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Thursday, December 13, 2018

REVIEW: Sabrina by Nick Drnaso

Sabrina 
by Nick Drnaso

The second pick for my December book club read! It's been a LONG time since I've read a graphic novel but this one sure did sound interesting!


Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly
Publish Date: May 22, 2018
Hardcover
204 Pages
Sequential - follow up to Beverly
Genre: Graphic Novel


Video games, conspiracy theories, breakdown, murder: Everything’s gonna be all right—until it isn’t...


How many hours of sleep did you get last night? Rate your overall mood from 1 to 5, 1 being poor. Rate your stress level from 1 to 5, 5 being severe. Are you experiencing depression or thoughts of suicide? Is there anything in your personal life that is affecting your duty?

When Sabrina disappears, an airman in the U.S. Air Force is drawn into a web of suppositions, wild theories, and outright lies. He reports to work every night in a bare, sterile fortress that serves as no protection from a situation that threatens the sanity of Teddy, his childhood friend and the boyfriend of the missing woman. Sabrina’s grieving sister, Sandra, struggles to fill her days as she waits in purgatory. After a videotape surfaces, we see devastation shown through a cinematic lens, as true tragedy is distorted when fringe thinkers and conspiracy theorists begin to interpret events to fit their own narratives.

My Review:


I haven't read a graphic novel in AGES and this one was a pick for my December book club.  The premise is quite interesting and unfortunately a bit socially relevant.  However there were a multitude of things that kept me from enjoying this to the fullest.  The type was extremely small in certain places and difficult to read at times - maybe not difficult exactly but I needed a magnifying glass so as to not stress my eyes (disclaimer: I didn't have a magnifying glass so instead squinted at times or placed my face very close to the pages).  The faces bore no sign of any type of emotion. None - check that, there was a brief moment in a couple panels towards the end....  I don't remember this being common in graphic novels. 🤷 Some characters were virtually indistinguishable from the others so I found it ironic when one "conspiracy theory" wondered if one person was another acting as the one!

I never felt the story actually got anywhere.  Instead it was just a plundering of inane conversations and how unforeseen deaths, killings for the sake of being remembered, victims and their families being victimized and harassment from the public in this tech savvy world where everyone has something to say behind their screen.  But then what? Is there a "to be continued" portion? I know this is a follow up to Beverly but um... I just don't think this worked for me.

As the only graphic novel up for the Manbooker prize, clearly it's a great piece of work for someone. I am just clearly not the right audience. I'm trying to find something that I did like about it and the only thing I could think of was that it was as short as it was and that it was a quick read. 

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