CRUSHING - Sophie Burrows

4.5 stars

Looking at emotions, feelings, love in forms, and concepts surrounding the self, Crushing is a memorable graphic novel.

Concepts: ★★★★
Artwork: ★★★★★
Themes: ★★★★

Hmmm. How to talk about a graphic novel that doesn't use words to communicate? Seems ironic to use words themselves to talk about it. But let's give it a go anyway.

Crushing is going to mean something different for everyone. That's part of its beauty.

Without words, without a harshly formed boundary created by the usual narrative structure, characters, or plot, this is a story that works like a mirror of sorts, reflecting your own impressions back on to you.

For that reason alone, it's pretty impossible to describe to others and rate semi-objectively. My rating comes from my own personal reaction to these illustrations and the feelings and memories they evoked in me. This wasn't a feel-good story of romance like we'd usually highlight in February, but love and feelings are not limited to the popular or even the typical.

Crushing as a title on its own is an interesting play. Having a crush on someone, but also feeling literally crushed and the acting of self crushing under/within/on—the title is similar to its contents in the way that it waits for you, the reader, to react in order to derive meaning.

My review is a bit of nonsense. But this is a graphic novel of feelings, emotions, and reflection. It evoked in me a sense of self-reflection, moodiness, and a strange sense of nostalgia tinged with a complex lingering vibe that I'm still pondering.

What will Crushing evoke in you?

Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.