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I'm way backlogged on book reviews, but here's two graphic novels I've read that just have to be reviewed together: Sense and Sensibility followed by Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
To start with, you need to know that my opinion of the entire genre is probably summed up by this comic. To whit: I find the women barely tolerable and the men an atrocious example of romantic leads. Wait, that's how I feel about a significant portion of romances, period. Oh well.
However, my friends enjoy the genre and we often take a girl's night to see the movies when they make one, so I figured I should give it a go, and a graphic novel was probably all I had time for anyhow. :)
Sense and Sensibility the graphic novel is adorable. Seriously, the expressions alone make this worthwhile. I think the adaptation was decent (not having read the original) but some of the speeches are just a tad wordy for the format. I had trouble keeping track of the characters, though, which made me feel a little like this was made more for a fan than for a casual reader. Still, it was fun enough.
However, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies the graphic novel is another story entirely. The novel is, as promised, improved by the addition of zombies, especially since the women are now learning "the deadly arts" as well as the "womanly arts." This changes the context of the story marvellously (in a way that, at times, makes the whole plot make more sense to me), and the artwork with the women sparring both with practice weapons and with words just worked perfectly for me. My one complaint is that the art style, while lovely, felt unfinished, and I sometimes had difficulty distinguishing the girls (and besides, like with Sense and Sensibility in the graphic novel format they got little introduction so could barely be distinguished as characters even if I couldn't tell their hair apart). A good colourist could have made this book way more amazing. I'll have to give the novel a try one of these days.
To start with, you need to know that my opinion of the entire genre is probably summed up by this comic. To whit: I find the women barely tolerable and the men an atrocious example of romantic leads. Wait, that's how I feel about a significant portion of romances, period. Oh well.
However, my friends enjoy the genre and we often take a girl's night to see the movies when they make one, so I figured I should give it a go, and a graphic novel was probably all I had time for anyhow. :)
Sense and Sensibility the graphic novel is adorable. Seriously, the expressions alone make this worthwhile. I think the adaptation was decent (not having read the original) but some of the speeches are just a tad wordy for the format. I had trouble keeping track of the characters, though, which made me feel a little like this was made more for a fan than for a casual reader. Still, it was fun enough.
However, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies the graphic novel is another story entirely. The novel is, as promised, improved by the addition of zombies, especially since the women are now learning "the deadly arts" as well as the "womanly arts." This changes the context of the story marvellously (in a way that, at times, makes the whole plot make more sense to me), and the artwork with the women sparring both with practice weapons and with words just worked perfectly for me. My one complaint is that the art style, while lovely, felt unfinished, and I sometimes had difficulty distinguishing the girls (and besides, like with Sense and Sensibility in the graphic novel format they got little introduction so could barely be distinguished as characters even if I couldn't tell their hair apart). A good colourist could have made this book way more amazing. I'll have to give the novel a try one of these days.