“This is weird, but I don’t think its weirdness is meant to be its appeal?
The art is really good, but I don’t know if the art is meant to be its appeal?
The story is pretty thing, but I don’t know that the story is meant to be its appeal?
I think this is meant to feel very real, like it encapsulates the feelings of being a kid. I think that’s meant to be its appeal, and it’s there, but it’s not as strong as the weirdness or the art, and it doesn’t work as a stand-in for the story.
It’s the kind of weird where I’m reading and the whole time I think I’m missing something, like there’s some cultural thing here, or some translation thing, and it doesn’t all quite come together. So then I read like a detective, trying to figure out what I’m missing, and that kills the fun, and then I don’t like it so much.
So it could be that this book isn’t fun, but it could also be that I killed the fun for myself. “