual reasoning was, I felt, just kind of swept under the rug. The entire book was filled with allusions to this mysterious event that her mother went through, and by the end we got a very brief recount as to what happened...and then BOOM. Over. It did a real bad number on the pacing of the overall story.

(Plus, whatever happened to Rose's parents? I saw no apology, no conversation...nothing. Talk about frustrating.)

Meanwhile, the other main conflict--the teen pregnancy scandal that was sweeping through Awago--held -10% of my attention. I cared even less about the teens in the local beach town community than I cared about Rose and Windy--which, trust me, is a very hard thing to accomplish.

Overall, I found the plot dreary and boring, nothing like I'd expect a summer read such as this to be. Most of the characters were flat and uninteresting, and the ones that managed to catch my eye stayed on the sidelines as much as possible. Maybe if the story were longer, it would have had the time it needed to meet my expectations--but because of how short it was, the pacing was wonky and all over the place. Definitely not something I would recommend.

THE RATING-Y BIT

Two stars; and even that, to me, is a tad generous. The only thing that saved the rating was the art style; charming and wonderfully detailed. If only the story held up along with it...


Until later,

- Justyne