This was a surprise birthday treat this year. The artwork in this is gorgeous and confusing at times (but mostly gorgeous) and the physical book itself is a thing of absolute beauty. But, does the story live up to the aesthetics?
Well, maybe.
Beginning in media res, we are piggybacking Fin Ueda-Soto as she is coming to terms with being disconnected from her previous life as a programmer of some import and also being disconnected from her memories. Not knowing where she lives or how she has come to this stage leads her on a journey to discover truths. Any of them, but mostly about where her life went to all of a sudden. And when she does turn up at her old apartment, there is someone else living there. I mean, what gives?
And this is the mystery that Square Eyes is trying to solve and it does so really well, piece by piece, as Fin gets parts of her life back, uses them to begin to retrace her actions and follow the breadcrumbs that she seemingly set for herself. But why did she do this?
There is more to this book than this mystery though. There is an undercurrent of something not quite as tangible but equally as pertinent going on. Hints at uprising and rebellion, corporate espionage and just general omnipotence (and omniscience) of the large tech firms, especially when nigh everyone is constantly connected to each other.
With another read through I think I’ll be able to get the most out of this interesting book. And, whilst I enjoyed the main story, there is more meaning/layers to it than my lockdown-addled brain can handle at the moment. The glorious and unique art style are certainly the highlight of this book but sometimes the flow of the story isn’t helped by the haphazard placement of speech bubbles and panels, making it awkward to read or discern what order to read the panels in.
Film N Stuff 