I requested this to review from Netgalley not expecting much to come from it - I really was only interested because the cover looked cool and I read it was about being a millenial I think? - but I was really blown away by this simple but powerful story. I related a lot to the main character and I think what was so incredible was the use of black and white versus color. The story focuses on a guy named Nick who basically is fed up with how surface level his and everyone else's lives are around him so he starts seeking out real connections with people by asking them questions.

As someone who is a five on the enneagram who is constantly looking for deeper connections and trying to connect better with people, I really loved how this story played out. There was so much power in shifting between black and white and color, and I think it made me realize that like...creating connections and paying attention to other people really isn't as monumental and difficult as it feels. So much of being a human and living in relationship with others is knowing to ask questions and letting yourself be vulnerable.

Even though this is a short lil book, I felt really comforted by it and I think I will revisit it in the future because it was really helpful to me! I definitely recommend it!!

A big thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for giving me an advanced reader copy of “In” written and illustration by Will McPhail in exchange for an honest review via Net Galley. This book is out June 8th!

You have seen Will McPhail’s art before, and you’ve liked it- I’m sure of it! He is a cartoonist for The New Yorker and his work is sharp, distinct, and shows the truth no matter what the context is. This, and the fact that I love graphic novels, drew me to “In” immediately.

In this read, we’re introduced to Nick, who seems to be craving a “more” in life that he can’t quite put his finger on. He’s going through the motions of illustrating for work, helping his mother with a home improvement project, meeting women, and going to a copious amount of self-aware cafes that seem to be around every corner.

I found this super relatable- in a time where we are interacting with people almost at all times now on phones and social media, we aren’t truly making deep connections nearly as often. This can cause a weird sense of uneasiness and a yearn to go deeper and interact with people we see on a daily basis on a new level.

When Nick does connect with people at this level in the novel, it is captured perfectly. My favorite part about reading this was how well McPhail illustrated these surreal, unnamable experiences that humans are so desperately searching for. It makes this a beautiful and validating read.

“In” is available for preorder now and will be out in the world on June 8th! This was a no-brainer 5 star read for me, and I think it will be for you, too!

Will McPhail’s ‘IN’ is a loving critique and antidote to the hypercapitalistic culture of performative living. He dives into what it means to live to be witnessed - even if the audience you are playing for is just yourself. Via the predominant millennial/ hipster lifestyle, he examines the loneliness of being trapped in an incessant cycle of inauthentic interaction. While this might be a limited experience, McPhail shows us that older generations fall into the same symptoms via other routes. This is a story of breaking out of that cycle and stepping into the world.

It’s difficult to explain how moving ‘IN’ is, because McPhail communicates emotion much more effectively than words could. The power of his visual communication is such that there is no doubt what the feeling is, whether you’ve experienced it before, or not.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read In.

Unfortunately, this one just didn’t work for me . I had no real interest in the character or the story . I’m sure others will find it interesting though !

I didn’t love it nor hate it. I will admit that I wanted to DNF it for the majority of this book but I’m glad I didn’t because the last third of the book or so gave the rest of the story purpose. Overall, it was a good story.

I liked the idea behind the story about feeling as if our connections to other people are missing. Nick’s character is relatable as he’s trying to become his authentic self with other people and having to push through all the insecurities that arise in his mind to put himself out there.

I liked the contrast between the black & white and the coloured illustrations but it left me wanting more than what was offered. The eyes on the characters in the coloured artwork were a bit too creepy cartoon near the end and felt out of place but otherwise they were absolutely beautiful pieces of coloured artwork.

Overall, it was a good story as a whole and I would encourage readers to not DNF it as it is slower paced. I'm not sure that I would go out of my way to recommend this one though but a thumbs up if someone does read it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. The author did a really great job of showing how awkward people overthink when conversing. Watching Nick learning to communicate with others was just fascinating and some fantastic character development. For most of the story the art is black and white and fairly flat, but during intense emotional moments the author adds lovely three dimensional color. The first time this happened it was so unexpected and exciting. The artwork does have one negative; the eyes are basically a dot surrounded by a circle. The result is that characters look creepy. This detail may bother some readers.

This graphic novel tells the story of Nick and his colourless interactions with the world and how they're changed. Nick always feels like he can't really say what he wants and that his conversations with other people are shallow and meaningless. Even conversations with his mom are superficial and make him feel like he doesn't know her.. Throughout the story, we're able to witness him getting the courage to change and make conversations that matter to him. These specific moments are highlighted by colourful pictures.

The feeling of wanting more in a conversation is something that I also have. The graphic novel shows this in an interesting and impactful way. Reading it made me feel sad but also hopeful that I could also make this change.
That's the reason why I would recommend this book to others.

This was perfect. I'm at a loss for words right now and my eyes are still watery. Buy this book. Buy it for you, for your friends, family and pets. Just get your hands on it

Nick, a young illustrator, tries to find real connection in his life as he tries to be better with his communication skills and be let into other people’ lives. I liked the message that we need to really communicate better with each other, but the story went like twenty different ways and seemed a little too cerebral to me. Maybe that is what the author was going for and I just didn’t get it. I do like the artwork as Nick’s real world was in black and white and his inner world was in vibrant color when he really talked to people.

"in" is a humorous, powerful, ordinary and extraordinary graphic novel. The subject, Nick, is an artist who is aware he doesn't really communicate with other people. He tries, often awkwardly, to do so with everyone from the plumber to his new, casual lover, to his mum.

This graphic novel is stunning. The illustrations are simple, but the style is absolutely gorgeous. Nick is such a wonderful character, and I love the seamless blend of reality and the other, culminating in a bittersweet, profoundly heart-wrenching, but also somewhat funny at the same time, novel. Would highly recommend.

Stunning. Laughed out loud at moments of social awkwardness we ALL experience with people we don’t know, with acquaintances and even with people we know well. Nick is trying to connect with others. His story begins in youth at the water park and carries through to adulthood when he meets Wren and their relationship runs the gamut of hilarious banter to an awkward sex moment, to connecting on a deeper level. I encourage readers to simply enjoy the ride instead of being in your heads trying to foresee the plot. Achingly beautiful. The illustrations, including sparse use of color, the story, everything is impeccably done. Will McPhail has a winner here and I have no doubt “In” will be winning awards. Recommend for any public library that has an adult graphic novel collection and may be appropriate for old YA readers. **Loved loved loved this and as soon as it’s available for purchase, I will be buying copies for myself and to share with everyone I love.

Thank you to the author, netgalley and HMHbooks for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Nick Moss is a WFH illustrator who masturbates and listens to Joni Mitchell all day (his neighbours' words, not mine). He has an insane inner persona but hesitates to vocalise this, until the fateful day where he opens up to his plumber. His entire worldview shifts after that, the illustrations start appearing in colour.

He meets and starts a relationship with Wren Lorena, an oncologist with a whiplash sense of humour, and their lives begin to intertwine in ways that they did not anticipate.

This was such a beautiful and rare graphic novel, it made me laugh in one panel and then despairing in the next. I especially loved the wonderful women orbiting Nick's life - his mother Hannah, his sister Anne, and the hilarious love interest Wren. Despite their obviously 2 dimensional appearance har har, I thought all these characters were so real and memorable.

Thank you @netgalley for the eARC.

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DNF

I don't care for the story nor the characters. It is not my cup of tea, sadly. It didn't hold my attention, so I decided to DNF it. This means I also don't have a lot to say.

The artstyle is fine. I don't like the way the eyes are drawn (so round).

This was a quick and delightful read and the illustrations were amazing (I loved the contrast between black&white and colorful pages) BUT I felt like something was missing. Don't get me wrong, I really liked Nick as the character, he was so relatable, but the story somehow felt dry at some point, like it could be something more, something better.

All in all, I liked the message In sent but I wouldn't recommend it to my friends or followers.

Thank you, NetGalley for an ARC copy of IN.

4.5 stars

Meditations on being human: what it feels like to be awkward & longing for deeper human connection. It’s wistful but not too sad; very real & ordinary, yet lovely.

[What I liked:]

•The art is lovely! I like all the attention to background details. I like the grayscale color choice, which gives a nice reflective vibe. When the bits of color show up, they mean something; like something you need to sit up & pay attention to is being encoded there.

•I like the mix of panels with text & panels just showing movement & facial expressions. It made the pacing feel smooth to me.

•This is the slow, self reflective, slice of life story I love. It’s meditations on human interaction—enjoying solitude, feeling lonely, wanting to but not knowing how to bridge the gaps with people you know. It resonated a lot with me.

•The dialogue feels authentic. At touches funny, at others wistful.

•All the shop names on the buildings in the backgrounds! Are hilarious! Definitely look out for them.

•The story gets really deep & touching (kinda sad) towards the end, but never loses that spark of humor & hope.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•There isn’t a super clear plot line or sense of forward movement (until the last 1/3 of the book). This isn’t a problem for me, & the narrative structure suits the themes I think. But not everyone enjoys this sort of meandering stroll through thematically significant moments. Just a personal preference/stylistic choice. Yeah, that’s actually the only criticism I can think of. I really like this graphic novel!

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

4 intriguing stars
Connecting at deep levels has been a concern for millennia, as it is for the millennial graphic artist, Nick. With few words, ‘In’ made me ponder, pause, rejoice, appreciate and despair. I love how the pictures told the story more than the dialog. Nick’s search for connection is awkward. It makes me want to know more about him. McPhail’s straightforward artwork both moves the story forward and evokes an emotional response.

It was fun to step out of my usual genres box. Highly recommended.
I am grateful to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the type of story that a graphic novel is meant for, but something fell flat. The interactions between Wren and Nick were witty and relatable, the coffee shop descriptions scattered throughout funny, illustrations perfect - but the story seems unfinished. A quick and enjoyable read but won’t be one that I would recommend when compared to others in the genre.

This is the kind of story that shows what graphic novels can do as a medium. It's about human connection and feeling life as it comes, breaking through the distancing and alienation of post-postmodern existence and the deadening of daily life and it's use of black and white to reflect emotional distance and alimentation paired with color and soaring fantasy architecture to depict those moments of real connection is amazing. the story could easily have been tee and annoying, but it has real emotional impact and I want to read this over and over again. Read this as an ARC and immediately went out and bought a hard copy and I'll likely be giving this to many people as a Christmas present this year.

This is my 2nd advanced reader copy (ARC) review. This means I received this ebook for free, in exchange for this review by Netgalley. I'm not financially motivated, as I read library books, so I only read ARCs I actually think will be good enough for me to rate and review honestly.

OK. So I've read over 100 indie comics and have a pretty strong understanding of what is good in this genre. This is truly a fantastic debut graphic novel. This is REALLY good as a debut comic.

It's operating on the level of established comic writers. It's very much like a grown-up version of Blankets by Craig Thompson, or like a "male-version" of The Nao of Brown by Glyn Dillon, or like a less melodramatic everyman version of The Sculptor by Scott McCloud. It's already a very good screenplay to one of those romcoms featuring Hugh Grant like Notting Hill. It's one of few indie comics that addresses being an almost thirty-something, the age at which you truly must become an adult. I do prefer things to be more developed, complex, mature and dark but that's personal preference, if it were more up my street I think it wouldn't be as widely accessible as it is! This has adult themes but is very suitable for young teenagers.

It's more emotional than I thought. I'm quite emotionally hardened given I read a lot of existential philosophy and some of the cringey YA comics normally underwhelm me in trying to communicate revelations deeper than their form of articulation. But the ending to this is very well choreographed and powerful. It surprised me, because it begins with some slightly clichéd dialogues, but the imagery later on is really good and accessible to a lot of readers. It's very relaxed and down-to-earth and is trying to communicate something important and universal to anyone who's ever wanted to deeply connect with people.

Small point to the author, next time give your book a more searchable title, it'll make it easier to market and search for on the internet! A subtitle would've gotten around it.

Serious comics readers, please find this. It may read as a 3* casual read to you at worst, but when you consider it as a debut, and consider whether it is complete as a narrative and the potential for it to be developed, you'll realize that even were it mediocre it is phenomenally archetypal! Keep an eye on this author, and Nick Drnaso, too. They're both young graphic artists showing great progress for the indie comics scene, I very much look forward to comics like these getting even more serious, real, explicit, punchy, and raw.