I loved this book! The art was absolutely gorgeous, in both composition and color. Many of the pages made me laugh or at least smile and I like how it was separated by season. I'm eager to try and stock this in my store, and I'd love to recommend it to people. I'm partial to comic strip books but this one takes it a up a notch with the lovely art style. The humor was just my thing as well.

First and foremost, thank you to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing this ARC copy in exchange for my honest review

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⚝ Rating ⚝: 5✩ / 5✩’s

⚝ Review ⚝: This was just a fun, quick read through with refreshing animal-behavior humor. As a bird lover, I absolutely adored this and will absolutely add a physical copy to my collection. While a very lighthearted and humorous look into the behavior of birds, it all made absolute sense. This is 100% what birds are thinking. You can't convince me otherwise.

⚝ Illustrations⚝: I loved this art style! Everything from lineart, abstract, and watercolor, it all tied really well together and fit the tone of the comics.

My monthly reading breakdown for May will be posted to TikTok, IG, and Threads the first week of June.

The art in this book is unbelievable, it is seriously beautiful! The stories are funny and clever and it’s so interesting how it reflects the lives of birds with ours and how they “see” life. Loved it and would love to read more from this author! Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the author for allowing me to read this story. This book was pretty good and if you’re into short humorous comics this is the right kind of book for you.

Personally, I just don’t think I have the same sense of humor as the author/illustrator. I heard about the artist before and that they were really funny so when I saw the ARC available on NetGalley I decided to try it. I could tell that the intention of the comics was to be humorous. The way they were drawn, the syntax of the sentences and the placement of punctuation indicated humor, however I personally didn’t find many of the panels funny and I think that’s just down to personal preferences of humor.

However, some of the short comics were very interesting. I liked getting to see the way the birds were drawn and the funny way that each of the birds was portraying a bird stereotype while also commenting just a little bit on our own human stereotypes. It was definitely more of a humorous comic compilation than one with one overarching message, but it did have some messages in it.

I personally enjoyed the layout of the comic. Each short comic was usually a page but no more than 2 pages which gave it a distinct finish to each unrelated comic pieces. However, the whole book was held together comprehensively by breaking up the book into sections by season. All four seasons were represented with an equal amount of comic strips per season all set during that season. It made it feel organized even the comic strips might be unrelated to each other.

Overall, I would give this book a 3 out of 5 stars. Not my type of humor but overall, the formatting and art style were very well done, and I enjoyed that part of the book.

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I'm going to be honest; I've not heard of the False Knees comics. However, the title was quite intriguing. I tread into this book carefully, and I was not disappointed. Ew, It’s Beautiful is a weirdly relatable and beautifully illustrated collection of comics that’s perfect for bird lovers and fans of dry, slightly existential humour.


The panel that stood out to me the most was 'Oh, it’s just you, the source of all my problems,' says the bird looking at its own reflection.
There are lots more that brought a smile to my face. If you like puns, you are sure to like this.

The artwork is stunning; it ranges from simple black and white to bright colourful detailing. As the panels are 1-2 pages long and each offer an entirely new insight, you can read it all jumbled up or binge through it in one go.

I received an ARC of the book from the publisher 'Andrews McMeel Publishing' in exchange for my honest thoughts through NetGalley.
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Thank you Netgalley, Andrews McMeel Publishing, and Joshua Barkman for sending me this advanced review copy for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book is incredibly funny. I was laughing my but off the entire time. There is so much sass and sarcasm, I don't understand how it can be contained by mere pages. Perfection.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've known this creator for years now since I started following False Knees on Instagram and Webtoon. I started talking a liking to the comics because I got pretty obsessed (and still am) with crows/ravens, and the comic strips started appearing more and more on my timeline. I have since investigated more about birds, and I always enjoy journal-like comic strips.

I really like the art and the mixed media on this collection, but I must admit the humor is very peculiar and may not appeal to everyone. Some of the jokes can easily go over one's head since they can be too niche for the general public. However, not all strips are meant to be funny, some are just relatable or pretty and I enjoy the change.

I read this collection through small bites and found myself smiling most of the time. It reminded me of reading Calvin & Hobbes for the first time, so I could recommend It to people who enjoy that kind of humor. I Will surely reread it.

The inner thoughts of forest creautures is deeper than one may expect.

I received a digital ARC of this graphic novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I originally saw these comics on Instagram and find them just delightful. I loved the book, too! Great for fans of the comic. The humor is right up my alley.

This was cute and felt very nostalgic. It reminded me of those Sunday comics in the newspaper which I loved. However, I think most of the comics were a miss for me humor wise. I just didn't really connect with a lot of them but I did enjoy some!

this was absolutely hilarious! Ive never read anything like this and that it was an ingenious idea for a story!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for me to review!

You see, I've seen several of these delightful comics floating around on the internet over the years, and they are all fabulous. They're fun little commentaries on societal expectations as well as just excellently executed pieces of art.

And "everybirdy" SENT me.

10/10 read this comic book.

Many comics in this collection got a genuine chuckle out of me. Great art paired with witty/dry humour will be right up any other millenial's street.

If you've been on the internet for any amount of time over the past several years, you've probably seen one of Joshua Barkman's sardonic, witty, brash, deadpan, and strikingly poignant comics about birds embedded in memes, floating around on Tumblr, or embedded for the nth time within a Reddit post - and been the better for it. "Ew, It's Beautiful" brings together Barkman's four-panel odes to wit, pluck (bird pun intended), existentialism, humor, and the ordinary in the extraordinary as he invites us to imagine the interior lives of birds and the occasional raccoon or cat, ranging across the four seasons thematically. If you grew up loving Calvin and Hobbes and Poorly Drawn Lines, Barkman's work will worm (MORE BIRD PUNS) its way into your heard.

This was a delightful collection of Barkman's now-ubiquitous birds (and friends) comics that were a sweet treat in between some longer and darker works. Barkman's ability to distill down really complex feelings - especially the infinitesimal, the existential, the contemplative - into (usually) four short panels is an incredible gift, and I never tire of seeing their work. I really loved that in this volume you get a sense of the range of artistic expression Barkman has, which you may not pick up on if you only see 1-2 comics out-of-context - Barkman is a master of many mediums, and I really loved his use of color, techniques across pencil and painting, and the really vibrant and eye-catching ways they manage to capture the essence of something with just a few short panels.

The humor here, as always, is incredibly on point, and I definitely laughed out loud and felt seen by many of the panels here. Another thing I like about having a themed collection such as this one is that you get a sense of the storytelling Barkman is trying to do with theming around seasons - there's a good mix of humor and exasperation, but it's shot through with the more visually contemplative or tranquil comics they're also known for, and the overall effect is really satisfying. Just like life isn't all memes or all staggering emotionally the time, Barkamn manages to capture a breadth and depth of the human experience through his little bird-brained players here, and it's a refreshing take on comics and short-form art that I've always (and still) find really enjoyable.

Overall, if you've ever seen Barkamn's work online (and I guarantee you have, whether you know it or not), I highly recommend picking up this volume in support of his brilliant skills and humor. The vibes are not immaculate out there in the real world right now, and this collection may just be the well-placed (and on point, if you pay attention to a few of the panels) reminder you need to find levity when you can, and reflection when you need it in a very busy and very human-centered, online world.

Ew, It's Beautiful, A False Knees Comic Collection by Joshua Barkman is a collection of his comic strips compiled into book form. The comic strips feature familiar birds talking and commenting. I always wondered what they were saying and who knew they would be so sarcastic. These birds are not charming little pets, they are survivors.
This is a worthwhile look from the other side. Recommended.

As a bird lover, I enjoyed this book. The art was beautiful and most of the comics were funny and charming. Unfortunately, there were several comics that I simply didn't understand at all and left me feeling like I missed the point of something.

This collection was not what I had expected it to be; it reminded me of newspaper comics printed in the Sunday paper.

I found maybe 25% of the comics actually laughable, about 50% sort of dull, and the remaining 25% confusing. I’m not an avid bird person, and it seemed like it would have been helpful to have specific knowledge of birds for maybe 3 or 4 of the comics.

Overall, I have a hard time considering the relevancy of this format. Comics are great and powerful when they are experienced individually. When you string them together in a book, something that tempts the reader to keep going and never look back, I wonder whether we lose potency or impact. Of course, this is not a problem the author is intended to solve.

Do I recommend this book? Depends on the reader. I think the collection of comics was light-hearted. I also think there were a number of genuinely funny jokes. The act of anthropomorphizing birds creates an interesting scenario where the reader is asked to look inwardly at human behaviors. This is an impressive task to accomplish as a writer, especially considering the limited format. At the very least, Barkman has showed me that perhaps limitations are a type of greenfield.

2.5/5 rounded down

Short little vignette comic books like this are very hit and miss for me. Unfortunately, this one was mostly a miss.

I enjoyed the illustrations, they were beautiful and fit the tone of the book well.

The text on the other hand had much to be desired. The humour seemed to be very niche. I did not find any of them particularly funny nor did I find them relatable. For maybe a handful of them I thought "Ha, mood", but that was the extent of any reactions.

Just not for me

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A funny book. I enjoyed how even though there wasn't a story I could relate to this book because some of the birds said or thought things that I've thought before. I liked how I could pick this book up in intervals and still enjoy it. Joshua Barkman did a really good job at encompassing each type of birds personalities in with their thought snippets.

The artwork in this book is absolutely incredible! And a few of the strips made me laugh out loud. I think comic collectors and fans of False Knees will absolutely love this book.
My only critique is that there didn’t seem to be any new comics; these have all been posted to the artist’s Instagram page, so if you’re following their page, you’ve probably seen these before. This isn’t a problem, but it might have been a nice surprise for those buying the book to have access to a few new strips.
I’d still recommend, of course, because few can draw like Barkman.