While not a graphic novel, more than anything the art within the pages gripped me. I really enjoyed this book. It is well written and emotionally charged with uncertainty, fear and trepidation. But without the art strung within the pages, I may have lost sight of some of the impact that the pages possessed.
I also think that the monster within this book characterizes so many demons that we as human beings have within ourselves, trying so desperately to deal with our own problems and issues. As I said, this book grips you into thinking about your life, your demons, your grief and forcing you to look at it in the face. Perhaps what impacted me the most was the honesty. Never trying to hide and shelter the truth, but allowing the truth of situations to be expressive and relevant to the story.
This post is a little less coherent than my usual, but it is really hard to express the impact that this book had on me.
I too was taken with the artwork, but I love that you've brought up the imaginative quality of this novel. I am frightened and amazed by the monster, not only for its portrayal, but also for its existence. I love the imagination that is required to compromise between the perceptions of Conor's world, especially when nowadays imagination seems overcome with glamour and CGI. I personally would not have been very interested in identifying with Conor for a variety of reasons, but the monster serves as both an alienating, frightening creature, and a type of salvation from self when one's come to rely on no one but the self.
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