Wednesday, February 8, 2023

Book Review - Bonding: A Love Story About People and and Their Parasites by Matthew Erman + Giveaway

 

The tale is old as time but, with a twist. This graphic novel is a love story between a man and a woman but, they have parasites attached to them. Marcus has been alone and is new to the dating scene. He is dealing with the trauma of losing his best friend. Laura has been drifting into life and relationship with no purpose. The pair is on their first date and things are going well until Marcus's parasite rejects him as a host and Marcus almost dies.

I normally love reading graphic novels and this one seemed like it would be a quirky fun read. However, this has been one of the most confusing and frustrating graphic novel I ever read. I didn't even make it to the end as it seemed pointless. 

There is no flow and the story jumps back and forth without warning. It's hard understanding what was happening between the characters because they were in the present and then in the past back and forth. Some of the male characters looked alike and it was hard to tell them apart. When Marcus and Laura goes to a club, Laura is confront by a stalker (another story line that went nowhere) that looks exactly like Marcus except that dude had one curl. Then one of the character goes for a drive to think and then finds someone that looks exactly like them but, they are dead. The story then never explains who that dead person was and what the importance was.

The second part of the story is Marcus and Laura's son who is struggling. The story isn't really clear if he is struggling with anxiety or just dealing with teenage drama. He has this crush that he is obsessed with and their story line is even more confusing. He talks about God and stuff that their world is experiencing but, we as readers have no idea as the world building has been so sparse. The only details we know about the world is that everyone has a slug attached to them and if the slug detaches from the host, they both die. This graphic novel had so much potential and failed with it's execution.

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion** 

 

 

About The Book:

Title: BONDING: A Love Story About People and Their Parasites

Author: Matthew Erman, Emily Pearson (Illustrations)

Pub. Date: January 31, 2023

Publisher: Vault Comics

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Pages: 208

Find it: Goodreadshttps://books2read.com/BONDING

“Wear your heart on your sleeve.”  That’s the saying. But in BONDING, people wear their anxiety on their chests – in the form of a  parasite that shows everyone just what you’re feeling on the inside …

WEAR YOUR LOVE ON YOUR CHEST

A man, a woman—and their parasites. Marcus has been alone since the loss of his closest friend and has just recently entered into the dating scene, while Laura has drifted in and out of relationships since high school. They meet, they have a great first date, and Marcus almost dies—because the slug-like parasite that everybody carries in this world nearly rejects him, its host. BONDING is a funny, quirky, and honest look at love, in a world where everyone wears their anxiety, not on their sleeves, but on their chest like big ol' leeches.

Fans of Matthew Erman's work on Vault Comics' WITCHBLOOD and Archaia's JIM HENSON'S THE DARK CRYSTAL: AGE OF RESISTANCE will find lots to love in BONDING. Fans of Image Comics' ICE CREAM MAN VOL. 1, DC Comics' COLLAPSER and even books like THE HOST by Stephenie Meyer and THE PARASITOLOGY TRILOGY by Mira Grant will enjoy this foray into all the stressors of dating...where a parasite is the least of your worries (unless it kills you, that is.)

 

Review:

“Erman and Pearson skewer genre norms in this sweet and casually unsettling comics romance-dramedy…”- Publishers Weekly


About Matthew Erman:

Matthew Erman is a comics writer from Columbus, Ohio. Alongside Lisa Sterle, he co-created the critically acclaimed comic horror series, Long Lost, which was optioned for Film/TV by Producer Jenny Klein (The Witcher, Daisy Jones and The Six). Erman has since worked on the comic book series Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and graphic novel Power Rangers: Sins of the Future with BOOM! Studios, series Care Bears: Unlock the Magic with IDW, the upcoming  science fiction/ horror / humorous romance original graphic novel BONDING, with artist and co-creator Emily Pearson for Vault Comics, and the smash supernatural action adventure comics series (with artist/co-creator Lisa Sterle) from Vault Comics, WITCHBLOOD. His short work can be found in anthologies such  as Corpus (2018), Dead Beats (2019) and Everything is Going Wrong (2019).

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon

 

About Emily Pearson:

Emily Pearson is a freelance comic book artist from Davis, California.
She has previously worked for Black Mask Studios; “The Wilds”(2018) and “Snap Flash Hustle”(2018-19), Oni Press’s “The Vain”(2020), and the upcoming “Bonding” coming to Vault Comics in 2022.

In addition to comics series, she drew a short story for the Ringo Award Winning “Mine!” an anthology for Planned Parenthood, Vault Comic’s “Cult Classic Zero Short”“CORPUS” curated by Nadia Shammas, and “Everything is Going Wrong: Comics on Punk & Mental Illness”.
She has illustrated various covers for comic books including: “Stranger Things: SIX” from Dark Horse Comics, “Calexit: Emmie X”“The Devil Within”“Sweet/Vicious”“The Wilds”“Snap Flash Hustle” from Black Mask Studios, “Going to the Chapel” from Action Lab, “Atlantis Wasn’t Built For Tourists” from Scout Comics and many more.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

 

Giveaway Details:

2 winners will receive a finished copy of BONDING, US Only.

Ends February 18th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

1/16/2023

Sadie's Spotlight

Excerpt/IG Post

1/17/2023

Bookish Trisha

Excerpt/IG Post

1/18/2023

Writer of Wrongs

Excerpt

1/19/2023

The Clever Reader

Excerpt/IG Post

1/20/2023

A Dream Within A Dream

Excerpt

1/21/2023

Two Chicks on Books

Excerpt/IG Post

Week Two:

1/22/2023

Nagma | TakeALookAtMyBookshelf

IG Review

1/23/2023

Jeff_of_allmedia

IG Review

1/24/2023

GryffindorBookishNerd

IG Review

1/25/2023

@bubbles_books09

IG Review/TikTok Post

1/26/2023

travelersguidetobooks

IG Review

1/27/2023

Eli to the nth

Review/IG Post

1/28/2023

Nerdophiles

Review

Week Three:

1/29/2023

@coffeesipsandreads

IG Review/TikTok Post

1/30/2023

Brandi Danielle Davis

IG Review/TikTok Post

1/31/2023

brittreadsalattebooks

IG Post

2/1/2023

Jenguerdy

IG Post

2/2/2023

Rajiv's Reviews

Review/IG Post

2/3/2023

A Blue Box Full of Books

IG Review/LFL Drop Pic

2/4/2023

Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

Review/IG Post

Week Four:

2/5/2023

See Sadie Read

Review/IG Post

2/6/2023

Mallory Books

Review/IG Post

2/7/2023

@just_another_mother_with_books

IG Review

2/8/2023

Nonbinary Knight Reads

Review/IG Post

2/9/2023

Novel Novice

IG post

2/10/2023

Two Points of Interest

Review

2/11/2023

The Momma Spot

Review/IG Post

Week Five:

2/12/2023

onemused

IG Post

2/13/2023

@jacleomik33

IG Review

2/14/2023

@thebookishfoxwitch

IG Review


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