This story begins like a David Levithan/Rachel Cohn tale of misfits who meet cute and have adventures in early 90s New York City, but as the backstories of narrator Anjeline and the laconic Franck gradually reveal themselves, it takes on the contours of a Richard Linklater "Before" film, spread across a season, then a year. Collecting a story told in zines over the course of 25 years, not only does <i>The Strange Ones</i> ultimately becomes something of a <i>Portrait of the Artist as a Young Gen-X Slacker</i>, it also showcases the maturation of Jusay's storytelling and artistic talents. These are the people I loved and longed to spend more time with in the late 80s/early 90s. This is also one of the settings I love the most, yet have had only a couple of occasions to enjoy: New York City in the autumn. The complete story is charming and heartbreaking, and makes me nostalgic for a beloved time, place, and people that in reality only defined a tiny fraction of my past, more wished for than actualized. That makes it nostalgia in the truest sense of its Greek root words: a painful homecoming.

A hauntingly lovely story of the dawn and development of a relationship and the adventures that follow. It is somewhat straggly, wandering, aimless and seemingly without direction, but the love shown in the words and the well-crafted scenes brought me back in again and again.

A beautiful, haunting story of two young people falling helplessly into friendship and the devastation of losing those close to you. I do have my qualms with this book: the dialogue often felt clunky and unnatural. And personally, something in the art style seemed amiss. However, this book slowly developed into a heart-crushing journey as I watched the chemistry between Franck and Anjeline bloom. I especially respect the author’s decision in keeping their relationship (questionably) platonic. It allowed readers to see the pure, raw connection of these characters without things like labels and sex getting in the way. I absolutely loved the second half of the book. Seeing Anjeline struggle to reconstruct her life instilled a quiet sort of sadness in me. And yet, as I watched Anjeline receive answers to her questions, and tie up all the loose ends, this sadness bloomed into an appreciation. The ending satisfied me like no other, leaving me in an emotional haze as I reminisced along with the characters. The Strange Ones is a book that will leave you reeling, and make you wonder about the greater purpose of all the bad things that happen in life. I think everyone can gain something from reading this.

3.5 stars!!!

The Strange Ones by Jeremy Jusay, 190 pages. GRAPHIC NOVEL
Gallery 13 (Simon & Schuster), 2020. $20.
Language: R (3 swears, 2 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVEREAGE
Anjeline, a freshman in college, keeps running into Franck. Finally, they decide to be friends and start hanging out on purpose. As Anjeline and Franck support each other through their sorrows, they learn how to move forward despite the roadblocks in their lives.
I enjoyed the message of Anjeline’s story in the end, but it felt aimless for over half the book. I didn’t understand why I was slogging through pages of Anjeline and Franck’s adventures around New York. If you stick with the story, everything concludes nicely, though I’m still deciding if it was worth it. The mature content rating is for mentions of sex, and the violence rating is for gun violence and blood.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

To be completely honest, I was not super intrigued with the art style and mood of this story. I tried getting into it, but could not dive in like I had hoped to. The first bit was a little better than the ending but I still couldn't keep interest enough.

The art in "The Strange Ones" was well done, and the mid-90s references hit this Gen-Xer right in her cynical heart, but the story and characters didn't particularly move me. The narrator, Anjeline, is kind of flat--readers are told what music she likes and that her mom's out of the picture, and that's supposed to serve as a personality. She becomes friends with Franck, and while the author seems to want us to think he's deep and sensitive, I read him as insufferable and pretentious in the way lots of artsy college boys can be (despite how special they all think they are). I had a hard time caring much about their fates; I don't think that characters always have to be likable, but they should never be this tedious.

The Strange Ones by Jeremy Jusay chronicles the story of two outcasts, Franck and Anjeline, developing a friendship through chance and coincidence in the 1990s NYC. Initially, I wasn't fond of the first half, but then the second half rolls around and it got so much better. Franck and Anjeline had such a lovely relationship and I liked their journey of finding themselves- the characters felt very relatable and insecure yet, their character development was incredible. The ending felt a bit too abrupt and I wish the author left it a bit more open/hopeful but overall, The Strange Ones made for a nostalgic read.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Pocket Books Gallery publishers for providing a free ARC

The Strange Ones captures the nostalgia of a young adult friendship between two young eccentric loners, who become friends after a series of fated meetings. It easily opens up the window to a painfully awkward time of in-betweens, of trying to learn who you are and what you may become someday. Jeremy Jusay’s art melds with a story bound to make you feel things, with characters that you likely wouldn’t embrace if you met them on the street, but you can’t help but learn to love.

The characters are genuine and painfully real, flawed and insecure. As their friendship blooms the two characters slowly open up to one another- only to see that connection fall apart. It’s a story of lost relationships, of bonds without labels, and about meeting another human being who is completely unlike yourself, but just somehow gets you.

I recommend it for anyone who enjoys bouts of 90s nostalgia, or just wants a heart-moving read. For anyone who was the weird kid in high school or college-- this graphic novel will speak to you.

I loved all the moody black and white illustrations but the story just was not something I was super intrigued by.

I didn't like it, it was a little too YA for me :c but would recommend for those who like the genre.

Heartbreaking, tender and real. I saw this cover in black and white and I said this is a something I need to read. This makes me think of a friend I had in highschool they would love this cover.

I really didn't think that it would be so painful to read this, a good pain to be clear.

It was told as if a friend were just describing to you the day you just had, but a good friend, the kind that don't dress it up. I don't find a bunch of books/stories that feel like reading life, this is it. The characters were so relatable. I think we have all either been a Franck or known one, I most definitely was always just the friend who wasn't a Franck, I'm an Angeline (but not nearly as cool). Instead of it feeling like just glimpses into their world it's written by the author as if you are living it and can easily slip into memories you have with people in your past.

This really is for the strange ones.

Thank you to Netgalley for letting me read this. I hope so many will read this.

*3.5 stars*

I got a lot more out of this small story than i was expecting to. Though the plot line is fairly simple, following two "strange" strangers who keep bumping into each other and develop a friendship, it packs a punch. One of my largest, continual complaints about graphic novels is that they end too soon. I read this on Kindle without the progress bar up, and there were multiple points where I thought that the story was going to cut off, but Jusay had more story to tell.

The first half of this book was definitely the weaker half for me. We primarily follow Franck and Anjeline's friendship, but for some reason I couldn't really believe in this relationship. Though Anjeline would reflect and talk about all of their great memories and chemistry, I didn't really see it on the page. The second half, which brings in more characters, symbols, and background, was much more enjoyable in my opinion.

The art style wasn't my favorite, but it was still pretty well-done and illustrated the story well. For a really nit-picky complaint, I noticed some inconsistencies, such as the positioning or design of buttons changing from panel to panel in the same scene. Normally I am the last person to pick up on these tiny details, but for some reason it stuck out to me. Either way, I flew through this book and it exceeded my expectations.