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bbpettry's review
2.0
Cellies starts off looking like an anti-tech Shaun of the Dead story but is actually a wholesome slice of retail life comedy about some people who work at a cell phone store.
Devin, the protagonist, is 21 year old guy who just wants to work his 8 and go home to play video games. Parker, the CEO’s daughter has a casual racism problem and a gaggle of friends that show up at the store to take up space. Rey, a Muslim teenager, tries to stoke a social life in between strict parents, mountains of homework, and her job. Jerry used to be a journalist and often has the dropsies. Christian, the manager, who is actually using Tom Cruise lines to train employees when he’s not posing for selfies. Elena is overqualified, a new employee who somehow knows and does more than all of the people I just listed.
For Fans of: Moonstruck, Over Easy.
Art: Cartoon style, heavy inks.
Sell it: To tired retail workers and folk who used to be tired retail workers.
Devin, the protagonist, is 21 year old guy who just wants to work his 8 and go home to play video games. Parker, the CEO’s daughter has a casual racism problem and a gaggle of friends that show up at the store to take up space. Rey, a Muslim teenager, tries to stoke a social life in between strict parents, mountains of homework, and her job. Jerry used to be a journalist and often has the dropsies. Christian, the manager, who is actually using Tom Cruise lines to train employees when he’s not posing for selfies. Elena is overqualified, a new employee who somehow knows and does more than all of the people I just listed.
For Fans of: Moonstruck, Over Easy.
Art: Cartoon style, heavy inks.
Sell it: To tired retail workers and folk who used to be tired retail workers.
novelbloglover's review
1.0
Book Review
Title: Cellies Volume 1
Author: Joe Flood & Davis Stuart II
Genre: Graphic Novel
Rating: *
Review: So from a glance Cellies seems more like a friendship and family based graphic novel rather than a creepy Halloween read: “It's Halloween season, when Seven Sails theme park's Shocktober Nights rule! Budding teen rebel Rey decides to ditch work to join her friends for spooky fun and asks Devin to cover for her. One thing though: Rey's parents are a little (read: very) strict! Devin must wait for Rey to rush to Jog Mobile by 9pm – after closing – in time for her parents to pick her up. But Parker and her friends have other plans. Will Rey make it back in time? Can Devin keep her out of trouble?”
I was disappointed with the beginning of Cellies as we are only introduced to the store workers of Jog Mobile and their daily work life for 3 whole chapters, we don’t get to the Seven Sails theme park's Shocktober Nights until the opening of chapter 4. I didn’t think this much of the novel was needed introducing the characters and the store maybe just one chapter so by the time chapter 4 came around I was already bored.
The only interesting part of this graphic novel for me was the end in which Rey’s parents who are really strict decides to visit the store to speak to her boss, but Parker pretends instead to help her friend. However, Rey’s parents want to speak to the supervisor and are threatening action against the store for leaving a 16-year-old girl alone late at night and they also make Rey basically quit her job. While I won’t be continuing with the series, it was terrible just not my cup of tea.
Title: Cellies Volume 1
Author: Joe Flood & Davis Stuart II
Genre: Graphic Novel
Rating: *
Review: So from a glance Cellies seems more like a friendship and family based graphic novel rather than a creepy Halloween read: “It's Halloween season, when Seven Sails theme park's Shocktober Nights rule! Budding teen rebel Rey decides to ditch work to join her friends for spooky fun and asks Devin to cover for her. One thing though: Rey's parents are a little (read: very) strict! Devin must wait for Rey to rush to Jog Mobile by 9pm – after closing – in time for her parents to pick her up. But Parker and her friends have other plans. Will Rey make it back in time? Can Devin keep her out of trouble?”
I was disappointed with the beginning of Cellies as we are only introduced to the store workers of Jog Mobile and their daily work life for 3 whole chapters, we don’t get to the Seven Sails theme park's Shocktober Nights until the opening of chapter 4. I didn’t think this much of the novel was needed introducing the characters and the store maybe just one chapter so by the time chapter 4 came around I was already bored.
The only interesting part of this graphic novel for me was the end in which Rey’s parents who are really strict decides to visit the store to speak to her boss, but Parker pretends instead to help her friend. However, Rey’s parents want to speak to the supervisor and are threatening action against the store for leaving a 16-year-old girl alone late at night and they also make Rey basically quit her job. While I won’t be continuing with the series, it was terrible just not my cup of tea.
witbeyndmehsure's review
2.0
Ummm.
I went in knowing that this was about the lives of the people working at this store, but my goodness was it boring. I'm not sure who the audience is supposed to be for this. Is it young adults? New adults? Adult Adults? I just don't know. The only teenager working at this store is Rey, who's Muslim and has strict parents. The only other character who seems somewhat younger is Pete but only because he's completely immature. Their boss Christian is completely incompetent and just leaves whenever he wants, Jerome is their older co-worker who apparently is often the butt of a lot of ageist jokes from the redhead girl who's name I cannot recall, but her dad is CEO of the phone store chain? She also does some casual racism and microaggressions touching the new girl's hair, who's Black? Afro-Latina maybe. Baby girl finished her MBA and is working at this phone store trying to move into corporate. I'm just a lowly librarian with absolutely no concept of how corporate works but, sis. Come on.
This was such a chore to get through. Won't be reading volume 2. UNLESS they did an entire volume of people's submitted Retail Nightmare stories. I would love to read that because those were the highlights of this collection.
I went in knowing that this was about the lives of the people working at this store, but my goodness was it boring. I'm not sure who the audience is supposed to be for this. Is it young adults? New adults? Adult Adults? I just don't know. The only teenager working at this store is Rey, who's Muslim and has strict parents. The only other character who seems somewhat younger is Pete but only because he's completely immature. Their boss Christian is completely incompetent and just leaves whenever he wants, Jerome is their older co-worker who apparently is often the butt of a lot of ageist jokes from the redhead girl who's name I cannot recall, but her dad is CEO of the phone store chain? She also does some casual racism and microaggressions touching the new girl's hair, who's Black? Afro-Latina maybe. Baby girl finished her MBA and is working at this phone store trying to move into corporate. I'm just a lowly librarian with absolutely no concept of how corporate works but, sis. Come on.
This was such a chore to get through. Won't be reading volume 2. UNLESS they did an entire volume of people's submitted Retail Nightmare stories. I would love to read that because those were the highlights of this collection.
ruthsic's review
4.0
A story with a sitcom-y feel, Cellies is about the staff working at a mobile carrier store and their daily lives. There are closed one-chapter stories that mostly don't bleed into one another, so it makes for a pretty chill read. I loved the characters of Elena, and Rey the most, because they have that common snark potential, with the former hiding it behind a veneer of a customer-service-smile while the latter brings it out with sarcasm. Even Parker's 'I am so woke'-ness is played off wonderfully. The artwork is also pretty good, and I loved the details. Oh, and those submitted stories made into 2-page comics were brilliant - they fit in well with the theme of the novel, yet give us something else to laugh about to. Overall, an entertaining graphic novel that brings to mind, a little of the show Superstore.
Is it diverse? It has a Latina character, a Black man, and a Muslim teen
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Lion Forge, via Edelweiss.
Is it diverse? It has a Latina character, a Black man, and a Muslim teen
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Lion Forge, via Edelweiss.
sinamile's review
3.0
ARC Review: Received for free via Netgalley for an honest review
I'm not gonna lie, I thought there were going to be zombies in this, so I was a bit disappointed when it didn't happen. But the way things are setup, I'm hoping, fingers-crossing, that it is because with the way the characters are setup I think this is going to be an epic zombie story filled with funnies.
I liked it, but I felt kind of underwhelmed, like everything was at a linear (I don't know if I'm explaining it right). I expected more to happen I think, and was kind of disappointed when it didn't.
The characters are familiar though, we've all probably met each of the characters at some point in our lives, so I liked that, the fact that they weren't over the top characters I couldn't relate to.
This was a funny on too, it had moment that had me giggling, and others that had me cringe (ie the manager is a dudebro through and through and the white girl white-girled) but not in a bad way, just in an “Oh no, white people stop doing that” kind of way.
It nice, but this one was a solid 3 🌟
I'm not gonna lie, I thought there were going to be zombies in this, so I was a bit disappointed when it didn't happen. But the way things are setup, I'm hoping, fingers-crossing, that it is because with the way the characters are setup I think this is going to be an epic zombie story filled with funnies.
I liked it, but I felt kind of underwhelmed, like everything was at a linear (I don't know if I'm explaining it right). I expected more to happen I think, and was kind of disappointed when it didn't.
The characters are familiar though, we've all probably met each of the characters at some point in our lives, so I liked that, the fact that they weren't over the top characters I couldn't relate to.
This was a funny on too, it had moment that had me giggling, and others that had me cringe (ie the manager is a dudebro through and through and the white girl white-girled) but not in a bad way, just in an “Oh no, white people stop doing that” kind of way.
It nice, but this one was a solid 3 🌟
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