What do you think?
Rate this book
The Last Book You’ll Ever Read #1-8
The Last Book You'll Ever Read: The Complete Series
A supernatural horror thriller for readers of Chuck Palahniuk (Lullaby and Haunted: A Novel), Marisha Pessl,(Night Film), and Scarlett Thomas (The End of Mr. Y), The Last Book You’ll Ever Read tells the terrifying story of a woman who knows the horrific truth about the past – and future - of humankind, and, when captured in her book SATYR, it becomes the catalyst for worldwide, mind-numbing violence.
Read this book at your own peril.
Olivia Kade wrote the book that ended the world. Now she needs someone who won't read it.
Civilization is a lie. Hidden deep in our genes is the truth. And it is slowly clawing its way to the surface. Olivia Kade knows the truth, and she has become the prophet of the coming collapse. Her book, SATYR, is an international bestseller, and it is being blamed for acts of senseless violence and bloodshed all over the world. Olivia's own life is in danger from those who have read her work. Determined to conduct a book tour, she hires security professional Connor Wilson to act as her bodyguard. She only has one requirement: he cannot read her work.
John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness meets Chuck Palahniuk’s Lullaby in this terrifyingly dangerous tale of the descent of humankind where reality and fantasy collide.
Collects the entire smash 8-issue series.
For fans of Stephen Graham Jones, Stephen King, Chuck Palahniuk, Alma Katsu, The Ring, and The Ninth Gate.
Read this book at your own peril.
Olivia Kade wrote the book that ended the world. Now she needs someone who won't read it.
Civilization is a lie. Hidden deep in our genes is the truth. And it is slowly clawing its way to the surface. Olivia Kade knows the truth, and she has become the prophet of the coming collapse. Her book, SATYR, is an international bestseller, and it is being blamed for acts of senseless violence and bloodshed all over the world. Olivia's own life is in danger from those who have read her work. Determined to conduct a book tour, she hires security professional Connor Wilson to act as her bodyguard. She only has one requirement: he cannot read her work.
John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness meets Chuck Palahniuk’s Lullaby in this terrifyingly dangerous tale of the descent of humankind where reality and fantasy collide.
Collects the entire smash 8-issue series.
For fans of Stephen Graham Jones, Stephen King, Chuck Palahniuk, Alma Katsu, The Ring, and The Ninth Gate.
192 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 20, 2022
15 people are currently reading
124 people want to read
About the author
Cullen Bunn
2,101 books1,058 followersCullen grew up in rural North Carolina, but now lives in the St. Louis area with his wife Cindy and his son Jackson. His noir/horror comic (and first collaboration with Brian Hurtt), The Damned, was published in 2007 by Oni Press. The follow-up, The Damned: Prodigal Sons, was released in 2008. In addition to The Sixth Gun, his current projects include Crooked Hills, a middle reader horror prose series from Evileye Books; The Tooth, an original graphic novel from Oni Press; and various work for Marvel and DC. Somewhere along the way, Cullen founded Undaunted Press and edited the critically acclaimed small press horror magazine, Whispers from the Shattered Forum.
All writers must pay their dues, and Cullen has worked various odd jobs, including Alien Autopsy Specialist, Rodeo Clown, Professional Wrestler Manager, and Sasquatch Wrangler.
And, yes, he has fought for his life against mountain lions and he did perform on stage as the World's Youngest Hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime, and he'll tell you all about it.
Visit his website at www.cullenbunn.com.
All writers must pay their dues, and Cullen has worked various odd jobs, including Alien Autopsy Specialist, Rodeo Clown, Professional Wrestler Manager, and Sasquatch Wrangler.
And, yes, he has fought for his life against mountain lions and he did perform on stage as the World's Youngest Hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime, and he'll tell you all about it.
Visit his website at www.cullenbunn.com.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
July 25, 2022
As much as I really enjoyed the art, the story did not stick well with me. It starts out great, but literally 80% of this book feels like I'm reading someone's manifesto and I was bored of it's repetition halfway through. Doesn't seem to resolve itself well enough either. 2.5 rounded down for me.
November 10, 2022
Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book in return for an honest review.
Olivia Kade is a self-styled provocateur, bleak and flippant about the end times. In The Last Book You’ll Ever Read, she stubbornly embarks on a doomed book tour, ignoring all the warning signs that her writing may be inspiring real-world darkness.
She is the author of Satyr, a bestselling essay in book form, basically just her manifesto about the bleak state of the world. The problem is that her book seems to inspire fits of animalistic behavior in her readers. It’s hugely popular despite being nothing but doom-and-gloom proclamations, and now her public readings are getting a bit dicey. The book opens with a scene where a literally rabid fan attacks her, ranting about something called the Wilding.
Olivia won’t be silenced, though, so she hires a security team and soldiers on, with the caveat that her new head of security must not read her book (never mind that he’ll hear plenty of excerpts at her readings). As you might imagine, this does not go well.
This book is nothing but a series of repetitive, violent escalations. Olivia goes from town to town reading from her book, and we’re treated to the same passages over and over again. This doesn’t make her book seem any more compelling. Instead, it just cements her work as the sort of misanthropic rant vomited online by sweaty, unpleasant characters on a daily basis. She’s the type who could sour the buzz at any open mic night with her apocalyptic “poetry” and clove cigarettes.
After every reading, people inevitably freak out and attack her or her party, oftentimes gruesomely eviscerating their victims. The book turns them into cannibals and/or raw meat eaters, because that’s bloodier and more disgusting. Olivia still insists on continuing her tour despite everything devolving around her. Somehow, bad publicity and personal safety never really seem like a concern in her quest to inflict her writing on everyone in the world.
As the world comes apart at breakneck speed, she falls into bed with her head of security and wonders whether or not her book really caused the end of everything. She insists that she just wanted to have a dialog, not inspire cannibalistic violence, but the core of her argument is that “things are bad all over and people need to stop being so repressed,” so it feels petulant.
The book ends with a whopper of a non-ending that was probably meant to feel literary and artistic, but instead reads like the author didn’t know how to wrap it up. It just sort of stops with the final moments teasingly unresolved as thought that makes them more interesting.
It doesn’t help that the art is wildly inconsistent. The covers are great, and there are panels or sequences that stand out throughout the book, but the characters don’t look like the same people from page to page or panel to panel. The effect is sloppy and distracting.
Unfortunately, this book didn’t work for me at all. It was “edgy” and unpleasant, and I couldn’t find anything redeeming about it in the end.
Originally posted at Full of Words.
Olivia Kade is a self-styled provocateur, bleak and flippant about the end times. In The Last Book You’ll Ever Read, she stubbornly embarks on a doomed book tour, ignoring all the warning signs that her writing may be inspiring real-world darkness.
She is the author of Satyr, a bestselling essay in book form, basically just her manifesto about the bleak state of the world. The problem is that her book seems to inspire fits of animalistic behavior in her readers. It’s hugely popular despite being nothing but doom-and-gloom proclamations, and now her public readings are getting a bit dicey. The book opens with a scene where a literally rabid fan attacks her, ranting about something called the Wilding.
Olivia won’t be silenced, though, so she hires a security team and soldiers on, with the caveat that her new head of security must not read her book (never mind that he’ll hear plenty of excerpts at her readings). As you might imagine, this does not go well.
This book is nothing but a series of repetitive, violent escalations. Olivia goes from town to town reading from her book, and we’re treated to the same passages over and over again. This doesn’t make her book seem any more compelling. Instead, it just cements her work as the sort of misanthropic rant vomited online by sweaty, unpleasant characters on a daily basis. She’s the type who could sour the buzz at any open mic night with her apocalyptic “poetry” and clove cigarettes.
After every reading, people inevitably freak out and attack her or her party, oftentimes gruesomely eviscerating their victims. The book turns them into cannibals and/or raw meat eaters, because that’s bloodier and more disgusting. Olivia still insists on continuing her tour despite everything devolving around her. Somehow, bad publicity and personal safety never really seem like a concern in her quest to inflict her writing on everyone in the world.
As the world comes apart at breakneck speed, she falls into bed with her head of security and wonders whether or not her book really caused the end of everything. She insists that she just wanted to have a dialog, not inspire cannibalistic violence, but the core of her argument is that “things are bad all over and people need to stop being so repressed,” so it feels petulant.
The book ends with a whopper of a non-ending that was probably meant to feel literary and artistic, but instead reads like the author didn’t know how to wrap it up. It just sort of stops with the final moments teasingly unresolved as thought that makes them more interesting.
It doesn’t help that the art is wildly inconsistent. The covers are great, and there are panels or sequences that stand out throughout the book, but the characters don’t look like the same people from page to page or panel to panel. The effect is sloppy and distracting.
Unfortunately, this book didn’t work for me at all. It was “edgy” and unpleasant, and I couldn’t find anything redeeming about it in the end.
Originally posted at Full of Words.
January 27, 2023
This is straight up one of the worst stories I’ve ever read in any medium, which is a bummer because I typically love Bunn’s work.
March 24, 2025
NOTE: I read this in the single monthly issues - - first issue read upon initial release in July 2021 and then stockpiled for a complete reading of all eight issues just recently. Now, I know why I waited so long to get to this.
So disappointing, especially after a well-done debut issue that introduced the clever premise and promised so much more. Here's what I said about Issue #1 in a FIVE-STAR review from 2021:
**********
Writer Cullen Bunn is a one-man House of Ideas and he’s done it again. Plus, that is one of the cleverest double-edged swords of a title that I can recall. Upon viewing that on the comic shop shelves, not many can resist picking it up and scanning a few pages to see what it’s all about. Artist Leila Leiz has a very appealing style that deserves more recognition, especially for her use of body language and facial expressions.
Best-selling author Olivia Kade has written Satyr, a non-fiction unmasking of human nature that is being “blamed for acts of senseless violence and bloodshed all over the world”. When her book-signing tour puts her in deadly danger, she hires a security guard who must pledge that he will not read her book.
“Predator or Prey? Polite society tells us there is a difference. But - - deep down - - we know better. We’re both. We’re neither. We’re Prey . . right up until the moment we hunt.”
Is Kade the prophet of the coming collapse, or is there something even more sinister going on? An absolutely brilliant debut issue. If this plays out correctly, it could be among the top horror comics of the year. FIVE STARS.
**********
Unfortunately, it did not play out. This is nothing more than a slightly above-average horror comic. It also did not need eight issues to unfold. Four or five would have been more than sufficient. It's as if Bunn came up with this great idea, and then floundered around figuring out how best to present it. The art is well done, and showcases the promising talent of Leiz. But, the story is repetitive and quickly degenerates into a monthly display of blood and guts and erotic sex scenes (the point being made earlier, so these just seem like filler as well).
The most disappointing of several disappointments for me is that Bunn left the ending vague and inconclusive, perhaps anticipating a chance to write a sequel. Please, no need. There was an opportunity to go really bold here, and Bunn flinched. The ending should have been either apocalyptic and dark with primitive instincts prevailing, or uplighting as good triumphs over debasement and decency is restored. We get neither.
So disappointing, especially after a well-done debut issue that introduced the clever premise and promised so much more. Here's what I said about Issue #1 in a FIVE-STAR review from 2021:
**********
Writer Cullen Bunn is a one-man House of Ideas and he’s done it again. Plus, that is one of the cleverest double-edged swords of a title that I can recall. Upon viewing that on the comic shop shelves, not many can resist picking it up and scanning a few pages to see what it’s all about. Artist Leila Leiz has a very appealing style that deserves more recognition, especially for her use of body language and facial expressions.
Best-selling author Olivia Kade has written Satyr, a non-fiction unmasking of human nature that is being “blamed for acts of senseless violence and bloodshed all over the world”. When her book-signing tour puts her in deadly danger, she hires a security guard who must pledge that he will not read her book.
“Predator or Prey? Polite society tells us there is a difference. But - - deep down - - we know better. We’re both. We’re neither. We’re Prey . . right up until the moment we hunt.”
Is Kade the prophet of the coming collapse, or is there something even more sinister going on? An absolutely brilliant debut issue. If this plays out correctly, it could be among the top horror comics of the year. FIVE STARS.
**********
Unfortunately, it did not play out. This is nothing more than a slightly above-average horror comic. It also did not need eight issues to unfold. Four or five would have been more than sufficient. It's as if Bunn came up with this great idea, and then floundered around figuring out how best to present it. The art is well done, and showcases the promising talent of Leiz. But, the story is repetitive and quickly degenerates into a monthly display of blood and guts and erotic sex scenes (the point being made earlier, so these just seem like filler as well).
The most disappointing of several disappointments for me is that Bunn left the ending vague and inconclusive, perhaps anticipating a chance to write a sequel. Please, no need. There was an opportunity to go really bold here, and Bunn flinched. The ending should have been either apocalyptic and dark with primitive instincts prevailing, or uplighting as good triumphs over debasement and decency is restored. We get neither.
August 3, 2024
I thought this was OK, leaning toward Meh. I liked the art, the way it was clean sometimes, but then loose when people lost their civilized mien. The subtle ways some things were relayed tickled me—like Conner suddenly going shirtless (let’s say half naked for the sake of my comparison) at the same time that he essentially went half Wilding. I loved the coloring, and I saw where the author was going with the plot. But I still have to say ‘Meh.’
One of the main reasons is how sexualized so many things are. Now, I know when a female reader of a male claimed media (as graphic novels still are) starts saying anything like “I thought there was too much sex” or “the female character was too sexualized,” a lot of people roll their eyes and dismiss the reviewer as a pearl-clutcher, a feminazi or whatever—and yes, I know women were involved in the publication. But hear me out.
I understand that the book is saying humanity is skewing toward baser instincts. Sex and lust are just such instincts, and the book was called Satyr, after all. Plus, even the main characters were losing themselves in a way. I didn’t miss any of the symbolism (and I don’t have any general issue with nudity or sex in a graphic novel, not even a gory horror one). But I also don’t think any—except maybe one—sex scene is actually stitched into the plot. There are several of them and they tend to just be shoved in between chapters with no real plot-relevant purpose. And there are just so many non-sexual panels that are a little too male-gaze sexy to serve the purpose. The cover is a great example of what I mean. I eventually just rolled my eyes at it all. Not because I was overly scandalized or because of my feminist leanings, but because it was all just so darned pedestrian. I was legitimately bored by it.
All in all, I didn’t hate it. I saw value in it. But it definitely wasn’t my favorite graphic novel of the year.
One of the main reasons is how sexualized so many things are. Now, I know when a female reader of a male claimed media (as graphic novels still are) starts saying anything like “I thought there was too much sex” or “the female character was too sexualized,” a lot of people roll their eyes and dismiss the reviewer as a pearl-clutcher, a feminazi or whatever—and yes, I know women were involved in the publication. But hear me out.
I understand that the book is saying humanity is skewing toward baser instincts. Sex and lust are just such instincts, and the book was called Satyr, after all. Plus, even the main characters were losing themselves in a way. I didn’t miss any of the symbolism (and I don’t have any general issue with nudity or sex in a graphic novel, not even a gory horror one). But I also don’t think any—except maybe one—sex scene is actually stitched into the plot. There are several of them and they tend to just be shoved in between chapters with no real plot-relevant purpose. And there are just so many non-sexual panels that are a little too male-gaze sexy to serve the purpose. The cover is a great example of what I mean. I eventually just rolled my eyes at it all. Not because I was overly scandalized or because of my feminist leanings, but because it was all just so darned pedestrian. I was legitimately bored by it.
All in all, I didn’t hate it. I saw value in it. But it definitely wasn’t my favorite graphic novel of the year.
November 4, 2022
Nope
Nope not worth the purchase which is disappointing cause the first few pages had me interested of the concept; A published book making people go insane reminded me of the movie The Mouth of Madness by John Carpenter. Instead we get a lot of blah, blah,blah that had me lose interest an skip forward just to get through the tale leading to an anticlimactic conclusion. I guess if you like seeing naked people running around going insane for no reason is to get this comic you're welcome to it but I suggest you give this a big avoid an save yourself the trouble.
Nope not worth the purchase which is disappointing cause the first few pages had me interested of the concept; A published book making people go insane reminded me of the movie The Mouth of Madness by John Carpenter. Instead we get a lot of blah, blah,blah that had me lose interest an skip forward just to get through the tale leading to an anticlimactic conclusion. I guess if you like seeing naked people running around going insane for no reason is to get this comic you're welcome to it but I suggest you give this a big avoid an save yourself the trouble.
September 27, 2022
I received a copy of this graphic novel through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I will say this about this graphic novel… I did not like it. That being said the artwork is amazing and visually it is stunning, it’s the story I couldn’t really get behind. I’m sure there will be a ton of people that love this and I hated to not like it but I just couldn’t get through the story. The artwork is what kept me reading.
October 12, 2022
The star is for Leila Leiz' artwork and the first issue being quite strong. Everything that follows resulted in one of the dullest and non-scary horror comics I've read this past year. And despite the titillating nature of some of the variant covers, one might expect some level of raunchiness to be infused into the story - but no, not even close.
postpone
November 5, 2022No.
June 14, 2023
This one had an interesting premise but started floundering about half way through and never came back up for a breath of fresh air. In the end it was a bit disappointing.
April 4, 2023
I’m not really sure what I just read but I liked it. The artwork was killer and the story was gross and creepy.
March 7, 2025
Probably the best comic I have ever read but also something I can never admit is my favourite
Read
September 18, 2022"Civilization tricked itself. Its own lie backfired. We cannot be tamed. Conditioned, perhaps. But not domesticated. A lifetime in captivity cannot hide our true natures. We are genetically wild."
So essentially, someone has written one of those books again, and this time it's called Satyr. Fair play, I would be more likely to read this one, because rather than being one of those men who usually write these books, the author this time is called Olivia Kade and looks like Kate Jackson by way of the lead in a sixties French film. But I still don't buy that it would play a key role in a complete breakdown of the world as we know it, like a watered-down Crossed meets a less imaginative Mouth Of Madness, though it probably doesn't help that the excerpts here are of course written by Cullen Bunn, a man intermittently able to write good horror comics, rather than Olivia Kade, his creation, whose talents supposedly run a little further. Not that his failings here are limited to the admittedly sticky wicket of creating a character smarter than oneself and having to back that up. Case in point: the book tour which forms the spine of the plot. I'm not objecting to the crushingly obvious direction of the bodyguard/client plot so much as the bit where Satyr is one of those books that everyone on public transport is reading, but the events aren't even in lecture halls, they're in the sort of small bookshops where I see genial non-celebrity academics launch their latest poetry book, and even there they don't look particularly packed. Some respite from the edgy platitudes and overfamiliar story comes in the art, by Leila Leiz and Vladimir Popov, which at least offers very attractive leads and a nice line in monsterfucking, though on other topics it can suggest a team who fell for how easy the Allreds make it look to do art like the Allreds'.
(Netgalley ARC)
So essentially, someone has written one of those books again, and this time it's called Satyr. Fair play, I would be more likely to read this one, because rather than being one of those men who usually write these books, the author this time is called Olivia Kade and looks like Kate Jackson by way of the lead in a sixties French film. But I still don't buy that it would play a key role in a complete breakdown of the world as we know it, like a watered-down Crossed meets a less imaginative Mouth Of Madness, though it probably doesn't help that the excerpts here are of course written by Cullen Bunn, a man intermittently able to write good horror comics, rather than Olivia Kade, his creation, whose talents supposedly run a little further. Not that his failings here are limited to the admittedly sticky wicket of creating a character smarter than oneself and having to back that up. Case in point: the book tour which forms the spine of the plot. I'm not objecting to the crushingly obvious direction of the bodyguard/client plot so much as the bit where Satyr is one of those books that everyone on public transport is reading, but the events aren't even in lecture halls, they're in the sort of small bookshops where I see genial non-celebrity academics launch their latest poetry book, and even there they don't look particularly packed. Some respite from the edgy platitudes and overfamiliar story comes in the art, by Leila Leiz and Vladimir Popov, which at least offers very attractive leads and a nice line in monsterfucking, though on other topics it can suggest a team who fell for how easy the Allreds make it look to do art like the Allreds'.
(Netgalley ARC)
May 21, 2023
I loved the premise being used here, of a book that sends people mad once they read it, as per The King in Yellow.
The book here is linked to violence and triggers an occasional person, so the author hires a security firm to keep her safe while she goes ahead with a book tour.
Strange acts of violence continue to rise and chapter by chapter another layer to events is revealed.
The book here is linked to violence and triggers an occasional person, so the author hires a security firm to keep her safe while she goes ahead with a book tour.
Strange acts of violence continue to rise and chapter by chapter another layer to events is revealed.
January 23, 2023
I loved this crazy, dark, sexy story.
It seriously had everything; a deeper message, a well paced narrative, sex, gore, zealots, and more!
This is labeled as the complete series but I do hope there is more to the story.
It seriously had everything; a deeper message, a well paced narrative, sex, gore, zealots, and more!
This is labeled as the complete series but I do hope there is more to the story.
January 5, 2025
As a fan of both comics and horror this was trash. There's a blurb on the back from Patton Oswalt that hints that this story might be timely and prescient and I cannot for the life of me imagine why anyone would even have that thought cross their mind. This was what happens when the most unaware pretzel brained of people tries to be deep. There was not a single believable moment in this story.
The premise is foggy and a complete and total philosophical mess. If it were possible that you could combine a two year old with a serial rapist...this is the sort of story they would write. It's childish but also the product of a gross and entitled mind. It's like how people who cheat on their significant other assume that everyone cheats and cheating is just hard wired in human dna. The base premise of the story is that at our core all people just want mindless sex and violence...and that people either repress this or they don't. And I'm not talking about wanting to play a violent video game...the book presents our desire for violence as a physical need to rip and tear other people to death with our teeth.
The problem is the ideas are convoluted not because they are complicated but because there is no cohesive point and the ideas of the author are contradictory. It came across as some high college student just rambling the same point over and over again, it goes nowhere and the ideas just kind of fizzle out or morph into something else. Was it an indictment of human nature or a supernatural story about a malevolent force trying to trick us into violence...the author didn't seem to know, ideologically tried to have it both ways.
And beyond that the execution was awful, we're supposed to buy that the world comes to an end because of a book and that people just lose their minds because someone told them people are inherently violent. There's literally hundreds of books like that, nobody cares they're dismissed as trite and myopic. And the lore was so poorly explained and fleshed out almost not at all. The wilding is a concept?...an actual being? what kind of being? It's hinted at that the wilding is just nature trying to take the world back from humans which again is so hackneyed I can't stand it...but then it's also treated like a malevolent demonic entity...but it's also treated like a philosophical concept...and its like the author just couldn't decide so they didn't. And just so you know I can't even spoil the ending because there isn't one it just ends. I had to go back and reread the last few pages to confirm that yes that's how they chose to end it because in my head I'm like no there's a page or something I'm missing because there's no way that is how this ended. It may as well have ended mid sentence. The book asks questions of the reader like "is her book causing the ends of the world or is it the guide we need to survive it." and then just doesn't answer. The author seems to change the idea as the issues go along. When the story started it seemed like a ripoff of birdbox, where seeing or experiencing something causes a psychological shift...they even drew the eyes of the effected people similar to what happens to the peoples eyes in birdbox...but then they seem to abandon that idea..maybe realizing its too deriviative.
Also the art...the art. Some of it is cool, some of it is well done but I'm talking about a cover or a panel here or there, for the majority of the comic the art is pretty bad. a lot of blurry miscoloured misshapen dongs, weird proportions and little detail. Came across as sloppy and rushed... which is a shame because the comic seems to be nothing more than an excuse for drawing porn and gore, so the art should be at least top notch. Nudity is fine and if you want to just draw porn then do that..don't pretend it's a horror story. There was absolutely no reason there needed to be full page sex scenes in every issue. They just pause the story every so often to have sex and it's stupid...you have story to write and only so many panels to do it in, probably why the plot is so haphazard and ill explained.
This is what a porn addled mind writes after taking a philosophy 101 course and joining an internet atheist message board. It's like black pilled redditors who don't actually know anything that's going on but just want to be nihilistic anyway.
The premise is foggy and a complete and total philosophical mess. If it were possible that you could combine a two year old with a serial rapist...this is the sort of story they would write. It's childish but also the product of a gross and entitled mind. It's like how people who cheat on their significant other assume that everyone cheats and cheating is just hard wired in human dna. The base premise of the story is that at our core all people just want mindless sex and violence...and that people either repress this or they don't. And I'm not talking about wanting to play a violent video game...the book presents our desire for violence as a physical need to rip and tear other people to death with our teeth.
The problem is the ideas are convoluted not because they are complicated but because there is no cohesive point and the ideas of the author are contradictory. It came across as some high college student just rambling the same point over and over again, it goes nowhere and the ideas just kind of fizzle out or morph into something else. Was it an indictment of human nature or a supernatural story about a malevolent force trying to trick us into violence...the author didn't seem to know, ideologically tried to have it both ways.
And beyond that the execution was awful, we're supposed to buy that the world comes to an end because of a book and that people just lose their minds because someone told them people are inherently violent. There's literally hundreds of books like that, nobody cares they're dismissed as trite and myopic. And the lore was so poorly explained and fleshed out almost not at all. The wilding is a concept?...an actual being? what kind of being? It's hinted at that the wilding is just nature trying to take the world back from humans which again is so hackneyed I can't stand it...but then it's also treated like a malevolent demonic entity...but it's also treated like a philosophical concept...and its like the author just couldn't decide so they didn't. And just so you know I can't even spoil the ending because there isn't one it just ends. I had to go back and reread the last few pages to confirm that yes that's how they chose to end it because in my head I'm like no there's a page or something I'm missing because there's no way that is how this ended. It may as well have ended mid sentence. The book asks questions of the reader like "is her book causing the ends of the world or is it the guide we need to survive it." and then just doesn't answer. The author seems to change the idea as the issues go along. When the story started it seemed like a ripoff of birdbox, where seeing or experiencing something causes a psychological shift...they even drew the eyes of the effected people similar to what happens to the peoples eyes in birdbox...but then they seem to abandon that idea..maybe realizing its too deriviative.
Also the art...the art. Some of it is cool, some of it is well done but I'm talking about a cover or a panel here or there, for the majority of the comic the art is pretty bad. a lot of blurry miscoloured misshapen dongs, weird proportions and little detail. Came across as sloppy and rushed... which is a shame because the comic seems to be nothing more than an excuse for drawing porn and gore, so the art should be at least top notch. Nudity is fine and if you want to just draw porn then do that..don't pretend it's a horror story. There was absolutely no reason there needed to be full page sex scenes in every issue. They just pause the story every so often to have sex and it's stupid...you have story to write and only so many panels to do it in, probably why the plot is so haphazard and ill explained.
This is what a porn addled mind writes after taking a philosophy 101 course and joining an internet atheist message board. It's like black pilled redditors who don't actually know anything that's going on but just want to be nihilistic anyway.
September 13, 2022
Book Review
Title: The Last Book You'll Ever Read: The Complete Series by Cullen Bunn & Others
Genre: Graphic Novel, Horror
Rating: 3.75 Stars
This might be the manga in me but I’ve never really got on with western graphic novel because I always felt there was too much dialogue. I personally believe that graphic novels, manga, comics anything in a visual format like this should let the art tell the story except where it is absolutely necessary to put dialogue in which is the way manga works but since this is a horror graphic novel I was willing to give it a shot since the only western graphic novel I have liked in the past is The Walking Dead. All I knew about the story going into it was we are following an author who wrote a book that literally ended the world and we are following the fallout of that event. The basic premise of the novel is that we are following Olivia Kade who wrote Satyr, the book that people are blaming for more violent action and death in the world. While Olivia does hire security in Connor Wilson she treat the whole situation very flippantly even continuing with her book tour despite the increasing amount of violence aimed towards her.
Very quickly Olivia and Connor’s relationship goes from professional to sexual which I anticipated from their first meeting as she comes onto him quite strongly. Throughout the numerous attacks on her person, Olivia continues to move forward with the tour written the actions off as those of protestors who don’t like what she has written but there seems to be something evil manipulating everything known as the Wilding or the devil if you look at its depiction in the graphic novel. After encountering a cult which have a much older copy of Olivia’s book she realises that those aren’t her words and that she was selected to write it but the Wilding and now it wants her to become a sacrifice for it but she refuses and Connor also protects her. In their intimate moments we can see several demonic shifts in Olivia’s appearance and Connor’s as well as the story progresses but both refuse to give into that urge inside them.
Eventually as the book predicted the world begins collapses along with humanity and there seems to be only Connor and Olivia who are unaffected looking for somewhere safe to hide but there doesn’t seem to be such a place anymore. The ending of the last volume was ambiguous with Connor being told that the Wilding can’t be killed only made and he challenges that logic making me think he is going to try and fight the devil himself to keep him and Olivia safe. I am not a fan of ambiguous endings especially in graphic novels so that didn’t sit well with me but I am unsure if this is the end of the series or whether there will be more volumes in the future. I would recommend this for fans of movies like Evil Dead and Midsommer since they have similar vibes to this series but overall, it was really my cup of tea but the artwork was amazing having that 80’s style to it with a touch of noir horror which was something I appreciate.
Title: The Last Book You'll Ever Read: The Complete Series by Cullen Bunn & Others
Genre: Graphic Novel, Horror
Rating: 3.75 Stars
This might be the manga in me but I’ve never really got on with western graphic novel because I always felt there was too much dialogue. I personally believe that graphic novels, manga, comics anything in a visual format like this should let the art tell the story except where it is absolutely necessary to put dialogue in which is the way manga works but since this is a horror graphic novel I was willing to give it a shot since the only western graphic novel I have liked in the past is The Walking Dead. All I knew about the story going into it was we are following an author who wrote a book that literally ended the world and we are following the fallout of that event. The basic premise of the novel is that we are following Olivia Kade who wrote Satyr, the book that people are blaming for more violent action and death in the world. While Olivia does hire security in Connor Wilson she treat the whole situation very flippantly even continuing with her book tour despite the increasing amount of violence aimed towards her.
Very quickly Olivia and Connor’s relationship goes from professional to sexual which I anticipated from their first meeting as she comes onto him quite strongly. Throughout the numerous attacks on her person, Olivia continues to move forward with the tour written the actions off as those of protestors who don’t like what she has written but there seems to be something evil manipulating everything known as the Wilding or the devil if you look at its depiction in the graphic novel. After encountering a cult which have a much older copy of Olivia’s book she realises that those aren’t her words and that she was selected to write it but the Wilding and now it wants her to become a sacrifice for it but she refuses and Connor also protects her. In their intimate moments we can see several demonic shifts in Olivia’s appearance and Connor’s as well as the story progresses but both refuse to give into that urge inside them.
Eventually as the book predicted the world begins collapses along with humanity and there seems to be only Connor and Olivia who are unaffected looking for somewhere safe to hide but there doesn’t seem to be such a place anymore. The ending of the last volume was ambiguous with Connor being told that the Wilding can’t be killed only made and he challenges that logic making me think he is going to try and fight the devil himself to keep him and Olivia safe. I am not a fan of ambiguous endings especially in graphic novels so that didn’t sit well with me but I am unsure if this is the end of the series or whether there will be more volumes in the future. I would recommend this for fans of movies like Evil Dead and Midsommer since they have similar vibes to this series but overall, it was really my cup of tea but the artwork was amazing having that 80’s style to it with a touch of noir horror which was something I appreciate.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 2, 2022
I have to admit, this horror graphic novel had me scratching my head a bit. I love the art style and the premise definitely drew me in. The beginning is quite intense and throws you right into the central horror of this story. Olivia is an interesting character and there were some cool plot threads spread throughout. Unfortunately, the concept of plot kind of leaves us the further in you go and many of those beautiful threads were left hanging in the wind. I was left not really knowing where the story is trying to go nor am I all that interested in finding out. I would definitely only recommend it to adult horror fans as it contains a lot of nudity, gore, and sex on the page.
Olivia Blakes popular but controversial book, SATYR, is causing quite a stir. In addition to its inflaming philosophy, there has also been an increase in unusually violent crimes since the book’s release. As the incidents continue to climb, many wonder if Olivia’s book is the cause of this violence or if it merely foretold this new trend. Despite the growing tension, Olivia is determined to complete her book tour and hires Connor Wilson and his security team to protect her against the wave of threats and violence that greet her at every reading. The further the crew goes, the more Connor has to wonder; is SATYR truly the cause of the madness or is it humanity’s only protection against the coming storm?
From the beginning, this graphic novel brings the weird, creepy factor I crave during the spooky season. Though graphic, the art was the true standout in this piece. There is some beautiful (and grotesque) visual symbolism that really helps set the tone of the piece. Olivia is an interesting character and I was eager to uncover how she was related to ‘The Wilding’. What starts as a simple book tour about a controversial book quickly turns into something much darker. Some of these shifts were very abrupt, but it brings the action and grotesque factor I am sure readers of the genre can appreciate.
Unfortunately, I felt a great story premise was mostly left to hang in favor of more active or graphic scenes. Despite the great visual storytelling, the dialogue is fairly basic and repetitive. We never really get to linger on some of the intriguing concepts introduced and as a result, it feels like we just jump from idea to idea. The message quickly lost its effectiveness as the characters began to stumble about and flatten. Connor’s failure to ever move past the ‘protector’ trope was probably the most disappointing. Honestly, as much as I wanted to like it, I wasn’t really sure what the purpose of the journey was or what was (or wasn’t) accomplished.
Olivia Blakes popular but controversial book, SATYR, is causing quite a stir. In addition to its inflaming philosophy, there has also been an increase in unusually violent crimes since the book’s release. As the incidents continue to climb, many wonder if Olivia’s book is the cause of this violence or if it merely foretold this new trend. Despite the growing tension, Olivia is determined to complete her book tour and hires Connor Wilson and his security team to protect her against the wave of threats and violence that greet her at every reading. The further the crew goes, the more Connor has to wonder; is SATYR truly the cause of the madness or is it humanity’s only protection against the coming storm?
From the beginning, this graphic novel brings the weird, creepy factor I crave during the spooky season. Though graphic, the art was the true standout in this piece. There is some beautiful (and grotesque) visual symbolism that really helps set the tone of the piece. Olivia is an interesting character and I was eager to uncover how she was related to ‘The Wilding’. What starts as a simple book tour about a controversial book quickly turns into something much darker. Some of these shifts were very abrupt, but it brings the action and grotesque factor I am sure readers of the genre can appreciate.
Unfortunately, I felt a great story premise was mostly left to hang in favor of more active or graphic scenes. Despite the great visual storytelling, the dialogue is fairly basic and repetitive. We never really get to linger on some of the intriguing concepts introduced and as a result, it feels like we just jump from idea to idea. The message quickly lost its effectiveness as the characters began to stumble about and flatten. Connor’s failure to ever move past the ‘protector’ trope was probably the most disappointing. Honestly, as much as I wanted to like it, I wasn’t really sure what the purpose of the journey was or what was (or wasn’t) accomplished.
September 19, 2022
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Independent Publishers Group and Vault Comics for an advanced copy of this graphic novel tale of horror.
Humans always seem very close to just throwing their hands up in the air and letting themselves just rage out. Especially now. Pettiness is the new normal, being a jackass seems its own reward and a school shootings aren't even a lead story. As a society we allow this to continue, so what does that say about humans. Well maybe it isn't really our fault, maybe down deep in the codes of our DNA we are hardwired to self destruct, to rend our clothing and take a bite out of our neighbors. Or authors who tell us these truths. The Last Book You'll Ever Read is a graphic novel of horror, mature horror written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Leila Leiz and Vladimir Popov, about a book, an author and her bodyguard and the end of the world.
Satyr is a an International bestseller and has made the writer Olivia Kade the envy of publishers, and the enemy of a lot of people. Olivia's book events are sold out affairs, complete with people who want to attack her, some that seem scarily inhuman. Wanting to continue her tour, Olivia hires a private security team lead by Connor Wilson to keep her save. With the proviso that he not read her book. The tour continues with things getting strange, people acting oddly at the events, violence rising around the nation. And then things get much stranger.
A familiar story, a cursed book and an author, but still an interesting tale nonetheless. My only real question was why her book events seemed so small, I would think the 92 Street Y or something like that would be better served. Also the story just seems to end, the journey there is fine, but the ending just comes quickly. The art is really quite good, with a nice mix of normal, to insane graphics back to normal. When things really get real, the art keeps pace well with the story. And pay attention to the art. A lot of things happen in some panels that explain some of the actions and ideas of the characters.
A decent story with good art. I hope there is more, as I would like to see where the story was going, and there is a lot of side stories that could be investigated more.
Humans always seem very close to just throwing their hands up in the air and letting themselves just rage out. Especially now. Pettiness is the new normal, being a jackass seems its own reward and a school shootings aren't even a lead story. As a society we allow this to continue, so what does that say about humans. Well maybe it isn't really our fault, maybe down deep in the codes of our DNA we are hardwired to self destruct, to rend our clothing and take a bite out of our neighbors. Or authors who tell us these truths. The Last Book You'll Ever Read is a graphic novel of horror, mature horror written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Leila Leiz and Vladimir Popov, about a book, an author and her bodyguard and the end of the world.
Satyr is a an International bestseller and has made the writer Olivia Kade the envy of publishers, and the enemy of a lot of people. Olivia's book events are sold out affairs, complete with people who want to attack her, some that seem scarily inhuman. Wanting to continue her tour, Olivia hires a private security team lead by Connor Wilson to keep her save. With the proviso that he not read her book. The tour continues with things getting strange, people acting oddly at the events, violence rising around the nation. And then things get much stranger.
A familiar story, a cursed book and an author, but still an interesting tale nonetheless. My only real question was why her book events seemed so small, I would think the 92 Street Y or something like that would be better served. Also the story just seems to end, the journey there is fine, but the ending just comes quickly. The art is really quite good, with a nice mix of normal, to insane graphics back to normal. When things really get real, the art keeps pace well with the story. And pay attention to the art. A lot of things happen in some panels that explain some of the actions and ideas of the characters.
A decent story with good art. I hope there is more, as I would like to see where the story was going, and there is a lot of side stories that could be investigated more.
December 16, 2023
Today's fiction post is on The Last Book You'll Ever Read: The Complete Series by Cullen Bunn et al. It is 192 pages long and is published by Vault Comics. The cover has the main character bursting out of a book with monster hands reaching for her. The intended reader is someone who likes horror and graphic novels. There is foul language, sex, and violence in this graphic novel. The story is told from third person close of two of the characters. There Be Spoilers Ahead.
From the back of the book- Read this book at your own peril.
Olivia Kade wrote the book that ended the world. Now she needs someone who won't read it.
Civilization is a lie. Hidden deep in our genes is the truth. And it is slowly clawing its way to the surface. Olivia Kade knows the truth, and she has become the prophet of the coming collapse. Her book, SATYR, is an international bestseller, and it is being blamed for acts of senseless violence and bloodshed all over the world. Olivia's own life is in danger from those who have read her work. Determined to conduct a book tour, she hires security professional Connor Wilson to act as her bodyguard. She only has one requirement: he cannot read her work.
Review- An interesting graphic novel about a woman who wrote a book that could end civilization. Olivia wrote, what she thought was, a book about human nature and philosophy. But as more and more people read her book something is happening to them. The reader either think she is a holy prophet or a doomsayer and must be killed. Her bodyguard hasn't read the book and is mystified by the extreme reactions. Now all he has to do is get Olivia to the last stop on her book tour. This was a fun read with lots of questions about the nature of the book that Olivia wrote or if she wrote it all. The art is very good, the story is compelling, and the ending is open for more to be written in this world. I would like to see more in this world and how others are surviving in it. I would recommend this graphic novel.
I give this graphic novel a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this graphic novel from my local library.
From the back of the book- Read this book at your own peril.
Olivia Kade wrote the book that ended the world. Now she needs someone who won't read it.
Civilization is a lie. Hidden deep in our genes is the truth. And it is slowly clawing its way to the surface. Olivia Kade knows the truth, and she has become the prophet of the coming collapse. Her book, SATYR, is an international bestseller, and it is being blamed for acts of senseless violence and bloodshed all over the world. Olivia's own life is in danger from those who have read her work. Determined to conduct a book tour, she hires security professional Connor Wilson to act as her bodyguard. She only has one requirement: he cannot read her work.
Review- An interesting graphic novel about a woman who wrote a book that could end civilization. Olivia wrote, what she thought was, a book about human nature and philosophy. But as more and more people read her book something is happening to them. The reader either think she is a holy prophet or a doomsayer and must be killed. Her bodyguard hasn't read the book and is mystified by the extreme reactions. Now all he has to do is get Olivia to the last stop on her book tour. This was a fun read with lots of questions about the nature of the book that Olivia wrote or if she wrote it all. The art is very good, the story is compelling, and the ending is open for more to be written in this world. I would like to see more in this world and how others are surviving in it. I would recommend this graphic novel.
I give this graphic novel a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this graphic novel from my local library.
November 9, 2022
2.5 stars
They took the two wolves quote about darkness vs light, hope vs despair, and mutilated it.
Olivia writes a novel about how society has to work so hard to maintain their manners, but really we're all just waiting for the chance to murder and do whatever we want. People are divided, and they don't want it sold anymore as Crime keeps going up. Olivia is about to go on tour, but she needs a guard for protection and hires Conner who hasn't read her book. Except, as one does, having heard parts of her book at the readings, he starts reading it and realizes that there's something else going on in the world. Oh, and they also start having sex any chance they get.
Olivia discovers that the book wasn't really her writing, but some ancient force that wants to see the destruction of the world. So she decides that the only smart thing to do was to go ask it not to destroy the world. Also, they have sex again, and again, and again.
I'm not a prude, but half this book's illustrations were either naked people ripping others faces off, or sex scenes. I just didn't really appreciate it as I didn't think it really added anything to the story, I guess it's the idea of baser instincts and what not, but it just didn't work for me. I did like the artwork, it wasn't amazing, but there were a lot of little details that did great adding to the story.
They took the two wolves quote about darkness vs light, hope vs despair, and mutilated it.
Olivia writes a novel about how society has to work so hard to maintain their manners, but really we're all just waiting for the chance to murder and do whatever we want. People are divided, and they don't want it sold anymore as Crime keeps going up. Olivia is about to go on tour, but she needs a guard for protection and hires Conner who hasn't read her book. Except, as one does, having heard parts of her book at the readings, he starts reading it and realizes that there's something else going on in the world. Oh, and they also start having sex any chance they get.
Olivia discovers that the book wasn't really her writing, but some ancient force that wants to see the destruction of the world. So she decides that the only smart thing to do was to go ask it not to destroy the world. Also, they have sex again, and again, and again.
I'm not a prude, but half this book's illustrations were either naked people ripping others faces off, or sex scenes. I just didn't really appreciate it as I didn't think it really added anything to the story, I guess it's the idea of baser instincts and what not, but it just didn't work for me. I did like the artwork, it wasn't amazing, but there were a lot of little details that did great adding to the story.
October 16, 2022
This is a cool concept, the art is really good, and things start off strong. However...
For all the action going on, the story drags. It gets bogged down in repetition, from the repeated passages being read from the book to the repeated gory crazed-follower attack scenes; it's a pattern of "reading, attack, repeat" through most of the book, that is when we're not getting pages of sex - so much gratuitous sex, omg. *Some* sex scenes would fit into the story, I'm not denying that, but c'mon! Also, the story gets annoyingly vague, and I'm someone who actually likes vagueness in a story! And that ending? I'm okay with open endings too, but damn, gimme more than that! Not that I cared about any of the characters, they were all pretty flat. Would I recommend this though? Yeah, I would, oddly enough. It is a good premise, it does lure you in with some satisfying creepy vibes despite kinda repeating itself, and the art is quite nice, lurid in a good way (do be prepared for some floppy wieners though). It just didn't quite reach its potential, in my opinion. Worth a read, but not what I'd choose first.
For all the action going on, the story drags. It gets bogged down in repetition, from the repeated passages being read from the book to the repeated gory crazed-follower attack scenes; it's a pattern of "reading, attack, repeat" through most of the book, that is when we're not getting pages of sex - so much gratuitous sex, omg. *Some* sex scenes would fit into the story, I'm not denying that, but c'mon! Also, the story gets annoyingly vague, and I'm someone who actually likes vagueness in a story! And that ending? I'm okay with open endings too, but damn, gimme more than that! Not that I cared about any of the characters, they were all pretty flat. Would I recommend this though? Yeah, I would, oddly enough. It is a good premise, it does lure you in with some satisfying creepy vibes despite kinda repeating itself, and the art is quite nice, lurid in a good way (do be prepared for some floppy wieners though). It just didn't quite reach its potential, in my opinion. Worth a read, but not what I'd choose first.
October 17, 2022
I can rate this book in one of two ways: on its merit or to my liking as a reader.
I went with the latter, but I will say, on its merit, it's a solid horror idea with deep thinking behind it and some eye-popping visuals that unfortunately loses the thread midway.
As a reader, it is not my cup of tea, and I regret caving to all the hype and reading it. It starts off interesting but quickly degenerates into gratuitous violence and nudity. It's like the author lost the story's direction and just threw cliches and wild, unexplainable things into it to finish the run.
The blood and gore take over and it's all about a confusing concept/threat that never really gets resolved beyond the mandatory ominous ending-that's-not really-an-ending mandatory in all of horror.
I do admit that the art is dynamic and memorable with some crazy imagery helping to move the story along almost as much as the words. It does feel like some panels were done to intentionally raise eyebrows but it fits with the theme of the story, so I'm willing to forgive that.
Thank you to NetGalley and VAULT COMICS for the chance to read in exchange for an honest review.
I went with the latter, but I will say, on its merit, it's a solid horror idea with deep thinking behind it and some eye-popping visuals that unfortunately loses the thread midway.
As a reader, it is not my cup of tea, and I regret caving to all the hype and reading it. It starts off interesting but quickly degenerates into gratuitous violence and nudity. It's like the author lost the story's direction and just threw cliches and wild, unexplainable things into it to finish the run.
The blood and gore take over and it's all about a confusing concept/threat that never really gets resolved beyond the mandatory ominous ending-that's-not really-an-ending mandatory in all of horror.
I do admit that the art is dynamic and memorable with some crazy imagery helping to move the story along almost as much as the words. It does feel like some panels were done to intentionally raise eyebrows but it fits with the theme of the story, so I'm willing to forgive that.
Thank you to NetGalley and VAULT COMICS for the chance to read in exchange for an honest review.
July 26, 2024
I read the graphic novel in one sitting, and it's exactly the sort of thing I like to read - grim and violent with noir aesthetics, but a smattering of romance throughout.
That said, there are a couple of points that I feel the plot glosses over that should have been addressed, "Why is Connor allowed to listen to the readings, but not allowed to read the book?" being a large one.
I also feel like the Wilding could have had a much larger presence - we see in Chapter One that Olivia sees her own reflection as twisted and demonic, and she experiences auditory hallucinations, but that's never revisited.
The story ended on a hell of a cliffhanger, which when done well, can be incredibly exciting. This however, just left me frustrated. It didn't feel like a classic, "What do you think happened?" it simply felt like the story was unfinished. As a professional writer, I can easily come up with a satisfying ending in my head to make up for it, but that's not the point of picking up a complete series.
That said, I DID enjoy it, and I'll likely read more Bunn, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the glaring issues I had in an honest review.
That said, there are a couple of points that I feel the plot glosses over that should have been addressed, "Why is Connor allowed to listen to the readings, but not allowed to read the book?" being a large one.
I also feel like the Wilding could have had a much larger presence - we see in Chapter One that Olivia sees her own reflection as twisted and demonic, and she experiences auditory hallucinations, but that's never revisited.
The story ended on a hell of a cliffhanger, which when done well, can be incredibly exciting. This however, just left me frustrated. It didn't feel like a classic, "What do you think happened?" it simply felt like the story was unfinished. As a professional writer, I can easily come up with a satisfying ending in my head to make up for it, but that's not the point of picking up a complete series.
That said, I DID enjoy it, and I'll likely read more Bunn, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the glaring issues I had in an honest review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 14, 2025
I don’t usually review graphic novels, but I do read them; yet, I felt obligated to write a review for this book. The idea of a book causing people to go crazy or wild is interesting, and the way that it sets up people who want to praise the author and those that want to kill the author is also really intriguing. There’s an underlying sense of dichotomy between nihilism and idolatry here, and up to the midpoint of the series, I actually thought this was really good. But then the second half turns into a survival tale that has no real conclusion. It is one of the most anticlimactic non-endings that I have read in a long time. I’m sure that the author was going for something ambiguous yet meaningful, but I just found this to be a violent, sexually charged graphic novel that ended up being more about the demonic and visceral imagery and darkness in lieu of a meaningful arc.
September 30, 2022
I received an eARC from Netgalley thanks to the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I think this started as a really cool premise. In my mind, the author was impressed by their premise (as they should since it is good) but they just failed to construct a compelling story around the premise. So you have the premise - a woman writes a text that makes people go mad - and then you have great illustrations... and then... you got nothing else.
This, unfortunately, becomes extremely repetitive since all it does is set up the premise over and over, we get it by page 5 but are still being told it on page 160. This saddens me because this could have been great, and I do think it was saved by great art, even if it is often used in gratuitous ways.
I think this started as a really cool premise. In my mind, the author was impressed by their premise (as they should since it is good) but they just failed to construct a compelling story around the premise. So you have the premise - a woman writes a text that makes people go mad - and then you have great illustrations... and then... you got nothing else.
This, unfortunately, becomes extremely repetitive since all it does is set up the premise over and over, we get it by page 5 but are still being told it on page 160. This saddens me because this could have been great, and I do think it was saved by great art, even if it is often used in gratuitous ways.
November 19, 2022
Well, that was fucking terrible.
I enjoyed the art, layouts, and coloring, but the writing was so so so so bad. To the extent there was anything good in there, it should have been a Hellblazer plot. "Some author writes a book that makes those who read it go crazy. Chaos ensues."
But what we actually have is the philosophy of a 16-year-old edgelord held up as if it is revealing deep, meaningful truths rather than just reiterating Nietzsche and Hobbes and whoever came before them.
It's so bad, this book. The characters are not real people. They're a prop to parrot the shitty, boring, trite, garbage philosophy.
God, what a disappointment of a pretty book.
And it's so fucking long.
I enjoyed the art, layouts, and coloring, but the writing was so so so so bad. To the extent there was anything good in there, it should have been a Hellblazer plot. "Some author writes a book that makes those who read it go crazy. Chaos ensues."
But what we actually have is the philosophy of a 16-year-old edgelord held up as if it is revealing deep, meaningful truths rather than just reiterating Nietzsche and Hobbes and whoever came before them.
It's so bad, this book. The characters are not real people. They're a prop to parrot the shitty, boring, trite, garbage philosophy.
God, what a disappointment of a pretty book.
And it's so fucking long.
Read
December 1, 2022Thanks to NetGalley and VAULT COMICS for the digital galley of this comic.
Olivia Kade has written a book with all the dirty secrets of humankind, our past and our future, and now the world might be ending. She hires a bodyguard who hasn’t (and won’t) read it to protect her. The more cities she visits on her book tour, the more clear it becomes that humanity may really be ending.
This was a super quick read, gritty, spooky, gross at times. Just up my alley and perfect for the season, even though it’s still in the 90s outside. I’m doing everything I can to conjure fall and spooky season, and this book definitely helped. Definitely check it out for a wild ride.
Olivia Kade has written a book with all the dirty secrets of humankind, our past and our future, and now the world might be ending. She hires a bodyguard who hasn’t (and won’t) read it to protect her. The more cities she visits on her book tour, the more clear it becomes that humanity may really be ending.
This was a super quick read, gritty, spooky, gross at times. Just up my alley and perfect for the season, even though it’s still in the 90s outside. I’m doing everything I can to conjure fall and spooky season, and this book definitely helped. Definitely check it out for a wild ride.
December 4, 2023
Another perfect example of interesting premise but bad execution. Basically, this is a gender-flipped "In the Mouth of Madness", from the point of view of the author who writes a book unraveling human society.
But it's a whole lot of exposition peppered with people biting and cannibalizing other people or having sort of bacchanal orgies. It is a major problem having protagonists the reader doesn't really care about, at the same time without making the world's lore interesting enough to keep the story going.
The art is decent mostly, but not throughout.
Generally, not the worst comic I've read by far, but nothing I'll remember in a week either.
But it's a whole lot of exposition peppered with people biting and cannibalizing other people or having sort of bacchanal orgies. It is a major problem having protagonists the reader doesn't really care about, at the same time without making the world's lore interesting enough to keep the story going.
The art is decent mostly, but not throughout.
Generally, not the worst comic I've read by far, but nothing I'll remember in a week either.
July 10, 2023
The basic premise is "society is looking for an excuse to tear itself apart and also here's some trippy feral bodyguard sexy time." It's pretty repetitive and feels like someone sat down and said to themselves "What if 'Fight Club' was 'Book Club'?" and tried to tease that out into a book making people go violently feral while repeating lines that are supposed to sound ominously insightful and throw in some hallucinations to be artsy. When all you have to do is turn on the news or social media to feel like there's the gripping tension of society pulling apart at the seems, this comic feels pretty dull.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews