Looking For a Good Book

Lackadaisy is a historical fiction graphic novel set during the U.S.’s Prohibition era. Bootleggers, and speakeasies and budding romances. And the story is told with anthropomorphic cats.  Yeah, you read that right.  Walking, talking, shooting, loving, dressed to the nines … cats.

In an introduction to the ARC reader, author/artist Tracy Butler notes that “grown-up stories told with ‘funny animal’ characters are popular but rarely produced on a professional and commercial level” and that this book “scratches are rarely-scratched itch.”  As a very long-time reader of just about every genre I can say that I’ve never been afflicted with this itch. In fact, I found this book a bit difficult to read because the characters didn’t really mean anything to me.  They were cats.  Was this some strange alternate reality?  This made it more fantasy than historical fiction.  I just … I just didn’t understand why.

The artwork IS gorgeous.  Every panel, every page.  Magnificently drawn human-like cats. It was definitely pretty to look at.  Butler uses a sepia-tone color scheme to help remind us of the era we’re in. You really couldn’t ask for a better looking graphic novel.

But this story … it just is not engaging.  Who is this for?  Butler says adults in the notes. And there’s plenty of violence and bloodshed to suggest that might be true.  But the romance is a bit on the light side (yeah … I don’t need to see cats in heat). I’m thinking middle schoolers might enjoy this the most and maybe even learn a thing or two about the Prohibition era.  But the story drags and I’m not sure this will hold a young (or even an old) reader’s attention for long.

Looking for a good book? Lackadaisy by Tracy Butler is a graphic novel that is pretty to look at but dull to read.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Lackadaisy

author: Tracy J. Butler

artist: Tracy J. Butler