New year, new book. I finished reading Black Hole by Charles Burns. Well, if you search it up, you will see a lot of websites and pages including this graphic novel in their lists for the best horror graphic novels out there. I saw it on a lot of these lists and decided to read it.
The story is set during the 1970s in Seattle. At first glance, it looks like a high school teenage drama/ coming of age story. But the story has a darker touch to it. The world that the story is set in is plagued by a sexually transmitted disease. The teens have sex and indulge in substance abuse and end up getting this disease. Once they have the disease, their bodies transform into something horrific.
Sometimes, these kids with the disease can hide their deformities under their clothes, but some cannot. Some of them transform into skeleton like figures, some get acne and scars all over their skin and some even grow up a new body part.
To be honest, I feel that this was a pretty average book. I mean it was more of a usual dark high school drama with a sexual transmitted disease that leads to weird deformations.
The teenagers are high on their hormones and they think that its the end of the world and that no one will understand them. Basic plot of a high school drama if you ask me.
The story is more of how a society would be if we had a lot of people affected by such a disease and how they would be treated. People start running away from homes and decide to stay in the woods, so as to stay away from the society. Or maybe they would be kicked out by then society.
The good part about the book is its art. Its beautiful. Charles Burns creates a world which is pretty vivid and well thought of. The black and white pages of the book are an absolute beauty. This kind of makes it a bit more appealing to comic book fans like me. Not that I don’t like the colored ones, but this is pretty good.
Overall, I think story wise its an average book and so is the body horror part of it. A lot of people liked this book, but for me it was a decent book which is was overhyped.
Hope you enjoyed reading this post. Please let me know what you think in the comments below. And if you have read this book, let me know what your thoughts are. Also, please do share this post with the people you know.
You can also read my other posts on the low carbon economy and review of the book Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. You can also follow me on Instagram.