An interesting piece of SF canon but one that feels somewhat dated.
Montellier’s comics from the late 1970s and early '80s are reissued with new translations.
This collection gathers three comics (Wonder City, Shelter, and 1996) originally published in France’s Métal Hurlant and updates them with new English translations. (When they appeared in the American Heavy Metal magazine, “her dialogue was translated from straightforward French into such outlandish English that readers essentially had to translate it again,” according to translator Brock.) Wonder City is the story of a couple who meet and fall in love in a dystopian near-future New York before uncovering a terrible secret about the state-supplied birth control given to every woman. In Shelter, a group of strangers is trapped in an underground mall after a nuclear attack, and survivors live under the thumb of a tyrannical mall director. 1996 is a collection of shorter pieces; most are only a page or two long and echo the ideas and themes in the other two comics: totalitarian societies; oppression of women and people of color; violent suppression of protests, and more. The art consists of simple pen-and-ink drawings, done entirely in black and white except for some swaths of vibrant pink. A translator’s note by Brock and an interview with Montellier offer compelling and illuminating insights into the times in which these comics were written. However, as is often the case with older SF, what was once innovative is now commonplace—and, as such, these comics currently feel unsubtle and unsurprising. It’s a dystopian future but one viewed through the lens of the late 1970s with few 21st-century concerns. There are female protagonists—unusual for the time—but they’re constantly victimized by men or society or both; there are scenes of actual or implied sexual assault that feel exploitative. Although this collection can (and should) be appreciated as a piece of comic history, readers might be better served by translations of Montellier’s work from this century.
An interesting piece of SF canon but one that feels somewhat dated.Pub Date: June 27, 2023
ISBN: 9781681377407
Page Count: 200
Publisher: New York Review Comics
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.
A love story about a life of second chances.
In Nassau, in the Bahamas, casino detective Vincent LaPorta grills Alfie Logan, who’d come up a winner three times in a row at the roulette table and walked away with $2 million. “How did you do it?” asks the detective. Alfie calmly denies cheating. You wired all the money to a Gianna Rule, LaPorta says. Why? To explain, Alfie produces a composition book with the words “For the Boss, to Be Read Upon My Death” written on the cover. Read this for answers, Alfie suggests, calling it a love story. His mother had passed along to him a strange trait: He can say “Twice!” and go back to a specific time and place to have a do-over. But it only works once for any particular moment, and then he must live with the new consequences. He can only do this for himself and can’t prevent anyone from dying. Alfie regularly uses his power—failing to impress a girl the first time, he finds out more about her, goes back in time, and presto! She likes him. The premise is of course not credible—LaPorta doesn’t buy it either—but it’s intriguing. Most people would probably love to go back and unsay something. The story’s focus is on Alfie’s love for Gianna and whether it’s requited, unrequited, or both. In any case, he’s obsessed with her. He’s a good man, though, an intelligent person with ordinary human failings and a solid moral compass. Albom writes in a warm, easy style that transports the reader to a world of second chances and what-ifs, where spirituality lies close to the surface but never intrudes on the story. Though a cynic will call it sappy, anyone who is sick to their core from the daily news will enjoy this escape from reality.
Have tissues ready as you read this. A small package will do.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780062406682
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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