Evelyn, Evelyn by Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley

Evelyn and Evelyn were born into a world of pain, death, and destruction. Conjoined twins can make for difficult home births, and they aren’t very common in small town medical facilities. Their mother died shortly after giving birth; their father, their doctor, and the local sheriff followed that same night. The two infant girls were picked up by a chicken farmer, and so began their travels. Never with a permanent home, never with anyone who understood them, the girls were exploited and used for others’ gains. This book, Evelyn Evelyn, is the story of their lives and their life – their journey, their struggle, and their music.

This is one of those reviews where I’m torn as to how much to say. Not necessarily in a spoiler kind of way, but rather in a backstory kind of way. Let me put it this way. I knew very little about Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley before I read this book, and that informed my reading experience. An afterword by Neil Gaiman helped to clear some things up for me (as did a series of Google searches), so after reading it I have a slightly different perspective on the story. I want to say stop reading this and go and read the book for yourself, but that will only make you want to read what I write even more. So. I loved the illustrations. It was a beautiful graphic novel even when presenting horrible images. The pictures fit (and maybe even guided) the tone of the story; no matter how dark things got, I never felt that they were truly bleak. Did I understand the book? Not always. Did I like the book? Yes.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley courtesy of Dark Horse Comics.

There's also the Evelyn Evelyn website.

Find the book at Amazon.

Read it with:
The Girls by Lori Lansens
The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs by Jack Gantos
On the Many Deaths of Amanda Palmer (And the Many Crimes of Tobias James)by Robin Kriwaczek
But Who Will Bell the Cats? by Cynthia von Buhler
"Evelyn Evelyn" (the music CD)