Blue Pills: A Positive Love Story

A very mature, very emotional and intellectual book.A man falls in love with a woman. She has HIV, and so does her son. Is he capable of loving her? Does her disease mean anything at all? What's fact, what's fiction?The author learns about life and love in this book, and what it takes to not only be a man, but to be human and to what it takes to be himself, and just who is he?It's honestly beautiful.You can pick up a cheap hardcover for like $0.26 from amazon so check it out.

This is one of the best books I've ever read. Brilliant.As for the packaging. Reliable, quick. Just one problem :/ my mailman put it outside so the book got all cold and it worried me. But its fine

great book about love and how to overcome obstacles in love

Although it said it was used, the book was like new. Very interesting book to read and i like the fact that its like a comic book.

A fun and enjoyable read all through. To light and inconsequential of a book for it to deserve 5 stars, and the translation is not extraordinary, just ok.

I recently came across this 2001 account of a young man who falls for a young mother of a three-year-old, both of whom are HIV positive. The story is told in black and white ink drawings that clearly show the emotions they all feel as they come to terms with their situation. They go through a period of anxiety, concerned about transmission; they consult a doctor multiple times; they surmount the challenges of telling family and friends; finally, they come to an acceptance and peace with their lives. This is a touching, heartfelt, and introspective look at the challenges faced by HIV-positive people who want a "normal" life.

Frederik Peeters tells the story of his relationship with his wife Cati and her 3 year old son, both of whom are HIV positive. He meets Cati years after meeting her for the first time to find that since their last meeting she has had a child, been divorced, and contracted AIDS. This doesn't stop him from being with her but we learn of the obstacles that come with it. The cautious beginnings of their physical love, the vigilance of maintaining a normal life for the child despite a regime of pills and syrups, and a scare when a condom breaks and Peeters thinks he's contracted the virus (he hasn't).The book shows a deep and fulfilling love between Peeters and Cati, one that has the spectre of AIDS in the background but never dominating their life to the point where they can't live. They live their life as normal couples do and their relationship is both moving and sweet. The relationship between Peeters and his stepson is also very well told here. The scene when during a house party the 3 year old moves through the guests to where Peeters is sitting on the balcony and then sitting between his legs to play with his toy dinosaurs is very touching and not at all sentimental.The stark realism of the story is belayed in the final part of the book where the author works out his frustrations and anger with a wise mammoth as they roam the prehistoric plains, the mammoth quoting everyone from Oscar Wilde to Burt Reynolds. The magical realism works and the author comes to realise how he cherishes his wife and son more because of the illness and how through the challenges they have developed a stronger love for each other.Peeters draws as beautifully as he tells his story, the illustrations being somewhere between Craig Thompson and Jeff Lemire, both masters. The book is a beautiful and moving evocation of love in the face of adversity. Very easy to read, a fascinating story told expertly and lovingly, I recommend it to any and all.

"Blue Pills" is not your average memoir and neither are the people that you meet in it. It's a powerful, moving, heartwarming, and heartbreaking story all at the same time. You see Frederik Peeters is dating Cati a woman with a young son...and both Cati and her son are HIV positive. The story falters in some places, only because it's been translated into English and some words/phrases don't adapt well. But it's a minor point. Frederik tells their story of life together, of falling in love, of caring for Cati's son, and the ever looming future that is so frighting. He tells the story with a gentle touch, never overwhelming the reader with fear and doubt. Instead he invites us in to their lives, to take a look around, to get to know them in these few short pages and feel like we've known them our entire lives.The artwork is done in rough, broad ink strokes that at times look like woodcuts from days long ago. They capture Frederik, Cati, and her son and let us see their feelings at a glance. The stark black and white only emphasizes the story being told and helps us get more in tune with it. There are many scenes where there are no words, just the illustrations, and with only a glance you can tell how you're supposed to feel when viewing the image, even without looking at the preceding panels.The story and the art speak for itself. It doesn't need me or anyone else trying to describe it in so few words. It's a powerful book that's a must read for anyone.

I thought this was a beautiful story about love in the midst of a great challenge. The author tells us the story of his relationship with his girlfriend and her child through the medium of a graphic novel. The challenge is HIV. They are a sero-discordant couple. He is HIV - negative, but she and her child are positive but there is no discordance in their love for each other.In one sense the challenge they face as a couple is similar to other couples who live with disability and critical illnesses, but in another sense the challenge is real and ongoing because HIV is stigmatised and because it can be transmitted.And so we are given a glimpse into the lives of the author and his girlfriend and the ups and downs of living with the virus. In some ways this is very different to many stories about people living with HIV because this is a story about a heterosexual, European, middle class couple living in Geneva. Many stories about HIV and AIDS are about gay men, mostly white and living in the US or Europe but what really breaks the trend is that the story is in graphic novel format and so we receive the story through pictures.The story is touching, real and very hopeful. What makes this truly memorable for me is the love the couple have for each other and for the child. After reading this I googled the author and found that he now has a daughter with his girlfriend and so love and hope continues. I liked the story so much that I bought a copy for a friend.The art is a bit dark for me in places but it doesn't affect the powerful story telling. I thought this was a beautiful story and I am going to check out some of the other graphic novels by this author.

This is an incredible book. Unfortunately, I got it used from Amazon and, although the description was “like new,” it was in a terrible state.

If you are a fan of memoir graphic novels you will probably like this book, it is an interesting and frank portayal of life living with a partner who is hiv positive. The topic is treated really sensitively and the drawings are beautiful.

I've read other works of Peters and this book paled in comparison