My Riot by Rick Spears, Emmett Helen
Publisher: Oni Press
Release Date: Oct. 22nd, 2020
My Riot is a 90s YA coming of age graphic novel that, if you couldn’t tell just by looking, is filled with punk attitude, grunge aesthetic, and a rebellious streak.
As a late 90s (’97) baby, some references and obscurities of the time were a little lost on me, but that’s not to say I couldn’t hazard a guess or appreciate them, and I think the same can be said for any generation who gives this a read.
This graphic novel was empowering, and showed a shift in personality, attitude, and overall femininity that I believe hits every woman at one point or another. It was so easy to resonate with the characters, and it was incredible to witness all of the different paths of this visual journey – a graphic novel was 100% the best output for this story, giving an aesthetically pleasing visualisation to what otherwise I believe would have been a hard to encapsulate prose story.
Side note: I need to start making notes for reviews after I finish reading; it’s been about five weeks since I finished this and now my words are failing me.
Also side note: I received a review copy for this through Netgalley UK – thank-you! I can’t wait to write longer reviews once I get to grips with graphic novel terminology and key concepts.
Paige Briscoe 