A subtle yet beautifully executed story about a young illustrator, Nick, dealing with detachment and the inability to connect to those close to him. The portraits of all the characters are quite warm and human while also depicting their inner realities. The deceptively simplistic drawing style also brought a lot to the individuals and there were a few very pretty scenes - I especially liked how emotions were drawn. The plot moves through the dialogue of the characters which fills the majority of the pages but it reads like organic and genuine conversations so I would say it’s the strongest bit of the graphic novel.

This captured the feeling of isolation so well. I connected to the main character, Nick, and actually cared about what was happening with his life. The art was super great and when the colour work came in, I was really impressed. Overall, a great graphic novel.

It's quite weird for me to be nervous about writing a review. Yet, I am worried about reviewing In by Will McPhail. That is because I want to do the book justice, it is a novel that I think that everyone should read, one that provided me comfort and joy when I was feeling very low. I know it early in 2021, but I believe In is my book of the year, I'll be surprised if I read another book this year that touched me the way that In did.

Our protagonist is Nick, a young man who is drifting through life. He is in search of authentic experiences. While not isolated, Nick has family and work colleagues, Nick feels like he is missing out on something. In is about how scary it can be to make a real connection with people. That moment of vulnerability when you open yourself up in the hope that they reciprocate. Much of the book is about Nick failing to make these connections and the frustration he feels about it. It's about how we can feel isolated even when we are around people all the time.

In is a hilarious book. It has fantastically funny visual gags, and, the dialogue utterly charming. Everything from poncy hipster coffee shops to boring Zoom meetings are skewered by gags that had me laughing out loud. McPhail's punchlines are often the change in expression on a character's face. One of the main things I noticed was he draws eyes, it is simple but manages to convey so much emotion.

McPhail's illustrations, especially when we enter the inner world of people's minds, is mesmeric. McPhail's mastery of simple, unfussy lines would be impressive enough, but creating weird and surreal full-colour landscapes full of emotion is just a towering achievement. The book's layout is brave, with single pages devoted to a single small image, that said the book is sublimely paced. It's a book the rewards re-reading as you catch subtle jokes that you previously missed out on with background gags.

A bad thing happens in In. I won't say what it is, but it floored me. I suffered a bereavement recently, and the words that McPhail wrote perfectly captured how I felt in my grief. Comfort and compassion is something we seek from people, and in the stories we read, I didn't expect to find them here, but I am glad that I did.

There are weak points in the book as some of the characters are a bit tropey. Wren especially verges on being a manic pixie girl. Overall though the cast of characters is engaging, I felt genuine chemistry between them that lent their relationships with each other a realness.

In is a hopeful book. For those struggling with isolation or grief, I highly recommend it. It is just about essential reading for anyone looking for something to pick them up. In is exquisitely written, is at points breathtakingly beautiful. A glorious, emotive, and heartwarmingly witty novel.

This was a beautifully illustrated story about loneliness, connection and fear. Knowing that you are missing out on a connection but not being able to wade through the fear to get there is something that I suspect most people can relate to in some form. Whether the fear is looking stupid, finding out more than you are prepared to digest emotionally, or just not knowing how to get there all of the scenarios are unfortunately familiar. I love Nicks inner dialogue as he recognizes what he is missing out on yet still cannot get himself there until a pivotal moment that opens him up. Just as he is able to take those baby steps forward toward making real connections a life event knocks him backward demonstrating how life can cause us to shut down the vulnerability that it takes to make connections. I won't reveal the ending but it was perfect as Nick is left standing at a crossroad of debating whether he intends to miss out on memories that he hasn't yet made. Thank you Net Galley for making this ARC available to review.

First of all, the art is gorgeous and evocative. There were times when I would just focus and get lost looking at the illustrations. The plot focuses on a young adult named Nick. Nick is struggling to make real connections with others. He’s a lonely guy, struggling to reach out and make friends. Although, the book never mentions it outright, Nick is totally depressed and sadly, self-absorbed. A certain young adult living a in large city will definitely see aspects of themselves in Nick, it’s become trite to remark that the older you get the harder it is to make real friends. The touches of humor keep this book from being a total downer. The scenes in the different cafes were at times laugh out loud funny. It’s a quick and engaging read!

Thank you for the ARC, NetGalley.

I read this in a single sitting and wasn’t ready for the emotional roller coaster this story was going to take me on. I really relate to Nick in wanting to make a deeper connection with people and being unsure on how, and seeing the process he goes through to get a taste of getting to know
the people close to him was so well documented through the author’s illustrations.

In is a semi-autobiographical contemporary graphic novel about a young man called Nick trying to connect with the people he meets in his daily life. Nick is a millennial working as a cartoonist for a magazine (like the author). In his efforts to connect with others, he realizes that he also has to let down his walls to allow others to open up to him.

It’s what I’d describe as a quiet story, since there’s not a lot of action in it to shock and surprise the reader and speed the story along — not that it needs to be fast-paced since it is quite short. The story is introspective. As Nick tries to figure out how best to connect with the people he encounters, it makes the reader reflect on how they manage to do so in their lives, especially these days when we’re much more likely to stare at out phones drowning in neverending scrolls rather than speak to and connect with the people around us.

It’s also a heartwrenching story. Of the many people we see Nick interact with, we also see him with his mom. Every couple days, he spends time with his mom as she works on a fixer-upper. But later on in the story, we learn that she’s terminally ill and we see Nick and his sister trying to understand and cope with such news.

In isn’t a story I thought I would like when I started it because of its quietness and seeming blandness when I saw the cover and skipped through a few pages. But I started reading and it grew on me. Sure, I didn’t understand what was with the “children of the bowl” in the first couple pages, but seeing Nick really try to connect and understand others appealed to me and the dry humor throughout added some levity — I especially liked the names of the cafés.

ART STYLE

The majority of the comic is pretty bland — grey, black, white. This continues for some time that I thought the entire comic would be this way, so I was surprised when Nick succeeds in connecting with the handyman who fixes his overflowing toilet and I turned the page to a breathtaking one of color that looks like a painting. I liked that surprise. After all that blandness, it seemed like a treat.

So despite the constant grey, black, white used for the majority of the story, there are scenes of color used when Nick succeeds in connecting with someone on a deeper level, which I really liked.

I also liked the illustration style. It’s not flashy, but it’s detailed when it needs to be. It’s actually quite simple and fits the tone of the story.

OVERALL: ★★★☆☆ ½

In was a good read and a quick one too. In some ways, I found it relatable because I think we all feel similar to Nick at some points in life where we just want to form a deeper connection with the people we interact with instead of making meaningless small talk.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Nick wonders if life is just about having meaningless conversations, pretending to know how to be an adult, and faking his way through society. In constant need of true connection with others but not knowing how to get it.

I loved the message, and the dry humor makes you laugh, while on a second glance reflect on our social interactions. I only wish the ending to have been more uplifting.

tw: talk of cancer

I didn't expect to be this emotional in the end. Wow! That was definitely beautiful. I loved the simple artwork and some pages had beautiful colorful artworks too. This was an amazing graphic novel to read. Thank you for this arc.

I loved this graphic novel, it was one of the best I've ever read. The art was really impressive and I the story was really touching.

when they say pictures are worth a thousand words, this what they meant. i read this in one sitting; it's simplistic but painfully relatable. feeling like we're acting out a script with our pre-made conversations and shallow human interactions. wanting and struggling to really connect with other people, feeling jaded by the world. this is something that i feel a lot of people struggle with, but have a difficult time articulating. mcphail does this wonderfully, with minimalist illustrations and tasteful uses of color. this isn't a story that just happens to be a graphic novel, it is a story driven by the illustrations themselves and it's fantastic. and though i thought that it could have been developed a little a bit more, i really enjoyed this and highly recommend it to anyone feeling a bit lonely, so like, everyone.

This is an incredible exploration of a person feeling lonely and looking for real connections.

Nick is simply going through the motions, feeling disconnected from life and struggling to find a way back "in". You follow him around as he watches people and listen to his inner dialogue, yearning and working but failing and stopping himself before making the first step. It's such a common, human thing that any of us can remember: swallowing a question instead of asking it, giving up before trying. McPhail finds a great way to explore such feelings in such a short times and emcompasses you immediately. The art lends itself very well to that. Simple pages with white space, the focus on facial expressions and the spaces between characters. It was sometimes too slow for me but it fits to the atmosphere. And the revelation he has halfway through truly moved me.
I had wished for a few more pages in the hand to come back down from the emotional ride.

I really enjoyed this. The characters weren’t completely relatable to me, but I found myself completely relating to the idea that connecting with people is HARD. We’re taught all of these things that we’re supposed to say, but it leaves us all performing this unwritten script so even when we’re surrounded by people throughout our day, we’re not actually communicating with any of them on a deeper level.

This reminded me of an adult version of a coming of age story. Coming into adulting story? That should be a thing.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this.

Dialog and the narrative is wonderful. The book is very worth investing. It kept in excited to the end. It fairly deals with anxiety and follows the story of a young artist

Lovely story! The bulging eyes unnerved me somewhat. The cover drew me in initially, and the wit of the dialogue kept me there.

I AM SO EXCITED TO TALK ABOUT THIS ONE!!

*I received an advanced reader's copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review. The following opinions are purely my own. IN is set to be published on 5/18/2021. This review does NOT contain spoilers.*

Summary: In follows the life of a young comic artist, Nick, and his confusion/frustration with the superficiality of most of his interactions with other people. He struggles to grapple with detachment and steer a conversation toward something meaningful. Along the way he examines his relationships with some family members, some strangers, and some acquaintances-- all of which connect in more ways than he could have predicted.

Themes: This is mostly a story about detachment, even dissociation. But there are also themes of the-meaning-of-life, reconnecting with family, experiencing doubt in one's purpose-- but all of it is delivered with an incredibly funny, tongue-in-cheek, ultra-self-aware sense of humor that I barely noticed the depth of the story until it was staring me in the face (at which point it felt like a punch in the gut, but in a "wow, this was really clever writing" kind of way).

Story and Characters: I found Nick to be so lovable and relatable, even as silly and aloof as he was. He was the exact sort of awkwardly charming, quietly intelligent, quick-witted yet still a little naive 30-something single guy that I want to read about. There's not very many straight white single artist dudes that have me jumping to read from their perspectives, but Nick is definitely the exception. Over the course of the story I admired him, shook my head at him, pitied him, rolled my eyes at him, shed a tear for him, and laughed at him (and with him). Nick's life goes from "how can I stop having meaningless performance-y small talk conversations with the people in my life" to "how can I create more meaning and joy with the people in my life" to "how can I appreciate and notice the meaning and joy that is already in my life." And trust me when I say there are a lot of things I'm not telling you, because of spoilers, but OH BOY does it get sweet and juicy and profound.

Art: I LOVED this art style. The art is minimalistic, the panels have plenty of room to breathe. But the most interesting aspect, I found, was the use of both colored images and black and white panels depending on the scene/mood of our main character. The colored panels were used sparingly, and the effect was so powerful I truly don't think this book would have been so great if it were all color or all black and white.

Overall: In is ~so~ precisely the kind of graphic novel that I devour in one sitting, and will then enthusiastically recommend to everyone I know anytime the topic of "graphic novels" comes up. This is an awesome graphic novel for grown-ups with some hard-hitting themes and ideas, YET also a fresh, funny, self-aware tone. This reminded me of my all-time favorite book, Daytripper (Fabio Moon & Gabriel Ba), in the best possible way. Tough stuff with a sprinkle of whimsy, a dash of ~coincidence~ and a whole lot of wit. I LOVED loved loved this graphic novel.

Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for an e-ARC!

Nick is an illustrator who is trying to find meaning in his life, while unable to make connections with the people he is around. As the story progresses and a number of events occur, Nick learns how to reach out to others and have meaningful relationships.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. The graphic novel does go over the real anxieties of trying to find meaning in one's self, as well as in connections with other people, which I think many people can relate to. While dealing with a heavy topic, it is able to have levity and comedy in its text. Nick's relationship to his mother and Wren, I found to be touching.

In certain sections, the story turns to color illustrations [I won't spoil why], but they are gorgeously rendered.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one!

In is a story about Nick, an illustrationist for a weekly newspaper. Nick struggles to make meaningful connections with people all around as he finds social interaction an act that is similar to being a lead in a theater production. As someone that also struggles to form meaningful connections this book made me feel seen and heard in many different ways. I relate to Nick and all of his struggles.
Living in a modern world as a millennial, I thought the book would discuss social media and the internet but it is not that kind of book. Nick desires to live a simple life, where he is not judged by his every action or needing approval for everything that he does.

He feels joy and fun, whilst longing to tell his family or friends of his experiences but then the feeling fleeted away when he finds an opportunity to tell them his feelings. This experience from his childhood soon became a habit of his when he is already 20-something year old struggling to share and connect with the people around him.

In the book, we can see Nick's struggle with this issue as a dark solid border on the page. It is a barrier that literally manifested from Nick'. The monumental moment when this border finally opens up is his conversation with his mother. An inevitable conversation that we will all have as we get older.

In is a story that is meant to be written as a graphic novel and it works. The visual aspects of the story immersed me deeper into the story and gave me good jolt of excitement as I turn every page. There is purpose in every page, the way the artist uses colours and framing is full of intent. The feeling of emptiness and then space that are created when Nick shifts between not-feeling and feeling become tangible.
This book is not at all full of seriousness, it gave me a good chuckle from the jabs of millennial behavior that is brought up, especially the coffee shop jokes. It is neither offensive or poorly done, it is playful in a sense and done very well.
It makes me wonder when I read this graphic novel about the feeling of detachment, it shows how people my age struggle with this concept in our lives as it gets easier for people to fall out from your life. I love graphic novels like this, it makes you think with beautiful art and intentional fun jabs.

This is a book about Nick, a young artist struggling to find connection. He feels the mundanity of city coffee shops, each more try-hard than the last, and not only a lack of personality but a lack of courage in the every day small talk we have with one another. His search is a relatable one as we all find ourselves looking to feel something but don’t always have the bravery it requires to be vulnerable enough for that.

Nick was adorable and awkward and funny and I loved the eye-roll obliqueness of him, especially with women. All the characters were wonderful and distinct, truly a feat in so little space and fewer words. Wren, hilarious. Anne, huge first born vibes. Even better, Nick’s relationships with each person were unique as were the ways they were able to break through the barriers of self-absorbtion to really see the other person.

The dialogue was snappy and funny and sad and it brought themes and memories around really well. (The water slide call back really got me) The drawing style was nice as well. Their eyes were cartoony but expressive and there was just something endearing about that. The bits in color? Breathtaking. On the one hand, I wished there were more, but on the other they were exactly where they needed to be and were so, so effective.

Ultimately, this book is about being real and telling the truth. When someone asks how you are, what happens when you don’t reflexively say “fine”? It’s about how much our worlds widen and color when we make effort for authentic experiences.

I hardly EVER give books five stars but this book just got better and better. If there was a book that defined the intent with which I live my life, it’s this one. God, we just want to connect with one another! Not to mention added bonuses of humor and heart, understanding the modern dating scene, and absolutely crushing the satirical coffeeshop names. I need a physical copy of this asap.

HUGE thanks to netgalley, hmh, and Mr. Will.

I finished this book a while ago but for some reason, I forgot to review it. I honestly don't remember much from it and I think that might be that while it was an okay and somewhat enjoyable read, it's just not one that grabbed me and struck me as memorable. This book did make me feel emotions at time, so I did connect with and care a little about the characters so it wasn't a necessarily bad read.