As a long time admirer of Ai's art and work, this was a delight no less. Could be wrong but I think this is dedicated to his son or at least made with his son in mind? I found that such a lovely thing to do. Sure the political and revolutionary concepts of his work are endlessly impressive, but just the mere fact that this was a work of love first and then art second -- and then the two things just get muddled up in the most beautiful way possible is simply the most ideal result. To be a witness of this, well I'm grateful beyond words. Why am I then holding back a star? I suppose I just very honestly wanted for the writing itself to be better? It felt a bit over-dramatised at some parts, but maybe I am just being stupidly anal about this.

A touching autobiographical story about Ai's discovery of art and how it led to his politics and helped him understand humanity.

The art was beautiful, but it was really hard to follow for me. I was excited for this one, however I think maybe the philosophy aspects of it weren't for me? Or things were a bit too vague? Love the illustrations though

I'd seen Ai Weiwei as an artist who challenged government censorship, and this gave me a further illumination of his work. Beautiful art!

I thought this was a beautiful and interesting memoir in graphic form. I liked that it was broken up into 12 chapters and themed around each of zodiac animals. The art style was stunning. Thank you to the publisher, author and Net Galley for the advanced copy!

You know what? I couldn't personally get into this. Mostly because a lot of the zodiac stuff went over my head. But the witchy astrology loving folks will eat this up!

An interesting memoir in graphic form. I learned about the zodiac and how it relates to real life. Art is activism!

A kind of autobiographical manifesto, as Ai talks to his son, other family members and fellow artists about art, freedom of speech, and a lot of other subjects that can be crammed on to the framework provided by the Chinese zodiac. It's fine, but don't come here thinking he drew a line of it. Three and a half stars – not as populist as you might expect.

I went into this graphic novel blind and I'm glad that I did. I had never heard of this artist and it was so interesting to read about his life. The illustration in this book were some of the best that I've seen in a graphic novel in quite awhile. Even the background illustrations were beautifully rendered.

I'd like to thank the publisher for providing me with an ARC.

I struggled with reading this one. Like some other reviewers, I had a hard time following what was going on. There was some jumping around in the narrative that made it difficult to understand what was going on. I appreciate what the author was trying to do and despite having some issues with understanding, I do think this is a book worth trying.

An intriguing graphic memoir that brilliantly blends memoir, political history, and Chinese mythology with immersive art. Ai Weiwei explores his childhood during the Cultural Revolution under political exile and searching for truth in political propaganda through sections inspired by the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac. It's a one-of-a-kind book with a unique, unforgettable perspective.

It’s a beautiful way to write a memoir. I would definitely recommend this graphic novel. It’s a warm, fun read and would make a good coffee table book

I think trying to rate a graphic book is a bad idea for me (vision issues). Not the book's fault so maybe you should delete my review.

I found Zodiac very inaccessible, which may be due to me being not that familiar with Ai Weiwei's work. This memoir may have been created primarily for his fans, but from my perspective it was barely intelligible. Even though I understand we're presented with vignettes from Weiwei's life, I had a hard time following each chapter, with conversations seemingly randomly jumping from topic to topic. At times it even felt like Weiwei tried to advertise his creations rather than explain the story behind them. The art style and layout didn't help much; panels were largely the same size throughout, speech bubbles were often placed confusingly and the overall art ended up being kind of bland, even though some illustration had great composition, only let down by the barebones linework.

I have to say that Zodiac made me wanna check out some of Ai Weiwei's work and read up on Chinese history. I also liked the structure in conjunction with the zodiac fable as well as the overall glimpses into Chinese culture, what art means to Ai Weiwei and some of his contemporaries and the inextricable link between art and politics. To be honest, I don't feel equipped to adequately review the contents of this graphic memoir because I don't think I'm the target audience, but I do wish Zodiac would be more accessible for people not familiar with Weiwei. Ultimately, it's more of a 2.5- than a 3 star-read for me, but fans of Ai Weiwei might absolutely love it.

- ARC provided by NetGalley -

I have been following Ai Weiwei's artwork for years, so I was incredibly excited to see this book come across my feed. I have so many thoughts and feelings about this incredible graphic memoir. This novel is easier to understand if you are familiar with some of Ai's featured works - Fairytale, Sunflower Seeds, etc - but it is accessible to those unfamiliar with him. Before reading this, I wasn't familiar with the Chinese Zodiac, but it is laid out in a way that is accessible for the reader and frames Ai's life in a very structured way. The art is well done overall, though the black and white ( and line weight) is a bit overwhelming in places. Overall, I enjoyed the art in this graphic novel, but a color version would have been more engaging. Of course, I loved the cats throughout. The messaging within the novel is simultaneously distressing and soothing. The throughline of paternal relationships (between of Ai's father Qing, Ai, and his son Lao) holds the narrative together and is incredibly impactful. The book maintains Ai's constantly calm demeanor and is somehow gentle while describing some terrible situations and human atrocities. Overall, Ai's reflections on his early years and relationship with his father are warm memories from a very difficult life. There is no way I could faithfully articulate how meaningful and artistically this story was laid out, but it was an incredible graphic novel that I recommend to anyone.

Ai Weiwei tells us his life, his values, and explains Chinese culture through colorful idioms (playing the zither for a cow, really?) and parallels between recent history and the tales of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac. Gianluca Constantini’s drawings are fabulous, perfect for the fables therein.

#1 - The mouse and freedom of speech and thought - Ai Weiwei’s father being punished for his poetry under both regimes, Mao banning books, and the fable that explains why the cat isn’t in the zodiac.

#2 - The cow and love - childhood in exile, son of an enemy of the state, porcelain sunflowers, and Vega and Altair’s forbidden love.

#3 - The tiger and courage - police interrogatories, Liu Xiaobo’s 1989 hunger strike and poetry as a tool of resistance.

#4 - The rabbit and immortality - why artists work, Joseph Beuys’s performance art, writing a fairytale alongside 1001 people, and the fable of the sleeping rabbit.

#5 - The dragon and power - hutong and collecting art, individual vs society, flying a kite in the Forbidden City, and the fable of the painter that loved dragons.

#6 - The snake, doubts and resilience - the Hundred Flowers movement, the three acceptable types of human beings during the cultural revolution, the Sichuan earthquake and the legend of the white snake.

#7 - The horse and discovery - Ferdinand Verbiest aka Nan Huairen, art changes perception, and the legend of the silkworm.

#8 - The sheep and community - pollution in Beijing, police violence in New York, the most powerful tool to change the world, and the return.

#9 - The monkey and trickery - wild years of youth, artistic success, exhibitions being censored and shut down, and the legend of the monkey king.

#10 - The rooster and self-worth - Wittgenstein, the tomb of Genghis Khan, the Ordos 100 utopia, hairstyles, guanxi and the weird connection between Beijing’s Olympic Stadium, loyalty and the cultural revolution.

#11 - The dog and hope - Hsieh Tehching and Pablo Neruda, finding a stick to beat a dog, the gang of four’s fall in 1976 and surviving nostalgia.

#12 - The pig and egoism - smog, police, brain tumors, mending holes before it’s too late and a one-finger farewell.

Disclaimer: I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. This didn't influence my opinion in any way.

I wept. So much. The layout, the research, I love it. I went into this graphic novel pretty blind, but I found the artwork and overall narrative to be truly breathtaking

Another change of pace from my usual readings, a graphic memoir. "Zodiac" by Ai Weiwei with Elettra Stamboulis and featuring the fantastic imagery and illustrations of Gianluca Constantini
This was done quite beautifully with the illustrations and almost poetical tie-in with the Chinese Zodiac in the way its related in story of Weiweis life. Frustrating and unnerving as it was, you know, those times when you read or see what happens to other people and you have a whole array of emotions...
I remember seeing Weiweis Circle of Animals/Zodiac heads at the Cleveland Museum of Art and spending on several occasions a very lengthy amount of time admiring them. A rather fun coincidence that I was able to view those and then to read in this memoir what a vital role it all plays in his life story and to see these sculptures as images throughout the book.
I'm not extremely versed in Weiweis life, this makes me want to read more about him, but Im recommending this one for a glimpse into it.

Thank you NetGalley and Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press for a copy of this ARC to review.

This graphic memoir is a great introduction to the artist Ai Weiwei. He shares different parts of his life, art, philosophy and beliefs during conversations with his family and friends, with each chapter inspired by the characteristics of the animals of the Chinese zodiac. I originally wasn't a fan of the artwork and had hoped for some colour throughout. But, after I finished reading it, I think having colour might distract from the message of the memoir and the starkness of the black and white illustrations better suits this work.

Don't be fooled into thinking little is said and conveyed because this is a graphic novel. Each chapter will leave you thinking as you contemplate his hope that we recognise artists efforts to protect freedom of speech and expression and that art is the fight for freedom.

It's complex and thought-provoking in a way that I was not expecting but should have been obvious based on who wrote it. There is a lot to unpack from it, from history and art to personal stories and political issues, it is not a book one picks up for a quick read.

The art is impressively detailed and complex, to the point that I lost the thread of the words a couple of times simply because I got lost in the panels. It might sound like a bad thing, but it weirdly works with the overall theme of art philosophizing that Ai Weiwei tells throughout.

Special thanks to Ten Speed Graphic for the review copy!