I liked this, but it was pretty middle of the road for me. The art style and the story were both good, but didn't blow me away.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of My Riot in exchange for an honest review.

If you've been following my reviews/videos, you probably know I've been trying to get into reading more feminist stories now that I'm out of my whole "feminism is bad. I'm quirky and different" phase and that I'm also trying to get into graphic novels so a feminist graphic novel? I couldn't resist.

My Riot was such a fun read. Following it's protagonist from a ballerina to a feminist punk rock icon, My Riot did an exceptional good job at portraying the character growing and changing.

My biggest issue would be that a lot of things that seemed like they should have been more important to the plot were kind of glossed over. Val's ballet teacher tries to pressure her to lose wait resulting in disordered eating with Val being shown making herself throw up in the book's first act but once she stops attending ballet all signs of disordered eating just kind of fly out the window? I get she quit the main stresser causing it, but if you've had the importance of weight loss and a negative body image that ingrained it isn't just there one day, gone the next. I was expecting more follow through there that we never got. Val also starts smoking to try and lose weight and announces she's going to stop. We get one or two panels of her saying "it's hard to quit" or that she's craving a cigarette or something like that but it also has no real impact on her life for the rest of the story.

I will say, I'm normally not a fan of books with "let's tie everything up with a bunch of little time jump"-esque epilogues but I really enjoyed this one for some reason I can't quite pinpoint.

This was such an amazingly nostalgic read for me. Between the straight-edge boyfriend, learning to play guitar, that desperate search to find oneself and define oneself...I just loved this from beginning to end. The art felt a little monochromatic at first, but it actually really grew on me over the course of the read. I especially loved the panels featuring the punk shows - such great kinetic energy!!!

I don’t know how this would land if you were not a teen in the late 90’s - but since that WAS ME, I just loved it. If you like/d the Riot Grrrl scene, punk shows, or playing music, I think you’d find this relatable.

My Riot is a rad graphic novel about one girl's journey to self discovery through the Riot Grrrl punk rock movement. The storyline flows well and the graphic design is clear and dynamic. There is a feminist theme that flows throughout. I played some old school Sleater-Kinney to set the mood and it provided the perfect soundtrack to this story. Recommended!

Advanced copy provided by Oni Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I went into reading this graphic novel completely blind and I now understand why I need to read the synopsis. I began reading this and enjoying the conversion from ballet to rock, from young girl to young adult. However as the graphic novel progresses and the band becomes bigger, the story becomes disjointed and felt like parts were missing.
I did however like the progression for the characters, from finding love, to finding yourself, to even handling food disorders and smoking well. It was just a shame things were missing in the story.

trigger warning
<spoiler> fat shaming, slut shaming, eating disorder </spoiler>

Val always wanted to become a ballerina, but as her coach starts to weight-shame her, she yearns for another outlet for her emotions and frustrations. Then she meets Kat.

This comic was kinda jumpy. Topics are introduced but then dropped for a while or even entirely, which feels a bit like puberty, but also feels like bad storytelling. I got the feeling it was done on purpose, and I don't think that's the best choice that could have been made.
Especially the introductory riot just was never mentioned again, served solely as a plot device so Kat and Val could team up.
As Val makes a decision regarding her ballet lessons, there is no talk about it with her parents, which feels odd. It should have been shown, because I am sure they had a kind of reaction and I'd be curious to see which one it would have been. Has Val told them what the coach did to her? Did they encourage her to listen to her gut?

What I liked are both the characters and their depiction. Women with body hair! Women who sweat! Who dress like they want to!

Also, this comic introduced me to Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice, which was long overdue.
It makes me want to get my goth kit out and do my make-up, regardless of the heat or the necessity to wear a mask when outside.

To sum up: The storytelling and writing could use some work, but I loved the illustrations. A lot.
I'll make sure to keep my eyes out for further works of the artist.

May I take this moment to say how weird it feels to categorize this as historical fiction, when it depicts the time in which I grew up?

I recieved a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

Although I wasn't a teen in the 90s, I do remember that period of time when the riot girls, and wild punk rock girls abounded, which is what this story is all about.

Val thinks she wants to dance, that that is all she wants, but when she goes to her first punk rock show, and realizes that there is a life out there she has never tasted, she formsher own all girl punk band, and although they aren't good, they have spirit, and that seems to be enough to keep the passion that she used to give to ballet, to give it to music.

Lots of swearing, and I do mean lots of swearing, but other than that it would be PG-13. Nice sort of story about loving music more than anything, even boys, who brought you into that world.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

That's what I'm talking about when I talk about character development. The character development was very good in this one and I'm super happy with the way it was written.

One thing to note though. The story (especially during the ending) was a bit all over the place. Sometimes it seemed a bit rushy between destinations and events however it wasn't too rushy where you can't follow it anymore. Just a simple opinion.

This comic is very fun to read and very refreshing from the usual comic that I read. It shows a very bright main character through her life. Starting a band, her ballet classes, you name it. It's very good.

I would definitely recommend this one!

Thanks to the author and publisher for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

The blurb really caught my attention and I was like, well this sounds like something I'd really enjoy. Boy was I disappointed. I mean, it was okay, but that's about it. I didn't really connect with any of the characters and that made it a lot harder for me to enjoy this story. They were a bit too feminist in my opinion and that's okay pls don't hate me, but I felt like it was just too much? It did read quite quick and I would recommend reading it despite it being just an okay read for me.