Review: Upgrade Soul

Upgrade Soul by Ezra Claytan Daniels
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book might be the most worthwhile read I've ever come across. It hits just shy of being on any favorite lists, but its depth and design smash all of my art nerd buttons. I'll, of course, go more in-depth in a minute, but I want to just say that anyone who is even remotely interested in comics, or literature in general, should check it out. Whether or not you actually like it will depend on you as a person, but there is no doubt in my mind that everyone should at least read it.

First things first, you need to go into this thing cold. I won't waste your time with a plot summary and you shouldn't waste your time reading any. The book is so firmly built around keeping you in the dark that you probably will hate most of it if you already know what's going on. In fact, you should stop reading this review, read "Upgrade Soul", and then come back and read my thoughts.

An issue some might have is that it can be a little hard to follow. The story isn't told linearly and there aren't any ques beyond visual changes in the characters. Normally, bouncing around bugs the shit out me, but that is because it is typically done by the incompetent. But here, every turn is done for a particular purpose as we dive deeper into a character. The bad news is that this structure forces you to pay any extra bit of attention. The good news is that this book earns that attention.

The art serves the book well. The style perfectly fits the story and themes thereof. If it's a turn off for you then you probably won't enjoy the book as a whole regardless. The frames and flow are also well designed so it properly deliveries the intended emotional impact. I didn't encounter a single panel where I thought the art wasn't purposeful or underdeveloped. Just good art all around.

There is a deeper meaning to this book about examining someone as their true self. Coming to terms with who and what you really are if your body was no longer a confinement and you shed every social norm. This deeper layer might mean different things to different people. That's kind of how deeper layers work. But it should profoundly touch you as long as you open yourself up just enough to let it.

Just read the fucking book already.

View all my reviews

Review: The Ten Thousand Doors of January

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Almost good. I think that best sums it up. There's a strong voice with excellent prose and interesting characters, but there's just a lacking in structure and plot that brings it down. I think the best way to describe my issue with it is that there is a very strong sense of being in the moment, but very little sense of what is actually going on in a meta sort of way. There isn't a strong threat or thread that ties everything together. The main character travels from world to world with little reasoning and much of the actual plot seems to just happen to her. Excellent colorful writing but no through-line. Like it keeps walking through a door into another world and forgetting why it came in here in the first place.

Also, much of the book is written like a narrative memoir. Something I still haven't decided is good or bad. The book-within-a-book structure is charming for about a hundred pages before it gets annoying. Both aspects might be more appealing to another reader, but it mostly didn't click for me after a while. I knew there was a problem when I started to feel like I was reading a lengthy novel when it is, in fact, rather short.

If you like books that are almost good, then you'll probably have a great time. There's a lot to like here and I look forward to reading more from Harrow if some of the structural problems are realized and worked on. In fact, I fully recommend you check this novel out. Just because I didn't connect with it, because I have a heart of dark slug, doesn't mean you won't.

View all my reviews