Genre: Graphic Novel, Sequential Art, Dystopian, LGBT
Publisher: Oni Press
Pages: 328
Publication Date: 10 November, 2020
My Rating: 2.5 out of 5 bookmarks
Synopsis:
Three siblings search for their missing mother across a ruined America in this original graphic novel perfect for fans of Scott Westerfeld and Neal Shusterman.
Eight years ago an earthquake—the Big One—hit along the Cascadia fault line, toppling cities and changing landscapes all up and down the west coast of the United States. Life as we know it changed forever. But for Vietnamese-American Virginia Crane, life changed shortly after the earthquake, when her mother left and never came back.
Ginny has gotten used to a life without her mother, helping her father take care of her two younger brothers, Wes and Harry. But when a mysterious package arrives for her eighteenth birthday, her life is shaken up yet again. For the first time, Ginny wants something more than to survive. And it might be a selfish desire, but she’s determined to find out what happened to her mother—even if it means leaving her family behind.
My Review:
Odessa by Jonathan Hill is a graphic novel set in a dystonia future after a huge earthquake has changed everything for everyone.
The protagonist in the novel is Virginia Crane aka Ginny, who is an American-Vietnamese character who receives a package from her mother – who had long left the family – just before her 18th birthday. This confirms any doubt which Virginia might about her existence.
Ginny decides to go search for her mother now that she knows that she is alive by rebelling against her father. But things aren’t that straight forward, her two little brothers also follow sneakily and when she discovers the both of them it is too late to turn back home.
When I picked up the book, I had high hopes from it as it was an #OwnVoices book with a pinch of LGBT representation, alas there wasn’t really much to the story apart from that which was disappointing. Apart from the graphics which didn’t appeal to me much after a point of time as the facial expressions of the characters felt lacking, the story felt to be dragging on without any character development taking place.
I rate this novel 2.5 out of 5 bookmarks. I hope to meet the character behind the novel’s name in the next book, which also leaves me wondering why Odessa was chosen to be the title of the book in the first place.
I’d like to thank Netgalley and Oni Press for providing me with a copy in lieu of an honest review. I’d also like to congratulate the author Jonathan Hill for his book!