I wanted a Read Now book for something quick and fun and this premise really caught my eye. However, a couple of pages in, I am not in love with the art style (which is honestly, the least of my problems) and the story seems to progress in a strange way whereby frames seem to be missing in order to connect the dots (it's perhaps part of the story telling but I couldn't get into it); the dialogue is stiff and unnatural. Despite this, it will definitely appeal to readers who enjoy this type of story and art style.

Note: It was a DNF and 2-star rating is based on the part I did read.

Personally, it was a great summary for a mediocre book. A very quick read with no solid story and horrible cartoon images.
I am not great at drawing but I have seen many books with amazing design work. This book stated the obvious but gave very little background.

A great idea from what I gathered in the summary but fell flat with the execution.

I received a free E-ARC of this book from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was a big fan of Alex Rider and I thought the concept of this story was great. It was a great opportunity to explore themes such as familial loyalty, betrayal or a unique take on a coming of age paired with realising your own potential and trusting your instincts. However none of these themes are evident in this novel. The story is rushed yet long. The main character never has any trouble of with immediately dismissing her mother as a villain and goes through very little emotional growth. I understand the limited color palette was an artistic choice but I felt the muted and repeated red tones didn't lend itself very well to the moments of high tension. Also the lettering in this novel was at times
distractingly messy and would benefit for another pass.

Liked the color schemes and the over all story. The art and words co well together in telling the story. I enjoyed myself reading this it is very clever and fun, I hope there is more.
What I didn't like was the art, the characters were plane and ugly and not my style which is why I gave it a four star rating.

this graphic novel was very.....interesting. Right off the bat, I was hooked, this was a unique story and I enjoyed the writing and the illustrations. But as the story went on I had some issues. This is a decent book on the surface level, but some things just don't add up? Maybe I'm looking too much into it, but the character's actions didn't align sometimes and it wasn't exactly very realistic.

Overall, I enjoyed this one and had a lot of fun reading it.

It's supposedly a story about a teenage spy, whose mother trained and "programmed" her to be a spy, without her knowing, and what happens when she finally discover the reality of her life and who her mother is. I didn't like the art at all, it looked clumsy and unfinished, and I would've been okay with that if the story was intriguing or sensible or even fun, but I didn't like it at all.

I thank Netgalley and Lerner Publishing Group for the digital ARC

The book is a cute and quick read. It would be great for any teenager that is having issues with their parents. The art is simple and very easy to follow if someone isn’t as familiar with reading graphic novels.

What a fun and action packed graphic novel! I loved the monochromatic color scheme and the art was effective. As for the storyline, I am always here for daughters who break away from their toxic mothers and realize they are badass and awesome all by themselves and that they don't need a mother's love to thrive.

This graphic novel is about JB, who is a spy, but she doesn't know it. Her mom, also a spy, has been using JB as a tool and an experiment by programming her with super special spy skills. When JB finds this out, she's furious and confused and goes on a spy adventure to find all the answers she seeks.

Honestly, this was highly entertaining and a quick read. Definitely recommend when this comes out in April. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Josephine Black has a problem. She just recently found out that she has been programmed to be a secret agent for "The Company" by her Mom! What to do, what to do? Naturally, she enlists her friend Zoe to help her. But "The Company" is not what she thought it was, and things go sideways. So, now she needs to rescue Zoe and take down her Mom so she can get on with having her own life! The question is will she manage to defeat her trainer and overcome her conditioning? Read and find out in this action-packed drama!

Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read this tale!

The Spy Who Raised Me by Ted Anderson and Gianna Meola is a graphic novel for teenagers. The story revolves around a girl named Josie, or J.B. When J.B. realizes that she is missing some memories – she can’t remember anything that happened after her mom picked her up from school that afternoon – she discovers that she’s been programmed to be a spy! Her mother works for “The Company” and J.B. is a special agent also, she just doesn’t know it. However, when J.B. realizes her mother is lying to her and using the programming to control her, she and her friend Zoe end up in a race to free J.B. before her mother and The Company can get her back.

I enjoyed the story but I found it a bit quick and superficial. I think most teenagers would enjoy a more in-depth plot. I also did not really like the artwork. It’s not full-color, it’s mostly shades of red.

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me a free e-copy of this book.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All of the opinions are my own and this did not affect my review in any way.

Ever since I was little, I have been obsessed with spies. I find them intriguing and exciting and to be honest if I had the opportunity I would, without thinking, totally be a spy. So when I found out this graphic novel I knew I had to read it. Unfortunately, this book was not what I was excepting.

In The Spy Who Raised Me we follow J.B who has a set of abilities that she has no recollection about, until one day she finds out she is a spy working for a covert agency.

I was so underwhelmed with this graphic novel, I had big expectations and to be honest I did not like it at all. The plot is very fast paced so it was hard to keep track of what was happening. The characters are not developed at all, and most of them are very unlikeable.

The story line was incoherent, the characters were flat and overall the art style wasn’t impressive.

Overall I am sad to admit that I did not enjoy reading this graphic novel, it was very underwhelming and I was expecting so much more. I am not sure who this novel was meant for but sadly I do not recommend it.

Thanks so much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for allowing me read and review this book.

If you thought your parents were weird, wait until you read this!

The Spy Who Raised Me is Ted Anderson’s most recent work. Known for the My Little Pony series, this comic is a sharp contrast to a fun rainbow-filled world. Due for publication in April 2021, Gianna Meola brings the story to life with red-themed illustrations.

It’s a short story about secrets, lies, and spies. Although a quick and easy read, it can be boring and unrealistic in more than one place.

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Summary
This graphic novel follows 13-year-old Josie Black as she finds out what her mother really does. She knows martial arts, dozens on languages, and infiltration techniques, but doesn’t know that she knows them. When her mother accidentally reveals the truth; that both she and Josie are super spy’s for the Company, Josie is forced to choose a side. Does she go against everything she knows and defy the only family she knows? Or does she let her mother take her own life out of her control?

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Commentary
The Spy Who Raised Me is

Praise
- It’s short and sweet. Easy to read and with simple similar-coloured illustrations, readers can power through this comic in an hour or two. There are no chapters and no subplots throughout, which makes it even quicker to read.
- If you want to look deeper into the meaning of this nonsensical play, then you could declare it an allegory for teenage rebellion. Sticking it to the man, staying out with friends, and disobeying her mother, Josie ticks all of the boxes for teenage angst metaphors.
- It deals with many important issues such as growing up, parent-child relationship, and identity. For younger readers, it’s a good exposure to these topics which everyone must learn about in life.

Critique
- Quite frankly, this story’s boring. It’s dull, unrealistic, and incredibly ridiculous. A teenager super spy is one thing, given enough time to build backstory and motive, but this comic has none of that. It has no solid plot, includes not a single ounce of realism, and is honestly quite painful to read at parts.
- The name Josie Black deserves a criticism category all by itself. Josie Black, nickname J.B. Where have I heard that before? James Bond? Jason Bourne? Jack Bauer, perhaps? It’s stupid and stereotypical and cringy to read.
- Josie’s parents are abusive. End of. Not only does her mother regularly put her in life-threatening situations, she also emotionally manipulates her throughout. Her father is passive to the abuse and does nothing to stop it.

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Recommendations
Overall, I’d give Ted Anderson & Gianna Meola’s The Spy Who Raised Me a one out of five. It’s a ridiculous and uneventful story not fit for older readers.

I’d recommend it for very very very young children, preferably those too young to point out the glaring plot holes or ask obvious questions.

REVIEW PUBLISHED ON BOOKEDALLNIGHT.BLOG ON MARCH 8, 2021

I thought the idea was intriguing: child sleeper agent. And while we’re talking about it, that IS a great idea. And it’s perfectly creepy too.

But I don’t think The Spy Who Raised Me, did a good job setting it up.

Graphic Novels tend to move faster than normal fiction but this one needed to slow down a bit and let the main character have a chance to react to before just accepting the things that have happened to her.

Early on, Josie is tired and suffers memory loss. Her mom picks her up from school and accidently tells her about her mission before activating her. Then she says a few code words and Josie loses some time.

Only this time, she remembers that something happened and things don’t add up.

But then she talks to her mom and her mom… well… momsplains the whole thing. Josie doesn’t figure anything out for herself.

Especially when it comes to children’s lit, the main characters need to show some sense of autonomy. Josie just has things happen to her.

And they happen quite fast.

Her mom tells her she’s actually a super secret agent and Josie accepts it. Then Josie tells her best friend and her best friend accepts it. They go to the CIA, find out it’s all a lie and her mom is a world-class criminal spy for a Soda Company, and they just believe it.


It was around then that I stopped reading. I don’t enjoy writing negative reviews but I found it hard to connect with The Spy Who Raised Me and even harder to remain interested. I think a few extra panels to showcase Josie’s emotions might have helped with that.

3.5 stars. Okay, this book was not at ALL what I was expecting. I thought this book was going to be a fun story, one of those, 'hey, I didn't realize I was receiving spy training in all these mundane tasks' sort of things.

A little ways into the story I was uncomfortable with the portrayal of her parents, and thought they came across kind of creepy and even gaslighting. Plus, I didn't love the art style.

Before too long, I realized that uncomfortable feeling made perfect sense for the story that was actually being told, and after a mental adjustment was able to mostly enjoy the rest of the story for what it was. It was still an odd juxtaposition of really dark with fun, lighthearted spy movie stuff, but not bad overall.

I think a better synopsis might really help more of the right readers find this book!

Content issues are generally appropriate to the age group--some mild to moderate violence, the sneaking around and lying you'd expect from a spy story, and such. The at least borderline, if not actually, abusive situation is likely to be the most difficult for some readers.

Thanks to NetGalley for a review copy in exchange for my honest opinions!

This was rather a rather boring read, which is unfortunate because I absolutely adore Graphic Novels. Kids in elementary school might enjoy this one though.

This graphic novel felt like a good middle grade work, not a young adult. The pacing was very quick for the storyline and didn't have a lot of depth to it. It was a super interesting concept, a spy who doesn't know she's a spy only because her mom brainwashed her? I love that! The execution was a little choppy and hard to follow at some points. I liked the minimal color pallet, but some of the drawings didn't look fully done, especially the action sequences and when the panels don't change that much from one another. Overall it was a good, quick read, but not something that I would likely go back and reread.

I had high hopes going into this graphic novel but for me it fell flat. I think if the way Josie found out about who she was were to have been different, I would have felt better. But I do feel this is the right book for someone else!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this e-arc!

Thanks to NetGalley and Lerner Publishing Group / Graphic Universe for the digital review copy of this comic.

No one ever told Josie that she could speak several languages, pick any lock, and fight like a martial arts master, but her mom knows, because her mom is a spy for The Company. When Josie finds out, she just assumes it’s the CIA, but when the CIA captures Josie, she learns her mom’s not one of them, and they’ve been trying to get to her mom for quite some time. With her memory loss command disengaged, Josie feels more like herself than she ever has before, and she’s ready to help the CIA get what they want, if only she can defeat her mother.

This graphic novel was so much fun. It’s done primarily in reddish/pinkish color tones, and the art is really cool. The issues move super quickly, and it’s quite the adventure. This comic has everything I need, good art, a compelling story, and a kick ass female lead.

It’s out in April, so add it to your pull list or keep an eye out at your favorite, local comic shop or request through your library.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for providing me this copy in exchange of an honest review.


Honestly, I thought the concept of this graphic novel was really interesting, but the execution of the plot and the whole story felt a bit lacking for me. The art was cute and I loved the main character, I just didn't like the direction that the story ended up going, to be honest. It raised a lot of questions that it didn't give me an answer for and maybe it'll have a sequel, so maybe I'll read it just to see if I get satisfied with the rest of it maybe.

Interesting graphic novel concept. Characters didn't feel fully developed and reactions didn't feel rooted in character motivations.