graveyardpansy's reviews
557 reviews

2.5 stars — on its own, i more or less enjoyed this — i like the moral greyness of some characters, i thought the plot and twists were pretty good. however, the narrator is unreliable to a level that i didn’t really enjoy, and a lot of the characters are just really unlikable. most importantly though, this is my third Grady Hendrix book, and he has the SAME problem every time. he tries to write about complex social issues in his horror — e.g. capitalism and wage labour in Horrorstor, racism of white women towards Black women in Book Club’s Guide, and now ableism and racism and misogynistic media and reporting in this one. (for context, he is afaik a cishet abled white man. and iirc he picked Grady as his pen name so that he could seem like ~maybe a woman~) his representations of these issues imo is always just really underdeveloped and it feels more like he’s exploiting them for cookies than actually genuinely wanting to discuss the issues and explore their ties to horror. a lot of contemp horror writers do this well, but all of them are actually tied to the issues they write about — see Carmen Maria Muchado, or Lakewood, or quite a few of the other books on my horror shelf. all in all, it’s not bad, but if you want horror that examines social issues, go for literally anything but Hendrix.

this may shock you if you know of my strong disdain for red white and royal blue… but i like this one. 4.5 stars.

4.5 — rly rly enjoyed this, complex characters and motivations and really interesting way of weaving a story together.

this is a wonderful comic that deserves more recognition!! the art is simple and stunning, and the way different colours are used to tell different parts of the story is so so beautiful. the different threads of the story (the boy’s, his mom’s, and the fairy tales) are all woven together so perfectly, and everything is just a little different than you’d expect, but in a really nice way. though it’s a little sad at times, as a whole the book is so heartwarming. I think it does a great job as a YA showing/implying trauma and bigotry in a not-always-explicit and always-tactful way, while still having an emotional impact. 10/10, beautiful art, lovely story, all-around would highly recommend for YA readers and adults alike, esp those that may share identities with the main characters.

this book is for HRC members who think Ellen and Rupaul are good role models. neoliberal, really reductive. multiple times he uses rhetoric and quotes directly from black liberation movements, and just applies the exact same thing to gayness?? like w.e.b. dubois, audre lorde, etc, and does the thing that white liberals constantly do — referencing a couple common ideas from black radical work and not engaging with their work as a whole or from any sort of radical perspective.

also repeatedly misuses more radical language like intersectionality and liberation. marriage equality is not??? gay liberation??????