I donated to the kickstarter for this book. Boy am I disappointed. Bad art poor storytelling. What a bad book. I do not see how they will be more volumes printed ( )

I have mixed feelings about Persia Blues. I like the illustrations which switch from lush vibrant fantasy using soft brushed lines and detailed illustration to stark reality using crisp clean lines and minimal shading. This helps highlight the division between her fantasy life and real live which seem to be a conflict of her internalized duality between her Persian ethnicity and her Iranian nationality. I think this accurately reflects the identify conflict many Iranians seem to have while longing for the grandeur of Persia past yet trying to come to terms with the Iran they currently have. Unfortunately, the Iran that has come about with it particular brand of restrictive Islamic rule works against many Iranians pushing them away from Islam. To me as a Muslim I find this extremely sad. It shows how wrong Iran's restrictions are and is counterproductive to what their "Islamic Republic" seeks to bring about. The loss of freedoms to believe in Islam for it's beauty and truths is forced cause people to disassociate and turn away. Similar story lines are echoed in Persepolis and other writings about and by Iranian women especially those who have migrated to the Western world. One would hope that Iran gets the message someday and returns to the more tolerant Islam that allowed it to flourish in other eras of history. The character in both real life and fantasy seems to have no faith in God(s) at all but her fantasy self accepts Zoroastrianism by actually being visited by one of the mythical Gods. I've not read the second book or third at this point but I wonder if perhaps this foreshadows finding and accepting some religious truth in her real life story as well?

Overall the story itself is good, some of the writing seems a little off to me... out of place, strangely worded, I'm not quite sure. Some things just seemed unnatural in the way the characters were speaking. Perhaps it's due to the ancient themed fantasy that's reflecting modern life experiences and thoughts but I can't quite put my finger on what it is that seems off about the writing. the story is pretty interesting and compelling though and although there are still a lot of unknowns about the main characters relationships we come to really care for the characters and experience the bonds and trials their familial relationship have. The cliffhanger leaves you wanting to know more but also giving a somewhat satisfactory ending so that there is some sense of quest and story fulfillment even though there is so much still unanswered. ( )