*2.5 Stars but rounded off to 3*

I read my first Graphic Novel only to be left disappointed.
Odessa is an OwnVoices post-apocalyptic graphic novel featuring Vietnamese characters. It revolves around three children who go in search of their mom after a huge earthquake hits the west coast of the United States.
I am not gonna lie, this was super boring and LONG. Not to mention that it was way too predictable. Literally some of the events made me wanna just DNF it so bad. It was like predicting what will happen if you open a chocolate bar. Yeah. There was also a lack of character development which added to the boring-ness of the book.
But it gets bonus points for a f/f relationship!!
The artwork was good but seeing that I was reading off my laptop because the file size was too big, it really strained my eyes with all that pink.

A well-down post-apocalyptic, ownvoices graphic novel. I absolutely adored the art, colour palette and the characters. My only critic would be that it's a tad bit text heavy for a graphic novel, which slows down the pace.
The story begins when an earthquake hit along the Cascadia fault line, toppling cities and changing landscapes up and down the west coast of the United States. Life changed forever for everyone, but for Vietnamese-American Virginia Crane, life changed shortly after the earthquake, when her mother left and never came back. With a wonderful cast of characters and an interesting story to tell, Odessa sets out to achieve what most graphic novels do, that is, to leave you with a warm fulfilment, and it does just that with a fairly moderate success.

Once I started this book, I couldn’t put it down, despite having to reload it a few times. I have to say I was drawn to the title, since I’m from a town of that name., but the reason for the title became clear about 1/2 way through the book. The drawings are sparse and powerful, the action sequences are vigorous, and the storyline is compelling. I was sorry/happy to see the ‘to be continued’ tag at the end!

Odessa by Jonathan Hill
Rating: 4 stars

Odessa by Johnathan Hill is a post- apocalyptic graphic novel which takes place eight years after an Earth quake hits the Casadia fault line and devastates the West Coast of America. We follow Ginny and her two younger brothers, Wes and Harry as they set out to find their mother after Ginny receives a mysterious package on the 18th birthday after not seeing her mother since she left them years before.

I enjoyed the characters and their development throughout the story as we see the siblings grow together out in the waste lands of America. I especially appreciated Ginny’s development as we see her attitudes towards her family slowly transforming throughout the story. The characters we meet a long the way, often felt convenient as they always came just in time to save the children or teach them something but I enjoyed the range and diversity they added to the cast.

I loved how the seemingly simplistic art style lent itself to the world building and with such a limited colour palate its incredible what Hill achieved especially showing the complexity of a ruined world and adding new elements which shouldn’t be recognisable to readers.

For me the plot let it down a little as things seemed to happen at convenient points along the journey leaving the character in the perfect position to escape or find a way out. I wish things happened a little more organically but I appreciated the journey aspect which for me really honed in the apocalypse themes.

Overall I enjoyed this graphic novel and will defiantly be picking up the next volume to see where the story goes and how the characters continue to survive in the waste lands. I would recommend to anyone looking for a cute, easy to read graphic novel especially if you like apocalypse stories like me.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgally for the review copy.

Good things first, I really loved the art style of Odessa. The color palette's choices were very nice and made it a relaxing read (even with some of the horrifying things that happen in it).

Sadly, I felt like the narrative aspect was a bit underwhelming. The premises of the plot were interesting (a teenager and her two kid brothers go through a post-apo America to try and find their mother), but sadly the execution was a bit flat and didn't really match my expectations. I felt at time that some parts of the plot were not really well linked together or some were just suddenly dropped. They may be a set up for something in a future volume, but it still felt disappointing.

This graphic novel is not bad, but it's not really amazing either sadly. It could have used a few less pages and a better pace. I would read the second volume if I came across it, but I feel like by the time the rest of the story will eventually come out I might have forgotten about this. Because, yes, fair warning if you go into this, the story doesn't get concluded.

This was my first graphic novel and I was surprised at how quickly I got through it!

I loved the illustrations and I felt that the characters were quite relatable. In fact, all of the main characters were interesting to read and watch throughout the pages.

The storyline was good and kept me hooked. I didn’t realise that this was a series so there are still a few unanswered questions. I look forward to the next book to see how it all pans out.

Overall, a very quick read. I highly anticipate the next one.

Queria ter gostado mais de Odessa. Talvez minhas expectativas estivessem altas demais, e eu estivesse esperando uma história diferente da que acabei lendo. Mas não é uma história em quadrinhos ruim.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All of the opinions are my own and this did not affect my review in any way.

I requested this from NetGalley because I was really intrigued by the plot and I thought this could be a new favorite. After reading it I am not blown away nor disappointed, for me this is a good middle of the road graphic novel.

In Odessa we follow three siblings as they search for their missing mother across a ruined America.
This graphic novel was really heart-wrenching and I think that everyone should give it a go. I overall really enjoyed it and it hooked me so much that I didn’t want to put it down. The writing is very natural and I think it was enough to give us all the details but it didn’t in any way feel like too much. This graphic novel game me anxiety in the best way possible, I cared for the characters, I wanted them to be okay and it was really scary to see what the world could possibly looked like after a catastrophe.

My favorite aspect of this graphic novel was the exploration of human behavior after a catastrophe, and I think it was very well portrayed.

I have conflicting opinions about the art style, I loved the art style, specifically talking about the drawings, I think they were able to perfectly capture the essence of what the book was trying to portray. However, the fact that everything was in pink was not for me, I started to hate the color and even though it sets the mood, I would have still loved to see a variety of background colors.

I really wasn’t a fan of the main character, she seemed very unlikable to me and her actions seemed very selfish. However, her brothers, I absolutely adored them, they seemed realistic and even though they were going through hell they still managed to make me laugh.

Overall, like I said there is nothing wrong with this book but there is not something amazing either. This is a solid middle of the road graphic novel. This story is full of adventure, survival, family and drama and even though I had some opinions about it I still very much enjoyed it and would still highly recommended.

p.s: I really appreciated seeing the beginning of a F/F relationship and I will definitely read the second volume to see what happens.

While the story is intriguing, the dystopian plot seemed like a recycled mix of other recent YA dystopian works like The Young World. Too many plot points and characters seemed to be contrived to check boxes of “edgy” works (LGBTQ issues? Check. Girl saving the day? Check. Untrustworthy adults? Check. Environmental calamities? Check. And so on). Side note – why did the girl have to cut her hair and become masculine looking in order to exercise authority? And at the end she capitulated that she shouldn’t be in charge and her younger brother took action. That’s not really the message I want girls seeing in literature.

I was engaged in the story, but I found the artwork to be distracting. Most parts of the artwork are done in black, white and pink, which was not the issue. The art seemed super-oversimplified and with the one brother looking like a character out of an old episode of Speed Racer and the sister with a nose oddly drawn like the characters from an old episode of The Twilight Zone (the one who has the surgery to be beautiful). The story and art should be complementary, and in this book, they felt too much in competition with one another or incongruous.
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

This book is a wild ride. The world building is done well, and the story draws the reader in immediately. I read it in one sitting without a break, and I lost track of time in the process. I am thoroughly looking forward to reading the next installment the moment it is available!

Odessa by Jonathan Hill is a graphic novel set in a dystopian 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!

3 stars

This was a okay read for me, the only reason why i requested for this book was because i adore the synopsis but i guess it turned out different.

Basically there were three siblings who went to search for their missing mother across a ruined America. The plot where it happened was very interesting but there was not much to talk about in terms of the chracters besides have a lovely good relationship. I found book a bit dry at the beginning as though there was no kick to it. It slowly picked up a in the middle of the book.

I adored the pink illustrated versions of the book and the drawing style was unique but i hope to see more storyline in the future as i heard it might be a sequel to it.

Thank you so much for the arc @netgallery and the publishers for an exchange of an honest review.

I wish had liked it more than I did but I did not hated it. The idea of a journey through a post-apocalyptic world sounded amazing and the graphics were really really good but the storyline was not what I was expecting, I guess that can also be my fault to set expectations.

All in all, I would recommend this book.

Odessa by Jonathan Hill is a Graphic Novel set in Western Part of America that was ruined by an Earthquake of great magnitude some 8 yrs ago. It not only collapsed the cities and ended the civilization, it completely changed the landscape. Forming a wall that separates the Eastern and Western parts. Some mysterious plants and sea creatures started to appear in the wake of it marking the land unliveable.


Virginia Crane (Ginny) is a Vietnamese-American teenager who lives with her 2 younger brothers and dad in the ruined city. Their mother left them as kids shortly after the quake to never return. They learnt to survive against all the odds and lead the best life they could under the circumstances.


When a package arrives for Ginny on her 18th birthday, the memories of her mother is rekindled. She decides to leave behind her family and the life they built together in search of her almost Non-Existent mother.


She set off to San Francisco to find her uncle with whom her mother stayed for a while after she left them. But Ginny never realised how dangerous the life has become out there. Ginny's exploration of the ruined world with dangers lurking every corner is covered in this volume.


All the artwork is done in the combination of Pink, White and Black as that of in the cover page. Even though it works well with the characters, it didnt do justice in depicting the post apocalyptic background. Also the story did not end in this one. We have to wait for 2nd volume to know the fate of Ginny and her mother. All in all I will give 3 ⭐


Thank You @netgalley and @onipress for providing me this review copy.

Stars: 3/5

Thank you for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'll start with the good things and things I like about this novel. The relationships and the way they were presented in this story was really good. I liked the relationships between Ginny and her brothers and the realistic banter, fights and brutal honesty.

There were plot twists I half didn't see coming, which of course made the story much more interesting. There was also a scene toward the end that was heartbreaking oh my goodness.

I think the story has a lot of potential, especially going forward into the sequels but I struggled at times due to a few things.

I didn't like the illustrations. Wasn't my style. At all. I liked the pink and grey aesthetic of it. Very pretty and made for an interesting mood, but the art style reminded me of a crappy 90s kid show... that I didn't like. That's not to say the art wasn't good, I liked all the background art of the destruction and post-apocalyptic world, but the characters... no thank you.

I struggled with the characters a bit. I liked Ginny and her brothers occasionally. I really struggled to match with them. I could relate but I struggled to get invested in them. This might be because I feel like the plot was half pulling random things from nowhere. Sure, things were explained but it still felt so random.

WARNINGS: bombs, gun violence, gangs

RECOMMEND: for people who like to read graphic novels, 90s style cartoons, post-apocalyptic worlds and sibling relationships

The world has fallen apart after an earth quake dubbed the Big One destroyed everything with nearly a day's worth of rattling. The realistic relationships between the siblings that are the focus of the story was just right. I do not typically enjoy it when writers create characters that act much older than their actual age and we never see glimpses of their childhood lack of experience. The characters in "Odessa" each acted their own age, despite having to grow up quickly in a post-apocalyptic lands scape and we followed them as they come to realize just how much sacrifice their parent made in order to protect their innocence. This was well played by the writer and aided in the miscommunication trope that continued throughout the narrative. ( I am not a fan of this trope but it served a purpose here).

Odessa is one part thriller, one part light horror, one part slice of life and a whole lot of fun. I have to say that I was not expecting it to lean more on the new adult side as it was labeled as a YA but the action and grit of the story kept me on my toes, The drawing style and use of monochrome color was well done. It has a continuous sense of eeriness through out the chapters. The investment in the character's was worth the time spent on context within the first chapter. There was a mystical element to the story in later chapters (The mist anyone?). I think that fans of horror comics such as the walking dead will find this to be a light fun read.

☆☆.5 | Fast-paced. Predictable. Seen before.

If it weren’t for the insufferable characters, I feel I could have enjoyed this book. The art was truly beautiful; the color pallet was lovely and a few of the panels were truly a pleasure to look at. The pacing was slow in some bits, but it carried its own and wasn’t anything I needed to slug through or catch my breath from.

But as I said, these characters killed it for me. I was constantly annoyed at Virginia and how incredibly bratty she was. She annoyed me to no end, I hated every choice she made, found her overly stubborn and overbearing and rolled my eyes at every other thing that came out of her mouth. Her brothers were supposed to be annoying, I get that, but they were JUST that. Annoying. Irritating. Always causing trouble and making stupid choices. Four Dollars was the only character I didn’t have a horrible opinion of, but that’s not even to say I liked him. He was just… there. As for the other side characters, I felt the same way in the fact that I couldn’t care less.

My other main criticism for this graphic novel was that personally, I didn’t think it brought anything new to the genre. There was no unique twist to this apocalypse, no raised stakes. There were zombies, there were creepy men, there were weird plants. There was nothing too intriguing about the world we saw because although it was drawn wonderfully, it was one we’ve seen a million times before. There were so many openings for societal commentary on familial relationships or gang violence, but nothing was done with those opportunities. War is bad, earthquakes are bad, what’s new?

If you don’t mind unlikable characters or a predictable plot (who knows, maybe you read simply for comfort and just want to read something familiar. This would be a PERFECT dystopian book for you) than you might end up seeing this as the next best thing. Frankly, though, I did not see it as that and I found it sorely lackluster.

I love that this was an OwnVoices work and I do believe that this author is a phenomenal illustrator and has promise as a story teller, I really just wish that in the end I could have found SOMETHING to like about these characters. But, alas, I could not.

Thank you again to NetGalley and Oni Press for gifting me an early review copy of this graphic novel.

3.5 stars. This is definitely an introduction to a wider story. While it's a great setup, you do feel unsatisfied because it feels unfinished as a reader. But I did enjoy it for the most part despite this. I think the dystopian-like world we are introduced to is really interesting. Basically, there was a catastrophic earthquake that split the western US away from the rest of the country, and nothing was ever the same as it was before. Gangs rule California, the worth of currency is based upon whether you're in the north or the south, and San Francisco is nearly completely underwater. I'm really interested in Ginny's journey, and why her mother left their family in the first place. We don't get the answer to that in this book, nor do we even meet her mother. We do however still meet another member of her family, who first appears in disguise, and who begrudgingly helps Ginny and her brothers along in their journey, which I really love. Give me all the grumpy yet compassionate characters. I am definitely interested to see where they go next and who/what they encounter, especially because I do feel unsatisfied. I'm also interested in the relationship between Ginny and Maya, because dear lord, it was mentioned once in passing and then never again?? The art is nice, albeit not really my style and I wish it wasn't completely monotone, but you can't have everything. I will almost definitely be reading the next book to see where Ginny ventures next.

This is the first volume in what will presumably be a series. Its decent enough, though not so much as to entice me back for further installments. The story revolves around a group of siblings look for their mother in a California shattered by earthquakes. The world building isn't so original and the illustration and style not so inventive.

The characters make a fair few decisions which don't seem consistent with their set-up. For one, the father is supposed to come across as mature and loving in respecting his daughter's desire to go in search of her mother, yet it comes across as reckless and irresponsible when we discover the lawless and chaotic world that she must journey through.

There's a particularly egregious instance of deus ex machina in the finale, which left me on a disappointed note.

It’s a shame Odessa wasn’t all that I’d hoped. Hearing that this was a post apocalyptic ownvoices novel featuring vietnamese main characters really peaked my interest.

In a world ravaged by the aftermath of massive earthquakes and societal divide, the Crane family thought they’d been through the worst. Then their mother left without explanation.
It’s eight years later, and Virginia Crane has grown accustomed to caring for her father and younger brothers. When she receives a birthday gift from her mother, Virginia and her brothers set out on a journey to find their mom.

While the art style didn’t play into my personal tastes, I will admit that it fits the post apocalyptic theme well. The characters were drawn using bizarre and played up features, which wasn’t for me, though the black and white drawings accented by pink were nice.

I found it really difficult to connect with anyone in this graphic novel. Virginia and her brothers are the protagonists, yet they undergo very little character development by the end. The supporting cast didn’t serve much purpose except for plot convenience, and the antagonists’ motives weren’t very believable.

By the halfway mark, I’d lost virtually all interest in this story. There were too many coincidences for my liking, and a lot of events happened simply out of convenience. While there are others who may enjoy this story, it really wasn’t for me.