Jackson Tait
Edge columnist
Ever liked a girl so much you would be willing to defeat her seven evil exes’ just to date her? This book follows the protagonist Scott Pilgrim who in this comic book like world never has trouble getting girlfriends, the real problem is getting rid of them. But when he meets his dream girl Ramona Flowers, he receives an impossible task of defeating her seven evil ex-partners.
The Scott Pilgrim vs the World series by Canadian author Bryan Lee O’Malley, published in 2005 is what some people might say was the beginning of the mass spread of geek culture. Considering the internet was still very new and most websites were made by college kids, it quickly gained popularity with young people because it had a humorous take on common dating problems.
Throughout the series it shows Scott’s growth of his friendships and relationships because in the beginning he does not treat people the best and it causes bad things to happen to him because of it. Much like in the start of the book he is dating a girl named Knives Chau who is obsessed with him, but he does not feel the same way after meeting Ramona Flowers. One of the biggest themes of the book is about growing up and figuring out what is most important to a person including sacrificing other things for what you truly want. Some fans of the book also theorize that each of the exes’ that Scott must defeat is something of a toxic personality trait that Scott and Ramona have without realizing it.
The book series does an exceptionally good job of developing the characters in a way so that you still care about them without making it too serious. The series also did well at making the reader realize that even the main characters are not always the best people but then figuring out why they act the way that they do. One of my only critique’s is some of the obvious stereotypes about LGBTQ however, the series did come out in the early 2000s and things were a lot more acceptable then than they are now. If your interested in comic superhero style rom-com this series could be for you especially you might like indie style music, the movie is also a fun watch but has a slightly different take on the story.
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