I have pretty mixed feelings about this book. I know that some of it stems from having higher expectations than what I actually got. It wasn't strictly bad, but I don't know that I enjoyed it that much.First off, I didn't like the art and found it very off-putting from page one. It really just didn't do a lot for me visually, which can make it pretty hard to enjoy a graphic novel. Then, there's the issue of emotion. Given that this book is a real life love story of a couple where one party has b...

His eyes are huge. Tremendous balls of a beautiful fury of life. Vibrant with hope and wonder, completely without guile. They are set in his face like saucers from space. Only identifiable at all because they hover so serenely with no intentions toward darting or flight. He looks into you. And about you. And through you. He is amazing. And you have romanticized every bit of him. Even though his eyes, while lovely, are really just normal lovely child-eyes. You have turned him into a unicorn, a ra...

Frederik Peeters tells the story of his relationship with his wife Cati and her 3 year old son, both of whom are HIV positive. He meets Cati years after meeting her for the first time to find that since their last meeting she has had a child, been divorced, and contracted AIDS. This doesn't stop him from being with her but we learn of the obstacles that come with it. The cautious beginnings of their physical love, the vigilance of maintaining a normal life for the child despite a regime of pills...

An autobiographical comic about a young man who learns his girlfriend and her young son are HIV+. The relationships (between Fred and his gf, his friends, and especially the little boy) are sweet and feel true, and the art is really good. His ink is fluid but nevertheless conveys a great deal of information. That said, the language often feels clunky and overwrought. The artist has a long conversation with a mastadon about his confused feelings about science. He overuses ellipses. There's a lot

An interesting graphic novel. Something different than what I usually pick up and I enjoyed it. Based on the authors relationship with his HIV positive girlfriend and son. Beautiful love story and how nothing can stand in the way of true love.

The author meets and falls for a vibrant young woman. He soon finds out that her and her son have tested HIV positive. This is a graphic memoir about true love in the face of great challenges. My first by Peeters and was I was quite impressed with the storytelling and art.

As mentioned several times before, the graphic novel is not my genre. However, it was very nice to have a book group book I finished in about three days (rather than three weeks) and which explored an interesting topic. Because the Kenton Book Group is made up primarily of people who don't read graphic novels, we had quite a lively discussion, where I found myself championing the genre. There's some really great "early relationship" stuff in here and though the woman in the group who identifies

Slice of life story with a strong appeal that crosses from the world of the graphic novel to that of its author. A reminder that "positive" has double implications; a narrative dedication to living with one's choices.Or, if that's not enough for you. Boy meets girl; they part. Man meets woman; they part. Man meets woman again; finally, they talk. And talk, and talk, and then, well, they stay together. ("For the kid"?) It's more touching to witness the emotional twists and committal turns that ma...

Blue Pills was an escape from my busy life to a life where someone is suffering from HIV. The story was about a man and his girlfriend who live together, but the woman has HIV. She takes pills that are blue to help her disease. They have a child together, and the child is HIV positive. Throughout the novel, the man explains the everyday troubles they go through because of her HIV. I felt bad for the child when he was little, because he had to take medicine that wasn’t pleasant. He didn’t underst...

This graphic memoir tells the story of how the author, Fred, met Cati at a party. Time passes. They meet again, and this time connect. As their relationship deepens, Cati tells Fred that she and her three year old son are HIV positive. Relationships between people are ever so personal, and yet there are universal themes we can all relate to. I really liked the honesty in the telling, and while the black and white brushwork evokes the right mood, I did not love the art. I also think there might b...

Frederik Peeters - artistA semi-autobiographical tale about the relationship between a comic artist and a woman with a young son, both of whom are HIV positive. A simple, human tale told with a deft touch.4/5

I've forgotten how much I love "indie" comics. This story, which is really more a series of vignettes and short stories collected into one united narrative, is a beautiful meditation on love, and how one man is able, willing, and challenged to continue loving a woman and her son despite their HIV positive status. Honest without being pretentious and beautiful without ever becoming too flowery this small graphic novel is a reminder that comics as a medium can accomplish wonders in the hands of tr...

This feels like an important story for anyone who newly has AIDS or has a loved one with AIDS. For me, there wasn't much of a plotline, just Peters' thoughts and experiences with his ill partner and her son. There was also a self-reflection section toward the end that was handled very abstractly and I didn't even feel the need to try to follow.

This book was beautiful to me, a good show of intellectual love that is extremely passionate and simply cute while not straying away from the problems that the two have throughout their lives. We get to see how life with HIV can affect both an individual and also the people closest to them. From an outside perspective we get to see both Frederik and Cati at highs and lows. there are points where I felt fear and genuine emotion for the people shown and then relief when things went well. The mix F...

I thought this was a beautiful story about love in the midst of a great challenge. The author tells us the story of his relationship with his girlfriend and her child through the medium of a graphic novel. The challenge is HIV. They are a sero-discordant couple. He is HIV - negative, but she and her child are positive but there is no discordance in their love for each other.In one sense the challenge they face as a couple is similar to other couples who live with disability and critical illnesse...