Member Reviews
I had so much fun reading this. Blink is a sharp and wonderfully dizzying ride into the extremes of technology and fanaticism and what it would look like if those things happened to merge. The pacing in the beginning of the story is a little shaky- I would have loved to spend a bit more time with our protagonist, Wren, to really understand and care for her as she plunges headfirst into her forgotten past- but as soon as she enters the house of Blink, that's where the plot starts to really shine. I have to highlight the artist and colorist for this title (Sherman and Filardi)- huge props to them! I was constantly blown away by how good everything looked. Wonderful textures, gorgeous linework, distinct character concepts, incredibly fun and creative page layouts. They are what make this work for me. I can't wait to see future installments!
Blink is a graphic novel that follows Wren, a woman plagued by sleep paralysis with a past she can’t remember. She goes on a journey to try and figure out what happened to her parents only to find out that what happened is far beyond anything she could have imagined.
I am a huge fan of horror and graphic novels so seeing the two together, I knew this was something I wanted to read. The art style is so stunning and unique. Truly so different from anything else I have ever seen in the context of a graphic novel.
The story itself was a little disjointed. In order to match the art style, some of the speech bubbles were in a weird order making it hard to know what to read first and I had to restart some pages several times to really understand what was going on. I think the story was also a big convoluted due to having so much going on. The way this ended, I am not sure it it’s a standalone or if there will be more but I think this particular volume could have benefited a lot being twice the length to really go into the story. I could see myself rereading this just to pick up on things I missed the first time.
Hunched over, a character leans in to their computer screen, sorting and making sense of the shadowy world in which they live. Christopher Sebela invites us along for this reading journey and the response the pages create place us in the suspenseful frame of mind we discover on the visual page.
I enjoyed this inventive and atmospheric use of the comics page -- a searingly creative approach!
Wren is obsessed with finding out why she was found alone and covered in blood as a child. Her discovery leads her to an abandoned building that isn’t what it seems.
Really great artwork and panelling. There were certain aspects where I just stared at the creativity on the page!
I think this could be such a great story but the story was way too big for the short format. I wanted more build up and more time to just let the story soak in. The pace was SO FAST and because of that I just didn’t connect to the story and found myself rereading because I got lost.
Overall though, a great concept and really interesting narrative on security and monitoring. Very big brother.
Blink follows Wren as they try to uncover the secrets of their past. Wren was found as a baby, in the street and covered in blood. Wren uncovers CCT footage and it recognizes some of the location as a place she has been before.
I will admit that we I requested this arc, I didn't realize that it was a graphic novel. I was caught up in the premiss, and the cover art that I didn't look closely enough at the description. I don't normally read graphic novels but I loved the artwork! It is beautiful and I found myself really drawn into the art work and how it enhanced the story.
My only critique is that I wish there had been more character development around Wren. I appreciated how the jumped right into the story but I wanted to know a bit more about her. Overall I enjoyed this and if you read graphic novels regularly I think that you would enjoy this too!
Absolutely beautiful! Unfortunately so packed with things I can only halfway tell what exactly happened.
Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for allowing me to read an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review
First things first; the art. The art is outstanding. I really enjoyed the illustration work. It helped keep the story engaging and I couldn't wait to turn to the next page/panel
The story follows Wren Booker. Wren has no memory of her childhood. She was found wandering the streets of NYC at 3 years old, covered in blood. She has no memory of her parents or what caused her to become separated from them. She becomes a journalist and stumbles upon random CCTV footage(from a website called BLink) that sparks a memory from her past. She can't let the discovery go and proceeds to dive into the rabbit hole to discover the answers to her past.
I enjoyed this story. This story feels a little bit like a hallucination. Is what Wren sees real or is she in her head in some scenes? However, it is a little clunky. I found myself rereading a panel or two a little bit to try and make sense of how Wren arrived at a particular scene. It's somewhat disorienting but I think that was the point. Overall, I would highly recommend this graphic novel to others who enjoy horror stories.
This is a very visually appealing graphic novel. It has an old school 90’s vibe to it. The color all throughout the book is vibrant while the story is dark.
Wren Booker is found wandering alone in New York and doesn’t remember anything about how she got there. As the years go by, Wren searches for answers as to where she is from and who her parents are. The story ends up with Wren finding some answers.
This graphic novel is kind of science fiction and thriller. Overall, a good story to go with the visuals.
Thank you #NetGalley for #Blink by Christopher Sebela
Una buena novel gráfica de terror. Puede confundir en algunas partes si no le prestas atención pero más allá de eso, tiene una buena trama y el dibujo te deja con los pelos de punta.
Thank you NetGalley and OniPress for granting me an ARC!
I love found-footage horror so I immediately picked Blink (and of course, that amazing cover). What I liked about it is how engaging it was and sometimes I felt like I was in Blink, running away with Wren from the horrors of her past. The layout was dizzying but interesting, and I've never read a graphic novel that moved so smoothly. However I didn't find most of the dialogues and monologues believable, and it was hard to understand the plot. Still, I'm willing to give this another try and read the next one in this series :)
Wren was found as a kid covered in blood on the street. She can't remember what happened to her, where she was, what happened to her parents. It has haunted her her whole life, and she keeps picking at her memories. While doing research, she sees an image that brings memories flooding back. She abandons her life to go investigate, but the truth is more horrible than she can handle. A dark horror of being trapped by your past trauma.
I wondered how a found footage type of story would do in this format, and I have to say it - I’m impressed. This did have the expected vibe of found footage movies and of watching things just get worse and worse. This is a pretty dark, bleak tale that does indeed feel like a nightmare.
Note: arc provided in exchange for honest review
*I received a copy of this book as an ARC for review
Did I like this book? yes. Did I understand the majority of the plot? no. The art was incredible and they used the layout in ways I haven't seen before but a lot of the dialogue felt rushed and didn't explain much. 3.5 starts rounded to 4.
After reading the summary I was very interested and curious to read, unfortunately I didn’t enjoy it like I originally hoped. I felt like the pacing was a little off for me and it made things confusing to follow and we never really got any answers to the questions Wren had.
In my opinion, the best part, and my favorite part of this graphic novel was the art and the creative page layouts. If you’re super into social experiments gone wrong, with some horror mixed in there, you’d probably like this a lot more than I did.
Blink is a story about a girl, Wren, who pushes her life aside, job, partner etc in order to try to fill in the blanks of her childhood. As stated, she becomes consumed with learning the details and through exploration finds that she, like hundreds of others, were placed in a social experiment. The narrative was confusing at times and I felt like this could’ve been stretched out to more volumes for the story to make more sense. The artwork though, was a masterpiece. Truly stunning, it enhanced the story and created chills from the horrific imagery. I’d buy this book simply for the art style.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book.
I found this to be an enjoyable and overall well-presented graphic novel/comic book.
I'm fairly new to the formant but this felt quite original in its presentation and had a well-formed plot behind it. I did get lost a few times but that may be due to me being new to the format.
Overall and fun and vibrant read.
Blink had me captivated from page one. The cover is bright and alluring, and with a synopsis reminiscent of the Blair witch project I couldn’t resist giving it a try. It starts off with Wrens obsession ruining their day to day life and follows them on their journey back to where they started. The graphics were near perfectly matched with the script and painted a disorienting story of Wrens exploration of their past and the project that is Blink. I devoured it in one sitting and would love to read about what’s next in Wrens story (their descent deeper into paranoia would be interesting to see applied in the “real” world!). I did find myself lost at times but I feel that it added to the mood of the story! 4/5 stars, I’ll be sure to purchase a copy once I’m able! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read Blink in return for an honest review!
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This is my first time reviewing a comic book...one I requested entirely by mistake. Yeap, I thought it was a novel. Anyways, here goes.
Wren is obsessed by a website she glanced once, it had CCTV footage of a place that seems hidden somewhere deep down her memories. By night, the night terrors come, by day she ignores everything around her, looking for the website again, looking for clues...her love life crumbling, as is her job. She needs to know what happened to her when she was a child, a child found covered in blood so many years ago. By happenstance, she finally finds the physical place, was she a captive there?
As Wren inspects the place she realizes that the basement spans across buildings. The answers she desperately needs are but a few paces away.
Let me start with the graphic art. While it is beautiful, no question there, at times the intricate panel placement becomes a bit confusing, but nothing be wary about. The characters themselves are drawn in a wonderful style. This story is going to shine when printed, since some of the pages are meant to be seen together, something hard to accomplish in a PDF that shows one page at a time.
The story starts off like a rocket, relentlessly pulling you in. Wren is a wreck of a woman, and you'll feel for her. You'll want to know the story behind her trauma. It is a bit unfortunate that the story starts to get confusing after a while, now, don't get me wrong, it is a good story and the confusion is short lived. Suddenly-which is truly inconvenient-it turns a bit pedestrian.
IMHO you cannot rate a graphic novel as two independent units, it should be rated as a whole: graphic art, plus story. In this regard, I have to say that I loved every bit of it, even with the story's short comings, it still a great read.
Thank you for the advanced copy!
Blink makes excellent use of creative framing and panels! What was difficult to read as a digital version will clearly be excellent in a physical book with proper two page spreads. The art style is perfect for light horror and heavy psychological disorientation.
The bookend story of Wren and their partner in the real world is the most compelling part of the volume. However, everything shortly after Wren enters a mysterious building to find answers about their forgotten childhood slides downhill quickly. The promising urban exploration with horrific monsters and impossible circumstances devolves into a nonsensical fever-dream story about a social experiment turned cult with shadowy gods. "Answers" to Wren's questions come in half explained anecdotes that prompt more questions and eventually land on a heavy-handed message about the evils of technology surveillance.
TL;DR: Great art, unsatisfying plot.
Thanks to Netgalley and Oni Press for letting me read an eARC of Blink. The graphic novel is a wonderful blend of sci-fi and horror, with great art and a wonderfully layered story. Wren is an excellent protagonist whose plight in searching for answers about her childhood that she can't remember is something I got invested in. As she uncovers more the story quickly grows and becomes more elaborate in surprising ways. This is an easy recommendation for fans of comics, sci-fi and horror.