Natsume Ono

Flat out one of the best manga that I've ever read, and made me a complete convert to Natsume Ono (okay okay, I'm late to the party I know - definitely reasons to convert before now, lol). This was just so visually stunning, with a compelling story that realistically addressed issues of loss, hope, despair, abuse, trauma, recovery, and that vague background feeling that perhaps there is no recovery for people who are pushed too far down the rabbit hole of life.

There was something very tender and beautiful about this manga, despite the fact that it was dealing with some very difficult themes. The atmosphere evoked in this book is immediate, and sustained throughout, and you get pulled into stories within stories. Though I'm a characteristic 'weeper' lol, I was moved to tears multiple times during this novel.

Would recommend it to anyone who wants to read a powerful, heartrending story, but you might want to tee up something a bit comforting or light-hearted afterwards, because this a narrative punch to the gut.… (meer)

This is one of those stories that while powerful, will resonate with you depending on who you are and the mood you are in. Its a very bleak world of ignored children, abuse, and absolute disfunctionality.

We have Ian, a product of incest, unloved, mostly hated, by his Mom, ignored and discarded by his Dad. His sister is the only one who wants him, but she ended up in prison trying to get the money to start new lives. And that is only the beginning. His sister rescues him from London from their abusive mother after getting of prison, and than sends him back to Australia, where his Dad lives. As he grows older, he searches for his sister, following her to America, always homeless, until a reporter acquaintance allows him to crash at his New York apartment.

This is bleak. Everyone has their own interests, using Ian for their own purposes, even the reporter, who while up front about his interest, is weirdly fascinated by Ian and his hard life story.

The illustration style matches the tone of the story, bleak, muted, very angular line work. I am not going to say I liked this story, but I am glad that I read it.… (meer)