I found this one difficult to connect with. The overly cartoonish drawing style was saying "kids comic" to me in a way that the story itself wasn't, which felt a bit disconnected. Whilst I did find it funny at times, I think it could benefit from some more in depth discussions around the MC's situation

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

DNF. I really liked the premise but the writing did not work for me at all. It wouldn't be fair to the book if I finished reading and gave it a low rating.

Ok ok hear me out.
The book? Eh
The art? Pretty good
But the fact that the characters reminded me of Bee and Puppycat? Yes. A*, it gets another star just for that. David was basically an older Cardamon running a laundry-mat (instead of being a landlord), Penny was Bee with her bad luck and bad choices (but older and slightly less PG) and Walter was Deckard. :D
Ok it stops there but because of the aforementioned similarities to my favourite show of all time, I had a pretty grand time. Sure Penny was a hopeless case and I was a little confused in the end but it was good. That is all that I have to say

— Thank you to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Penny, maybe 20, loses her job, has to move into a storage unit, gets a job working for a 12 year old manager of a laundromat. Bur if this sounds like some bleak analysis of the contemporary economic scene--nope! This is essentially a cute rom-com, down by Yuko Ota, that owes much to the manga-ish drawing style of Faith Hicks (The Adventures of Superhero Girl, Friends with Boys, The Nameless City, who blurbs the book by calling it "perfect.") and (especially) Bryan O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim series. It's basically the women's Scott Pilgrim, complete with battles, but not quite as funny or entertaining.

Reminiscent of Scott Pilgrim both in style and tone. The details are off beat but you learn to sort of roll with it. Likely to land well with a certain subset of the reading population.

Generally speaking, Lucky Penny is a charming romance comic that goes too far when it enters Bryan Lee O'Malley territory. If you're a fan of Scott Pilgrim or Giant Days, I'd still recommend giving it a try, but be warned—not it's quite as excellent as either of those movies.

Lucky Penny by Ananth Hirsh is a graphic novel. If Penny Brighton didn't have bad luck, she'd have no luck at all. She lost her job and apartment on the same day, and with no other options, she started crashing at her best friend Helen’s storage unit. As a last resort, Penny snags a job at the laundromat, which is managed by Helen’s surly twelve-year-old brother. Things couldn’t get much worse, but that doesn’t keep the ever-buoyant Penny down. After all, she’s been sensing boyfriend potential with the cute receptionist at the community center who’s been sneaking her in so she can use the shower. Maybe things are looking up! But if Penny knows one thing for certain, it’s that luck has never been her strong suit. How long can this last?

Lucky Penny is a graphic novel aimed mainly at the young and new adult set, of which I am neither, but I still greatly enjoyed this read. I liked the artwork, I enjoyed the line and color work and thought it did a great job of capturing and enchasing the storyline. While I have never been quite as down as my luck as Penny is at the start of this book, I think everyone has had a moment that they felt that the world was crashing around them and can relate to Penny on some level. Penny's changes between acting like everything is going to be fine and self consciousness is also something that many readers will be able to relate to. I loved the romance storyline, and thought the story as a whole was very engaging and entertaining to read. On the other hand, I have to admit that there were moments that I was a bot confused, whether what was happening on the page was real or part of Penny's imagination or her personally vision exaggerating the truth. Regardless, I enjoyed the read and was really glad I requested this title via Netgalley.

Unlucky penny gets her ass saved by her friend who gives her the storage unit she has to live in and gets her a job at her family's laundromat. Then Penny meets Walter and maybe she's not so unlucky after all.

Or maybe she is cursed to ruin everything in her life.

(the dream though... LOL)

Why is it always the creepy kids that ruin everything?

Adorable and quirky read.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

This manga was so cute and absolutely funny quirky. The colour palette was great and I love the main character. The aspects with the tattoos were cool. I thought that the character arc was beautiful throughout this novel and the colour theme was perfect. I will definitely be written more from this artist in the future. I also will be looking out for more of the work to try out or being arc reader for.

Penny is down on her luck, and with no place to live and no job, she ends up living in a storage unit and finding a part time job at her friend’s family’s laundromat.

I feel like this character has untreated ADHD, but that’s never explicitly stated in the text. With her inability to keep a job, and the spontaneity of her actions, I felt for her because of my past experiences(not to as extreme a level, but still).

I loved Penny’s enthusiasm for spicy romance, especially that she shares her passion with reckless abandon. More of us enjoy monster smut than you’d think, but it takes guts to talk about it sometimes!

I felt like the story overall was unrealistic, but I still appreciated it. But an 11 year old being her boss? A bit far fetched 😅

Rating: 3.75 🌟
First and foremost, I'd like to express my gratitude to Netgalley and Oni Press for providing me with an e-ARC of this comic.
The best part of this book, in my opinion, is the way the characters grow toward the end. The artwork is adorable, and the storyline was pretty good. Highly recommended if you want to read a slice-of-life comic with a hint of romance.🤍

2.5 stars

Penny Brighton is a bit of a hard-luck case. With no job, no apartment and no cash flow, she decides to crash in her friend's storage unit and finds employment at said friend's parents' laundromat, working under a twelve-year old. Also there's a milquetoast male love interest.

This kind of gave me Bee and Puppycat vibes, minus the magical realism with real-world misery thrown in...which if that sounds like your jam, I say give it a go. It's a fast read but I didn't find it to be impactful or engaging. The graphic novel teeters on trying to be "real-world" but takes some questionable absurdist turns which makes me question what the creators were seeking to achieve. It's about a woman with a case of arrested development trying to make the most of things. Sure, she's a walking disaster but she's "plucky" so you're obligated to root for her... only I was not.

The artwork is beautiful, and what caught my initial interest. But I felt the story was a little rushed, and I don't think the end makes much sense. Its a quick and easy read, and visually pleasing with a really nice colour palette, but it's not my favourite graphic novel.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

Okay I really loved it 🤩
It was funny, nerdy, I loved the art, the characters are really cool, I highly recommend if you want to spend some good time !

Thanks to Netgalley and Oni Press for their trust !

This graphic novel is for teens and college-aged readers who want to feel like they aren’t the only mess-ups who don’t have their lives together. The color palette really reminded me of Nimona by Noelle Stevenson, as do some of Penny’s antics.

This is quite possibly the best graphic novel I've read since my Giant Day obsession started. I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! I'm now going to read everything this author and illustrator have ever written!

I enjoyed this comic, it's a cute story about Penny who might be unlucky but who never loses her optimism that things can change for the better. The illustrations are very nice even though I had some trouble differentiating some second characters like those 3 kids (was David part of their group? I still don't know). Actually the 3 kids storyline confused me quite a bit, and also, what was the deal with David??, but it didn't get in the way of the whole story.
Helen was great, wish we saw more of her. And Walter was so cute and gave neurodivergent vibes. Penny was also a great character. But the best was of course Boyfriend the cat!

Lucky Penny is a charming story with some fantastic artwork and use of colour. It was an enjoyable read and I am sure it will become a favourite to many.