Wonderful artwork but I found myself getting bored with the story.

The Sound of the World By Heart is a graphic novel about a guy who conducts an experiment. To get over past grief, he will return to his birthplace, New York. He will live there but communicate with no one while he photographs his experience.

Sam, the protagonist of the story (but not the narrator), shows us around New York as he encounters various struggles. For instance, he will only order food in restaurants that give their dishes numbers so he can just write them down.
We get to know Samuel a bit and learn that he has gone through a breakup and is not over his ex yet. One day as he goes to print out his photographs, something surprises him: there are some photo's he doesn't remember taking.
From this point on, we follow Sam as he figures out why he doesn't remember the photo's and what that might mean for his past, present and future.

Though it might sound differently, this isn't a fantasy story; it's realistic, but has some vague elements to it. The different aspects of the story tie up in a really great way at the end, while we get shown around New York through a beautiful art style.
If I would tell you any more I would be spoiling the story, so it actually comes down to this: this is a great graphic novel that follows what starts out as a photography experiment in New York, but turns out to be so much more.

Thanks to netgalley.com and Diamond Book Publishers for the advance PDF file for my honest review, but unfortunately the file doesn't run on the bluefire app and was unable to read what looked like a very interesting graphic novel.

The Sound of the World by Heart was a pretty fantastic tale! The illustration work, for one, is marvelous and pulls you right into the narrative. Anyone recovering from heart break or wanting to enjoy the seemingly peaceful experience of being an observer of urban life, should enjoy this. Mind you, surprises are abound in this story, as the main character finds out that you can't run too far away from serendipity without playing right into its hands. Highly enjoyable! Will definitely recommend!

"There are people who would look for or judge their ideal partner according to astrological rules, astral schemes, planetary alignments and influences.

Still, I think the only star we can rely on where love is concerned is the star we can all see. Which, in my humble opinion, divides the world into two great categories.

- Those that would rather watch it rise at the dawn
- Those that prefer it as it sets in the evening

The ideal partner is the one you find in your same category.
Full stop."


Just wow!!! How beautiful is that!

A comic book with a beautiful story to tell. The story of a guy who stays silent throughout the book. To him and for him, the city speaks.

"I raise bridges of silence on rivers of words."


He is heartbroken. He moves to New York city for two months to run away from the memories of his beloved. He commits to not to talk to anyone during his stay in the New York City. By profession he is a photojournalist which makes it easier for him to do his job for the magazine without talking to anyone. Then strange things happen. To keep himself contented, he relies on music, numbers and memories. And then, his memories start to deceive him.

Positives:
The story is unique and totally unexpected. That is exactly what I like to read. A good story with characters that make you think about life, feelings, memories and little things like music and sunsets - the warmth of setting sun on your back.
In short, this book is 192 pages of good time spent.


Negatives:
The book was confusing at the start. At first, I was confused whether the character is talking to me or talking to himself or to someone else. But as soon as I got it, the story became clear and interesting. It is both. It took me sometime to understand that someone is telling his story as well as he is also telling his story. May be others won't find it confusing.

There were some unanswered questions too. I wished writer had shed some light on them. Why did only she appear in colors in his pictures? Were the picture actually colored or was his brain painted her for him?


An ARC of this comic book was provided by Diamond Book Distributors and Magnetic Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a quick but interesting read. This graphic novel touches on our insecurities, our secrets, our pain and our loves. The illustrations are vivid and pleasing to look at. I was a bit confused by the story line at first but it did come together for me in the end.

I enjoyed this graphic novel and it has been a while since I was able to say that.

The Sound of the World by Heart has an interesting premise--can you live in one of the world's largest cities and not speak a word to anyone? The main character in this graphic novel takes on that task while exploring the New York and taking photographs.

I love the art in this book, even if the story seems a bit lacking. The art reminds me of many classic comics, which draws in the the reader. The story seemed to lose itself. It's a good attempt at showing there are other ways humans communicate, and that the act of communicating with each other is important for survival, but the story took a few turns off this road and didn't seem to bring it around to a cohesive end.

The lure of a social experiment in isolation, particularly in a city as bustling with life as New York City, made this book sound thought provoking and interesting. The art on the cover spoke to a certain level of depth as it was neither too cartoon-ish nor hyper realistic, finding just the right balance to tell the story.

It was here, however, that the positive aspects of the story began to wane and I fell out of love with The Sound of the World by Heart.

The story itself suffered from trying to be, what I feel, something too philosophical. It reached too far and by doing so lost any connection with the reader that would have made the journey of the main character meaningful. I didn't get a sense of what this experiment was actually doing for or to him, so it's purpose was ultimately meaningless.

There were points in the storytelling that didn't make much sense either, such as the mindreading that the main character initially thought was a painting speaking to him (which is a whole other oddity). This loose thread and others like it had me staring at the book at the end wondering, really, what had I just read?

A somewhat redeeming factor of the book was the art style. It really was very good and I hung on through the book because of it. I'd like to see the author do another graphic novel because of this kind of quality artwork, but maybe paired up with a storyteller who has a history of a more cohesive storytelling style.

If you were ever a fan of the movies: Serendipity and The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, you will be interested in this.

I really liked the art (like when he had a door on his chest which opened up and let the girl in , in order for him to finally feel whole) and the odd theme of the story; the counting of numbers, especially the way it ended with him counting her heartbeats--it was a very movie like end. The constant replay of the question "What is your first memory" and the fact that he was deaf and had one song playing in his head at all moments.

I like how a simple story had many deep moments hidden away in the background of the pictures Sam took. I liked how the author used preternatural elements to describe the journey soulmates take to meet each other.

Don't let the 3 stars fool you into thinking this isn't worth a shot, because it is, I really do mean I liked it, when I rate it so.

what I loved about this is how the drawings are essential to the narrative in the story - and there are digressions that all make sense as we work out how the girl has appeared in his photographs, and yet he has no memory of photographing her - his particular set of internal compulsions, and his interaction with NYC are peculiar to him, and distinct - yet we find them familiar - those of us who have lived in cities, esp NYC! okay at times it drifts in directions I am not certain of but the artistry of the pictures more than makes up for it. I found myself scanning the pictures closely looking for clues as he is ... really surprising and unique!

The Sound of the World By Heart is an odd and fascinating comic about humanity, sorrow and growing out of it with the help of love. A photojournalist flees his life to New York to do a photo shoot in the city full of coincidences and people who are hard to miss even if you try. His aim is not to talk for the next sixty days, but the city has other plans and the most important one of those has orange hair. The pace is quite slow at first and it takes a lot of time before this gets going, but when it does? Wow. The revelations were interesting and refreshing, I didn't see them coming, no no. Basically the best part of the comic is the end, which could've been longer. The beginning is slightly boring too and seems to go nowhere and that's a bummer. It also bothered me how this was a love song to New York without a reason behind it. Why did the journalist go there? What was the point? The comic is very meaningful and has hidden agendas, so this lack of explanation felt weird.

The art is awesome as well as the composition of the panels. The view angles were great and breathed a distinct feeling to the whole thing. I liked the eerie feeling and hollowness in this comic. The colors are steady and compliment the art well, although the whole thing feels slightly artsy and perhaps too intended? A philosophical slap against your face that you saw coming. The slice of life attitude is still the best part, really and the way Bevilacqua moves this story, so those in love with New York can surely appreciate this.

The first thing that struck me about this graphic novel is how visually stunning it is. I don't normally start off a review talking about the artwork, but this book just blew me away with beauty. I loved how the colours were so vibrant, while also looking natural and realistic. Each page was a pleasure to look at, especially the pages which featured illustrated photographs of New York, which made me feel like I was actually there with the character.

So now for the plot, which at times confused me in the early stages. We follow a heartbroken young man, as he explores New York while conducting an experiment of not speaking to anyone for sixty days. He walks around with headphones on and documents his exploration with the photo's, yet something strange starts happening. I can't go into further details than that because of spoilers, but at times the plot did make me question what I thought was going on. It did all make sense in the end though, and made for a beautiful read.

What I enjoyed most about this graphic novel, was just how real it felt, whilst being so powerful and raw. It's impressive how something with so few words can leave such a lasting impression upon a reader. I highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a more quiet graphic novel, something which is both stunning and has a message behind it.

Thank you to Netgalley, Diamond Book Distributors, and Magnetic Press for an ARC of Giacomo Bevilacqua's The Sound of the World By Heart.

I have a love for graphic novels formed both from my first job ever being a comic store manager and from my absolute adoration with anything containing a Narrative Arc (thank you, English Degree thing one and thing two), but I was absolutely drawn in by the idea of a story being told, in a graphic novel, about a character who would not be speaking throughout the whole of the novel itself.

I loved that it was about pictures, memory, and feelings, how these intersected, defined, and defide language all at once. I do feel a little like the end of the story cheats the challenge, and the author lets the character off a little too easy with "giving him the right to cheat and end it earlier on, because it was just a personal challenge" (even though we're told in grand detail how much it is for the city and the magazine, especially with how much money is being paid to him and each day of the two months.

I feel like the "communication" that takes part and makes itself a conversation changes all of the end and the challenge for me, leaving it a little off kilter. But not quite enough to take away all poignant feelings I have about this world and how it moved into my heart, my chest and my head for the time while I was reading it.