Alicia Keys

A celebrity-driven graphic novel that's not bad but lacks real spark.

Loretta "Lolo" Wright undergoes a fairly standard "teen discovers they have super powers" origin: sharing her powers with some friends and family, hiding them from other friends and family, dealing with random bullies and a neighborhood-level bad guy with a simple profit motive, finding out a member of her family has been hiding a secret. Kids who haven't seen these beats too many times already and fans of Alicia Keys show more trying graphic novels for the first time will probably enjoy it, but it's all too familiar to me. The characters are likable though, and I would be interested in seeing a sequel that truly allows Lolo to show her inner fire instead of just reacting to everything.

I wonder if there was a whole creative/editorial discussion wherein it was decided Lolo having pyrokinetic powers would be too on the nose? They have settled on telekinetic and telepathic powers instead, which seems sort of safe and ordinary as far as super powers go. show less

I enjoy reading about music artists to learn how they got to where they are and understand the behind the scenes work and ideas that goes into creating beautiful music. With AK's book More Myself I was not disappointed as she covers these in great detail. I enjoyed learning about where and how AK grew up in Hell's kitchen. Having had the "pleasure" of staying in the area myself for a short time I can understand the influence that the place had on her and her upbringing as a young child that show more is female and of mixed race. The details of how she developed her talent and got the great breaks that she did was also great to read about as well as her relationship with those close to her. AK being the brilliant and talented world class artist that she is, is at the same time also very humble about her journey and the challenges that she faces. Clearly she demonstrates that she is committed to living a life of meaning and purpose beyond just being a musician and artist which in itself is a huge achievement but she is making a difference in the lives of young women and those in the need of upliftment. Very inspirational and uplifting read. show less

More Myself: A Journey

I Picked Up This Book Because: Curious about the author

The Story:

I think this is the first memoir I’ve read by someone my age. Alicia is a bit less than 4 months older than me and though our lives were never anything alike it’s interesting to see the parallels of her world and mine as different things happened to the nation as a whole. Alicia has me wanting to travel more, to learn more about myself and to explore more, within and outside of myself.

The Random show more Thoughts:

3.5 Stars show less

This felt very early 2000’s and not necessarily in a good way. Could have been a Static Shock (which I do like!) episode. I liked the artwork and the dialogue was good. But the story’s execution could’ve been better. A few abrupt transitions and rushed pacing.

The chapter titles are all Alicia Key songs, but I personally think there was a missed opportunity in not tying the songs more into the narrative.

I can’t figure out if I liked this or not. A mixed bag. Definitely some things I show more liked and others I didn’t.
fictional stories always have multiracial gangs, but I’ve yet to really see that in real life.

2.5 show less