This is a hard one for me to rate, because objectively it's not a bad comic at all, yet subjectively, I didn't enjoy reading it.

The art is fine, it's effective and works. The story is told by the people around Einstein, and they often break the 4th wall to give side comments to the readers. While this definitely can be humorous, it didn't work for me here. It feels very weird to read the "opinions" the people close to Einstein had about him. Because, while this book is definitely <b>well researched</b> opinions are subjective and so hard to know, especially when it's about actual historical figures.

I enjoyed the beginning of the comic, which was about Einstein's youth. The Einstein this book shows, portrays some symptoms of an autistic spectrum disorder, though it never diagnoses him. This is also only really the case in the earlier chapters.

But as Einstein grows up, he becomes more and more unlikable, at least in this book. He has no regard for the people around them and often treats them as his lesser, which was incredibly grating. And before you tell me "that's because of the autistic spectrum disorder, surely", no, it's not. While yes, people with an autism spectrum disorder can have trouble relating to people/ grasping social cues, they can almost always learn them, except when they have other comorbidities. And you can't tell me that our genius wasn't able to learn about society. He was <i>able to</i> but didn't want to. He didn't <i>care</i> enough to learn about that, and thus hurt the people around him. According to this book he never even met his daughter, and barely interacted with his son.

So, Einstein was incredibly frustrating to read about. He had plenty of affairs, so he must have been well-liked at the time, I just couldn't figure out why.

What I did like was how this book showed the impact of the two world wars on the scientific world. It was super interesting. The older Einstein became, the more he mellowed out, at the very least in this book. The final few chapters, like the first few, were a lot easier to read, because Einstein wasn't as ... rude.

There is, obviously, a lot of physics in this book. I feel like it's still very readable, even for people without a lot of knowledge in that department. This would be an amazing book for schools, and to use in science classes.
There was a scene where Einstein's wife talks about how "her woman brain isn't able to comprehend Einstein's theory" which I disliked heavily, because it was completely unnecessary. Most of his colleagues and other physicist at the time didn't understand him either, so it had nothing to do with her being a woman. And even if everyone else had understood it, it still had nothing to do with her being a woman. I don't know if this is an actual quote from her, because in a cursory search I couldn't find it, but if it's not, I feel like it's really wrong to put those words in her mouth, and in a book aimed at young students of science. I don't want young girls to read this and give up, thinking they won't be able to understand science.

All in all, this is a decent book about the life of Einstein. I wasn't that fond of the way the story is told, but it is well researched and full of information. It did not gloss over Einstein's (many) flaws, and gives a comprehensive insight into his life.
Yet it was incredibly frustrating to read, and I did not enjoy it all that much.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the author and the publisher for allowing me early access to this ebook in exchange for a honest review.

I really liked this graphical novel/BD. In fact, I don’t really know how to call it, as I don’t usually go to these kind of books, but it being about Einstein caught my attention.

We got a very detailed biography of Einstein’s life and work and we get access to the resources used in the end of the book, which I highly appreciated has it allow us to get to know more.

I felt, sometimes, it was too detail in terms of physics concepts, which, for me, was not a problem but for other readers might be, if they are more interested in getting only a geral idea of the big scientist.

What was the best, for me, was the fact that this format allows some creativity that would not be possible in a more conventional book - for instance, the talk between Einstein and Newton and the small details added by Stephen Hawking.

This review will also be available at my Goodreads profile and later (closer to release date) in my instagram profile - @cat.literary.world

This nonfiction graphic novel story of Albert Einstein is narrated by the characters he spent his time (like his wives, family, and friends), shows the majors event in his life and the evolution of his career as a theoretical physicist.The Narration is a bit fictionalized, even so, it's informative.The art is good but sometimes the characters are too similar and the paneling is a little too "old fashioned”.

Just like Ottaviani's other graphic novels, particularly the biographies and major historical events of the past (astronauts, atom bombs, Stephen Hawking), Ottaviani brings his A-game of research to paint a complex portrait of Einstein whose work distracted his ability to be human and make connections while also though have multiple love affairs and being pulled in many directions and discussions of war and political affiliations.

It presents a deeper portrait than others and gives context to the scientific pursuits that even in this one, were a little over my head though I could understand the general ideas and complexities of the work.

[ENG & ES]
<ENG>
In this nonfiction graphic novel, we mainly get to know the evolution of Albert Einstein’s career as a theoretical physicist, with its ups and down, and his interactions with other scientists. They depict some hints of the theory of relativity and of quantum mechanics to provide a general view of the development of these theories. But to me the most valuable thing in this book is the more empathic vision of the research process. Additionally I really liked the construction of the characters, the vividness of their interactions, all wrapped up with a pitch of humor.
Thanks to Jim Ottaviani y Jerel Dye for the opportunity to enjoy this thoughtful biography of Einstein, and to First Second Books and Netgalley for being able to access a copy in advance to give my honest opinion.

*********************
<ES>
En esta novela gráfica y biográfica de Albert Einstein, centrada principalmente en su trabajo científico y sus vínculos con otros físicos como Niels Bohr, he alcanzado a conocer los conflictos y contradicciones que afrontó hasta llegar a ser una figura mundialmente famosa.
Encontramos pinceladas de la teoría de la relatividad y otras cuestiones relacionadas con la física cuántica, que personalmente no acabo de comprender, aunque tampoco creo que sea el objetivo de este libro. Aun así, considero que es una obra divulgativa porque nos dibuja a grandes trazos el proceso de creación de dichas teorías y porque nos acerca a una visión de conjunto al método científico, donde la colaboración, la tenacidad y el espíritu curioso son frente común para la investigación.
Una de las cosas que más me ha gustado es el tratamiento de los personajes. Se describen con una pizca de humor y además cobran vida en su interacción.
En definitiva, es un comic serio que combina una aproximación a la física con cierto grado de entretenimiento para acercarnos, a los no entendidos en la material, a la vertiente más cuántica de Albert Einstein.
Gracias a Jim Ottaviani y Jerel Dye por la oportunidad de disfrutar de esta enriquecedora biografía de Einstein, y a First Second Books y Netgalley por poder acceder anticipadamente a una copia para aportar mi honesta opinión.

A graphic novel story of the life of Albert Einstein. The major points and relationships of Einstein's life are all here.
Behest good and well written. My main criticisms are that the 4th-wall-breaking asides of characters were a bit hard to differentiate from their normal sketch... also the non-Einstein (especially female) characters were difficult to tell apart (because in the female cases they all had basically the same hair style).
I especially liked the way the Solvay conferences were covered in the box. The frustration on the faces of all involved was very clear.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.
#Einstein #Netgalley
Very worth the read to anyone interested in the life of Einstein and as a book to get younger readers interested in a biography.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC of this text. I really see this title being suitable for middle grades readers. The vocabulary is stunning, and there are enough answers in the text to keep the reader from feeling overwhelmed with specific mathematical and scientific language. The movement between past and present does seem a bit choppy, but learning a great history of Einstein in a graphic/comic format is very appealing to many audiences.

This book would be great for someone who loves physics and wants to understand how Einstein developed his theories. Because I was not interested in the scientific parts, I was not super into this book. I would have preferred more of an emphasis on his life and relationships.

It was an exciting way to know more about Einstein in a historic vision but with some fun and beautiful art to enjoy together.

I love Jim Ottaviani's "Feynman." It's one of the books that springs to mind when I think of what a First Second book feels like, why I stop by their booth every year at NYCC in hopes of something else just like it. 11 years later, we have his follow up work, "Einstein." Covering the most famous physicists of the 20th century's life, it details his work, his life, and does not gloss over the fact that he was a shitty father, repeatedly unfaithful husband, and reluctant to adopt quantum theory as it unfolded in front of his face. The narrative, both linear and reflective at the same time, works well with the art style and the reoccurring motif of the perpetually unfinished violin reflects Einstein's Quixotian quest to build out a Unified Field Theory until his death.

Thanks to Netgalley and First Second Books for the ARC.

Though physics is an "out-of-scope" subject for me (couldn't really understand much apart from the basics), I was always interested in Einstein. I often used to wonder during my engineering days about his brain and thinking process and how he managed to think up so much stuff that I couldn't solve even when set on paper.

When I saw this ARC on Netgalley, I requested it immediately for
1) Einstein
2) Comics

The book covers a vast portion of the genius's life starting from his childhood until his death. The way his brain works is shown well. Equations and formulae just seem to pop into his head but after that goes a lot of hard work, plenty of discussions, and thinking to get it all straight.

The story is narrated by the characters Einstein spent his time with including his girlfriend, wives, secretary, parents, and friends. This was a refreshing way of narration and I loved it. I also loved the short interaction between Newton and Einstein. I didn't even know that the concept of kilometre wasn't invented in Newton's time.

Though I didn't understand much of the physics going on in the book, it did not overshadow my enjoyment. A lot of other topics like Einstein's inability to commit to one woman, his relationships with his parents, children (particularly his eldest), and friends are covered and they are quite interesting.

The drawings by artist Jerel Dye for the comic are excellent. They reminded me of Tintin comics (my very favourite).

Of course, I cannot claim to know everything about Einstein now after reading one comic book but it has given me a fair idea of what to expect.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

Thanks to Netgalley and First Second Books for the ARC.

The art is of good quality with characters who are well defined and have wonderful, expressive faces. Other art elements are of good quality with just the right detail. Text, with various characters in Einstein's life telling part of the story, is interesting and absorbing. Physics is somewhat heavy for many people but reasonably well explained.

I enjoyed this book. I learned a lot, it was a little dry and sometimes the plethora of characters were difficult to keep track of but all in all it is an enjoyable graphic novel.

A delightful, fact based, interesting and entertaining graphic novel that takes us through the fascinating life and achievements of one of the world’s greatest minds. Well done!

This one is very heavy on the educational/informative aspect. Too much in fact for the casual reader like me. I would've preferred a more condensed, faster-paced narrative of Einstein's life. I didn't want to read endless letters he wrote to his girlfriends or all the myriad incidental people in his life who had to chime in on him. Was all of that necessary? I didn't think so, and it made the book a slower, more tedious read as a result. There's a way of telling an informative biography that won't bore the reader but I don't think Ottaviani got the balance right with this one.

I've never read a biography that left me disliking the person in question as much as this one did.

It was very interesting, and frustrating, to learn about Einstein and his lack of integrity and fidelity as, until now, I had only ever heard him mentioned with admiration and idolisation.

Assuming this biography is accurate in its depictions, Einstein was an unfaithful, neglectful husband and a superficial father for much of his life.

I initially enjoyed the drab colour scheme but over time it started to all look the same to me. The illustrations themselves are well-drawn and the linework is very good.

The science was not handled well and often was not clearly explained. It all felt rather maladroit in the way it was included in the story.

Graphic novels can make wonderful biographies but the way it was done in this one was hard to enjoy. It had the feel of a traditional biography that was shoehorned into a graphic novel without being adapted adequately.
In my opinion, an illustrated biography would have suited the author's approach more than a graphic novel did.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book to be uninteresting- and I am a scientist who teaches physics! I know lots of info about Einstein and I found the treatment of him here uneven and at times fictionalized. The colors and artwork were not attractive to me either.

To be honest, this book did not work well for me. I usually enjoy science writing and appreciate historical time periods relayed in the graphic novel format. This one was simply not smoothly written. The intellectual material was dumped into the text, and the personal material lacked transitions making it difficult to follow. Unfortunately, the art style did not add interest either with its unrelenting browns and basic text structure. This presentation of Einstein’s life and work could use more polishing before publication.