The End of the Fucking World-Grahpic Novel Review

The End of the Fucking World by Charles Forsman

I have now read two graphic novels by Charles Forsman and I think I can speak to his style. His drawings are very simple outline sketches, just a notch above stick figures. His characters are desribed by their worst traits and developed as charicatures of negative qualities. Readers should definitely not strive to be like any of his “protagonists.”

The End of the Fucking World is about a budding young sociopath and the girl that loves him. The story is told through alternating perspectives but Forsman’s simplistic drawing style made this quite confusing to me at first.

Both characters look very similar. They are almost genderless in their appearance and don’t have many defining features to distinguish them. It took me a good few pages to figure out that the voices were shifting within the narrative. That’s a pretty hefty flaw if you ask me. Especially in graphic novel format, characters should be distinguishable.

But the meat of the story is engaging and intriguing. The End of the Fucking World amps up teenage angst to new heights. But honestly, it’s not even that far removed from the violent world that teens are living in right now anyway. We just like to think of it that way. The truth is that children are acutely aware of violence, murder, shootings, and every other evil out there. It’s brought right to their schools.

There is no excess to Forsman’s writing. It’s dry and to the point but the point is valid. I’ve enjoyed reading his works and I will continue to do so. If for no other reason that to see what controversy he can stir up with his dark plots. However, I may steer clear of any further Netflix adaptations.

I read The End of the Fucking World in under an hour. They turned it into a series. Same with I am Not Okay With This. I watched the former when it came out and wasn’t aware it was based on a book. I enjoyed it enough but now I can see how much liberty they took with it. They really had to add a ton to make this story more than a 40 minute single episode.

I do not think that everything needs to be covered, remade, reinterpreted, etc. Sometimes a short graphic novel is all a story needs. And that’s okay! If you like dark and angsty stories I would check this one out. Just straighten out the narrative faster than I did.

4/5 new best friends 👫👫👫👫

For more Forsman check out I Am Not Okay With This

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Buy it here: The End Of The Fucking World