2024 REREAD: I've read 'Anya's Ghost' three times now - I did another reread after loving Vera Brosgol's most recent graphic novel, 'Plain Jane and the Mermaid', thirteen years later, and I wanted to give her debut another chance - and you know what? Screw it, I love 'Anya's Ghost', too.
Whatever its imperfections (nothing is perfect, after all) and 2011-ness, it is what got me into reading graphic novels, way, way back when, so it'll always have a special place in my heart. And it is a wonderful, breezy, whimsical, funny, and scary book for teenage girls, containing important life lessons for them. The protagonist and the artwork are great.
By now it would be considered a classic. It is one of the best, and classic, graphic novels for girls.
So I'm keeping it, in my beloved collection, on my shelf.
Final Score: 3.5/5
2023 EDIT:
Reread: I don't know, maybe my tastes - and expectations - have changed in over ten years. I still like 'Anya's Ghost' - I especially love the art - and it did get me into comics and graphic novels back when I was about to give up on them. But maybe I just expect more out of my stories now. While this story is good, with a fitting YA/cartoony atmosphere, by more modern graphic novel standards it's not enough.
Mainly, I don't like the rushed ending, and how the toxic friendship theme is handled. Not to mention there's the perverted and hideously inappropriate high school gym teacher who never comes up again after one scene. In the same scene, there is also a nameless friend of Anya's... who then disappears, never to be seen or mentioned again. In fact, quite a few things are brought up once and then forgotten about, like Anya's mother's citizenship test, and Anya's apparent poetry writing.
Oh well. Thanks for the good memories, 'Anya's Ghost'. I appreciate them. I'm just in no rush to revisit them now.
Final Score: 3.5/5
Original Review:
Before reading 'Anya's Ghost', I told myself that if it failed to impress me, then I am done with comics. I have never really been into comic books or graphic novels, apart from manga, as the many I've checked out just didn't work for me, even though I'm a fan of animation and reading. Maybe I'm not much of a geek girl after all. But I wanted to give this one a chance because of all the praise and good reviews and the story about an ordinary teenage girl caught up in the supernatural (I'm a sucker for those kinds of stories, even though they are done to death).
Anyway, my thoughts?
I ended up really liking this. It did start off rather cliched with some parts that made me tilt my head a little, but in the end - especially during the surprising turn in the climax - it entered its way into my cold anti-comics heart.
The characters are memorable and have depth. Even the popular girl Elizabeth, who you would expect to be the typical Alpha Bitch stereotype seen in high school media, turns out to be a nice but insecure and troubled soul.
I love Anya. I think that any teenage girl can relate to her problems. The ghost, Emily, who "haunts" and helps her is there to show just how far Anya will go to be popular. Emily wants her to make the most of her teen years when the spirit herself didn't get that chance. Anya is Russian but she prefers to hide that fact in her American high school so she'll get bullied less (she even worked hard to get rid of her accent when she was younger). She reminded me of Marjane from 'Persepolis' in that way, not just with the similar art style.
Anya starts off wanting to belong, but she grows stronger as the story progresses. She learns to be herself and appreciate what she has; I think that's an important moral for every teen to learn.
Anya's relationship with Emily also goes through quite a lot of changes. At times it's cute and funny, other times it's even scary. But I won't reveal any more than that due to spoilers.
I adore the art as well, at places it reminded me of a Nickelodeon cartoon for slightly older audiences. Indeed this comic is not for young children: content includes smoking, occasional swearing, and sexual innuendo and references.
So 'Anya's Ghost' is a fun and surprising gem of a graphic novel, with flawed and interesting characters who play against their stereotypes, a well-delivered message, and nice artwork. I also think that boys can enjoy it as much as girls; they shouldn't be put off from giving it a try just because the majority of the cast is female.
It has its flaws, such as a few subplots having no real conclusion (thus some characters seem to have been forgotten about in the end), but I would still recommend it to anyone looking for something a little different in the high school drama genre - yes, it seems to have become a genre at any rate.
Final Score: 4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment