Baby Blue by Bim Eriksson and translator Melissa Bowers was another one of those books I looked at the cover of and said, “Why did I request this?” (As I got it through my library). I don’t remember why, but as I sit here typing this review, I think it probably is getting some attention for the fact it is pretty awesome (if not a “What did I read?” and one of the more odd reads of the year so far) book. I think it was on a list of Queer graphic novels that are getting high praise/watch for.
On one level this is Brave New World, 1984 and every Utopian world that’s really Dystopian. Betty comes of age in a world where mental health is regulated at a level of monstrous proportions. And Betty is finally waking up to the fact that her oddness, her different drum beat is not alone, nor is it really a bad thing. Abstract realism disorients you to make the world even more horrifying (via the way the characters interact and the blue images) yet somehow there is hope. To say this is an out there read is an understatement. However, one that is important as even though it is set in the near future, it might be closer to current events than we want to admit.
Eriksson is Swedish and usually books of that area and I am not usually friendly, the translations can be hard on my ears. But this time, it flows fairly evenly and for the most part, things are easy to follow. The concept might be simple, but with its themes heavily on women’s politics, GLBTQ themes and of course, mental health, it is anything but simple They leave the ending with a “This Chapter is Done” but it is an open ending making it feel as if there will be a companion, which I hope doesn’t happen, I like how things are, with a dash of What’s Next? And a bit of Hope.