I would give this a 2.5-star rating.
I want to start this review by saying that the final third of this graphic novel is pretty good, and made me more interested in the story, the world, and relate more to the characters. Before that point, however, I didn't really care at all about the characters and felt a bit confused about the world-building. I wish we just had more. More scenes where we got to see more depth to the characters, their relationships, and what is happening. The story jumps from one thing to another for large parts of this graphic novel, which improves at the end. I liked the story, but it lacks the execution in my opinion.

During lockdown, I have enjoyed reading dystopian novels, and Odessa fulfilled this brief. This was my first graphic novel and I found this an easy read. Odessa was full of tension, exploring the human condition and the ties that bind us.

Whilst there is some violence in this novel, I believe this would be suitable for 14+ whilst the vocabulary and the story line would make this an easy read for reluctant readers.

This is my first graphic novel and I wasn't sure what to expect. I like fantasy and sci fi, so I suppose it was about time I tried graphic novels. I do though want to empathise this was my first one, so I only have novels or non-fiction reads to compare it to.

I liked the story, and it moved at a good pace. To me it felt more like watching a TV show with subtitles than a book, but maybe that's the point?

The dialogue is a little simple on some pages, but the story and relationships were developed well. I also liked the development between the siblings. This seemed realistic and not cliche.

Overall I am not sure graphic novels are for me, although I did find this entertaining and appericated vewiing something different.

I've been wanting to try out a graphic novel for a while now and I must say I really enjoyed the format! It's a quick read and just a really fun way to bring variation into your reading. Since I'm not an expert on graphic novels I won't be saying anything else on the drawings then: I thought they were really well-done.

However, I have a lot more to say about the storyline and that sort of stuff.

When I read the synopsis for this book, I really thought this was gonna be a book for me. I love the concept of this novel, but the execution wasn't entirely my cup of tea.

I can't say this book was bad, not at all, but it's not special? I mean, it doesn't have something that stands out to me. While I was reading this I often found myself wondering if there still was a catch coming. Something that would make this book a bit more interesting, exciting.

But for me personally, that moment never came, which is truly a shame. I think this book had great potential, but it just missed something. Now that I'm thinking about it, it just really felt like reading the base of an idea that wasn't completely plotted yet.

I also couldn't really connect with the story or characters. This could be because I'm not used to reading graphic novels, but this is an emotional story yet I didn't really feel a lot. Like, it didn't touch me in the way I hoped it would touch me.

Overall I did enjoy reading this, even though it got a bit flat and boring sometimes. I'd say it's a decent read, but definitely not the best. I'm gonna give Odessa a 2.5/5 that leans a bit more to the 3 than the 2 :)

Love,
Alissa

(I've decided not to publish this review on my blog since I don't have really strong opinions on this story and would like to make room for books that I would recommend.)

Odessa is a wholesome as fuck graphic novel set in a dystopian future where three siblings travel across the country looking for their mother. Beautiful art and a beautiful story, I am so excited for the next volume!

I loved everything about this book. The characters were amazing and the banter and relationships between the siblings felt so real. The art style is so unique and beautifully rendered in shades of pink really brightens up the really dark setting of a post-natural disaster world. The story is dark at times, and devastatingly sad at others, but it's so heartwarming the whole way through.

I'd recommend Odessa to anyone! I think it would be both a really good place to start for people new to graphic novels, but also offers a great adventure story with unique art and developed characters that makes graphic novels so so good. Out the 3 November 2020 from OniPress, so still a long way to wait, (and an even longer wait until volume 2 for me!)

As I learned in school, I figure the best way to approach this review is with the traditional "compliment sandwich."

So, first, I will say that this is a very quick read. It's 318 pages and I finished it in about two and a half hours. If you're looking for a fast graphic novel, this is definitely that!

But if you're looking for a good graphic novel, I may look elsewhere. I think my major problem with this book/story is that there is no suspense or emotional connections to the characters. I am not entirely interested in what comes next, I just keep reading because the next page is there and it's been going pretty quick. I blame this on a few things:

The pacing of the book is way too fast. Way too fast. I cannot stress this enough. We learn the backstory of the world in about two pages which immediately eliminates the suspenseful plot line of "what happened to the world?" out.

The peripeteia (inciting incident) happens near immediately and does not make any sense. The characters set out to find their mom, but no explanation is given as to why they want to find her or why they waited until now. We don't know anything about her, her relationship to her family, or why she left. Just that she's gone and they all accepted it until she happened to send a birthday gift.

There's odd filler and things that just seem to randomly happen for the convenience of the story.

Some of the reveals/twists had no hints and were too sudden. It would have been better played out over time.

There's also a weird amount of violence which is not graphic but is played up like it is. The moral stand the character makes about it also makes zero sense.


Characterization
No time is spent building family or friend dynamics between the characters.
* They randomly throw in a lesbian romance which is not developed and seems a lot like it was thrown in for the purpose of saying the book had queer characters. It's a 2 panel long romance.
* There is no time to build a family dynamic between the characters. They don't talk to each other the way a family does.

The characters are all flat, cartoonish, and have inconsistent personalities. They don't act like real people.
* When the 8 year old brother wants to be heard and is ignored, he just gives up. He doesn't keep on about the weird carving. I don't know many kids who would give up without being told to shush or that he was seeing things.
* Ginny is all about protecting her brothers and shouldering the responsibility and being by her own, and she gets over them following her after about 5 panels. In fact, she has near constant mood swings which make little sense except for vague attempts at tension.
* The bad guys are cartoonishly bad. Seriously. There's a line that says "You can't run from the Fat Tires. We're going to murder all three of you!" About a 17 year old, 14 year old, and 8 year old.
* Most of the characters are just the mot stereotypical archetypes. The archetypal sacrificial mentor. The rough scoundrels at the docks. The annoying little brothers. The moody teen girl. The murderous biker gang who's angry children crossed their turf.
* She cuts off all of her hair, but we don't have any emotional connection to this action as a reader. It happens too soon and doesn't make sense.

Dialogue
But what was perhaps the most disappointing part of this was the dialogue. All of it seemed to be telling rather than showing and spoon feeding the reader. Dialogue is used almost 95% for exposition, with very little in it for characterization.

Also, given that this is a graphic novel, I was disappointed that the art didn't do more of the storytelling work. I feel like there could be more done with facial expressions, body language, character's line of vision, but instead it's not. For example, when Ginny gives the list to Maya and Maya says "these are serious traveling supplies" we could have just seen the list.

Other minor issues that added up:
* In a two page spread, the character ends 5/8 sentences with "Okay?"
* The way her dad talks to her changes from verbal conversation to letter in terms of tone, register.
* The dialogue is very stinted and feels forced. They do not talk like real people.

All in all, I'm not sure what this story is even about or how to categorize it. There's paranormal stuff that never goes anywhere. Gang wars that play very little role unless convenient. The quest for the mother which is almost like a backdrop to the entire story rather than a plot. The random romance. The book does not pose any broader questions (as most dystopians do) as to how human nature reacts to tragedy, necessary evils for survival, the importance of family, etc. Instead it felt like a stereotyped fill cliched quest story.

And now for my final part of the sandwich: I really liked the coloring of the art. It was interesting having a two tone story because I think that helped set the tone of the world.

(I received an ARC copy from the publisher, but my words are my own.)

Review to come on Friday.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

WARNING: This is the first book. Don't go in it like me and expect a full story, don't be disappointed, like me when I found out that after 328 pages there is a to be continued. But yeah, this why I am rating this one lower, I wanted a conclusion. The story already felt too long.

A girl decides to go search for her mother after she receives a package from her mother on her birthday. Her brothers tag along and so begins a long long long journey across the country. And yes, that does sounds fun/interesting.

What I expected: girl and her brothers go to find their brothers in a desolate and destroyed America. What I got, Mad Max x Maffia x Chinese/Asian Crime Syndicates. It was just too much at times and instead of thinking OMG action, I was just thinking, Oh lord another one? Oh lord, something else? Good grief. It just got ridiculous and I think if that all was cut and we just got some normal stuff we could have gotten to mom by now.

There was also way too much dialogue for my liking. Sometimes a lot of dialogue works and it is OK, but in this one I just had a hard time and didn't seem to get through the book, I kept checking my page numbers to see if I made progress.

The revelation about Maya, thanks Ginny's brothers, was nice and had me giggling, especially seeing Ginny's reaction. However it did feel kind of underwhelming given the situation.

Then there is the jinx root which seems like such a magnificent thing.. but there is something off about it. Which caused me to roll my eyes at the situations that followed. It just didn't seem well executed/thought about. The idea is there... but the rest needs working.

I do would like to know what is left of the world. Probably not much given what we are being told, I am guessing tsunamis have gone across the world, but I would think that there are still places left that are still safe.

I did like the art. That was pretty nicely done and I love the colours used. I did like Ginny she was a sweet independent and strong girl who wasn't afraid to kick some butt and got especially protective when things happened to her brothers. I liked seeing how that part of America looked after the big quake.

But I am just so disappointed in this in overall, if I had known this was the first book in a series... I probably wouldn't have read it. Or have dropped it because I was really dragging myself throughout the book was since this was supposed (going by NG and GR) one book and I wanted to see the reunion. Because I am definitely not interested in more of this series.

A post-apocalyptic story whose timing is either perfect or terrible, according to taste. Eight years after the Big One finally shook the western US apart, life in the sticks is mostly just dull and constricted, while the cities are considerably more dangerous - but still, y'know, less so than on the news. We follow three kids trying to find their mother, all of it shown in black, white and salmon, with a cartoony style (think a less hyper Kyle Starks) that makes events feel quite low-stakes even when they're being menaced by cannibal gangs. The rural scenes have a melancholy beauty, though some of the trees seem to have grown awful fast for less than a decade. Equally, it seems odd that only one old-timer would remember lore regarding some of the less realistic changes that have taken place in that time. Maybe it's intended as commentary about how, after the lights go off, it'll turn out we'd all outsourced too much of our memory to nostalgic listicles.

(Netgalley ARC)

This book is definitely a light and easy read. Despite the end-of-the-world atmosphere, the tone remains relatively upbeat and sometimes comical as the group of siblings travel across the country. I thought that the art was very well done and I liked the choice to only use three colors as I felt it added to the feel that their world is relatively stagnant. I can recommend this if you want an art style that was vaguely reminiscent of James Patterson's Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life.
The characters were reasonably fleshed out although I didn't feel as though they developed as much as they could have individually. We see the relationship between Wes and Ginny improve towards the end of the novel which feels somewhat rewarding, but the lack of characterization makes it hard for you to bond with these characters. It feels very much like every other apocalypse story you've read but the art style and the way it works with the overall tone of the story add it's own flavor to the genre. I was under the impression that this was a standalone but I do feel like it could be read as one despite an impending sequel. I could see myself reading the sequel if I saw it, but I would not actively search it out.

*this is an honest review in exchange for an arc on netgalley*

my synopsis : After a giant earthquake that causes the "end of the world," government is no longer operating and dangerous gangs rule the streets. Tucked away, somewhat safely, in a small town, a family makes their best out of what they have left. Unsatisfied with the answers their father gives them about their mother's departure, the three children, Ginny, Wes, and Harry, embark on an adventure to the extremely dangerous areas of California in order to find out what truly happened. Searching for their mother, the three find many other people, some dangerous, and some kind.

review: I really enjoyed this graphic novel. It is just the right amount of deep, dealing with some heaver themes, but not weighing down the whole book. It was quite long for a graphic novel, but I appreciated that since it seems like sometimes these type of books are rushed. The characters seemed different from those in other books, which was really refreshing. I do wish there was a bit more character development, because at the end of the day, I wasn't very invested in what happened to the characters themselves. That being said, I did especially enjoy the world in this book, and how the author introduced it. I kept finding myself wanting to learn more about the world that the characters live in, which I think is a good thing. Overall, I enjoyed this story and hope to see more from this author!

3.25 stars

I feel conflicted. :/

On one hand, Odessa is a very heart-warming graphic novel about a sister and her two younger brothers on a journey to find their mom. On the other hand, Odessa wasn’t much of anything.

This graphic novel is set 8 years after an earthquake wrecked the world. Life changed for everyone, including Virginia Crane, who’s mother left shortly after the incident. When on her 18th birthday she receives a gift from her mother, Ginny is set on finding her and goes on a journey throughout post-apocalyptic America with her brothers.

If there’s one thing I can say about this book, it’s that there wasn’t anything special to it. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, however. Not all books need to be revolutionary in order to be considered good, but this one fell below my expectations.

Starting off with the things I liked: the art. I don’t read graphic novels very often, and I sure ain’t no art connoisseur, but I loved the illustrations. The way Jonathan Hill portrays this post-apocalyptic world in his drawings just amazes me. Most of my favourite drawings were landscape shots of the ruins. Being able to capture the essence of this sort of world in three colours just amazes me.

While I can’t say this about most of the other characters, I also really liked Four Dollars. While he is a changed man, there’s still a part of his old life he can’t seem to shake off. Four Dollars stood out to me the most and his conflicting motives and loyalties made me appreciate him as a character. His dialogue was also my favourite out of all the characters, and the way he interacted with Ginny and her brothers really warmed my heart... except for when they first met him and he almost scammed them out of all their money but that is besides the point.

Now onto the not so good parts: the characters. With Four Dollars aside, I could not make myself feel anything for these characters. Ginny had nothing else going for her except being a heroic bigger sister. Wes was just another one of those kids who wanted to grow up, and Harry was just...plain. I understand that this is Hill’s first attempt at writing and drawing a book all by himself, and I get it, characters are hard to write. But feedback is feedback, and I have to say that the characters are just too static for me to enjoy. I couldn’t sense any development throughout the novel despite a lot of the harrowing events the group goes through.

As they went along their journey, I was just waiting for something to make me like these characters, but nothing happened. I felt so detached to them that I didn’t care much for their story at all. For example, why did Ginny abandon everything she knows just because of a necklace? What made her suddenly have an urge to find her dead mother despite her having left them years ago? In this sense, I don’t see what Ginny’s true aim is here. It seems as though this is a sudden impulse which is never a good motivation for a character; it’s just lazy.

One good thing I can say for all the characters is that I do appreciate the representation of Asian-Americans and queer characters in the novel, so brownie points for you, Jonathan Hill :D

With all that aside, I did like how this chapter of the story ended. While I’m not too sure if I’d read the second part, maybe something in me will want to give this story another go.

Overall, if you’re looking for a nice graphic novel to pass the time during quarantine, you might want to give this one a go. Maybe you’ll enjoy it more than I did.

This a journey story, only the journey is taking place in a world mostly destroyed by a massive earthquake. Eight years later, and Ginny receives a package from her mother, who left her, and now she wants to find her, thus the trip.

The name of this first volume is the feminine version of Odysseus, the wanderer. And like her namesake, Ginny has to wander pretty far to get to where her mother is.

It is interesting seeing the artists version of San Francisco ruined by this massive earthquake. And quite plausible.

But since this appears to be a series, it does not wrap up in this volume, so we have much more of the journey to go to find the resolution. And that being so, it is hard to rate how well this will end, with only having the beginning.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

I think this book suffers from not enough exposition. I wanted to learn more about Ginny's past, what it was like to live with her family post earthquake. But I will continue the series!

Odessa follows the story of Ginny and her two younger brothers in a post apocalyptic USA, where an earthquake has devastated the country. After receiving a birthday gift from her mother who has left them, Ginny decides to go on a journey to find her mother, and get the answers she's been looking for.

It's a story of survival and family, heartbreaking at times with it's wholesome moments showing through too.

The three tones in this graphic novel startled me at first as this is the first graphic novel I've read that only uses three colours (white, black and pink), but it was beautiful, and it ended up being one of my favourite things about this.

The story was interesting, albeit a little slow at some points, but I found myself getting attached to our main characters, and rooting for them the whole way.

This is the first in a series, and I'd definitely be interested to see where the next part of the story goes.

Closer to a 3.5 than a 3.

The file is too big to download so I can't even read it to review it - great job guys. Why not test these things out before you put them on the site? This is just a waste of everyone's time.

A post-apocalyptic graphic novel! This unusual and highly readable book serves up a "Walking Dead"-meets-"The Road" feel. I enjoyed the world-building, however the set up for Ginny leaving was a bit unbelievable. There's not enough character background provided to help the reader understand why she would abandon her father and brothers to set off on a dangerous hunt for her long-lost mother. Overall, however, once I bought into the story, I was hooked.

First of all, I read this in one sitting. While that happens often in graphic novels, I found it too gripping to even pause.
Odessa is the mom everyone is searching for, and in this fictional account that happens 8 years after a disaster, many questions remain. Perhaps if this plot was a novel, we'd have more explanations, but as far as the visuals ad the storytelling is concerned, this is a concrete, packed-with-thrill graphic novel.

I did like the villains and the heroes and such. I liked the characters a lot!

I really liked the use of colour in this graphic novel. The two tone art was interesting and added a lot of depth to the drawings, and I think I find two-tone less distracting than full colour art. The linework really stood out to me, and the monochromatic nature of the art made me see more of the jagged post-apocalyptic landscape and really added to the mood of the book in places.

I liked the three main characters a lot. Ginny, Wes and Harry had a very realistic sibling relationship and seemed appropriately aged, though the younger ones switched between childlike immaturity and moments of forced responsibility - which I think makes sense for the setting of this graphic novel and was well done. The setting was well-developed and well-explained without the use of exposition. I managed to predict a could of the twists in this story, but that didn't make it any less enjoyable, and this was an easy and interesting read. It didn't shy away from the dark moments that post-apocalypse stories call for and I'm nervous and excited to find out what happens to the siblings and Maya next.

I found the digital format a little hard to read and blurry in places but that may just be an issue with my eARC. I'd definitely be interested in seeing this one in paperback because I think that would make the art really stand out. Definitely looking forward to the rest of this story, and to seeing more of Jonathan Hill's work.

"Odessa" is the first long chapter in a sumptuously-drawn post-apocalyptic tale following the journey of teenager Virginia Crane as she searches for her missing mother in a broken West Coast landscape that is stranger than it first appears. Jonathan Hill has created a beautiful and fully-realized world here, drawn in a soft black-white-and-pink palette; he is equally at home crafting scenes of urban chaos and moments of bucolic natural beauty. His character designs have strong elements of iconic cartoon design, but the look Hill has created is quite unique. Despite their cartoonish feel, Hill's characters retain a surprising sense of realism; the reader gets the sense that every line is important to the full expression of Hill's protagonists, their allies, and their many enemies. The small panels (Hill favors a tight 9-panel grid) are full of details that build the world, provide subtle characterization, and foreshadow upcoming plot points in a concise manner (it is no surprise that Hill teaches comics at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, his sequential beats are just about textbook perfect). Action is always clear, grounded, and propulsive, even as the story moves ever further from realism.

The plot and dialogue is perhaps a bit less polished than the artwork and visual storytelling (this is Hill's first outing as a writer), but overall the story is still compelling. The main characters are a trio of siblings, and there is some fun "you can't pick your family" style chemistry between them. "Odessa" clocks in at over 300 dense pages, much of it full of expansive stretches of dialogue as the protagonist Ginny, her brothers, and various other characters bicker, barter, and belittle each other. A bit too much space is given to explanations of the politics, history, and mechanics of the post-apocalyptic world, much of which could have been cut; Hill's lush backgrounds and unique character designs are more than capable of showing the obvious richness of his creation.

The tone varies quite a bit as well: Pitched as a young adult GN, on the one hand "Odessa" is a grounded, near-future post-apocalyptic story that frequently feels like it is about the become a very serious and very scary tale in the vein of the graphic novel "The Land of the Sons" by Gipi or the video game "The Last of Us"; at other moments it feels like a fantastical and light-hearted romp that is more in line with the films ""The Goonies" or "Home Alone." This makes the stakes difficult to ascertain or understand at times: "Odessa" begins as what is essentially an impulsive decision to leave a safe and comfortable home and quickly turns into a violent tale where characters are frequently injured and die and quite young children are frequently placed in mortal danger. The characters frequently make flagrantly dangerous or foolish decisions, which can make for a frustrating read (bad judgement isn't limited to the kids; parents and adults are near-universally absent or criminally negligent, a theme which may or may not be explored more closely). While this can feel realistic at times, at other moments I had the strong urge to round up the wayward adventurers and send them marching back to the safety of home.

Future chapters of the story (this volume ends with a clear "To be continued...") might clarify the narrative arc, and despite some criticisms I am definitely looking forward to future installments in the journey of Ginny, Wes, Harry, et al. Jonathan Hill has created an expansive, rich, and compelling world and filled it with fun characters, now he's just got to stick the landing. I've got every faith that this talented and meticulous cartoonist will succeed.

I read this in one sitting! I'm not usually a fan of graphic novel but this was compared to Neal Shusterman and Scott Westerfeld so I knew I had to request this immediately. I really enjoyed this, it was heart warming and heart breaking at the same time. I thought the drawings were nicely done (even though it was 3 colors only) and I love the cover. I also enjoy the end of the world settings. Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for this advanced copy!