This is a humanistic work of art. This book makes way with the human experience, interactions between family members, and romantic interest much in the same way as Oliver Assayas did with Summer Hours and Terence Malick did with The Thin Red Line.

This book is the best graphic novel that I’ve read since Adrian Tomine’s The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist. It reminds me a lot of the deeply human experience of reading Colum McCann’s masterpiece, Apeirogon.

The book follows Nick, a young illustrator, who suddenly feels he can’t be stuck in his same forms of interactions. Opening up to a plumber starts shaping consequences that are very strange to Nick, and he dithers into entirely new worlds.

This is a masterpiece. 5/5.

A beautiful graphic novel. I absolutely loved it. It had humor, real life questions, was very relatable, and an overall joy to read. The story follows Nick, a young illustrator, who can’t shake the feeling that there is some hidden realm of interaction beyond his reach ( and I mean we all have had this feeling). He floats from place to place trying to just connect with someone or some feeling. He has very interesting and sometimes funny interactions with his neighbors, the bar man, his plumber, and a potential new relationship with a girl named Wren. But besides these human interactions, there is also another story told and its about how Nick deals with one of his family members getting cancer and how their relationship progresses. As someone who has had a family member pass from cancer, I found this to be very accurate and touching. The portrayal was so beautifully done and every interaction and lesson is just so heart felt. I truly loved this book and everything in it. I would highly recommend it for everyone as it is equal parts hilarious and heart-wrenching.

*Thank you Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

“In” is about detachment. Nick walks through life, past millennial-y named coffee/tea/lifestyle shops feeling– or rather, not feeling at all. He has a sister who, when he asks her how she is, tells him not to bother. A mother who he calls to help with leaks. Seemingly meaningful relationships of any sort. I know – so far this has the incredible potential of being an extremely self-indulgent story about an emotionally constipated 20-something-year-old where boy who goes through life not understanding why no one likes him. But then... it’s not that. At all.

One of “In”’s strong points is the fact that it doesn’t try to hang its main character’s issues on anything. Considering he’s supposed to be a millennial, the potential for making social media and phone-to-hand connection the Big Bad seems imminent. But it’s not. Nick longs for solitude. No, that’s not entirely true. He longs to be unobserved. To feel without necessarily having that feeling be seen and approved by others. He uses an example from his childhood, the experience of being in a water park and going through the tunnels alone. He feels great there, feels the desire to share that feeling with his friends. And as soon as they’re there, it’s not the same anymore.

A ripple effect, then, and Nick is 20-something and doesn’t know how to share anymore, because what will that lead to? What’s that invisible barrier that stops him from talking to family, and to anyone, really? For us as readers the barrier is manifested literally, each frame bordered by a dark, solid line. That is, until Nick - fragmentarily - starts to open up, and the lines of not only the border, but also his own person start to blur, and we as readers start to actually learn more about him and his family. And he/we learn(s) that even if you try, it still might not be easy. In a conversation I think most children will have, whether internally or in real life, as they grow up and learn to start to see their parents, Nick says to his mother, “I’m trying to talk about you.” She says, “You weren’t asking about me.” He says he was, and she says, “I’m not just who I am to you, Nick.” And his world opens up.

There are stories that work when they are made into graphic novels. Then there are stories that are made to be told as graphic novels. This is definitely the latter. The art style, the use of framing and colour, the layout are all meaningful and intentional at every turn of the page. The feeling of emptiness and then space that are created when Nick shifts between not-feeling and feeling become tangible. I love graphic novels that are this purposeful.

And on top of that this book is just really funny. The coffee shop jokes got me every time. It teased millennial culture without being an asshole about the things that matter. I laughed out loud multiple times. A bit cheeky, a bit tongue-in-cheek. It really worked for me.

I think the concept as a whole could’ve been driven further, deeper. I’d maybe have liked it to hollow me out a tad more than it did. But it was really good nonetheless. Not to go full circle here, but now that I think about it, maybe “In” isn’t about detachment. It’s about what happens when that detachment ends (because something does).

I received a free ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This graphic novel is poignant and heartfelt. It is the story of a millennial who is desperate to make personal connections with others and when he finally does, his life dramatically changes in unexpected, impactful ways.
I laughed at the dry humor and was left teary-eyed at the end due to the unexpected emotional impact of the story. This is truly well done.

Advanced readers copy provided courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book a great deal. While the subject matter could be overdone/overexposed I really liked the art style and pacing. The detours into a sort of surrealism combined with flashes of color really delivered the "true connection" feeling that I think the artist was going for. It made me laugh out loud a few times, and I was actually late for an appointment because I had to finish reading this.

There is something in the blend of different styles, the windows into the souls of others, the worlds they contain that lingers after finishing it. We follow Nick in his struggle to connect and understand the silence, the quiet wall, that exists between people. The description mentions millennial, but I feel many have felt the push to individualization. Some know of a "good ole day", while other don't. It is a lost connection with people that makes us wary of even talking, being open, being honest. There is a lot to reflect with this title and I recommend it for public library adult graphic novel collections.