"Odessa" is the first installment in a series following the adventures of three siblings embarking on a journey to find their estranged mother. Ginny, Wes, and Harry suddenly become aware that their mother is alive and decide to find her and reunite with her after eight years of separation. The catch is they're living in a post-apocalyptic reality, where danger awaits behind every corner. The siblings have to keep together to survive.

First of all, I really enjoyed the setting of the story and the world-building in general. Those post-apocalyptic worlds look amazing in the graphic form. Second, the art style was right up my alley - it reminded me a little bit of the style of the game Don't Starve. The choice of the pink tint of the panels was unexpectedly very fitting.

That being said, I was a little bit disappointed with how stretched out the story was and its open ending. Going in, I didn't know the graphic novel was a start to a series, so naturally, I expected some kind of closure, but there wasn't any. Furthermore, there was no character development among the main team (maybe except Four Dollars). The plot was filled with convenient coincidences that pushed the characters forward in their journey.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the graphic novel enough to be interested in picking up the next volume. Let's hope it will compensate for the imperfect first.

Thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for providing me with a copy of the book!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Odessa is set in a post apocalyptic earth and tells the story of 3 siblings looking for their mum, unaware of the dangers that this new world conceals.
I really liked the drawings and how Hill is able to express deep emotion through them. I loved the new earth even if it gives me the creeps because I can totally imagine a future not far away in which this kind of disaster will change our lives forever.
I totally loved the secondary characters. I am deeply in love with Maya and Wes and can't stop liking "4 dollars" albeit his turbulent past but I have to admit that I totally despise Ginny.
I can't understand her. She is totally selfish. She is ok to abandon her father and her brothers in order to follow a ghost. She is not brave enough to say goodbye to her brothers or to say what she really thinks. She is not the strong leading woman I was expecting. Sorry, not sorry.
Apart from that, the book is enjoyable and easy to read, I will probably want to read how the story continues.

***ACTUALLY 3.5 STARS***

Thank you Netgalley for sending me an eARC for exchange for an honest review.

Graphic Novels are one of the best forms of books. It is median that can tell a story not just with words, but with images as well. Odessa was a book I really wanted to love, but it was completely underwhelming.

Odessa is the story about Ginny, Wes, and Harry, three sibling's who set off to look for their mother after she left their family after Ginny receives a package from her. The story takes place in California after a huge earthquake hits and basically destroys it and these kids traverse it looking for clues. I honestly was very intrigued from the get-go because I have lived in California, and was so excited to see how this author took the concept of something that could happen, and make it a reality in the novel.

I found the art style to be a bizarre choice for the book, considering it is set in apocalyptic setting. It is black and white with pink as the accent color, which to me suits a more a love story than a story about survival. The art wasn't to my taste at all, but the way the characters were drawn gave it a rustic vibe, which fit into the theme well. Just not the pink...

I think if the story had been more fleshed out and didn't have so many convenient things happen, then it would have been wonderful. But all the characters were didn't develop beyond how they were introduced as, and about a quarter of the way in I just wanted to know if they found their mom, and lost any care I had about them.

I liked the idea of the story. I think this could have been one of the best graphic novels I have read if the dystopian and scfi elements didn't come out of nowhere, and the LGBT representation wasn't executed so poorly. The dystopian and scfi took me completely by surprise because I originally thought it was about kids trying to survive but essentially throwing in things that didn't make sense (aka zombies). The rep for LGBT people was a good idea, but was done badly as well. Like out of nowhere it happened, with no hints of a crush between the characters anytime before that. Honestly, I was happy to see it, but there was no foreshadowing to two of the characters being romantically involved.

Overall, it has a lot of potential to be a great book, but for me it wasn't. But for you it might! So I recommend giving it a try.

In Odessa, we are following the journey of 3 siblings who set off in the wild post-apocalyptic world of California in search of their mother.

I loved the relationship between the siblings, their determination to find their mother in this new and dangerous world. The ending of this graphic novel was so emotional, and then the cliffhanger! I was not expecting to be left off like that! I wanted this book to just keep on going. And the illustrations were beautiful!

3.5 stars, I really enjoyed this graphic novel and will be keeping my eye out for the second one.

**ARC provided by Oni Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This YA graphic novel a decently engaging read that constructs a post-apocalyptic story centered on the importance of family. It takes place eight years after the Big One hit, ripping open the West Coast along the Cascadia fault line and toppling society as we know it. The story follows three siblings—Virginia, Wes, and Harry—as they search through the ruins of the West Coast for their mother, who left their family shortly after the earthquake. They navigate the dangerous new post-Earthquake society, make allies and lose them, and face near-death situations along the way.

Overall, this is a fairly enjoyable read, but nothing special. The plot is compelling for the most part, though it drags a little at times, and the book has some interesting things to say about family, grief, and doing what you need to survive. While the writing can sometimes be a little expositional and cheesy, the world that is built, with its rival gangs, broken-down ruins, and strange new flora and fauna that was discovered after the Earthquake, is strong. The art style is pretty good and the monochromatic pink color palette works well—the only issue I had was that the illustration of the kids is kind of cartoonish in contrast to the realism of adult characters and the environment, and it was distracting at times. That said, it doesn't diminish the overall quality of the art or story. This wasn't exactly for me, but it's worth a read if you like adventure stories.

Overall this graphic novel was very well written. I enjoyed the graphics and character development rhoughout. I really didn't like the uncle character, only becuase he was so shady. And I did feel like a significant amount of back story (such as why the entire world was in shambles the way that it was) was missing from the beginning to really pull the reader in. As we read we get more information, but the lack at the beginning comes across less mysterious to me and honestly a little annoying, even if it was just a little back story to get me up to date on some minor details. It just felt lacking in that regard. Overall though this was a great story and I really enjoyed a lot of different things from it.

“The world ended, right? But it didn’t. We’re still here. Things never end. They just change.”
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Thank you to @netgalley and @onipress for a free copy of this dystopian graphic novel in exchange for an honest review! This follows a young woman as she sets out to find her mother after receiving a surprise gift on her birthday. The setting was so vivid - a completely altered west coast after a massive earthquake has destroyed the cities and split California in two. I really enjoyed the adventure, which mingled in some urban fantasy as well, and can’t wait for the next in the series!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

In a post-apocalyptic world which had been struck by severe earthquakes, Ginny receives a letter on her birthday from her mother who had abandoned their family eight years before. Prompting her to leave behind what she knows in search of her mother only to have her two younger brothers decide to follow her and join the journey much to her dismay.

I liked this well enough. I love a good little adventure story and feel this story has quite a bit of promise. I would be interested to read the next one and see where it goes next.

I don’t know if the art style was really my thing, but I liked the pink colour scheme. The world-building of this was done really well and that was probably my favourite part of the whole thing so I’m interested to learn more about it. Plot-wise there was definitely promise in it as a concept but it was very slow and dragged out that I found myself getting bored a lot of the time. As for the characters, I don’t know if I was crazy about any of them whilst I’m sure given the circumstances they’ll grow and develop in further iterations but throughout this, I just found them a bit annoying and not as fleshed out as they could have been.

Overall despite not being super invested in this one, I’m definitely interested in reading more to see where the story goes.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc!

"Odessa" nos sitúa en un mundo postapocaliptico luego de que un terrible terremoto destruyera todo, y nos cuenta la historia de tres hermanos de diferentes edades que viven con su padre. La hermana mayor en el día de su cumpleaños recibe un regalo de su madre, quien los abandono hace muchos años dejándola a cargo de sus hermanos menores.
A partir de entonces, ella decide emprender un viaje en busca de su madre, a lo que se le suman sus hermanos. Los tres emprenden un viaje peligroso en un país apocalíptico.

Me gusto mucho el arte y la paleta de colores en rosa pero el dibujo was okay. Me entretuvo bastante la historia pero se me hizo muy extenso, tiene 300 páginas y muy poco character development. No hay mucho más que decir mas que es entretenido pero fue una novela gráfica que paso sin pena ni gloria.

Admito que le tenia un poco de expectativas ya que vi muy buenas reviews.

*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.

The story is about a teenage girl Virginia, Who sets to find her long lost mother. She has no clue about her mother now, the basic quest looks awesome on first glance. The book is set in a dystopian futuristic world & aftermath of a big earthquake. The artwork was good, but I think the story gets left behind and I felt there wasn't a single happy movement in the book, hope to see more characters in the follow up of this book.

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.

I love the art style... but the plot feels like every other dystopian novel out there. The pink hue of the illustrations was the only thing I liked about this.

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.