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Birchfield Close / Mercury

I read Birchfield Close by Jon McNaught and Mercury by Hope Larson this week, both graphic novels (although Birchfield Close is so short it's described as a 'graphic novella').

The art in Birchfield Close is very simple but beautifully coloured, although I felt the story (or lack of) could have been expanded on. The premise of this graphic novella is more of a poem than a piece of fiction and attempts to capture one sleepy suburban late afternoon. It does fairly well at this job but I would have liked even one or two more than the zero lines of dialogue in here. I'm currently halfway through Mercury and lukewarmly keen so far. Will finish this when I've reached the end of the book!
Updated: Although the second half was quicker paced and had a more interesting storyline, I was never grabbed by this and generally wasn't particularly impressed by it. It tells the somewhat intersecting stories of two girls from the same family, one living in the present day and one in the nineteenth century in Nova Scotia.I wasn't overly fond of the art and found both the story and characters to be fairly boring. Labels: birchfield close, books, graphic novels, hope larson, inspiration, john mcnaught, mercury

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