A clever, heartbreaking, funny slice-of-life story of a young cartoonist searching for meaning. An expertly crafted story with a dry wit and weighty subject matter. My biggest challenge in reading this is the way the characters’ eyes are drawn. They look out of place—big and bugged-out, like every expression is one of complete horror. It took me 1/3 of the book to get used to such cartoony eyes on otherwise realistic-looking characters.

This graphic novel follows Nick, an artist who has been gliding through life, not feeling much. It tells the story of Nick consciously deciding that he wants to be more meaningful with his words, and what happens when he does. There's definitely a theme of missed chances/connections here.

I was not entirely sold on this book at first but about halfway through, it began to pick up and a lump filled in the back of my throat. I was expecting to feel something based on the description, but was not entirely sure what kinds of feelings. A common issue with graphic novels is that they often don't have very fleshed out characters, and I think that was present here but the artist did an excellent job of portraying Nick's emotions through his expressions that I definitely feel like I got to know him. I definitely recommend this to anyone that enjoys contemporary graphic novels or wants a quick but substantial read. Also, I definitely want a physical copy of this for my shelves.

Content Warnings: death of a loved one, cancer, mental illness

If this review is editable, I will insert a link to my Bookstagram review when I post it!

This was so incredible. I choked up several times while reading the sudden episodes in color. Very well done.

Our character, Nick, is surrounded by people in whichever city he's in, a city that's full of the worst coffee shops with the widest spread of milks but just the worst names, and nobody in that city is communicating. Testing out the waters as a sad man, doing sad things like going to sad bars sadly alone, he meets a girl, Wren, and they hit it off, but surely in amongst that welter of humanity there might be a friend? Someone who doesn't shout him down for sketching her on the subway, someone who is not being a barista in between other, equally unimportant jobs, someone who deserves more connection than just shitty small talk?

I don't do small talk, so even though Nick is defined as a millennial, I could still wholly relate. The sparse pages – some only with two panels on, tucked centrally amidst acres of white – and the generally quiet-seeming, unshowy pencil work, show the sort of characterless drift into silence Nick could be facing. Also, however, we get full-colour dreamscape scenes, that convey the steps he makes when he does converse – one is a huge climb up a cliff-face of ice with a mountain as a goal, but another shows the damage that might be done when he gets admired by his nephew.

However then we see a completely different side to this book, which was quite a hard switch to take, it being unexpected and all that. I won't say more than that it's something which shuts Nick up hard, even though it also reminds him of times when he should have, perhaps could have, been talking to people, and wasn't. The jump is so great, however, that I'm not sure if the book ended up being about Nick – it could be said to be about this other. So without the forewarning I didn't get (the foreshadowing of it is very minor, and like the rest here, quite low-key), I'm not sure if I completely liked this. To the right reader this is a wonderfully crafted, subtle, love letter, and I did admire what it was trying to do, but I felt the lurch into that particular subject pulled the rug from under my feet a little too strongly. Three and a half stars – although I am sure re-reading would hike that up, now I'm forearmed.

Will McPhail delivers a lovely assembly of words and images that lead the reader into a realistic and literary graphic novel experience. There’s something like the work of Daniel Clowes here, but McPhail makes his own stamp.

I loved how coloring in the illustrations played a role in across the pages, and this book felt like a study of character in picture. A most enjoyable experience!

Title: In
Author: Will McPhail
Rating: 4/5 stars

Author Will McPhail has done a commendable job in writing down such an amazing work. I find existential overtones on the work. The writing style, choice of words and especially the use of silence in the narrative for effect is absolutely brilliant. I highly recommend this work and give it 4 stars.

Happy Reading.

Brilliant line work, very funny (coffee shop section).
Sadly the central character epitomises millennial navel gazing at its worst. I'm clearly too old not to want to just give him a good slap!
Three stars for the artwork.

This is about Nick, who is only trying to connect, awkwardly and not up to the challenge. Wren is Nick's friend, a cancer doctor, with a factor of sex craziness. He has a sister and nephew, who only want a genuine connection to Nick and a mother with cancer.

The graphics are spot on. The artist creates a moodiness and reflect Nick's angst about life.

Good story, except, I did not really understand the ending. It seems Nick has slipped away and Wren is now the lonly figure walking about.

This was an ARC and now you can see the promised review.

I like that this graphic novel is subtle, soft, and sincere. The author's witty sense of humor will make you laugh out loud! And, the "coffee shop interludes" make for well-timed comic relief amongst a storyline of difficult emotions. The transition to color illustrations to emphasize transcendent moments within the main character's life is well-executed and really adds a punch of meaning.

I loved this book. It’s sweet and funny but also subtle. I will recommend this to adult friends that like graphic novels.

Since I picked up this book yesterday for the first time, I have read it two times already, and I plan to reread it again today. It touched me in a way I was not expecting it.
I don't read descriptions on principle, I like to be surprised when I start a book, so I didn't have any thoughts going in, only that the cover is interesting and I wanted to know what the title refers to. By the end, I felt hollow in the best way possible, in a way that only an amazing reading experience can make you feel.

This graphic novel is about how people become detached and self-centred in today's times when none of us is expected to really care about others, and every interaction seems like it's for show. The feelings of the main character, Nick, hit too close for home, especially when he realized the easiest way to connect with others is to be his true self, and reveal his real thoughts.

And I don't even know where to start with the style of this graphic novel. I loved the character designs and the page layouts, the silly coffee shops. The first time Nick connected with the plumber, and it changed from black&white to colours, I was mesmerized.

It was an amazing read and would recommend it to anyone who struggles with interacting with others and finds small talk absolutely useless. I can't wait for it to come out in May, so I can buy it and stare at some of the pages.

An interesting take on the depth of human interaction. Is there some kind of way we all just put an act when talking to others?

There are a lot of ways I related to Nick especially in the awkwardness of trying to find something to talk about with someone you know nothing about.

McPhail's art style is very distinctive and unique. I like the artistic choice with the colors contrasting the mundanity against something on a deeper level.

Would definitely recommend people give this a try!

I couldn’t put this graphic novel down and finished it in one go. Beautifully illustrated. I liked the combination of simple grayscale line drawings and powerful colour illustrations, with the limited use of colour conveying meaningful moments

The book follows Nick, an illustrator feeling disconnected from the people around him and shows his attempts to make meaningful connections. The book looks at Nick’s relationships with his family, his romantic interest and the strangers he meets. This book is funny and moving.

Thank you NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the Advanced Readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the cover that attracted me first, so simplistic and yet already full of meaning. I am so glad I read it, I really liked it. This is an apparently semi-autobiographical novel and I think a lot of us can relate to this story and especially to the main character. He is just a millennial, a person who wants to stop performing his life instead of truly living it. Nick and Wren made me laugh a lot and their journey was really interesting. I liked the drawings a lot, there were a lot of emotions in there, especially in the coloured pages that contained no dialogue, there was a lot of things expressed there. The art was very well used and conveyed a lot of ideas without having to write them down explicitly. If you read this graphic novel, I recommend you to observe every drawing because there is often a hidden joke that you’ll miss if you go too fast. This is a story that was made to be told through art. I absolutely recommend this book, especially to millennials of course as they will have an easier time identifying with the main characters, but also to everyone else.
5/5

A graphic novel that tries to have its cake and eat it, and pretty much succeeds. On the one side there is a cool, ironic distanced approach in a lot of the book, which is where the book is funniest. On the other hand is the need of the Nick, the main character, to find a real connection to other people, to be let in and to let in himself. Whenever this happens the world opens up to him, and the novel switches from a black, grey and white palet to full on colours.

We follow Nick, who is a cartoonist, as he tries to find a meaningful relationship, tries to find his place in life, and navigate his mother's illness.

The book is very funny, a dry kind of humour, that aches as much as it makes you laugh. The portion of the book that handles his mother's illness is really only introduced after you've met the mother a couple of times already, which is a smart decision. It is where the humour dissipates and real life hits.

Funny and moving. Not bad at all.

I like the premise of this book: a millenial guy who's kinda isolated, lonely and wants to connect with people - have real experiences and break through a numb malaise that modern life brings, particularly to his generation. That's great - I'm on board with that and looked forward to reading it. Except... he never really digs very deep into this aspect of the book. He tries to connect with some people, they exchange "real" talk briefly, and he moves on. The book then turns into this "mom has cancer" storyline and all the pieces kinda fall together predictably - they get to know each other, he connects more with his sister, and the girl he likes, blah blah blah. So disappointing that it had such potential and ended up being this forgettable and unremarkable book instead. I loved the art though - McPhail is a hugely talented cartoonist and I was so impressed with the cartooning. The painted art, signifying his "breakthroughs" to real feeling - WOW. Extraordinary. So gorgeous. Great art, decent writing but really weak story.

A perfect graphic novel for the millennial generation. After navigating his way through life without having "deep" interactions or connections with people, Nick suddenly shares his true feelings with a stranger and this open his eyes to a world of true human interaction and he begins to crave more. The rest of the novel follows him Nick through some funny and some sad experiences as he seeks a deeper human connection with family, friends, and strangers. This is a quick read that leaves the reader with a semblance of hope for Nick and his future.

I wasn't a total fan of the artwork (some of the facial expressions looked odd to me), but I did love the juxtaposition of the b/w and color illustrations.

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

Poignant graphic novel about interpersonal connections and a millenial's struggles with communication.

I waited a long time to read this book after picking it up because, honestly, I was anxious to read something hitting so close to home. During this difficult global time, I feel the lack of social connections very harshly. And in this book, the main character named Nick struggles to make interpersonal connections in his life, even though they are at hand's reach. Then, when Nick begins to put more effort in making more than superficial connections, things start to happen and he discovers new truths about himself.

I liked the story and the underlying exposition of human nature as much as the art work. When Nick finally connects with a person, the illustration change from balck and white to colorful. It was such a creative, interesting way of playing with color.

Frankly, this one was too short for me and I wished there was more at the end.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I've said it before to my friend and I'll say it again: this book has no business being what it is. I mean, how dare you come into my house and spill out all the things I worry about right at my face? Rude, honestly.

IN tells the story of Nick, a young adult who probably needs some help, not only with his broken toilet. Talking to people isn't his forte, while avoiding awkward or difficult conversations certainly is. I suppose you could say he's also struggling with who he is, and the part he plays in the world. The story follows his daily life in a funny way, full of witty remarks and details, showing the reader his innermost turmoils and that soul-crushing sensation of when you don't have anything useful to contribute in a conversation.

I believe that the author was able to capture the feelings really well, and I recognized myself so much in parts of it. Honestly, I related so much that I was grateful for the fact that he managed to have a job. It gave me hope for myself (lmao).

One thing I thought was very special in this graphic novel were the drawings when Nick realizes that he isn't alone in his feelings, or when he is reaching a point in his human connection that he hasn't been able to before, or when he receives bad news. The change in style and the portrayal of what he feels through metaphoric imagery was a beautiful addition that was well tied up at the end.

I thought this was a pretty interesting book. Of course, I think it would be much more enjoyable in print form, but the story itself was intriguing and I enjoyed how McPhail portrayed the story through images. The mix of black-and-white with colour was different and elevated the story. Overall, I enjoyed reading it.