Many thanks to Boom! Studios and Netgalley for this ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

Madison, a newsroom intern, is placed with the opportunity to follow a murder mystery, being that the suspect only wishes to talk to her. With the promise of a coveted byline in one of the biggest newspapers in Boston, morality lines begin to blur as she begins to distance herself from remaining empathetic to those closest to her, is it all worth it for the sake of becoming a reporter?

IN the vein of Veronica Mars, and similar shows during that time, the snappy dialogue that Gaby Dunn demonstrates here is really fun. This is such a quick read, with the characters well-defined, as well as the overall pacing and the world.

One of my favorite narrative elements is having the prison meeting between Madison and Dahlia, Silence of the Lambs-esque, as the framing of the different chapters.

The illustrations from Claire Roe are some of my favorite I’ve seen in quite some time. While grounded, they’re never afraid to go noir, as can be demonstrated with the cover, with deep shades of blues and purples and neons.

As well as the amount of inclusivity, and seeing characters filling every page that actually look like a real office space. Everyone is drawn just so beautifully, just, *chefs kiss*, it’s perfection.

Now, there is definitely a little bit more I personally would have liked in terms of the storytelling. While the mystery itself is compelling, for some reason reminds me of dark-Legally Blonde, there’s a point where it feels the story goes into autopilot, and different points just magically get revealed within a page or two.

There’s also something our main character does near the end, for the sake of getting information, that’s not ok at all. What’s interesting, and while I do like this choice and twist (I just wish it was explored more) is that Madison is well-aware of the choices she makes and the ramifications. What sets her apart from other characters is that she more than likely chooses to continue making the decisions, for the sake of pushing her own career forward, regardless of the cost. It’s definitely a twist, I just personally felt it needed to be explored more for it to really come together.

I really enjoyed the art style, but the story itself wasn't for me sadly. I was curious about the conclusion and that kept me reading, so it was good in that way.

I expected more. I think that the crime part of the story wasn't for me. I didn't really care who and why did it, which is unfortunate when that is the meat of the story. The reporting side was interesting, and I think that the comic shows the unethicality of it very well. Though some parts (using roofie to get information) was way over the line, in my opinion.

On the other hand, I enjoyed the characters themselves, I think that each had interesting personality and with longer and more interesting case they would show a better dynamic than what they had space for in this one. I think that 130 pages was just not enough to engage the reader in the crime story, make one interested in the characters and to wrap it all up.

And to end on the positive note, I really really liked the art style of this one.

An arc was kindly provided to me by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The story was as intensely gripping, mysterious and as gorgeously visual as I had hoped it would be. Bury the Lede had great rep for POC and LGBTQ+ characters and the inclusion of political machinations made this feel authentic and steeped in reality. While this story was quite a lot darker and deeper than I had anticipated, for the most part this was an interesting and unusual read.

Blurb:
Reporter for the Boston Lede, Madison Jackson is young, scrappy, and hungry to prove that she deserves her coveted college internship. When her police scanner mentions a brutal murder tied to the prominent Boston Kennedys, Madison races to the crime scene. What she finds will change her life forever: Dahlia Kennedy, celebrity socialite, now widow, covered in gore and the prime suspect in the murder of her husband and child. When Dahlia refuses to talk to anyone but Madison, they begin a dangerous game of cat and mouse that leads the young journalist down a twisted path.

First off, the graphics in this book were so well done. The colours were vivid and really eye-catching. Hats off to Miquel Muerto the colourist! Besides for beautiful contrast and bold tones, the illustration boasted characters that truly were their appearance. The little details included for each person contributed to the story in a manner that isn’t always achieved in graphic novels. Their posture, accessories, head angles and facial expressions sometimes spoke more than the words and that’s exactly what I’m eager to experience more of in this genre.

The main character Maddison was a (mostly) likeable. She had grit, determination and a commitment to proving her worth that’s reminiscent of a self-confidence I can only hope for. Maddy did however, display some less enviable traits. Disloyalty, selfishness and a slight ego. But really, she’s a reporter. To some extent, getting a front-page worthy story seemed to require these traits. At least, Maddison thought so.

The murder investigation seemed to almost take a back seat at times in this story and that wasn’t what I had been expecting. The story still kept my interest though and the pages flew by! There were times when I got a little confused with the events. It took me a while to adjust to her investigation of an alternate news-worthy story. It all seemed to relate to the original murder though, so that was a nice tie-in. However, I do think this could have been explored and explained a bit more toward the end. The last few pages felt quite rushed and not as fleshed out as they could have been.

Overall, this was an interesting read and introduced me to the beautiful work of Gaby Dunn, Claire Roe and Miquel Muerto. I’m looking forward to more of their work in the future!

This ARC was provided by BOOM! Studios via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved the colouring and art in this lesbian noir graphic novel about a intern reporter and a femme fatale murderer. The story and characters were enjoyable although the story seemed a bit rushed through, though as hard-boiled crime fiction is not my usual cup of tea, my middling review might be a case of 'it's not you, it's me". It feels like this would be a good series and as much was left unresolved for the protagonist's relationships it would be good to see her storyline developing further.

To be honest, I did not like this book. I ended up getting lost a lot with the plot and I really did not like that there was drugging involved without any consequences. I did love the art it was very aesthetically pleasing. I did also love that there was a diverse cast and a lot of LGBT representation and person of color representation. There are so many great things about this book but I personally just didn't connect with it. Maybe I just wasn't the target audience.

Bury the Lede is a noir/crime graphic novel about Madison Jackson, a young intern at one of Boston’s most important newspapers who’s willing to do whatever she has to in order to get a front page scoop.

While I loved the art style, I was not the biggest fan of the plot. I think it was disjointed and pretty confusing (I had to go back many times to try to figure out who or what the hell they were talking about as it felt like there were some missing scenes). Everything felt rushed and like it was trying to do too much for such a short amount of pages. Also, while I don’t mind morally gray characters, I think the MC’s (illegal) actions should’ve had some consequences for her or at least been addressed in some way or form.

I loved the concept of this graphic novel so much more than it's execution. I love investigative journalist stories and honestly I wish there was more of it in the fictional world. In addition, I don't think I've ever come across an adult graphic novel that takes that genre on - hence why I was so keen to check this one out.

But overall I just didn't feel engaged with the story. With the jolting plot-line and overall lack of character and background substance, I couldn't dive completely into the investigation. While I loved the queer relationships, I also had no connection to the characters what-so-ever.

The villain didn't villain-y enough and I wish there had been more of Madison's family background involved in the story.

I did love the artwork, it felt unique and much more mature than I am used to experiencing in a graphic novel. But in some ways, I felt like it almost added to the overall blandness of the story.

Overall, I feel as though there was a foundation here with so much potential that just didn't get reached. I'm curious to see what future graphic stories from Dunn are like, but this one just didn't work for me.

This was a fantastic graphic novel. The noir vibes were so killer and the suspense throughout had me LIVING. Gaby Dunn is fantastic. The art was spectacular and the story was TIGHT. I can't wait to buy a copy of this and hold it in my hands.

I found the story to be a bit boring, and I hated that the main character didn't face any consequences for drugging an older woman. I liked that justice was served, but other than that, I wasn't really impressed with the characters or the story itself.

This is an interesting mystery graphic novel with plenty of exciting twists and turns.

The artwork is good with lots of dark colouring highlighting the noir kind of feel that the story seeks to convey.

Overall, the story has a kind of 'Silence if the Lambs' feel to it, with a suspect in prison who is only happy to speak to an intern who is working at a newspaper called the Lede. Gradually by interviewing the suspect, the intern pokes around and asks questions until she is able to piece together a story which uncovers crimes beyond the one she is in investigating, threatening to bring down some major public figures.

Although I did enjoy reading this I do think that I would have to read it a few more times in order to get the full impact of the story. Still a good read though.

Copy provided via Netgalley in ecchange for an unbiased review.

My last book by Gaby Dunn was Bad With Money, and this is a far cry from advice about demystifying money and getting your financial life together, but holy comics, Batman, is it good!

Madison Jackson is a young, hungry reporter intern who just wants to prove her worth at The Boston Lede. She catches a brutal murder on a police scanner, and Dahlia Kennedy, the lead suspect will only talk to Madison. Thus begins a twisted game of cat and mouse that leaves Madison not knowing what to believe.

So many things to praise about this work. Firstly, I do not like mystery. It largely bores me, but once I started this story, I couldn’t put it down. Claire Roe’s art is fantastic, and I was bummed when I discovered they don’t have an Instagram. There is some solid queer representation, not all the characters are white, and the office romances definitely aren’t the most interesting part of the story, though they add enough to the plot to keep it moving.

If you like Gaby Dunn, read this. If you like mystery, read this. If you like good comic art, read this. If you are looking for more queer people doing interesting things besides being queer, read this. Also, not gonna lie, I was weirdly attracted to a drawn character, so bonus points.

There’s less than a week left to wait for this, so pre-order your copy from your favorite bookstore or request a purchase from your local library. I can wait to see more from Dunn (and Roe)!

I was sent this arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

So this was a good story. I enjoyed the murder mystery part of it, but some of it was a bit much for me and it was all too clean cut and so easy. The main character is bi then the love interest is a lesbian and then the other love interest who happens to be a lead investigator is bi as well. Everything just seemed to fit too nicely. The steps that Madison took to get the story and uncover the truth was a bit much for me.

I interned at a newspaper in college. It was not like that at all. We weren't going into prisons and speaking to suspects. We weren't doing investigative pieces. We were listening to voicemails of people complaining and writing up short little crime articles that didn't even warrant a by-line.

I wish this was more realistic and true to how journalism really is.

Let's start with the positive. The representation in this book is excellent - the majority of the main characters are queer and/or POC. The story itself was lacking. It felt rushed and confusing. It was too short to tell the story it was trying to tell. The pacing was off as well. The drugging the source thing... that did not sit right with me either. There were some points I enjoyed but overall it felt like it was missing something and too much too quickly.

Hey guys, Talia here with another review, courtesy of NetGalley!


Dead husband. Missing son. And the wife will only talk to one person.

What an INSANE comic!

Madison is an intern with the Boston Lede, pushing to find a hell of a story to bump her up to the role of reporter. And the story to make her career happens to land right in her lap.

Dhalia is accused of murdering her husband and son. I’ll be damned if she admits to Madison that she did the deed. Only problem is, Madison doesn’t seem to believe Dhalia randomly murdered and strung up her husband, and dismembered her son like she says she did. To uncover the truth, Dhalia throws Madison a bone and leading her on the hunt for another story with so many twists that it almost seems too insane to be real.

Note: there are mentions of sexual abuse towards children. Nothing visually graphic, but there are hints and mentions of the abuse.

There is a heck of a scandal going on in this story. Just you wait and see.

The artwork is absolutely beautiful and I loved it. The story wasn’t bad but there was probably a little more that could have been done with it. Bury the Lede might even have made a good novel. There’s so much that could be expanded on!


Thank you again to NetGalley for giving me a chance to read and review this!

I’ll see you between the pages of our next great read.

Until we meet again, dear readers~

Lots of love,
Talia

Bury the Lede had a promising plot but was somewhat of a let down. The story was face-paced and I was excited to get to learn "whodunnit" but the ending seemed hastily finished and a little cliche. Madison is an unlikable character and while that may have been how she was written, it made it hard to connect and empathize with her.
The LGBTQ representation was fairly well done, albeit that "you're bi? me too!" scene with police officer Dom. I think the addition of Dahlia's affair with another woman was unnecessary to the overall plot.
Overall a beautifully drawn but flat plotlined story.

*I received this arc from netgalley*

Trigger warnings: implied child sexual abuse, blood, murder, child murder, suicide

This felt like noir to me but less misogynistic.
I have a soft spot for reporters acting like detectives, and TWO (the bar is so low...) bisexual
and multiple queer characters was a plus. I read this in one sitting, so definitely a page turner. None of the characters are particularly likable, though. I don't find this off-putting, but I know some readers do.

Some are going to argue that this is YA. It isn't.

Glorious artwork, mediocre story. The plot was hard to follow, which I wouldn't have minded if characters had been developed beyond their sexual preferences. Madison Jackson's behavior and dialogue make her seem more like a teen out of her depth than a scrappy cub reporter. ("You're bisexual? Me too!" is said to her date to her brother's wedding.)

I did like the diversity shown in regards to race, sexuality, and body type, however, so five stars for representation.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.


Unfortunately I agree with the majority of the reviews. It fell flat... It was missing something important. I can't quite put my finger on what, but it definitely didn't meet my expectations or hopes.

I really wish I liked this, but it completely fell flat. Overall it felt very problematic and disjointed. The story never flowed well. It bounces around so much that you never get a good sense of the characters. Even worse, I found it difficult to follow the story. By throwing a murder mystery into the mix it was just a recipe for disaster.

If anything, I wish this graphic novel was longer. In that case you’d have more time with the characters to flesh out the story and help with the flow. It almost felt like it should have been a longer mystery novel and not a graphic one. You’d understand everyone’s motives and be able to connect characters better.

In the end, each character tried to stand out so much from the others that I couldn’t keep them straight. In some cases they were drawn similar and in others I just couldn’t tell their relationship with the main character.

Overall, I’d say this is messy at best. If it was a written novel where you got to see the fleshed out story it would have been more appealing. But in its current state, it is just a disjointed mess with an art style that doesn’t lend well to the plot.