Hell’s Kitchen, the 1970s: Irish and Italian mobsters, dirty streets, crime, money, power (you can practically hear Gimme Shelter fading in)… now imagine the mobsters have vaginas! Whaaaaaaaaaa… Mind. Blown. Such interesting characters are to be found in this rather philosophical work, individuals in fact who I continued to think about after I finished the book. Charming, ephemeral and semi-absurd. It's an appealing story in which the darkness is belied by a soft quirkiness.

Maybe YAs would relate to the characters better than I did (I have no idea), but I'd be reluctant to recommend it to them because of the next problem... The weaknesses here made me cross. Anyone concerned with LGBTQ issues (especially trans ones) may feel the urge to throw this book at the wall. One has to remember it's a different culture, a generation ago, but the trouble is, it doesn't feel like a historical novel. El mundo no existe sólo para mí. El porcentaje de cosas amargas que me sucedan no variará. Yo no puedo decidirlo. Por eso, comprendí que es mejor ser alegre.

This is an incredibly difficult question to answer, for both the characters in the story as well as for the reader. In the story, Mikage loses her grandmother and is then invited to stay with Eriko (a transvestite) and her (his) son, Yuichi. For the most part, this piecemeal family goes about its daily interactions as any “normal” family would. That is until tragedy strikes. I won’t spoil what happens, but let’s just say Mikage loses again, along with some other characters. It is at this point that the reader takes on a new role: one of participant. There are several choices that the reader must make: 1) stop reading; 2) allow the events to play out and continue reading; or 3) believe in the tragedy and get lost in the story. I chose number 3. And even though I have no basis of understanding to compare to these characters, I felt their pain, the confusion, the moments of helplessness that teeter precariously on the edge of hopelessness.

I thoroughly agree with her and that magical quality transforms what could have been a rather banal book into a great one. Kad su stripovi u pitanju, Marvel uvijek ima prednost pred DC-em. Uvijek. Ali Sergio Bonelli ima prednost čak i pred Marvelom. Nije to ista crtačka tehnika, a niti narativi im nisu bliski pa ih, možda, i ne možemo u pravom smislu usporediti, ali stari su mi se stripovi o "običnim" ljudima uvijek činili uspješnijima u narativnom smislu. There's something about Japanese writers. They have the unparalleled ability of transforming an extremely ordinary scene from our everyday mundane lives into something magical and other-worldly.Con una prosa ligera y con una sensibilidad única, la autora, con sólo 24 años, describe el cómo se experimenta sentirse sola en el mundo. Tan sola que llegas al punto de encontrar calor en objetos inanimados o en lugares específicos. Mensen bezwijken niet onder omstandigheden en krachten van buitenaf, ze worden van binnenuit verslagen, dacht ik uit de grond van mijn hart