The examples of sexual harassment here were spot on, and, therefore very cringeworthy. But, otherwise, lots of gratuitous language and sex that seemed beside the point of the story. Also lagged in places ( training for. Example). Just ok for me.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel about a young woman who joins FEMEN.

This book is described by the authors as 'realist fiction'. It is their own understanding about the organisation FEMEN, but expressed in fiction, and in this case their understanding is expressed in a graphic novel.

FEMEN (we are told in the book) is an internationalist feminist movement. Their defining characteristic is organising topless protests. Their struggle is against patriarchy, through what they see as its three main pillars - dictatorship, the church and the sex industry

The story is told through Appoline, who is a young french woman who lives in Paris. She experiences all kinds of micro aggressions everyday because she is a woman. At work she is expected to use her breasts and look alluring so that her ad agency will get contracts from clients. Her mother expects her to get married and give birth to children. On the street she is subjected to unwanted admiration and chat up lines from men who don't back away nicely when rejected and the streets do not feel safe.

Appoline experiences what women experience to a greater or lesser degree everyday of their lives and she finds it oppressive. Is this really what it means to be a woman in 21st century France? She feels that she is being oppressed and she is. When she discovers FEMEN and sees a protest on the internet she makes enquiries and decides to join them, or at least find out more.

She attends their training and becomes an activist. When Appolonia joins them she discovers that this nudity and exposure isnt alluring like she needed to be at work, it is aggressive. Nudity here is a weapon. She joins FEMEN, weathers the cost and the impact on her life and she grows as a person.

I hadn't heard of FEMEN before reading this book and I was totally engrossed by Appoline's story. As a community activist and female priest I thought this was a fascinating, especially because FEMEN see the Church as a patriarchal institution. The artwork is good. It is a clearly drawn graphic novel using lots of colour and a good dialogue.

My only criticism is that it ended rather abruptly. There was a sudden leap from a protest to '3 years later'. Where is the rest? What happened in between?

In any case I still enjoyed this and I learnt something too. It is a great story and a good introduction to FEMEN as well https://femen.org/about-us/

Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

In all, this is a failure. Act one, the goading of our heroine to become a Feme-nazi, is just OTT and not at all worthy of getting her sympathy, so crabby and bitchy is she. Act two, the training of our wannabe Feme-nazi, is proof that the training montage should stay the montage, and not be a whole third of a piece. There is some merit to be had in the fallout third act, but not really enough. Which is a shame, as this could have been so much better. Not to be adapted by a Weinstein any time soon.

This was an interesting comic about a group I'd heard of but knew little about, FEMEN. The training scenes and backlash for Apolline (our fictional heroine) were really cool, unique bits. However, the beginning section where Apolline has the experiences that inspire her to become an activist were REALLY heavy-handed - they could've been way more insidious, like they often are in "real life."