Context:
The story takes place in England; an England changed by war and rendered a fascist dictatorship. One man, V, takes on the likeness of Guy Fawkes to enact violent acts of rebellion to encourage the people towards anarchy. V wants more than revenge for wrongs done to him in what is essentially a concentration camp; he wants the right the wrongs done to society. He saves a woman, Evey, from being raped, and raises her as his protege. Evey eventually takes on the likeness of Guy/V and becomes a revolutionary in his stead.
My Thoughts:
I really thought I was going to like this novel a whole lot more than I did, but keep in mind that my feelings towards this book are slanted by my distaste for and lack of understanding in politics as a whole.
First of all, a lot of the white male characters in this graphic novel look the same to me. This is probably a personal issue, but I honestly just couldn't remember who was who half the time, which made the whole thing confusing to read.
Secondly, a lot of the political intrigue didn't quite come off to me. Again, I have a hard time understanding politics, so that's probably most of why I didn't quite get it, but I didn't find myself truly interested in the story until we found out what happened to V in the concentration camp.
Which, speaking of, hello dystopian theme of governments using chemicals and serums against people! Poor V. It's pretty easy to sympathize with his character.
Speaking of V, I enjoyed all the different perspectives we got, even though I wasn't always sure whose perspective I was getting. It gave the story a sense of fullness and completion, and you really got to see everything instead of just focusing on V's experiences. The Leader was crazier than a sack full of rabid badgers, just, by the way.
I just really like V as a whole, regardless. How he continues to hoard literature and other cultural things that the government has forbidden, how he continues to educate himself, how he is so talented at martial arts and tactics. He pulls quite a few tricks over on the government. And he blows up their buildings. Which is awesome.
Though there were some points where my confusion muddled the progression of the story. Like one minute V left Evey in the street for no obvious reason and then she was living with some guy that she was in love with and some random guy kills him and slow down what the hell is going on
V's death was really fitting too. I can't even tell you how angry I would have been had Evey removed his mask.
My Rating: 3/5
I enjoyed the action, the violence, the dystopian themes, and the idea of V's story. All of these things were convincing, well-written, and powerful. However, I personally found myself rather confused with some of the characters and the progression of the story.
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