As a native New Yorker, this story pulled me in from the synopsis alone. I’m aldo enjoying graphic novels so it was a win. This book was not what I had expected, but it was nice to see New York be praised considering all of the changes that has been occurring over the past few years. But the one thing I can confidently say is that I do not see myself living in New York forever. Sohini sees herself living here forever but she’s only been here for 8 years so I can understand it. But I would love to live someone else.

This Beautiful, Ridiculous City by Kay Sohini is an absolutely gorgeous graphic memoir about a young woman coming to New York City from Calcutta. The illustrations in this book are incredible. They are colorful, vibrant, detailed and compelling. In addition to the beautiful artwork, the story that Ms. Sohini shares in poignant and captivating. She covers her childhood in Calcutta as well as her transition to New York City with a special emphasis on the role of diverse foods in her experience.

I loved this book and highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In THIS BEAUTIFUL, RIDICULOUS CITY, Sohini employs a rich color palette and clever inclusion of lettering as art to tell the story of how she came to love and live in New York City. Her memoir doesn't shy away from tough questions about the domino effect of how colonialism influences the media we consume, which influences the cities we fall in love with, which in turn influences the way we view our own home cities and cultures. Sohini grounds mini pictorial essays on broad topics with the specifics of her personal story in a masterful way. While some questions remain unanswered (Sohini references "a tragic suicide driven by small-town misogyny" in her family early on that is never explained or brought up again), Sohini grants us an access to her life and her mind that almost makes those answers unnecessary.

I am giving this graphic novel a 4 instead of a 5 because I am averaging the story and the graphics.

The graphics hand down are a 5! They are gorgeous and do a magnificient job of conveying the different scenes. They should win an award for illustrations. Colorful and intricate, they draw you right in and make you want to soak up the details.

The story part I am giving a 3/ 4 because the tone and purpose of it seemed to change from chapter to chapter. It was difficult to tell if the author wanted this book to be more historical in nature, more of a psychological memoir, or more of an immigrant story. The tone changed so much from chapter to chapter that it was difficult to tell who the audience of the graphic novel was supposed to be. There was a lot of jumping back and forth between time periods. At times I wondered if the arc of the story would have been better served by writing it more chronologically.

Thank you to NetGalley for the free arc!