Phonogram is the type of graphic novel that you feel really cool reading. At first it's a little confusing- it does that thing that a lot of fantasy books do where it just sort of throws you into the characters' world without much explanation. Pretty much all you need to know is that it takes place in England in the early 2000's, and the explosive Britpop scene of the 90's has faded into memory for most. Phonomancers are music-obsessed, and their spells and magic always relate to the energy that they feel when they listen to their favorite band, or are a part of a great live show. David Kohl is the Phonomancer that we follow through this volume: snarky, opinionated, and a bit of an ass, he's nevertheless easy to relate to in his struggle to let go of the scene he lived and breathed a few years ago. Even though at first glance he's moved on, his personality is still "rooted there"- and someone is messing with his memories. In order to save his own personality and remain a Phonomancer, he'll have to look into his past and face his future. 

 

Even though I had never heard of most of the bands David and his friends talk about, I can definitely relate to their obsession with music, as I was obsessed with Nirvana and grunge/indie in early high school and part of a fairly active metal scene in the last couple years of high school. Of course, it was nothing compared to the scale of what the characters in Phonogram experienced, but no matter how small the crowd, that energy was always there. And I remember the in-depth discussions of albums, songs, line-ups, live shows we had gone to and long-ago concerts we'd never experience... but our scene faded pretty quickly, and we all sort of faded into our own worlds with it. 

If you've ever felt that skip in your heart upon hearing your favorite song, if you've ever danced or moshed until your whole body felt like jelly and you knew you'd be a pile of useless mush in the morning, if you've ever argued with your whole heart about how music can change your entire being... this graphic novel is for you. 

xoLuna

If this fellow had hired an editor and a copy editor, I would have given it 3 stars.

I enjoyed reading a story about uni life in the UK during the period that I was in college in the US and listening to the same music. Would love more books like this that focus on being a young adult in the 90s.

I wish the story had stayed just with Matthew and Alex or Matthew and Linda. It suffers from a too large cast of characters that are never fleshed out enough for the reader to keep track of.

If you want to read it for nostalgia purposes, I wouldn't discourage you. The ebook isn't very expensive. Just be aware that there are lots and lots of spelling errors and many sentences are missing periods. The funniest one is massacre being used every single time in place of mascara. I'm thinking that being a male, he didn't know how to spell it at all and just went with spell check's suggestion for his initial misspelling.

Alle Scheiße außer mir! Das könnte man als Fazit unter diese Memoiren von Luke Haines (The Auteurs, Blackbox Recorder, Baader Meinhof) setzen; von einem der auszog, um Britpop den Krieg zu erklären. Oder zumindest bei jeder Gelegenheit klarzumachen, wie unerträglich er dieses Genre fand. Und das ist sehr vergnüglich erzählt, Mr. Haines ist eine Giftspritze der Extraklasse und ätzt gegen alles und jeden, dass es eine Freude ist. Vor allem, wenn ein Großteil der Gehassten auch zu den eigenen Haßobjekten zählt!

Alle Scheiße außer mir! Das könnte man als Fazit unter diese Memoiren von Luke Haines (The Auteurs, Blackbox Recorder, Baader Meinhof) setzen; von einem der auszog, um Britpop den Krieg zu erklären. Oder zumindest bei jeder Gelegenheit klarzumachen, wie unerträglich er dieses Genre fand. Und das ist sehr vergnüglich erzählt, Mr. Haines ist eine Giftspritze der Extraklasse und ätzt gegen alles und jeden, dass es eine Freude ist. Vor allem, wenn ein Großteil der Gehassten auch zu den eigenen Haßobjekten zählt!