Silence, Full Stop: A Memoir

by Karina Shor

A breathtaking and gut-wrenchingly real graphic memoir of the struggles of an adolescent girl processing the trauma of childhood sexual assault. An immigrant at the age of six, she arrived in a strange new world. Karina was labeled "different" immediately, and a desire to be invisible was born. The "different" label expanded to "weird" and "freak", terms that she fervently embraced. By taking society's critique, owning it, and taking pride in it, she gained power over it. In a life overshadowed by fear, Karina wanted control. If something was going to ruin her life it would be her and her alone.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Memoir, Nonfiction, Comics, Mental Health, Biography Memoir, Abuse

272 pages, Paperback

Published November 28, 2023

Reviews

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brutal, is the first word that comes to mind. And unflinching - this graphic memoir about the author becoming addicted to heroine as a young girl, pulls not a punch. To say it's a juvenile junky memoir (if that doesn't turn your stomach, you're a stronger person than I am) is simplistic - it's the sadly logical outcome of an immigrant story that makes Shor feel like an eternal outsider. It's about Shor losing autonomy of her body. It's heartwrenching.



One minor point of criticism might be that we don't get to see Shor's recovery, but the book isn't about healing as much as it is about the wounding.

The art, too, is brutal and beautiful at the same tim. Evocative and frightening.

Steel yourself and read it.

(Picked up a review copy through Edelweiss)

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first graphic novel I have ever read. While the subject matter is dark, along with the images, this was a moving and fast read. This has piqued my interest in exploring more graphic novels in the future. I want to note that this is not a rating of the author’s life herself, more so the story telling and imagery. I’d say this is a 3.75 rounded up.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

This GUTTED me. Horrifying and bleak and beautiful. Maybe the best thing I’ve read all year.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Raw and of the moment. Shor illustrates her life, weaving childhood diaries with memory and reflection. It digs deep into the pain of girl- and womanhood. The expectations, the loneliness, the disconnect, the yearning. Shor's art is powerful and immediate.

[Zana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, such a wholly visceral and heartbreaking coming of age memoir! This is the story of an immigrant girl in Israel trying to find her way in life while navigating societal pressures and what it means to be a young woman in modern society.

Long story short, it's a hell of lot to take in. And the author/illustrator doesn't pull back any punches.

The illustration isn't my personal favorite, but it definitely gets the point across when it comes to the effects of drugs and substance abuse. The use of bright colors, blending, and blurring the lines between shapes and colors really enhances the storytelling.

I would've liked a more concrete ending instead of something metaphorical, but then again, that's not how life works.

Thank you to Street Noise Books and Edelweiss for this arc.

[Amanda Jamieson · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much pain. So much violent sexual harm. Drugs as a way to dull or end. My heart goes out to all who suffer from the infuriating abuse from others.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

A raw, wrenching, rough and visceral account through diaries and memories of Karina Shor's troubled coming-of-age, in a supportive family. It's a lot, and almost never disturbing. The family emigrates to Israel, where Shor spins into a downward spiral maybe instigated by sexual abuse into more sexual abuse, addiction, depression, madness. And now recovery and art, inspired by her artist father.

Made me think of the also complicated descents into madness and addiction and sexual dysfunction of Kabi Nagata, Charles Forsman, Jesse Reklaw, Simon Hanselman, and I have as of today reviewed 153 books in a catergory I named GN-Psych. A lot of trauma out there.

It is about growing up, and she describes her teen years, but I hesitate to call it YA.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not the right reader for this memoir. Probably suggest this rather sparsely, but it will be a great fit for just the right person.

The author illustrates her experiences moving internationally at a young age, growing through an awkward phase, and then being a teen and young adult who uses illegal drugs and engages in other risky behavior. It is eventually made clear that these teen behaviors are the result of an assault(s) she experienced at a young age, and for which she wasn't properly treated. However, the story is disjointed, jumping around in time. The pacing is also not clear; I spent the majority of the book trying to confirm when in the story timeline we were talking about.

The art is on the grotesque side, dark and heavy. Not my favorite, but not bad.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

When books are published with smaller imprints, they're often even more stark in their storytelling because this graphic novel memoir won't be for everyone- a book about a girl growing up in the wake of sexual assault and a move from the Moldova to Israel as she expands her circles because she never feels good enough, pretty enough, or simply enough amidst the backdrop of an everchanging global landscape of "history in the making". Between drugs and sex, those become her coping mechanisms and destroy her before she can even fully realize what's happening and how to pick up the pieces. The imagery between color, panel layout, and closeness to the subject all provide the mood of the book in a clarity that is gritty and gripping.

[Meggie Ramm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Karina and her family immigrate from Russia to Israel, and she spends her early years trying to fit in until her first kiss reopens a repressed memory that sends her identity and mental state into a spiral. 

CW, Karina is assaulted as a child and her family hopes and helps her to repress that memory, which leads Karina to experiment with all sorts of things in an attempt to cope. This was a translated book, and I think some things got lost in that translation. Like many memoirs with tragic content, you hope for a resolution that brings closure to the authors journey, but the ending in this one felt very abrupt.

[Lisa]

I think I read a lot of graphic novel memoirs, and a fair number of them are disturbing, but this one hit particularly hard and I'm not sure why. Maybe it was because I didn't realize that's what it would be about or like - I thought it was going to be more about the experience of immigrating to Israel from the USSR (which I was really interested in!).

I did find the illustrations/art to be incredibly visceral and evocative, and I loved where the story began & ended.

[Leanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about the author's pain: its source, its meaning, how she tried to relieve it. Shor's story is so far outside my frame of reference that I don't think I truly understood what she was trying to say in this memoir. But she said it with her own voice and her own art, and for that, I respect her.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this graphic novel, we meet a woman who has emigrated from one country to another. The book is very gritty and talks about a traumatic incident that occurred when the narrator was a child. Overall, this was an average run of the mill graphic novel with decent artwork but with a plot that I really didn't love.

[Margaret Martin]

Is it an adult graphic novel or YA? On one hand, almost all of the book is from the perspective of a teenage girl, and adolescent in tone. On the other hand, there is so much sexual assault, heavy drug use (heroin, LSD), and bulimia.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely brutal - haunting - so difficult to read and process. The art is disturbing and completely, fantastic.

[Rene Low · Rating 5 out of 5]

An honest and raw memoir of one girls life with threads to connect to all of our lives. Brilliantly and bravely told.

[Corky · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing artist.

[hayley · Rating 3 out of 5]

devastating and brutal

[Raven Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

TRIGGER WARNINGS

An intense read about one girl and how she tried to survive.

[Andrew Rules · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disjointed, meandering and unfocused - a bunch of threads that never even come close to resolving. Messy and confused - this author is a very good illustrator, but isn't able to write a story to save their life.