Nao Brown is a Hafu : half Japanese, half English. She’s in her 20s. She shares a flat with a nurse. She lives and works (in an adult Japanese toy shop – anime figurines etc) in North London. She’s looking for love. She regularly attends a Buddhist centre where she meditates.She has obsessive-compulsive disorder, and she is frequently consumed by intrusive, violent thoughts. She doesn’t trust herself around anyone weaker than her, in case she attacks them. In one (admittedly disturbing) scene, she imagines herself attacking a pregnant women, stabbing and killing the unborn child.You may be grimacing at this point. I was.Nao’s boss at the toy shop is Steve, an old college friend, who has a crush on Nao but never does anything about it. Nao, in turn, becomes obsessed with Gregory – a stout, bearded, washing machine repairman – for (apparently) no reason other than that he reminds her of a favourite anime character.I must declare at this juncture that I’ve read very few graphic novels in my time, so I can’t really compare this with too many other examples of the genre.It is beautifully illustrated. Nao is drawn very appealingly. Regarding the ‘graphic’ side of things, I had no complaints.As far as the ‘novel’ aspect… oh dear. This was a real mess. The story was all over the show. The (frankly weird) (apparently wholly unrelated) parallel story about a half human/half tree boy (who, at one point, asks someone to burn his head off!) just made me shake my head in confusion. On her third date with Gregory, Nao has a complete meltdown. In the real world, any sane man would run a mile. Gregory, however, not only sticks around but has a stroke (!).At this point, the author abandons the graphic novel format for a few pages, in favour of standard prose, in the form of a book apparently written by Gregory after his stroke. Counterintuitively, Gregory finds the experience life-affirming and life-changing.In the last couple of pages, Nao seemingly overcomes all her mental health issues by (in a single bound) deciding to think about things differently – if only the answer to most forms of mental illness was so simple. In a page or two, four years pass, and Nao tells us about her toddler son.My predominant thought while reading the last page was: “I hope Social Services are monitoring this situation.”As noted, the book LOOKS beautiful – not just the images, but the physical book. I was very impressed by the author’s drawing skills. The plot, though, for me, was just too illogical and bizarre. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with weird, or dark, or disturbing, but there was just something too unbelievable about the plot for me.4/10 This book was absolutely brilliant, and I'm so grateful that I was recommended this book by a librarian. As a person suffering from OCD, this graphic novel captures it perfectly. The media often portrays OCD as people obsessed with cleanliness, but I absolutely loved the fact that this book did not do so. It chose, instead, to explore another side of this disorder - the disturbing thoughts that hit you like a truck and the overwhelming guilt you have because of your thoughts. Nao is an amazingly expressive character, and the book portrays her inner struggles perfectly. Some parts of the book made me cringe in discomfort such as the thoughts she has of her doing awful things, but I think that just added another level of brilliance to this masterpiece. There were definitely some dark moments, but in the end those moments made the book. The ending was somewhat rushed, however. I would have loved to see more explanations and development, but I other than that, I can't really say much negative things about this book. The art was absolutely fantastic, and I loved every panel - each was its own masterpiece. This graphic novel is definitely a must read!
What do You think about Le Nao De Brown (2012)?
Gorgeous, stunning, lovely, and Nao has the same kind of OCD symptoms I did when I was younger.
—Silllllll
Best graphic Novel I have ever read - definitely in my top ten books of all time.
—lilyjo
Pure genius - a really interesting and realistic perspective of life.
—ShotgunFiend
