This was a wonderful story for any young reader about making choices. While i feel the plot was a little unconventional, and the drawings were a bit underdeveloped, I would recommend this for lovers of graphic novels

I tried and was unable to open and read the document, The cover looks really exiting and fun though!

This book was a lot of fun, but it was far from what I expected. I kind of glossed over the description and looked at the art and said "Huh, cute. A kid's spy story!" I don't want to spoil the story too much, but a kid is getting brain washed to do spy type stuff by her Mom! (You find this out early, don't worry.) And, after she figures this out it is off to the races in a sophisticated dark tale that wasn't what I expected, but was still terribly fun.

The art felt like something you'd see in an early reader with a very simple color palette. But, action and emotions are well conveyed. This simple art is what deceived me into thinking this book was a little bit more simple than it is. But, it also works really well in telling the story that is being told. And, honestly, the juxtaposition dragged me more into the story. It made Josie's wild second life as much as a surprise to me, as it was to Josie. It's like "Ho hum. Just a simple story about Josie. She's getting ride to school with her Mom. Wait they just got back from Paris. Wait. She spied on people. WAIT. What's going on now?"

I liked all of the characters in the story, even the evil ones. The story took some twists and turns that I didn't expect, and the betrayal was way beyond what I would have expected in this story. It all came together well to make for an interesting exciting adventure.

I got an early copy of this book for review, but this did not affect my feelings on it.

This was such a fun read! I loved this graphic novel with everything inside of me. It took me straight back to my childhood dreams of one day becoming the first female James Bond. The premise of the book is simply perfect. I also adored the illustrations. Props to Gianna Meola. You killed it!! The pictures went perfectly with the story and really made it come to life. This was an excellently executed graphic novel that I would be happy to read again and again. I absolutely recommend it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

It is a shame that this graphic novel didn't live up to its amazing premise. The story itself is interesting and has a lot of potential to be more expansive. But somehow the art wasn't the best and isn't my taste.
The execution of the plot is pretty.. heavy and horrific. Minor spoilers, the main character discovers that her identity is fabricated. Not only that, her mother had been a part of it. The start of the book is pretty mundane but when the plot started to pick up it throws you into the ocean with no life jacket or anything at all. The plot seemed to be rushed and sometimes it was hard to understand what is going on without rereading few pages again. Unfortunately, the severity of her mother’s actions seem set in conflict with the tone. It’s essentially child abuse.
The art didn't help also, it just made the experience reading it much worse. I'm sorry this book isn't for me.

2.5 STARS
*An e-copy was given through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

As someone who grew up thinking being a spy would be really cool, I was very excited to read this. It follows J.B. who lived a very ordinary life but one day found out that she had the skills of a spy and that her mother was hiding a very big secret from her. The storyline was interesting, unlike anything I've read before.

It was fast-paced, though a little confusing at times, but also action-packed. As I kept reading, I became more disturbed by the many lies that J.B. grew up with, especially with how manipulative her mother was. The main character, being a somewhat 'programmed' child, had certain controls that could be voiced activated, such as "Halt and Obey". As if that wasn't messed up enough, there's a [slight spoiler] few frames in the book where it's being repeated over and over again [end spoiler]. I can't help but to wonder if this storyline had a deeper meaning behind it. However, other reviews explains it to be child abuse.

I didn't enjoy the art style. It just wasn't my thing. However, I can appreciate the monochromatic colours since that isn't easy at all to do. It also wasn't particularly memorable. While reading it, I took a break for a few weeks only to feel very confused as I couldn't remember what J.B. looked like. Now, as I am writing the review a week after finishing the book, I still can't remember most details of the book.

I still have many questions after finishing the book. Some are unanswered, some are just events in the book that I am very confused by. There were definitely many points from other review that made me realise there were a few plot holes which I didn't notice at all. Though I didn't change my ratings because of that, it's still an important point to note.

This book left me with mixed feelings. On one hand, it was interesting and different, not memorable for the most part but there were parts that left me with negative feelings and only those are the ones that are ingrained in my memory.

*I received my arc from netgalley*
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This was a fun and fast paced story. I really enjoyed the illustrations and the idea of the story, I believe if this was turned into a movie it would be an excellent one. However, the book on its own was a little confusing and rushed, too much was happening at once which made it very difficult to keep in track the different events. I also would've loved it if more focus was put into the main character's feelings on the relationships with her mom and also her friend, zoe. I also really enjoyed how our main character finds herself through out book and realized how she's been wronged by her own mother, whom I very much hate. Would recommend this anyone looking for a fun read to finish in one sitting and who wants to read a nostalgic book that reminds them of all the teen movies they used to watch cause that's how I felt and which is exactly why I really want this to be a movie!

Thanks to #Netgalley for making this book available to me.

I flew through this book. Josie Black is a teenager age who slowly finds out that memory has been altered. She would wake up and simply not remember what had happened hours or even days prior. She finds out that mom has been lying to her and manipulating her memories. JB is an experimental spy who can speak multiple languages, fight like a martial arts master and has all that makes a super spy. When she finds out that her mother has been hypnotizing and mind-controlling her, she is not pleased. She uses her spy abilities and tries to escape from her mother.
Then she finds out that her father is in on it and he was only with her to take her back to her mother!

The story was okay but the artwork was not really my cup of tea.

The idea of this book, a young girl trained, inconspicuously to be a spy, so she could be the best or better secret agent than her mom was clever, however, the plot twists become a bit murky and the graphic art leaves a bit more to be desired.

This was a lot more fun than I was expecting! It was action packed and adventurous with the lead character overcoming a "family issue" in the form of a spy drama. It was well paced and fun to read. I wasn't a huge fan of the art style but it worked for the story with cohesive illustration and a limited color pallet.

The Spy Who Raised Me had the potential to be a fun spy graphic novel, but ultimately missed the mark.

The story follows a young girl named JB who learns that she was trained throughout her life to be a spy, but is continuously brainwashed to forget it. She decides to run away in order to live her own life outside of the people controlling her. This idea could’ve developed into an enticing story, but had very poor execution. In the end, the novel felt disjointed and lacked the appeal that would keep readers wanting more.

E-arc provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Other than one major thing about the main character's origin story, this wasn't a bad graphic novel and I'm struggling with why I didn't like it more. The art is serviceable and the action scenes are competently drawn, the plot is standard action movie fare, the unexpected evil organization is funny but nothing too out of the ordinary, and the themes of (misplaced) trust and hidden talents seem right for a YA book. Maybe it's that while nothing was bad (other than the waaaaaaaaaay too quick dealing with the utter horror of the way the protagonist got her spy skills), nothing was particularly unique or creative or different to justify not dealing with that underlying gaslighting premise.

***Thank you Netgalley and Lerner Publishing Group for the arc of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.***

I really wanted to read this graphic novel after reading its description. Unfortunately, I found the execution of the story to be very lacking. The dialogues seemed very dry and didn’t flow all that well in the beginning. They did get somewhat better towards the end though.

And the graphics. I just didn’t like them. It wasn’t just the style (I liked the red theme and some other style aspects) but it felt like there was no effort put into the illustrations and just didn’t feel like it would be a final draft for a graphic novel?? I think the book would’ve been more enjoyable had the illustrations been revised a bit more so we could actually see the characters’ facial expression a little better or even some of the cool spy moves the protagonist does.

While I loved the title, the art style was definitely not something I enjoyed. However, the story was great! It was definitely something I never would have guessed! It is something you need to read to the very end! It will keep you guessing!

Artwork: 4/5
Story: DNF.

The Spy who raised has a very interesting premise for me: My mother, a spy? However, despite having very beautiful illustrations and a beautiful reddish color, the plot is not for me. Or at least it has not managed to hook me as expected and that is why I have ended up abandoning the story. I don't know why, but I don't like the main character and the whole mystery behind her. Also, the "spy thing" came just on the first page and I was not expecting that too early.

I don't read graphic novels very often, but every now and again I feel in the mood to give one a go. So I picked up this one because, yeah, it is about spies. But the story is just bizarre: basically the mother belongs to a corporation that uses spies to do espionage, and the mum volunteers her daughter (our main character) to be programmed/brainwashed into obeying commands. So Josie has no idea she is a spy, until now... So basically it is a story about abuse with some kicks thrown in.

The other half of a graphic novel is, well, the art. I might have just been spoiled because I recently read Lumberjanes and I thought that the art there was really fantastic, but The Spy Who Raised Me was very basic art-wise. This is very, very basic. Which could work for like an online webcomic or something, but not a full on graphic novel. No offence to the artist, because I actually quite liked the cover which is what initially drew me to this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Spy Who Raised Me is a book with a strong girl-power message. I loved the illustrations and the plot in general! One thing I didn’t like was how JB didn’t feel any remorse for her mother going to jail. If they were close for a long time, I think it would be hard to understand her mother is a criminal.

Over all, if this becomes a series, I would definitely continue reading on.

The Spy Who Raised Me is a fun read about Josie Black (J.B.) finding out that her mom has raised her as a sleeper agent without her ever knowing. J.B. now needs to decide if she’s going to live the life her mom wants for her or if she’s going to live her own life.

This was a fast paced adventure. J.B. accidentally finds out her mom has trigger words that control her skills and memory when her mom fails to use them right away before a mission she’s being sent out on. From there J.B. picks apart the truths and lies of her life with the help of her best friend Zoe and has to decide who she wants to be and what she wants to do with the skills she’d been given without her consent.
Is J.B.’s loyalty to her blood and the company that gave her the skills she has, or is to something else?
***
J.B. was a fun character who adapts incredibly quick to what’s going on and goes with the flow. The best part of the story was Zoe and her dedication to her friend and willingness to follow her into danger to make sure she’d come out on the other side alright.
***
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

To be honest, I was not a fan of the book. The general idea was super interesting and I love spy stories but this- this i wasn't a huge fan of.

The story was way too simple and too predictable for my liking. All my predictions were correct and that didn't please me, it just straight up annoyed me.

It’s ok, but nothing special. The idea was good, but the clunky execution really brought it down. This book is full of weird pacing and awkward dialogue. As for the positives, I do think younger readers will really enjoy the action, and be able to look past the book’s issues. (vague spoilers) Theres also a bit of a twist halfway through that genuinely made me laugh (end spoilers). I think this book will be enjoyed by young readers, but those of us who are older should skip it for something better. 2.5/5