Ratings18
Average rating3.6
The genius of this duology isn't apparent until the end of the second volume and I think it a shame this wasn't published as a single book.
An interesting take on history and an interesting way of portraying it in a why kids will read.
I thought the ending was a bit rushed. There's a lot of moral ambiguity here, and I have to say I found it tough to get into because I never really wanted Bao to succeed. His rebellion is based on nationalism and exclusionary thinking, and I couldn't get behind it, even though on a personal level, I respect that he was trying to protect his way of life.
The artwork is great, and I enjoyed the designs of the gods that the fighters become.
I guess I read these out of order, since GoodReads is calling [b:Saints 17210471 Saints (Boxers & Saints, #2) Gene Luen Yang https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1359199657s/17210471.jpg 23691810] “Boxers #2”? But I don't think the books themselves say that, and they seem to be set concurrently, so... whatever. I do feel like I liked Saints more than I liked Boxers–maybe I would have liked whichever one I read first best? Hmm, I don't know. I did love seeing the snippets of Vibiana, so I'm sure if I'd read Boxers first I would have had the opposite for Little Bao. I think maybe I am just more inherently interested in the kind of personal searching story of Saints than I am in the wartime story of Boxers?? ANYWAY WHATEVER, both are great and cool. Great graphic works about an exciting/terrible time in history, and Yang's working through a lot a lot of stuff here.ETA Just read my pal Emilia's review of this and she says, But...I think there's a problem here, which is that it's super clear that Yang is on the side of the Saints and not the Boxers – though he loves and respects Chinese traditional religion, the values he writes with are drawn from Christianity, and this really shows in this book – the most poignant moments are those that connect to the other book, and Little Bao's moments of hesitation to follow the Opera Gods commands. Hmm good point Emilia, maybe that's also why I liked Saints more.
I know very little about this time and place, but the little I have thought about it has been from the Christian martyrs' perspective. This was an interesting look at it through other eyes.
Rating these kinds of things is harder for me because sometimes there are things about a culture that just rubs me the wrong way and in this case it's historical legends and beliefs. And like most historical things, women are often if not sources of evil, reasons why good men fail. And that is something I never enjoy or like reading about and negatively affects my experience. So I'm not going to rate this title.