Algeria is Beautiful Like America is a tale of a reckoning with a family's complexity. It starts out a bit slow (and very French settler nostalgia for colonial Algeria) and I found myself wondering whether this was a book for me but then Burton becomes more aware and ends up in Algeria to begin writing her own part of the story, her own understanding of recent history. The illustrations are well done with renditions of abstract thoughts in France and an interesting use of color vs black and white while in Algeria.

This is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

This story had an interesting effect on me because I liked it even though it's not the normal sort of story I like. Most stories that involve people recounting a travelogue - finding their roots or worse, finding themselves, bore me to death, but this one sounded interesting and miraculously it actually was. I think the author can thank Michael Palin for preparing the way with his story of his adventures in the Sahara, which I enjoyed immensely. This story was well-told to begin with, and very competently illustrated by Mahi Grand with sweet, gray-scale drawings.

The one thing I really honestly neither got nor liked about the story was the last two words of the title. Why "Like America"? It seemed like shameless pandering to an American audience. Why not "Like France"? Why not just leave it at "Algeria is Beautiful" or better yet, "Algeria The Beautiful" which both makes a powerful statement and harks to the poem Pike's Peak by Katharine Lee Bates.

The author's family hailed from Algeria, but as French citizens, they had to flee during the civil war in the 1960s, when her grandparents literally flew across the Mediterranean and settled in France. Unlike most people, the author's grandparents did not view the South of France as a paradise. Instead they viewed it as a poor man's Algeria which amused me! After hearing so much, one way or another, about Algeria, the author decided she had to visit and check out her grandparent's roots. She gave up on her hope of collecting some friends to travel with her. She should have asked me! I would have loved to have gone had I been single.

So, alone, with only the name of a contact in Algeria, she traveled. It's no spoiler to say she made it there and back safely since she could not have written this had she not (this is why first person voice horror and thriller fiction doesn't work! But I digress!). Anyway, she has some great fun, some disturbing moments, some confusing ones, and some very happy ones, and a lot of other emotions in between. The story was well-told, was entertaining, and kept me reading. I recommend this as a worthy read.

In all honesty, I'm not big on memoirs. The only memoirs I've read are from youtubers I used to watch, but this book blew me away. It took me a minute to get into the book but once I did, I couldn't put it down. Seeing stories like this really inspires a person and it's really amazing to learn about new cultures, especially if it's one you're not familiar with. I can definitely say Olivia did an amazing job at retracting that culture and her experiences in another country and with its people. I would definitely recommend this especially if you're into getting to know about new cultures.

There was just something about this book and I that didn't click. I was bored with the story and felt like I was reading a piece of someone's family history. Honestly there was way too much information on the page. I did find a part here and there interesting.

A nicely-drawn memoir that tells the story of the author's attempts to trace back her family history.

I came into the book knowing next to nothing of Algerian history and came away feeling a little more enlightened--or, at the very least, curious enough to research further. As someone who immigrated to another country at an early age, the author's struggles to reconcile her family's opinion of Algeria and her own imagination and spotty knowledge was something I could very much relate to.

The pacing is a little slow and some of the panels are a little heavy on info dump, but overall I quite enjoyed it.

This is a graphic memoir of Olivia Burton and her journey to Algeria to trace back her roots and deals with the French colonisation of Algeria and the subsequent independence of the country. The first 30 pages of this book or so were very hard to get into because of how the author's family kind of justified colonisation and lamented the ill treatment of colonisers by the colonized once they took over. As a history student and someone whose country was once colonized, it just made me angry in a way I can't describe. I got through those pages solely on the basis that this was non-fiction and the author was just presenting the family she grew up in and trying to give a background to the story.

After the said pages though, this got better. So much better. Once the protagonist (the author), grows up and her historical knowledge extends beyond listening to the stories of her family members about Algeria and she starts to question who her family really was in French occupied Algeria: racist colonisers or what her family describes, I was totally in for it all.

The history buff me really enjoyed all the eye-opening insight that this short book provided about Algerian independence and it prompted me to search more about it which says something considering the fact that I read this when my exams were going and I DID NOT want to read more history than I already was because of my textbooks. The story also had intriguing commentary about war and memory and I loved that it highlighted how history is actually what the rulers make of it by giving references to things such as the museum of massacres. It was also interesting to see how the same government who encouraged French people to settle in Algeria so many years ago now kind of discriminate against them.

Moreover, the story is crafted in a way that it traces Algeria’s history from colonisation to present day alongside the author’s family history which I think engages the reader in a way that only one of those things alone wouldn't have been able to achieve. The coloured photographs were a nice touch and although the format and layout of the book weren’t that appealing at the start, they became impressive as the book went on.

The dilemmas, feelings and personalities of the characters were fully fleshed out and I could connect to Burton a lot as someone who has heard a lot of stories about her country's journey to independence. Her character also provided some food for thought on how it feels like to be the children of colonists and realize all the wrong which runs in your family history. This particular quote stands out to me:

"I had inherited a war I hadn't experienced."

I liked Djaffer’s character and his musings on how "we maybe children of colonists but we’re nothing like them". His humour and sarcasm were a treat throughout, e.g.

Djaffer= “What are you doing?”
Olivia= “Soaking it in.”
Djaffer= “You should fill a bottle and take it back to Paris.”

Despite this there were some things which were exasperating and off putting such as Burton's lack of political awareness and some sentences/dialogues were just beyond reading without feeling like I wanted to punch someone, especially this conversation between Olivia and her mother:

Olivia: "But if they had been given the right to vote..."
Mother: "No way!"
Olivia: "Why not?"
Mother: "There were nine times as many of them! You couldn't possibly understand! You never lived there. You don't know what Arabs are like. Just look at what has happened to the country since..."

I realize and appreciate that the author unabashedly tried to show the feelings of french settlers towards Arabs in Algeria but this still left me uncomfortable and furious. Overall, my reading experience definitely made me realize that memoirs might just be my favourite sub-genre of graphic novels, especially the ones which involve travelling and finding your roots by doing a pilgrimage to discover your family origins. This was emotional, brazen in its exploration of colonisation and the issues which emerge as a result of it, accompanied with pleasing illustrations and a story worth reading!

This book was a wonderful insight into a different country and the way the families around the world live their lives, as well as history and nostalgia. The art is also very beautiful and well drawn. It is a very personal book all about wanting to understand one's personal history, and how to get to know new people as well.

I’ll admit my previous knowledge of Algeria is minimal, and comes mostly via the works of Albert Camus, and what I know of him biographically. As such, Olivia Burton’s autobiographical graphic novel “Algeria Is Beautiful Like America” was for me unfamiliar territory, but I think that works to the book’s benefit, as the story it tells is of someone also in unfamiliar territory. Spurred on by memories of the tales of her late grandmother, of her former life in Algeria, Olivia takes it upon herself to visit and explore the country, to connect with the past. My own family traces back to Sicily, and I have heard tales of long ago life there. And I know that if I were to ever visit, and if for instance I found where my grandfather was born and grew up, I know my experience could never be a repeat of my grandfather’s experiences. And likewise for Olivia’s visit to Algeria. She visits places her grandmother and mother had been, but didn’t really experience it the same as them. Some things had changed with time, others perhaps were rose tinted, not entirely accurate memories. But for Olivia it’s a new discovery, and instead of reliving someone else’s memories and tales, she experiences her own new adventures, filled with kind, welcoming people. This book was a delightful, touching tale, that could have been twice as long and still held my interest. Thanks go out to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thanks to Netgalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. The art style was beautiful and the story was even more beautiful. The writing style was a little bit slow and had a lot of background but surprisingly it never bored me. It was very interesting to read about Olivia’s family history, her journey and about Algeria. I’ve learned a lot about Algerian history from reading this novel. Besides, the colored ‘’photos’’ in this book were a nice touch. The only thing I didn't like about this book is the title.

The cover and title drew my interest. This graphic memoir challenged my view of Algeria. After all, my knowledge of this African nation is based on current events. But what thrilled me was the narrative of finding about your family’s past and seeing a country which your family has mentioned constantly. Whilst this has adult themes, it can be read by teenagers and older.

The artwork was minimalistic and clean. It is predominantly in black and white. I thoroughly enjoy this style. It definitely added and didn’t detract from the narrative.

My only complaint is the brevity of the novel. I wanted more exploration of Algeria, especially given current events.

'Where you don't know where you're going, take a look at where you come from', goes an Arab saying. Young Olivia is going back in the country of her ancestors, looking to re-create personal histories and memories, mostly left to her through her grand-mother's stories.

Former 'pied-noir'/'black foot', name given to Jews and Christians who at the beginning of the 20th century 'colonised' Algeria and other North-African countries from France, Olivia's family left the country in the 1960s with a piece of the country in their soul. They left there the best memories and a life lost for ever. Memory is treacherous, adding layers and layers of nostalgia the reality that was maybe completely different. Olivia is inspired by those filtered memories and her journey is both a self-search of her family roots and a travel dairy in a country still wearing the stigma of the bloody civil war in the 1960s.

Telling the story as a graphic novel was a very inspiring way as it offers a proper visual content, but also creates different memoir dynamics, with its own red line of events and encounters, that maybe if told in a classical way would have been less entertaining and interesting. Qualifying this genre as less-literary ignores from non-literary snobbish reasons the rich values that the match between inspiring words and inspiring drawings can bring.

Algeria is Beautiful Like America is a good example in this respect. Especially when you have to deal with historically delicate topics, graphic novels may bring a pinch of irony into the story, which can deter the otherwise dangerous time bombs of political and ideological discourses..

Excellently organized and entertaining. A real winner for the publisher and the reader.

I really loved this graphic novel. Usually i am not a fan of memoirs but i think the fact that it wasn't fact heavy and helped with illustrations really made it easy to read through and i read it in one sitting. It also made you to face difficult questions and make you think about a time in history that people try to ignore in a country that is not largely discussed. highly recommend!

I have to say that I don't know a lot about Algeria, so it was really interesting to read book set in this country. The art definitely made the story come to life, since it immediately also showed a representation of the places mentioned. The story was a little choppy at times, a few extra titles or 'introduction' pages between the segments could have helped with that.

I absolutely adore the artwork in this book! Scenery was beautifully illustrated and I am definitely considering visiting Algiers one day. The art is mostly black and white, but color is used to indicate recently taken pictures. The contrast was really cool.

A trip of return and rediscovery of roots that teaches quite a bit about a bit of North African and French history that continues to be oddly obscure and misunderstood to this very day.

A French lady of Algerian descent wants to visit the old homeland, see where her parents and grandparents grew up. Everyone’s telling her not to go, mostly because it’s a dangerous country, but as it turns out there’s a more embarrassing reason as well.
There’s a lot of background about her family before she goes; she doesn’t get to Algeria till part two. The best of that is a cute moment when she does the bunny ears on her mom in a family photo.
Things change once she gets to Algeria, with intriguing drawings of her being touristy, like the one with the chipmunk-like mascot. I haven’t been to Algiers in years, but something should have looked familiar, especially since like her I go to all kinds of museums.
The guy driving her from Algiers is such a downer, but I guess the character is necessary for the story. It’s interesting that’s this is trying to teach a history no one outside of France and Algeria—and probably most people there—knows about, and for the most part wouldn’t care. But especially on the long drive—well, early on in the flashbacks too—it’s presented kinda boring.
But there’s still plenty of great moments. The cowboy scene was funny, and I love the photo of her posing with the city sign. I did notice the guy was sitting on an ancient column, so yay me. My fave character was the woman at the end, in the old family apartment.
Unusual for a graphic novel, there were lots of footnotes, though most written too small to read.
Most of the artwork is basic pencil, black and white, though at times it’s starkly beautiful. Some panels are in color, the photos she takes; they even have the camera info on them, which is cute. The images on the computer did not get the same treatment, sadly. The best drawings were of the main character swimming, at the end. Then the header for the next chapter shows her face with wet hair.
In the end, despite some tired passages, it was pretty enjoyable. But except for the part about the cowboy, I don’t understand the title, what America has to do with it. . .
3.5 pushed up to 4/5

Whether or not you are familiar with the political history of France and Algeria, this graphic novel will be interesting and enlightening. Burton and Grand weave an engaging visual narrative of Burton's journey to explore her family roots. The book successfully combines messages about universal experiences, longings for home and a sense of place, with an individual's search for them.

A story of a French-Algerian woman who takes a journey back to her ancestral lands to try to see why her immigrant parents were so obsessed with talking about the war-torn land they had left behind.

Algeria Is Beautiful Like America follows Olivia as she journeys to Algeria to see where her family lived in the early 1960s.

After her grandmother’s death, Olivia finds her grandmother’s memoirs and uses those as a guide as she travels around Algeria. Along the way, Olivia learns more about Algeria’s colonial past and compares it to what she knows of the country through her family’s stories. She questions what the truth really is, if her family was on the wrong side of history, and what part she has to play in it all.

The pacing of the book is a little slow, but it never felt lagging to me. I didn’t know much about Algeria or French colonization going into the book, so the slow pace gave me time to process the information presented within.

I really liked the limited use of color; the majority of the book is in black and white, and the only parts in color are the photographs Olivia takes.

I enjoyed the story and learning about a part of history I hadn’t really come across before, and I would recommend this book to people interested in graphic memoirs.