Reading Wednesday

Just finished: Daughter From the Dark by Maryna and Serhiy Dyachenko. After Vita Nostra completely broke me, I went in search of anything else the authors had done translated into English. Given my friend's lack of success in finding anything even in Russian, I'd almost given up hope until I stumbled across this one, which apparently got released last year, in Indigo of all places.

Daughter From the Dark isn't as brutal, poetic, or metaphysical, but it's weird in a way that English-language commercial fantasy mostly isn't allowed to be, and I am here for it. It's about a shallow DJ, Aspirin, who encounters a little girl holding a teddy bear and, in a half-assed attempt to do the right thing, rescues her from a group of teenage muggers and brings her to his apartment. As it is, she's in no need of rescuing thanks to her teddy bear, which transforms into a murderous monster, and she repays his one act of kindness by refusing to leave. Alyona may be a con artist, an escaped psychiatric patient, Aspirin's long-lost daughter, or, as she claims, a fallen angel. A musical prodigy, she takes over his life in an attempt to learn a piece of music that will lead her to her brother, who has also escaped into the world and no longer knows who he is.

Most of the book is a psychological tug of war between the two characters, with Aspirin desperate to be rid of the girl, and Alyona manipulative and singleminded. Neither of them are likeable, and their relationship is complex and fraught and difficult. What stands out to me most is how specific the horror elements are—the teddy bear, the violin strings, the nameless stranger with no shoes—the story ends up being more unsettling and unpredictable as a result. I really enjoyed it. It didn't haunt me the way Vita Nostra did, but it was compelling in its own right.

Fire Starters by Jen Storm, Scott Henderson, and Donovan Yaciuk. This is a very straightforward comic about restorative justice. Two kids, one white and one white-passing, burn down a gas bar on a reservation; two Indigenous kids are blamed instead and face the town's prejudice until the truth comes to light. That's it, that's the whole story. I kind of expected more—both the writing and the art are very literal, and the resolution happens in a single page. We don't really get to see any of the restorative justice happen, which is the whole point. It's a basic morality tale for middle grade, which is fine, but not very interesting.

Surviving the City by Tasha Spillett and Natasha Donovan. This is a lot stronger in terms of both its writing and art. It's about two friends, Dez and Miikwan. Dez is about to be removed from her home and put into foster care, as her grandmother is too old to care from her; Miikwan is haunted by the loss of her mother, one of the many Missing and Murdered Indigenous Girls and Women. When Dez runs away, Miikwan fears the worst. The comic deals with issues of colonialism, gender-based violence, and loss in a sensitive way. It doesn't stop to explain anything—while it's written for a young audience, it respects the reader in a way that most MG/YA doesn't. The art is also very well done, with ancestor spirits surrounding Miikwan and guiding her. In particular, the alien spirits around settlers was a cool metaphor that again, is left to the reader to interpret. It was much more evocative than most of the writing I've read for this age group.

Currently reading: I have one more graphic novel in the pile, Breakdown by David A. Robertson, but I haven't started it yet.