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drkbloodfntsies's review
2.0
⠀⠀⠀⠀ ↠ | two stars.
⠀⠀um. what the fuck was that?
⠀⠀this was ... not good. if it wasn’t a graphic novel, if it wasn’t something i could finish in an hour, i wouldn’t have finished this. i would’ve stopped around page twenty. minor spoilers will be included because there is absolutely no way for me to get around them.
⠀⠀when you first begin this, it is extremely mundane. then, randomly, it picks up and throws you into this extremely fucked up story. let me preface this by saying i love spy stories and all of the negative trauma that comes along with it. however, this... this was something else. mainly because a child was involved.
⠀⠀our main character (JB? i don’t even remember...), discovers her mother enrolled her into a spy program and has literally controlled every aspect of her life since she was born. that is the main issue i have with this story. this type of abuse made out to be a light hearted subject. on top of that, this was far too fast paced. once you were thrown in, you got whip lash every few pages because something else happened. this took place over the course of... two days? three at most? in that time, this child literally solved a case the CIA couldn’t. it was far too convenient and far too easy.
⠀⠀this lacked details and explanations that would have only enhanced the story—not that i’d want to subject myself to something longer, but adding just a few more pages could have benefited the reader’s understanding of this mess. i think this would have also been benefited from being written as a novel. again, i definitely wouldn’t want to subject myself to it, but i believe it would have more potential to be executed better especially because the art wasn’t that fantastic and the color palette was mediocre.
⠀⠀overall, this was a rapid paced story of glorified child abuse. the authors could have done this exact same story without allowing the mother to abuse her daughter for years. it didn’t have to be like this. it could have been far more enjoyable. it wasn’t an awful read given the fact it took about an hour to finish and it was mainly pictures, but i can assure you, you can skip this. please, skip this. you don’t even need to bother with a summary.
NOTE: thank you to netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this graphic novel. this in no way impacts my decisions. all thoughts and opinions are my own.
↠ ebook
↠ 01.06.21 — 01.06.21
↠ annotated? no
⠀⠀um. what the fuck was that?
⠀⠀this was ... not good. if it wasn’t a graphic novel, if it wasn’t something i could finish in an hour, i wouldn’t have finished this. i would’ve stopped around page twenty. minor spoilers will be included because there is absolutely no way for me to get around them.
⠀⠀when you first begin this, it is extremely mundane. then, randomly, it picks up and throws you into this extremely fucked up story. let me preface this by saying i love spy stories and all of the negative trauma that comes along with it. however, this... this was something else. mainly because a child was involved.
⠀⠀our main character (JB? i don’t even remember...), discovers her mother enrolled her into a spy program and has literally controlled every aspect of her life since she was born. that is the main issue i have with this story. this type of abuse made out to be a light hearted subject. on top of that, this was far too fast paced. once you were thrown in, you got whip lash every few pages because something else happened. this took place over the course of... two days? three at most? in that time, this child literally solved a case the CIA couldn’t. it was far too convenient and far too easy.
⠀⠀this lacked details and explanations that would have only enhanced the story—not that i’d want to subject myself to something longer, but adding just a few more pages could have benefited the reader’s understanding of this mess. i think this would have also been benefited from being written as a novel. again, i definitely wouldn’t want to subject myself to it, but i believe it would have more potential to be executed better especially because the art wasn’t that fantastic and the color palette was mediocre.
⠀⠀overall, this was a rapid paced story of glorified child abuse. the authors could have done this exact same story without allowing the mother to abuse her daughter for years. it didn’t have to be like this. it could have been far more enjoyable. it wasn’t an awful read given the fact it took about an hour to finish and it was mainly pictures, but i can assure you, you can skip this. please, skip this. you don’t even need to bother with a summary.
NOTE: thank you to netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this graphic novel. this in no way impacts my decisions. all thoughts and opinions are my own.
↠ ebook
↠ 01.06.21 — 01.06.21
↠ annotated? no
anvitascorner's review
2.0
***Thank you Netgalley and Lerner Publishing Group for the arc of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.***
I really wanted to read this graphic novel after reading its description. Unfortunately, I found the execution of the story to be very lacking. The dialogues seemed very dry and didn’t flow all that well in the beginning. They did get somewhat better towards the end though.
And the graphics. I just didn’t like them. It wasn’t just the style (I liked the red theme and some other style aspects) but it felt like there was no effort put into the illustrations and just didn’t feel like it would be a final draft for a graphic novel?? I think the book would’ve been more enjoyable had the illustrations been revised a bit more so we could actually see the characters’ facial expression a little better or even some of the cool spy moves the protagonist does.
I really wanted to read this graphic novel after reading its description. Unfortunately, I found the execution of the story to be very lacking. The dialogues seemed very dry and didn’t flow all that well in the beginning. They did get somewhat better towards the end though.
And the graphics. I just didn’t like them. It wasn’t just the style (I liked the red theme and some other style aspects) but it felt like there was no effort put into the illustrations and just didn’t feel like it would be a final draft for a graphic novel?? I think the book would’ve been more enjoyable had the illustrations been revised a bit more so we could actually see the characters’ facial expression a little better or even some of the cool spy moves the protagonist does.
loreroni's review
DNF.
Artwork: 4/5
No he conseguido terminar esta novela gráfica. A pesar de que el arte es bonito y los colores de la historia me gustaban bastante, la trama no me consigue enganchar y me aburre demasiado.
Artwork: 4/5
No he conseguido terminar esta novela gráfica. A pesar de que el arte es bonito y los colores de la historia me gustaban bastante, la trama no me consigue enganchar y me aburre demasiado.
maviii's review
3.0
this graphic novel was very.....interesting. Right off the bat, I was hooked, this was a unique story and I enjoyed the writing and the illustrations. But as the story went on I had some issues. This is a decent book on the surface level, but some things just don't add up? Maybe I'm looking too much into it, but the character's actions didn't align sometimes and it wasn't exactly very realistic.
Overall, I enjoyed this one and had a lot of fun reading it.
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Overall, I enjoyed this one and had a lot of fun reading it.
my socials : my blog my twitter
my bookstagram my pinterest
my amazon wishlist
xelinevn's review
2.0
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher of this novel for providing me with this ebook in exchange for an honest review .
1,5 / 5
The story: ☆☆
The characters: ☆☆
The graphics: ☆
I thought this would be an awesome graphic novel when I read the plot and looked at that cover. But unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations. I was really hoping to love this novel..
First, the graphics: they were very simple and not rememberable. Also it were only red drawings. I like the color red, but it is such a dominant color so I instantly felt a bit overwhelmed by it. Secondly, the characters. I had to think a minute about the name of the character, that's how forgettable she was. Josephine was a basic, flat character with zero to no background story.
The main issue I have with this book is the plot. Josephine Black discovers her mother enrolled her into a spy program and has literally controlled every aspect of her life since she was born. Like.. what mother does that?
Even the ending was cut short and did not trigger me to get excited for a sequel. The plot was too fast paced and lacked depth.
Luckily it only had 176 pages so I could finish it soon. If it was longer, I would've cut it short. Too bad.
1,5 / 5
The story: ☆☆
The characters: ☆☆
The graphics: ☆
I thought this would be an awesome graphic novel when I read the plot and looked at that cover. But unfortunately it didn't live up to my expectations. I was really hoping to love this novel..
First, the graphics: they were very simple and not rememberable. Also it were only red drawings. I like the color red, but it is such a dominant color so I instantly felt a bit overwhelmed by it. Secondly, the characters. I had to think a minute about the name of the character, that's how forgettable she was. Josephine was a basic, flat character with zero to no background story.
The main issue I have with this book is the plot. Josephine Black discovers her mother enrolled her into a spy program and has literally controlled every aspect of her life since she was born. Like.. what mother does that?
Even the ending was cut short and did not trigger me to get excited for a sequel. The plot was too fast paced and lacked depth.
Luckily it only had 176 pages so I could finish it soon. If it was longer, I would've cut it short. Too bad.
ihavereadsomebooks's review
1.0
1 star out of 5.
❝Every parent screws up their kids somehow, right?❞
To be honest, I was not a fan of the book. The general idea was super interesting and I love spy stories but this- this i wasn't a huge fan of.
The story was way too simple and too predictable for my liking. All my predictions were correct and that didn't please me, it just straight up annoyed me.
[ I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. ]
❝Every parent screws up their kids somehow, right?❞
To be honest, I was not a fan of the book. The general idea was super interesting and I love spy stories but this- this i wasn't a huge fan of.
The story was way too simple and too predictable for my liking. All my predictions were correct and that didn't please me, it just straight up annoyed me.
[ I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. ]
jespersrevolvers's review
2.0
*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*
to start, for a middle grade book, the story and plot were a good idea—but not entirely original. it was an interesting take on the “secret spy” trope, but it wasn’t necessarily something i hadn’t seen before.
what i did like though, was the colour scheme—at the beginning it started off simplistic, but as the story carried on, the shadows were deepened and the palette was darker.
i was also a fan of the fact that the protagonist—Josie—never left her best friend behind. in a lot of books where a “normal” person finds out they aren’t/they’re family members aren’t who they thought they were, the protagonist’s friends usually just get dropped and ignored, which is something that really annoyed me.
overall, a bit disappointed, but the story was okay.
to start, for a middle grade book, the story and plot were a good idea—but not entirely original. it was an interesting take on the “secret spy” trope, but it wasn’t necessarily something i hadn’t seen before.
what i did like though, was the colour scheme—at the beginning it started off simplistic, but as the story carried on, the shadows were deepened and the palette was darker.
i was also a fan of the fact that the protagonist—Josie—never left her best friend behind. in a lot of books where a “normal” person finds out they aren’t/they’re family members aren’t who they thought they were, the protagonist’s friends usually just get dropped and ignored, which is something that really annoyed me.
overall, a bit disappointed, but the story was okay.
jjkmanga's review
3.0
3 stars *may change
JB has one problem: she's painfully, terribly, boring. That and the fact that her mom is a bit cooky. Okay, a lot cooky. Turns out it runs in the family, which is quite splendid since I almost thought I was going to have to read about this ordinary girl. (I really should read book blurbs before I start them...)
It's not a surprise to anybody that I'm not necessarily the target audience for this book, as immature as I may be. Still, I thought it was a cute enough story to read between classes.
The art style is charming along with a sort of autumn color palette that feels homely. The story was, obviously, written for children. It's paced very quickly and explains everything neatly.
In terms of a children's graphic novel, well, that's what this is. A simple-to-understand comic with nice pictures. The plot itself wasn't anything crazy, although I was taken aback a bit by the mother-daughter dynamic. I'm glad it went in the direction that it did.
If I was, say, 7 years younger I think I would have really enjoyed this. That being said, I am not 7 years younger. Though I'm sure that to a kid this is a wonderful story.
Thanks to the publishers and to NetGalley for providing an arc.
JB has one problem: she's painfully, terribly, boring. That and the fact that her mom is a bit cooky. Okay, a lot cooky. Turns out it runs in the family, which is quite splendid since I almost thought I was going to have to read about this ordinary girl. (I really should read book blurbs before I start them...)
It's not a surprise to anybody that I'm not necessarily the target audience for this book, as immature as I may be. Still, I thought it was a cute enough story to read between classes.
The art style is charming along with a sort of autumn color palette that feels homely. The story was, obviously, written for children. It's paced very quickly and explains everything neatly.
In terms of a children's graphic novel, well, that's what this is. A simple-to-understand comic with nice pictures. The plot itself wasn't anything crazy, although I was taken aback a bit by the mother-daughter dynamic. I'm glad it went in the direction that it did.
If I was, say, 7 years younger I think I would have really enjoyed this. That being said, I am not 7 years younger. Though I'm sure that to a kid this is a wonderful story.
Thanks to the publishers and to NetGalley for providing an arc.
camilalobianco's review against another edition
4.0
85% ★★★★☆
I was requested to do this review by NetGalley and I'm so happy that this book was my first experience!
Plot
Jossie is a daughter of a spy that was trained to be the perfect spy (but, well, she kinda don't know this). In her last trip to France, that she thinks that was just a job trip, she starts to notice some gaps on her memory and she will do everything on her power to discover why this is happening and to get of this mess and become was she wants to be.
Execution
Great! That was such a fun read. I have to admit that this was nothing I expected and actually so much better. Something that you have to have in mind before start this read is that is not supposed to be serious or mature, it's purpose is being funny and not really logical. It actually might be a metaphor to controlling parents or something like this. I was expecting to be a cute and nice read and it was.
Characters
I like her best friend. Just know that Josie is not suppose to be a mature and developed character. She is supposed to be fun. The comic is a couple of crazy ideas and you better not expect character development, since is just a short story about a "spy machine".
Art
I'm not an art expert, but I really like this art style. The only thing I have to say is that some of the pages of my copy were darker then the pallet, but I think it was just a personal problem.
I was requested to do this review by NetGalley and I'm so happy that this book was my first experience!
Plot
Jossie is a daughter of a spy that was trained to be the perfect spy (but, well, she kinda don't know this). In her last trip to France, that she thinks that was just a job trip, she starts to notice some gaps on her memory and she will do everything on her power to discover why this is happening and to get of this mess and become was she wants to be.
Execution
Great! That was such a fun read. I have to admit that this was nothing I expected and actually so much better. Something that you have to have in mind before start this read is that is not supposed to be serious or mature, it's purpose is being funny and not really logical. It actually might be a metaphor to controlling parents or something like this. I was expecting to be a cute and nice read and it was.
Characters
I like her best friend. Just know that Josie is not suppose to be a mature and developed character. She is supposed to be fun. The comic is a couple of crazy ideas and you better not expect character development, since is just a short story about a "spy machine".
Art
I'm not an art expert, but I really like this art style. The only thing I have to say is that some of the pages of my copy were darker then the pallet, but I think it was just a personal problem.