I admit my interest in graphic novels arose when I found out that several of the TV series I loved where based on comics and graphic novels. Before then I had never been a big fan of the genre. Well, reading ‘Odessa’, all I could think was: “This could be an amazing TV show.”

First of all, I loved the context. Sure, it is a post-apocalyptic world like we have seen too many times, but this one is somehow plausible. People living in California have been expecting ‘The Big One’ for years, the strongest earthquake ever registered which would change the US West Coast as we know it forever. So what if it finally happened? In this case, 8 years after the Big One destroyed California and hit the whole coast, people live a perilous life, commerce is based on the exchange of goods, the most valuable goods are weird roots which started growing after the earthquake, and San Francisco is controlled by rival gangs.

Secondly, I loved the characters, even if I would have liked to get to know them better. I can only hope that, as this was the first volume of a series, in the second one the story and lives of the main characters will be further explored.

Thirdly, the artwork is incredible. So beautiful with its black&pink colours.

Finally, I could not stop myself from reading it. The plot was so adventurous, a very nice page-turner. I can only say I cannot wait for the second volume to come out.

I would like to thank Oni Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The idea of this book sounded very good, travelling through a post-apocalyptic world. I mean there were bound to be great adventures. But it all felt a bit mediocre. They coincidentally found the right people along the way to help them, which made every struggle point a lot easier!
I wasn't a huge fan of the art style either, allthough it did fit with the roughness of the story.
I was a bit disapppointed with the ending, meaning there was not really one, and it just said 'to be continued'. Since this was quite a long graphic novel, I did expect it to finish actually.

I thought it was al alright comic, wasn't a huge fan of the art style (just not a fan of the three-toned colour scheme in general) and I thought the story could have been a bit shorter but still tell the same story. I might still pick up the sequel because I am curious how it goes on, but I'm not in too much of a hurry to be honest.

I really loved this first instalment in this graphic novel series. I loved the artwork and all its pink tones. I loved the premise of a dystopian america that has been destroyed by an earthquake. The characters were amazing and I loved the relationships and the family dynamics of it all. I can't wait to see some of those relationships grow in the next instalment. I don't normally grow so attached to characters in graphic novels, especially first in series, however I found myself to be quite attached and emotional for these characters and I only want the best for them.
I cant wait to see where this one goes.
5 out of 5 stars

Three siblings search for their mother in a post-apocalyptic U.S. (major earthquake that separated California from the rest of the country). But this is only the first in series, so it spends a lot of time world-building and ends on a cliffhanger. The pacing felt rushed when it came to conflict/action along their journey. Those moments resolved a little too quickly and neatly. The bickering between the siblings was a bit overdone and started to feel like filler. But the art is fantastic, the premise is cool, it held my attention, and the book left me feeling like I *must* read the sequel(s) to find out what happens next.

𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 𝕟𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕖𝕟𝕕. 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖.
~ 𝕆𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕒.

The aftermath of the Big One, the earthquake that shook the Cascadia fault line into ruins 8 years back, changed the lives of those dwelling on the west coast of the United States forever.

As for Vietnamese American Virginia Crane, life took a grim turn of events starting with her mother leaving her with her father and brothers and never turning back. Wise and mature beyond her years, Ginny takes on the role of a caretaker for her brothers, Wes and Harry, providing them with the best of what her can aquire. But her routine and monotonous life comes to a standstill when she recieves a mysterious gift parcel from her mother.

Surged with the long-forgotten memories of her childhood, Ginny is hell-bent on finding her mother and make sense of everything, even if it means to abandon her family.

This is an own voices, post-apocalyptic graphic novel set in a world divided by society. I really liked how familial relationships were explored in this novel and it also features a sweet sapphic romance.

Although I quite enjoyed my time reading Odessa, it was a bit too slow to my taste and wasn't feeling any sort of attachment to the characters except for four dollars maybe ( Ginny's uncle whom she seeks to help her out ). However, I adored the art style and Ginny's journey through the harrowing days.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 @netgalley 𝘢𝘯𝘥 @onipress 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.❣️

This book talks about three kids trying to find their mother in an after earthquake era. The world turned upside down, there are weird plants, monsters, dead people, and more of these horrible incidents. Though the subject is interesting, it didn't go far from the usual cliché. I felt like I was watching any of these world-ending movies, and there were a lot of coincidences too.
The illustrations were cool, and they match the overall theme. I didn't hate it, but it didn't blow me away either. It was OK.

Beautiful to look at and read. I thought the characters were realistic and likable; the format of graphic novel suits this story well. Happy I read it and will recommend.

The synopsis of the book really intrigued me, three kids searching for their mom in a post-apocalyptic world plus a graphic novel. I was hooked on the idea. But about half way through I wanted to put it down. Hoping it would get better, I read to the end. Boy, was I wrong. Should have put it down. The book is over 300 pages long and really could have been shortened by 100 pages or so. The journey to find their mom just seemed repetitive, they kept running into the same problems. Overall, I can't say I'd recommend this one.

I received a free copy from Netgalley and Oni Press in exchange for my honest opinions.

America has been ruined and three kids are on the search across a post apocalyptic America looking for their mom. I enjoyed this book. I liked that the story tried to have some humanity and addressed some social issues. It was hard to put down, I was not a huge fan of the ending I feel that even for a continued ending it could have tied up a few more loose ends. Even with the ending though I will get the second addition. The artwork was a perfect mirror for how the author was trying to show the world. I think that I have many students who would really enjoy this book.

2.5/5 Honestly, this was a weird one for me. I felt that the story dragged on and while it picked up at the end it stops with a to be continued just as things started to get interesting. There's some low-key lgbt rep towards the end which is neat. I felt that the relationships between the siblings just weren't fully fleshed out and I would have been a lot more invested in the first 2/3rds of the book if they had either delved into that a little more or just pushed forward and gotten to the more interesting segments of the last third.

Odessa was a wild ride. A ride I hope we get to finish. There were a few things I wasn’t expecting, but I’m so glad they’re there. The monochrome colors were such a good choice for this story. Also, all the lore regarding the disasters is so good.

"Odessa" is the first installment in a series following the adventures of three siblings embarking on a journey to find their estranged mother. Ginny, Wes, and Harry suddenly become aware that their mother is alive and decide to find her and reunite with her after eight years of separation. The catch is they're living in a post-apocalyptic reality, where danger awaits behind every corner. The siblings have to keep together to survive.

First of all, I really enjoyed the setting of the story and the world-building in general. Those post-apocalyptic worlds look amazing in the graphic form. Second, the art style was right up my alley - it reminded me a little bit of the style of the game Don't Starve. The choice of the pink tint of the panels was unexpectedly very fitting.

That being said, I was a little bit disappointed with how stretched out the story was and its open ending. Going in, I didn't know the graphic novel was a start to a series, so naturally, I expected some kind of closure, but there wasn't any. Furthermore, there was no character development among the main team (maybe except Four Dollars). The plot was filled with convenient coincidences that pushed the characters forward in their journey.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the graphic novel enough to be interested in picking up the next volume. Let's hope it will compensate for the imperfect first.

Thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for providing me with a copy of the book!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Odessa is set in a post apocalyptic earth and tells the story of 3 siblings looking for their mum, unaware of the dangers that this new world conceals.
I really liked the drawings and how Hill is able to express deep emotion through them. I loved the new earth even if it gives me the creeps because I can totally imagine a future not far away in which this kind of disaster will change our lives forever.
I totally loved the secondary characters. I am deeply in love with Maya and Wes and can't stop liking "4 dollars" albeit his turbulent past but I have to admit that I totally despise Ginny.
I can't understand her. She is totally selfish. She is ok to abandon her father and her brothers in order to follow a ghost. She is not brave enough to say goodbye to her brothers or to say what she really thinks. She is not the strong leading woman I was expecting. Sorry, not sorry.
Apart from that, the book is enjoyable and easy to read, I will probably want to read how the story continues.

***ACTUALLY 3.5 STARS***

Thank you Netgalley for sending me an eARC for exchange for an honest review.

Graphic Novels are one of the best forms of books. It is median that can tell a story not just with words, but with images as well. Odessa was a book I really wanted to love, but it was completely underwhelming.

Odessa is the story about Ginny, Wes, and Harry, three sibling's who set off to look for their mother after she left their family after Ginny receives a package from her. The story takes place in California after a huge earthquake hits and basically destroys it and these kids traverse it looking for clues. I honestly was very intrigued from the get-go because I have lived in California, and was so excited to see how this author took the concept of something that could happen, and make it a reality in the novel.

I found the art style to be a bizarre choice for the book, considering it is set in apocalyptic setting. It is black and white with pink as the accent color, which to me suits a more a love story than a story about survival. The art wasn't to my taste at all, but the way the characters were drawn gave it a rustic vibe, which fit into the theme well. Just not the pink...

I think if the story had been more fleshed out and didn't have so many convenient things happen, then it would have been wonderful. But all the characters were didn't develop beyond how they were introduced as, and about a quarter of the way in I just wanted to know if they found their mom, and lost any care I had about them.

I liked the idea of the story. I think this could have been one of the best graphic novels I have read if the dystopian and scfi elements didn't come out of nowhere, and the LGBT representation wasn't executed so poorly. The dystopian and scfi took me completely by surprise because I originally thought it was about kids trying to survive but essentially throwing in things that didn't make sense (aka zombies). The rep for LGBT people was a good idea, but was done badly as well. Like out of nowhere it happened, with no hints of a crush between the characters anytime before that. Honestly, I was happy to see it, but there was no foreshadowing to two of the characters being romantically involved.

Overall, it has a lot of potential to be a great book, but for me it wasn't. But for you it might! So I recommend giving it a try.

In Odessa, we are following the journey of 3 siblings who set off in the wild post-apocalyptic world of California in search of their mother.

I loved the relationship between the siblings, their determination to find their mother in this new and dangerous world. The ending of this graphic novel was so emotional, and then the cliffhanger! I was not expecting to be left off like that! I wanted this book to just keep on going. And the illustrations were beautiful!

3.5 stars, I really enjoyed this graphic novel and will be keeping my eye out for the second one.

**ARC provided by Oni Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Overall this graphic novel was very well written. I enjoyed the graphics and character development rhoughout. I really didn't like the uncle character, only becuase he was so shady. And I did feel like a significant amount of back story (such as why the entire world was in shambles the way that it was) was missing from the beginning to really pull the reader in. As we read we get more information, but the lack at the beginning comes across less mysterious to me and honestly a little annoying, even if it was just a little back story to get me up to date on some minor details. It just felt lacking in that regard. Overall though this was a great story and I really enjoyed a lot of different things from it.

“The world ended, right? But it didn’t. We’re still here. Things never end. They just change.”
.
.
Thank you to @netgalley and @onipress for a free copy of this dystopian graphic novel in exchange for an honest review! This follows a young woman as she sets out to find her mother after receiving a surprise gift on her birthday. The setting was so vivid - a completely altered west coast after a massive earthquake has destroyed the cities and split California in two. I really enjoyed the adventure, which mingled in some urban fantasy as well, and can’t wait for the next in the series!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

In a post-apocalyptic world which had been struck by severe earthquakes, Ginny receives a letter on her birthday from her mother who had abandoned their family eight years before. Prompting her to leave behind what she knows in search of her mother only to have her two younger brothers decide to follow her and join the journey much to her dismay.

I liked this well enough. I love a good little adventure story and feel this story has quite a bit of promise. I would be interested to read the next one and see where it goes next.

I don’t know if the art style was really my thing, but I liked the pink colour scheme. The world-building of this was done really well and that was probably my favourite part of the whole thing so I’m interested to learn more about it. Plot-wise there was definitely promise in it as a concept but it was very slow and dragged out that I found myself getting bored a lot of the time. As for the characters, I don’t know if I was crazy about any of them whilst I’m sure given the circumstances they’ll grow and develop in further iterations but throughout this, I just found them a bit annoying and not as fleshed out as they could have been.

Overall despite not being super invested in this one, I’m definitely interested in reading more to see where the story goes.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc!

"Odessa" nos sitúa en un mundo postapocaliptico luego de que un terrible terremoto destruyera todo, y nos cuenta la historia de tres hermanos de diferentes edades que viven con su padre. La hermana mayor en el día de su cumpleaños recibe un regalo de su madre, quien los abandono hace muchos años dejándola a cargo de sus hermanos menores.
A partir de entonces, ella decide emprender un viaje en busca de su madre, a lo que se le suman sus hermanos. Los tres emprenden un viaje peligroso en un país apocalíptico.

Me gusto mucho el arte y la paleta de colores en rosa pero el dibujo was okay. Me entretuvo bastante la historia pero se me hizo muy extenso, tiene 300 páginas y muy poco character development. No hay mucho más que decir mas que es entretenido pero fue una novela gráfica que paso sin pena ni gloria.

Admito que le tenia un poco de expectativas ya que vi muy buenas reviews.