"London by Script" is a beautifully written love letter to one of the world's most fascinating cities. From the bustling streets of Soho to the quiet lanes of Hampstead, the author takes us on a journey through London's many neighborhoods, each with its own unique charm and character.

What sets this book apart from other travel guides is the author's ability to weave personal anecdotes and historical insights into each chapter. The result is a book that's both informative and engaging, offering readers a glimpse into the heart and soul of London.

I particularly enjoyed the author's descriptions of the city's literary history, from Shakespeare's Globe Theatre to the haunts of Virginia Woolf and Charles Dickens. It's clear that the author has a deep appreciation for the literary heritage of London, and her passion shines through on every page.

The book is also filled with practical advice for travelers, from tips on navigating the city's public transportation system to recommendations for the best local cuisine. Whether you're a first-time visitor or a seasoned Londoner, there's something for everyone in "London by Script".

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves London, travel, or great writing. It's a true gem, and I give it a resounding 5/5 stars on Netgalley.

I struggled to click with this. I'm a big admirer of graphic novel artwork and the medium in general, and visually I liked this, but for some reason I just wasn't engaged and drifted away from it, not finishing it.

An interesting story with good black and white graphics. The story focuses on a man and his partner who migrate from Poland to the UK in order to work and have a better life. Once in London they realize that life is simply not that easy, but they do make friends and find work.

It makes you realize how hard life can be for so many people in London, whether they are migrants or not. In this book we don't really get to see the glamour of London. We mostly get to experience along with the characters.

This says a lot because the characters don't fully experience the glamour of London either. The story also illustrates the casual racism that sometimes exists amongst communities that face racism and discrimination themselves.

Despite the challenges of precarious work and poor housing, the couple manage to work, save money and have a life involving friends and community, and solidarity across racial divides. Then the issue they face is whether to go home to Poland and when to go home, and how to shape their future etc.

The story contains a flash back which doesn't sit well in the story for me. I wasn't too sure what the flashback meant to the main character. Did it encourage him to stay? Did it spur him to succeed? Was he actually injured? This flashback was very confusing and needed to be integrated into the story in some way.

Other than that I thought this was a good read.

•Character development- 4☆
• Story Plot- 3☆
• Side characters- 3.5☆
• Flow of the story- 4☆
• Overall - 3.5☆

London! London! London! What a place it is to be in London. I am always been enchanted by the mentioned city and it's dampness as much as it is gloomy it still fascinates me.
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europecomics presents a face of London that we as outsiders aren't privy to.
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The crowd,the noise and the need to survive in London tells us a tale of immigrants and the white who live in London.
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This graphic novel covers the story of the poor,the ones who have come from various countries and regions in Europe and why they wish to make a place in the city.
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How they talk to each other. What's the life of a man who survives on daily wages?
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The comic surely opens your eyes to the reality of London and this story is dedicated to the people of London and a story of the common man living in London who doesn't own a book shop in London nor does it dine with the royal family.
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Thanks to #netgalley for the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am quite fond of London. There is not a lot of fiction about the Polish community in the UK, and it was refreshing to read a story about them. This is an offbeat and good-humoured look at the life of Mikolaj and Gosia as they struggle to make ends meet. Despite working long hours for little money and being far from home, Mikolaj grows to enjoy his life in London. There is an affecting conversation between Mikolaj and Gosia discussing when they are going to go home, with Mikolaj musing that he misses being in Poland when he is in London but misses London when he is in Poland. The themes of homesickness, racism, and poverty are all explored with an unsentimental eye. It is a character-driven slice of life drama.

The black and white art has a contemporary feel to it. There are many gags in London and the sense of timing in their delivery in perfect. However, the panel layouts are occasionally too dense for my taste. Overall, Trejnis does an exemplary job of making the story feel authentic and delivers the story well.

There is no soft coating the difficulty of the lives that Mikolaj and Gosia live in London, making the climax of the book all the more touching. London is a properly entertaining and distinctive story about immigrant life.

The blurb for London says that it's an 'outsider's view of the capital', that it would be exploring life in the city for people from outside the UK, and the things that they have to face once they move there. Whilst I agree that the book does explore some of the aspects of the lives of immigrant people coming to Britain, their difficulties in finding work and places to live, I'm not sure that there's much in this book that makes it connected to the capital itself. Other than a few panels where we see things like London underground stations this could very well be any city in the UK.

I think the book is less about the city of London, and more about the people who come to Britain hoping to find a better life. People who flee war and violence, people who are escaping poverty, people who just want a better life for themselves and their loved ones.

Unfortunately, I never felt like I was able to get to know any of the characters that populate this story, thanks in part to the skipping around of the timeline, but also thanks to everyone feeling very similar to each other. The book follows Mickey, a man who has travelled to London from Poland and is working in construction and decorating to earn money so that he can return to Poland a richer man. Whilst this itself would make an interesting story and an engaging character to follow it's also the motivation for the majority of the other characters in the book, and other than the way they're drawn there's little to separate or distinguish them from each other.

One of the other issues that I had with the book, and I feel should be spoken about so that other readers aren't taken by surprise, is the amount of racial slurs that appear in it. I'm sure that some of this is realistic, that there are work places full of white people who like to joke and talk about minority groups in derogatory ways, using some of the most disgusting language they can, I don't want to read that. You can make people racist without resorting to using the N-word a dozen times. The only thing this does is makes me like the book less, especially as there are not voices there challenging these views, and they're simply allowed to exist within the work.

I was really hoping to like London, as I have with the other Europe Comic books I've read, but this was the least enjoyable of their books. I never made any connection with it, the story and characters bored me for the most part, and the racism inside it put me off. This is not a book that everyone is going to enjoy.

Trigger Warning for the book, there are scenes where people are dealing with and ignoring racism.

The tagline for this book instantly drew me in. No words of wisdom here cause they're drenched in scotch and beer. I could not wait to get my hands on this book. The man on the cover even reminded me a bit of Constantine and with it set in London I was super excited.

The story follows a group of Polish immigrants who live in London. I don't know if it was because I have only visited London in books or if I just wasn't relating to these immigrants' stories, but the book was just ok. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed it and I don't have anything negative to say, but it was just ok.

Creative Team:
Story and Art by Dominik Szczesniak and Rafal Trejnis
Lettering: Pawel Timofiejuk
Original Title: Fotostory: London published in Poland

This graphic novel, dealing with Polish economic migrants to Britain, was illustrated very well but the plot was very thin.

This book looked really interesting in the description and the cover, however it was not for me. I don’t have issues with swearing, but i also don’t think the f-bomb needs to be said on every page. Speaking of bombs, the portrayal of muslim characters was something i disliked, speaking as a muslim myself.

The storyline itself was a decent idea, but needed more world building, and fleshing out so the characters were more engaging. What i liked about this book was the black and white paged comic feel, and the characters were drawn very well.

I'm not sure what to think after reading this book. Mikołaj and his partner have moved to London from Poland in search of a better life. But like many migrants into the country, they face many problems, from difficulty in finding work to troubles with their housing and more. While his partner Gosia works at a bakery, Mikołaj does manual work fixing and decorating houses, but life as an imigrant to London isn't as easy as many think it is.

With family who are Polish and many of them originally migrants to this country over the decades, I was excited to read this book as I thought I might recognise some of the difficulties that the characters would face as Polish migrants to the country. This graphic novel has some brilliant illustrations although I have to admit to feeling a bit confused when I first began reading it. The story seems a simple one but without much of a plot really. Although there are anecdotes of what it is like to be a Polish migrant to London, this feels more like a series of short anecdotes rather than a solid story with a solid plot or beginning, middle and end.

The story is set in 2006 with a flashback to 2005 in the middle. It begins with a page of text which sums up, although a little cryptically, the general way of life for Polish migrant Mikołaj. The story then takes on a comic/graphic novel style where we get to see some of Mikołaj's, or Mickey to his Engligh friends, life. The things that happen aren't very remarkable, Mikołaj plastering a wall and having a strange conversation with a certain character, then walking home and meeting a friend, having dinner with his partner then dinner with friends, etc. But while the things that happen seem unremarkable there are some good moments that show some of what migrant life really is like for some in London.

Some parts of the story I really enjoyed, like the references to the 'wailing wall' which is really a shop window with job adverts in the window. I remember seeing this 'wailing wall' in Hammersmithwhich really is frequented by many Poles looking for work. I also liked parts which showed Mikołaj and Gosia's troubles in getting work when they first arrived to London, being far overqualified (as many Poles are) and the funny exchange in their new house in the dark. Even the part about food waste was good to see and I like how this was shown as it's a real issue in our country today and I like how Gosia and Mikołaj deal with this 'waste'. But although there are some good moments like these, this book has some real drawbacks.

Although the story is simple it isn't very interesting, the anecdotes often didn't even make sense to me. Although the flashback to 2005 felt like a better story contained within the 2006 tale, the things that were happening in the book felt separated and often made little sense following on from each other. I also didn't like the stereotyping of other characters. I have no issues with the stereotyping of Poles as this is a book about a Polish couple moving to London, written by a Polish author, and I feel that it's okay to laugh at your own culture. But the story also contained others like a Syrian migrant with a tragic story that felt a little over the top and references to Arabs and others which when describing their behaviour or attitudes, could be considered offensive.

The book contains copious amounts of swearing the f word as well use of the n word when refering to black people. Although this particular scene gave the positive message that not all Polish people are racist (as some might believe) at the same time there are statements made by others which felt forced and it just came across as a vulgar and unnecessary exchange and did nothing for the overall story.

I really cannot fault the artwork, although it's not my favourite style I do like the way all the characters look and the overall feel of the pictures. Each of the ilustrations are in black, white and grey and look similar to the illustration on the front cover but all have a comic book style feel and are really good. I like the expressions on the characters faces, and the different angles that the story was shown at, sometimes from the outside of a building and I love that chat which took place in the dark which was just a bunch of black boxes with speech bubbles. I really do like the illustrations which is why I find it frustrating that the story just wasn't that great for me.

I'm not sure what to think of the ending of this story. It seems to end in a bit of an abrupt way, the rest of the tale told through a letter that Mikołaj has written to a friend which actually involves three whole pages of typed text to read. This felt jarring and I would have preferred to see more of what was said in comic form rather than this written letter. It's a real shame because I felt that this book had such a potential to show the real funny side and pitfals that happen to Polish migrants who come to London. I can think of plenty of funny things that can and do happen and how the life of migrant Poles can be depicted. But while there was potential and the artwork is really good, I just feel disappointed with what I have read. The book's story often didn't make sense (possibly as it was first published in Poland?) and felt more stereotyping and crude than it had to be. Rather than this book making you see Polish people and migrants from anywhere in the world in a better light than you may have thought of them before, after reading this, it feels like this book just reinforces everything that people hate about them. And after finishing this I just cannot personally recommend this book.

This graphic novel was interesting, but not for me. I was intrigued by the cover and the art style was nice. I’m not going to write off the author yet, but this one wasn’t for me.

This comic made me very sad.
I myself am a Pole living in London and while reading this comic book I wanted to cry about highlighting stereotypes about Poles in Great Britain.
According to the authors all Polish people, they are alcoholics, who drink even behind the wheel, they do not speak English and generally cannot cope with life abroad.
Personally, this comic offended me and I completely don't understand the title. Why London?
I absolutely do not recommend it!

ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

London is an interesting story about a Polish couple that migrated to European's biggest cities, London, in search for a new and better life. Told in black and white graphics, London captured the grittiness of living in a foreign country and surviving day to day life their. The couple went through a lot of ups and downs as they struggle to find steady good paying jobs, a place to live in, all the while balancing a social life.

London is a harsh city for both foreigners and natives that live there. The hustle and bustle to maintain a living there is hard. Despite the challenges of poor living condition and precarious work, the couple succeeded in saving money, finding stable jobs, and finding friends along the way. There is no glits and glams or amazing scenery of London that we all get to see in travel books. The pages included some of the more realistic sides of London that no one got see a glimpse of.

While I loved the realistic depictions and struggles that characters are facing, something did not sit well with me. The flashback moments were quite confusing, these moments did not translate well into the story and I had a hard time understanding them. The time change could've been done better in an orderly manner to help readers understand.

An interesting story with good black and white graphics. The story focuses on a man and his partner who migrate from Poland to the UK in order to work and have a better life. Once in London they realise that life is simply not that easy, but they do make friends and find work.

The story explores the grittiness of life some migrants face and the exploitation they may encounter. It also makes you realise how hard life can be for so many people in London, whether they are migrants or not. In this book we don't really get to see the glamour of London. We mostly get to experience the grit along with the characters. This says a lot because the characters don't fully experience the glamour of London either. The story also illustrates the casual racism that sometimes exists amongst communities that face racism and discrimination themselves.

Despite the challenges of precarious work and poor housing, the couple manage to work, save money and have a life involving friends and community, and solidarity across racial divides. Then the issue they face is whether to go home to Poland and when to go home, and how to shape their future etc.

The story contains a flash back which doesn't sit well in the story for me. I wasn't too sure what the flashback meant to the main character. Did it encourage him to stay? Did it spur him to succeed? Was he actually injured? This flashback was very confusing and needed to be integrated into the story in some way.

Other than that I thought this was a good read.

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

This was offered to me as an e-book from NetGalley for an honest review.

Sadly I DNF’d this book!
I did not understand what was go on half way thru. I was so confussed.

This digital copy was offered to me from netgalley for an honest opinion.

Well, I can’t say I enjoyed it. This book follows a Polish couple that (recently) migrated to London and their hardships looking for work and a place to live.

Unfortunately the story-line is confusing. In one hand you’re reading about the main character Mickey working in construction in London and the next you’re reading letters that he writes to someone else depicting things that nothing add to the story. The terrorist attack in London buses’ is twice mentioned in the story but it is not explained what was the impact of this situation in the main character’s life.

Be aware that there is quite a bit of racial slurr (we already know that this happens in real life, but the book still stereotypes the racial abuse that some nationalities suffer from and make others suffer) and there is no humanity when talking about money or making money (the main character actually mentions that hopefully his parents and in laws die soon so they can inherit the money to buy a house and start a family...!)

However, in one way the book does make the reader open its eyes to the endless problems that a migrant faces when coming to London. As a migrant myself in the UK, I know that these kind of problems do exist.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.
Well, despite this sounding quite interesting... I was at times quite bored and wondered how much longer I had to read before the book was finished. The book consists of comic parts and a few written parts. While I do like that we get both, especially since the written ones give a bit more information in a short part, I struggled quite a bit through the written parts as they felt weird/strange/inconsistent (trying to find the right word here). The story is about Polish immigrants who try to make a living in London. The girlfriend works at a bakery, the guy (our MC) works as a builder/fixer/handyman. We see friends, family, co-workers. There is drinking and racism. We see how hard our MC works to get things to work for him, though he longs for Poland.
But things just got a bit boring. A bit too much. And I wondered how they got away with things, I mean it seemed no one minded that they just went to live in those houses and fixed things up a bit. The art was OK, though at times I thought we had multiple MCs. :P

I thought I would enjoy this a lot as an immigrant living in London but I didn’t. I didn’t like the characters and I didn’t care about the story.

London is a story of a group of Polish people who move to London in search of a better life.

Just like the life of immigrants, this graphic novel was heavy and dirty, and not at all what was expected.

The artwork is dark and foul and the conversations that characters have are not far from it either.

I think this one shows the hard lives of immigrants pretty well, but there were some things that were really uncalled for. Like, mixing the timeline for no obvious reason or importance to the story.

In a short, 80 page story, the authors show us of a group of Polish friends living in London in the mid 2000s, right before and after the 2005 bombings. The idea interested me in a personal level: I've seen my life go a similar route, although a decade later; I'm not Eastern European, but I am from a PIIGS country; etc. It is a narrative that me and my friends have lived for a decade now.

The art is fine, slightly depressive, dirty. This won't show you the beautiful London landscape, but rather the oppressive and downright sad estate of dingy appartments and Tesco parking lots. Characters are ugly and their conversations are foul. It can be uncomfortable, but this life is uncomfortable. In that sense, it perfectly captured the mood.

The story, however, seems a bit convoluted: we start in 2006, go back to 2005, then seemingly to 2006. The time change doesn't add anything, so it could have been told in chronological order and have had the same effect; or tell the 2005 memories briefly, so they're just a short flashback, instead of taking half the comic. There doesn't seem to be any plot, or finish line, or something that would make us feel like the comic's ended. It seems to cut off at a random moment, with no change to characters' lives, goals or even lived experiences. In that sense it's like a snapshot of immigrant live in an expensive city, but the story doesn't tell us anything new that would make that snapshot fascinating.

All in all, even though I appreciate that this comic exists and I hope more follow, it reads as unfinished.