This review is in exchange for an advanced copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley.

Given the current plague of anti-trans laws being forced on the people of the United States, I only wish this book would have gotten it's English translation sooner.

Parallel is a graphic novel which gives a unique look into the life of a gay man named Karl Kling during post-WWII Germany. The story is told through a letter written to his estranged daughter in the 1980's, in an attempt to reconnect with her.

Due to anti-homosexuality laws and social stigmas, Karl believes he must have a family. He is unable to ignore his desires and we are shown that it is not only the gay person who is harmed by such laws and social norms.

This is a story of tragedy and loneliness, and it is sadly a story that many still live today. We must move past this need to make others in our own image. In 2023, I should not be able to compare our current society to a story of post-WWII Germany.

This one just didn’t work for me at all, sorry.
The art style wasn’t really to my liking and the story was dry and bland and felt lacking in passion to me. The main character felt deeply unlikeable.

I receive a arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

When I first looked at the cover I founded really interesting and beautiful. During the reading I had a little bit of struggle with the visual, the art per say, the lines were very clear and I had to zoom in in the image to take a better look. Another Point is the story itself it was good, and meaningful but in the middle the story seems a bit dragging. The final was okay too but all this fact together made that I didn't have a pleasant reading

What a depressing read, the story is really sad. There are no moments of relief where sadness is not really present.
I feel that the protagonist (Karl) was never clear about what he wanted, on one hand he says that he wants a family, but he is never there for them, on the other hand he tries to fulfill his true desire, but along the way he is causing pain. You cannot build your own happiness in the cemetery of the unhappiness of others. Karl makes the same mistake over and over again, he gives me the impression that in his own cloud of emotional confusion he also loses his memory(?).
The conversations with his coworkers is the pure portrait of a narow-minded society (and although I know that this is set in the 1950s and the postwar period, you can still see this today). But without a doubt, Karl's facial expressions within the illustration are very remarkable, as well as his silence. As I read, I realized that silence was where I understood Karl the most. A taciturn, fearful, vulnerable Karl, exposed to a society that criminalizes his sexual orientation, there were moments when Karl broke my heart with his sadness and discomfort. But at the same time there were moments where I couldn't empathize with Karl.
The illustration, the beauty of black and white, this story told in color would not have been the same. Black and white allows for the emotion, drama and depth that this story needs, colors would have been distracting. Matthias Lehmann does a fantastic job capturing emotions through his lines.
And the ending is...(can you imagine I'm not going to tell you the ending! hahaha), this graphic novel is worth reading.

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Que lectura mas deprimente, de verdad la historia es muy triste. No hay momentos de alivio donde realmente la tristeza no este presente.
Siento que el protagonista (Karl) nunca tuvo en claro que queria, por un lado dice que quiere una familia, pero nunca esta para ellos, por el otro lado intenta colmar su verdadero deseo, pero en el camino va causando dolor. No se puede construir la felicidad propia en el cementerio de la infelicidad de los otros. Karl comete el mismo error una y otra vez, me da la impresion que en su propia nube de confusion emocional tambien pierde la memoria (?).
Las conversaciones con sus compañeros de trabajo es el retrato puro de lo que es una sociedad cerrada (y aunque se que esta ambientado en 1950 y la posguerra, hoy en dia aun se puede ver esto). Pero sin dudas es muy destacable las expresiones faciales de Karl dentro de la ilustracion, asi como tambien sus silencios. A medida que fui leyendo me di cuenta que en el silencio era donde mas entendia a Karl. Un Karl taciturno, miedoso, vulnerable, expuesto a una sociedad que criminaliza su orientacion sexual, es que hubo momentos donde Karl me rompio el corazon con su tristeza y desazon. Pero a su vez hubo momentos donde no podia empatizar con Karl.
La ilustracion, la belleza del blanco y negro, esta historia contada en color no hubiera sido lo mismo. El blanco y negro permite darle la emocion, el drama y la profundidad que esta historia necesita, los colores habrian sido una distraccion. Matthias Lehmann hace un trabajo fantastico capturando la emocion a traves de sus trazos.
Y el final es..(te imaginas que no voy a contarte el final! jajaja), esta novela grafica vale la pena ser leida.

Book Review

Title: Parallel by Matthias Lehmann

Genre: Graphic Novel, Historical, LGBT

Rating: 5 Stars

I didn’t know much about the novel or the author before requesting it on NetGalley but the premise following an LGBT couple in 1950s Germany when homosexual relationships were illegal really drew me in especially since we are following older characters who have other lives including wives and families. We are introduced to Karl Kling as he is retiring as an old man, he discusses his terrible relationship with his daughter who he hasn’t seen for eight years but doesn’t go into detail as to why but it is clear to the reader. Karl then begins to look back on his life and where things went wrong for him, it seems he was a young man in the Second World War and he seemed to have a crush on a fellow soldier and friend, Willi but he never returned from the war. Karl denies even to himself that he is gay but he makes stupid decisions when drunk especially since he can be killed for being gay.

Eventually, after the war he settles down with Anna and has a child but he quickly ends up in a relationship with another man, Paul but he is constantly worried about being found out and what that would do to his family. It does happen when Anna confides in her father that she believes Karl is having an affair and the father knew Karl was gay or liked men and warned him to keep his behaviour in line. Karl ends up getting beaten up by men hired by his father in law and his wife kicks him out on the same day that he ended his relationship with Paul. He turns to a friend for help although he doesn’t tell him why but he seems to know and offers Karl a way out by offering to let him stay with his mother and sister so he isn’t in the same town and he decides to take that offer since it is better than what he has right now. This is broken up by older Karl in the present trying to write a letter to his daughter, Hella, explaining why he was such a bad father and the true reasons why their family fell apart.

In the past, Karl escapes to the East in order to start over after the collapse of his marriage with help from Manfred. There he meets Manfred’s mother and sister, Lilo and they quickly end up in a relationship which brings some normalcy back to Karl’s life but he still feels something is missing. This only gets worse when Lilo learns she is pregnant and Karl has to marry her and he repeats his mistakes when he ends up having an affair with a man named Alfred shortly before his daughter is born. While Karl was semi-honest with Lilo in a way he wasn’t with Anna he could have been honest with her since neither her or her mother have shown any contempt to those who are more inclined to the same sex but he is still holding a part of himself back because of the way gay men are treated in society because homosexuality is still illegal at this time.

Karl does end finding some friends that are also gay like him and he is able for the first time in his life to share the struggles he is having both emotionally and physically but when he gets arrested for being gay everything comes crashing down for him again. When he is released, Lilo is distraught and leaves from the west with Hella and Karl is broken since he loves his family but he doesn’t want to have to hide who he loves and pretend for the sake of society. This is a situation we see coming up again and again as Karl is forced to choose between being accepted by society and being himself and it gets to him. Considering Hella was too young to fully understand what was happening when she left with her mother I was wondering what happened between her and Karl to make her leave. Karl in the present is also showing signs of something like Alzheimer’s since he is becoming increasing forgetful.

After a while, Karl decides he is going to try and make things work with his wife and moves back west and for a time everything seems good until one night he meets Helmut and he feels like he has found his soul mate. For Karl, this is the first time he has felt these kind of feelings towards a man and even moves Helmut into the family home where he becomes a huge part of their lives especially Hella’s but bit by bit he is pulling away from Karl. Eventually he comes out and tells Karl he isn’t gay and was only selling himself because he didn’t have any other choice and he wants nothing to do with Karl which is a hard blow for him because he felt he finally found what had been missing from his entire life and it is snatched away from him.

However, as time passes it becomes clear there is something going on between Helmut and Lilo and she confirms this when she tells Karl she believes she is pregnant with Helmut’s child and this is the final blow in their relationship which ends in divorce. Karl looking back on it knows he made mistakes but he was fumbling around in the dark unable to be himself and unable to figure it out without hurting the people he cared about like Hella and Lilo but in the present he is finally able to say aloud that he is gay to his best friend and his friend continues to support him. Months before he wrote a letter to Hella asking her to visit so he could explain everything to her without lying like he did in the past and he doesn’t believe she is going to come but in the final pages she arrives with her child completely stunning Karl. Overall, this was a heart-breaking story and while I wish there was a happy ending for Karl I did like the fact it was realistic in showing that not every story has a happy ending. As for the art style it has a muted almost watercolour quality to it so it is easy on the eyes but I did wish for a bit of colour. I think the art style mirrored the tone of the story but colour in the happier moments would have made them pop and made the dark times really hit home as you returned to the greyscale pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for giving me access to an ARC of this graphic novel!

Parallel by Matthias Lehmann is a fantastic graphic novel, set in post WW2 Germany and follows the life of Karl Kling, a gay man chaffing against the binds of conformity, due to the necessity of keeping his authentic self hidden. Homosexuality was a criminal offense in Germany at the time, as well as widely being a social taboo. Karl attempts to create a "normal" domestic life, to fly under the radar. Yet, repeatedly has to contend with his attraction to men, and what that means for him and his family.

The story is told through a blend of flashbacks to Karl's past, and his present as he's attempting to reach out to his daughter who disowned him years ago. He writes her a letter, hoping she'll come visit him on his birthday and they can start to possibly heal their relationship.

The art of this graphic novel is gorgeous, and has a wonderful balance of visual story telling and dialogue/narrative scenes. The story of Karl's life is honest, heartfelt, and bittersweet. I found Karl to be a very compelling character, and one who's story was both unique and familiar. Karl attempts to live a "socially acceptable" life parallel to his own truth. This being a common experience for queer people throughout history, Parallel is a deep look into one gay man's experience, and the trials and pitfalls that came with it.

Jumping backwards and forwards along the timeline of Karl's life felt natural and authentic, and ended up weaving together seamlessly into a beautifully cohesive story. In addition, the plotting and the pacing of this story felt perfectly timed.

I ended up reading this graphic novel in one sitting, completely enthralled by its story and the art!

[this review will be updated at the end of the month to include a link to the video of my Graphic Novels Monthly wrap up - which this will be included in]

Thanks Matthias and Netgalley for providing this graphic novel. It really was eye opener of what Karl had been through when same sex was illegal and was pretty much spat into peoples faces based on who they “should” love. I like the fact it gave the time for us to indulge on what he been through in his two marriages up until he became an old man. At first I would’ve liked to have seen exactly when the time skips are set but I think Matthias gave us enough rundown of what’s happening with Karl.

I feel so sad for those who have been affected by ignorance back then, especially when you had to hide it from people for the sake of hiding it from people. It’s just awful and I applaud Matthia for creating this kind of novel that everyone should definitely check out! That includes the older generation!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ono Press for the ARC.

I was immediately intrigued by Parallel and drawn in by its beautiful cover art. I’m much more familiar with the queer history of the UK but much less so of other countries, so the opportunity to learn about Germany’s history was enticing.

Parallel is an easy but powerful read. Through its wonderful panels it conveys the difficulties of being a gay man in post-war Germany and how painful it is for someone to have to deny who they are to their closest friends and family or risk prison. Seeing the journey both literally and emotionally that Karl goes through during his life and the difficult decisions he has to make, or that are made for him, was gripping and at times incredibly frustrating to read; I often wanted to go all A-Ha and reach into a panel or two to grab certain characters by their collar and give them a piece of my mind!

Karl’s story isn’t neatly wrapped up in a bow and I like that. It felt realistic and representative of the glimmer of hope that moving forward in time (usually) offers people as attitudes shift to become more modern.

This is a wonderful graphic novel and incredibly relevant in these times and I look forward to seeing it receive more attention and acclaim outside of Germany!

A story of what it was like to be gay at a time when such relationships were illegal. Parallel takes place in Germany at the end of WWII to the 1980s. When we first meet Karl Kling, his desire for men could not only have him arrested but easily killed by the Nazi regime.
Karl struggles with these needs, marries twice, and has 2 children. Both marriages were ruined because he cannot give his whole self to his family when there is a part of himself he can't even admit exist.

Stories like this are so important. As hard as it is today, the rights LGBTQA people have today are light years from what we could have years ago. They need to know that even though there are miles to go, they are still luckier than my youth in the 80s and light-years from what Karl went through here.
Highly recommended. Parallel will be published June 13, 2003.
Thanks to @netgalley for the opportunity to read this eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I received this book free from NetGalley and Oni Press in exchange for an honest review.

In Parallel, Matthias Lehmann expressly captures the frustration, loneliness, and isolation of being denied a life in which one is able to live and love freely. In a post-WWII Germany, our main character Karl leads a double life: a husband and father struggling to keep his marriage and relationship with his children, and a closeted gay man who looks for connection and love in dark alleyways and public bathrooms. Even when he's among a group of well-meaning friends, Karl hesitates to come out and chooses instead to suppress his identity, which makes him oscillate between denial and desperation, and ultimately changes his life and relationships in irreparable ways.

Lehmann also devotes space to explore how extreme prejudice, the constant threat of violence, and the stress of exclusion from community affects other characters in Parallel, gay and otherwise, which I found both important yet tragic.

A few points of critique:
— The story ended a little too abruptly for my liking, almost like a cliffhanger.
— The monochrome art style sometimes made it hard to tell characters and time periods apart, but I appreciated that it made me focus and really look at the art instead of reading the book too fast, which is often what I end up doing with graphic novels. I do like it when a book slows me down sometimes.
— Finally, a comment on the font. A key piece of the story is Karl's letter to his daughter Hella. If the lettering was made to look like real handwriting, I think that would have really complemented the art.

Trigger warnings include homophobia, assault, cheating, self-harm, and death.

4.5 stars (rounded up)

I don’t really know how to describe this book, I only know that it will stay with me long after the final page. An incredibly poignant story, and highly recommended.

The book switches between different time periods as Karl writes a letter to his daughter. It slowly recounts the major events of his life, things that he has kept from her, in such a way that you begin to understand him slowly as the story goes on. I really loved the way it was written, though the switches between Karl’s present day and his past were a little hard for me to pick up on at the very beginning, I got the hang of it quickly. The graphic novel format was perfect for the story it told, reading this as prose fiction simply would not be the same. I’ll be recommending this to anyone who enjoys queer historical fiction, it’s an incredibly good book.

A heartfelt and heartbreaking story of an old man called Karl, desperate to reconnect with his daughter Hella, reminiscing about his life and how it got to this point. Karl is a gay man in a time when being gay is illegal, as such he tries to fake his heterosexuality leading to failed marriages, missed children, close encounters with the law, fights and a deep feeling of never fitting in.

My only real issue with this is the set style made some characters look too similar and the speech bubbles weren’t always big enough for the text

A really good graphic novel, captures how difficult life could be for queer people in the 1950s.

Occasionally, I did find it tricky to follow, as it jumps back and forth time wise, but I did get used to it.

I found it incredibly sad and rather hard to read emotionally, but a very important story to tell. Felt for all the characters. It just goes to show that people need to be able to live life as their true selves, or it leads to secrecy and a lot of hurt.

Very thought provoking and moving.

The book moved fluidly through present day to the protagonist flashback. He has spent his entire life struggling to come to grips with his true self. The author creates a pattern when he loses his family twice, but there is no explanation why he lament the loss of one child over the other. Additionally, the artistic depiction makes it difficult to discern some characters as the features are too similar and the characters are secondary.

I really wanted to love this but I just couldn't. I DNF'd at 75%.

The art wasn't great and the story moved along at a snail's pace, there WERE some interesting bits bc of course I do enjoy history, so any history buff can enjoy at least lose parts. The dialogue was dry.

I did think the difference between his daily life lived out in the open being being in black and white and his hidden life being in color was a clever effect that construed what he intended to construe. Even so tho, I still couldn't make it through to the end.

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974

A poignant look into the choices many LGBTQ persons face. Conform to societal norms or live in your truth. This emotive telling will have you on an emotional rollercoaster. A beautiful story with awesome graphics.

Not going to lie, I read like 1/3 of the comic and then skipped till the end to see how it ended. Why did I do that? Well, there´s two main motives:
1. Too depressing. Not even the moments where the protagonist was supposed to be happy or at least satisfied with his life felt like he was truly content. There was too much angst and maybe this is a personal opinion of mine, but I´m bored of books were queer people cannot be happy (even for just a brief moment in time).
2. I couldn´t connect with the characters. It all felt so... Idk, like we got here because we had to get here, not because we felt we had to be here (is this understandable?). For example when the protagonist married we didn´t see if he liked the woman (not even as a friend).
Reading this was like delving into a hole of deppression just for the sake of being depressed. I saw no light at the end of the tunnel, just a repentful old man (kudos to the art, though; I didn´t like much how it was so dark but I think it suited well the theme of the story so no complaints)

I didn’t really enjoy this one even though I often like queer historical fiction. It was SO bleak and depressing. There were almost no happy moments in nearly 500 pages. I also had a hard time keeping track of characters because of the art style and the black and white pages. There are time jumps and flashbacks and it’s really hard to tell what time period you’re in.
This is one I’d suggest skipping.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I really enjoyed this book. Graphic novels are usually not what I read, but recently I've been reading more of them to learn about the medium and the books within it. Parallel tells a heartbreaking story about a man struggling with his sexuality and the social consequences of it during post-WW2 in Germany when it is illegal. The book flashes back and forth between Karl in the present day as well as what life was like for him in Germany as we slowly start to piece together the life events that caused him to be where he is and why his daughter will not speak to him.

The art style at first was not my cup of tea, but however as the book continued, I grew to love the art style and can't want to have a physical copy so that I can see the art on something other than my phone screen. The black and white, I felt, added a level of rawness to the pictures and allowed me to focus on the facial expressions of those in the story, which helped bring the emotions.

What I loved most was how the story came in full circle with his daughter and ex-wife. The story showed all the sides of the family without villainizing them because all of them were trying to figure out how to navigate the marriage. I can't wait for this book to be out, and I will be recommending it to readers.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with the copy in exchange for my honest review.

The story is about Karl, a gay man in times when it was forbidden. The complexities of the story are really overwhelming. I had to read it in parts because of intense certain emotions were.
Karl's daughter leaves him and moves away going no contact, after 8 years, once he is finally retired, he comes clean about everything since the war. His failed first marriage, moving away and starting over, meeting his second wife and her mother, everything that went on in his life and mind. The way he forced himself to live and the ways he couldn't force himself.

Whenever something joyous comes along Karl's way, it somehow is very short-lived. This is definitely because of Karl's fear of hiding his true identity. I can not imagine what a queer person goes through TODAY, thinking about it in such a historical place is definitely out of the question. People around Karl didn't make it easy on him either.

The switching between time periods was a little confusing for me, as the book is monochrome. But I enjoyed the artwork.