"The New York Four" Review!

"The New York Four" is definitely a girly book. Normally I'd avoid anything that was designed/written to suck in my gender, but this was suggested and I figured I'd give it a try. Honestly, I'd much rather read something with lots of action...or Zombies...or action-y Zombies. There's nothing action-y about this read. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I haven't read much in the way of gender-targeting manga, and honestly, the whole idea kind of pisses me off. I mean...I'd like for more to happen than the drama of day-to-day teenage life. But all in all, this wasn't a bad read. I somewhat enjoyed looking into the lives of the characters. But then again, I'm nosy like that.

"The New York Four" follows Riley, a college Freshman attending NYU. She's shy, a social recluse (I can totally relate), and addicted to her books. She's a social butterfly online, but has trouble relating to people IRL (haha, get it?). Riley seems hopeless until she meets the other three of "The New York Four". She becomes closer with the girls and, in time, they're talking about moving in together. Riley is reunited with her older sister who was booted out of her parent's house because of decisions she'd made (read to find out!) and the two soon become very close. Riley, opening up chapter by chapter, attends a concert one night. As she leaves, she finds a slip of paper in her jacket. It's an email address. Naturally, curiosity kills the cat, and, in this case, her relationship with her sister. The email was placed there by her sister's boyfriend, a man with an unsatisfiable craving for women. Riley is stuck between a rock and a hard place. For one, this is the guy who is hooking her (AND her friends) up with an apartment. Another thing- how does she tell her sister? She's fallen hard for this guy through their text conversations and just doesn't know what to do. From this point, it seems like everything's hopeless. What does she do? How does she go on? If you're into dramas and slice-of-life stories, I highly recommend this novel. Otherwise, it's not for you.

Creativity of Writing: 3/5 I wish more had happened...something more...exciting. Don't get me wrong...I did enjoy it, but maybe its just not my type. I will give Brian Wood this: he dramatically but gradually develops Riley over time. I feel that this is an important aspect of the novel as a whole. The characters are easy to relate to, the dialogue flows and the text bubbles are easy to follow. It's like...watching a bunch of teenage girls live.

Creativity of Art: 4/5 The art does fit the writing. The style is very whimsical cute. The girls are all drawn beautifully. The black and white contrast and line details are nice. Most comics don't bother with the fine-line detail if they're using large masses of black and white and bold lines. Somehow, Ryan Kelly makes it work.

Overall Casual Read Rating: 4/5 It is enjoyable. I like seeing what's going on. The characters are very real. The character development is the thing that I liked the most. It's really not my thing so I can't say much. If you're into this kind of thing, it's the tops. But for me...I want more.

Note to the creator(s): I would like to see what you could do with a kick-ass action story. I'll do some research, but if you haven't, branch out! You guys are a dynamic team!

Until next comic!

XOXO Ashleigh