”It takes money just to live, but nobody wants to die.”

Dry Foot a quick, fun read (only 98 pages long). It’s set in Miami in the 1980s, in the *best” possible way. There were tons of great references- from Space Invaders to everyone in the squad keeping in touch on massive walkie-talkies, to an entire Raiders of the Lost Ark montage. The art style was fantastic, and it complemented the glamour and vice of 1980s Miami perfectly. I do wish this had been a little longer, and that the heist itself had been a bigger scene.

Thank you for approving me for this copy! My husband loves comics and has gotten me into them more. I really enjoyed this fast-paced story. It was intense, the characters were well-rounded, there was a twist I didn’t expect, and an ending I really liked.

A heist story with an all latino star cast with nice friendships and 80 pop culture references?
This feels like it was custom made for me

<b> The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. </b>

3.5/5

Dry foot is a comic set in the 1980s in Miami, following four teens as they want to deal with a gang in their area by robbing them.

I loved the artstyle of this comic. It gave me the feeling of these older videogames but also just older comics, while still being new and fresh at the same time. I liked the attention for detail and the colour schemes.

I feel like the story was a tad rushed and could've been prolongued and have it make a bit more sense that way, because now sometimes it was just a bit too fast. However, the art and the characters made it up for me. Especially loved the grandma, she was very sweet. Sometimes I didn't understand the Spanish as there was no translation given, and it kinda overtook the basics for me to figure out what it meant. A little footnote here or there could've helped that.

I did not really like the art style. I did not like the character Fabian whose only personality trait is that he likes girls. I did not relate to the 80s nostalgia but that is probably people I wasn’t alive during that time but overall this was not for me

I received an eARC copy in exchange for an honest review from Diamond Book Distributors and Mad Cave Studios via NetGalley.

Firstly thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this beautifully illustrated graphic novel.

Do you like On My Block? Then this graphic novel is for you. Set in the 1980s in Miami, Dry Foot deals with the gritty reality of trying to survive in a town ruled by gangs and crime and the ripple effects this has on our young characters.

Although I really enjoyed the set up to this story, I felt like the ending was rather rushed and because we didn’t get much time in our protagonists heads, the ending lacked a lot of emotional impacted.

I will however keep my eye out for more graphic novels by this author, this story had a lot of promise so I’ll keep my fingers crossed for a graphic novel I enjoy more from them in the future.

Dry Foot follows a group of teens in 80s era Miami, as they plan a heist to steal from a powerful gang.

I liked this book and thought it was a quick-paced, high action graphic novel. I loved the art style, and one of the main characters has a stutter, so STUTTER REPRESENTATION!! There was also good diversity and representation in the 4 main characters' home life, which we got small glimpses at. I also really appreciated the seamless integration of Spanish language and culture into the story, without any over-explanation, which often makes a reader feel like they're being talked down to.

I think the overall idea of this story is good, however, it was just a bit underdeveloped for my tastes. I felt like everything led up to the climax very quickly and there wasn't much resolution or closure afterward. This may just be personal preference, and if you love action-packed graphic novels then I would definitely recommend this one.

What could have been a fun adventure, turned out be underwhelming. It was cool to see a diverse cast though!

Thanks to NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors / Mad Cave Studios for the digital review copy of this graphic novel.

This coming-of-age tale follow four teenage friends in Miami during the 1980s, a tumultuous time full of gangs and danger. These Latix kids hatch a plot to steal enough money to escape their lives from the most dangerous gang around, Los Marielitos.

I enjoyed so much about this graphic novel, the art, the story, the characters, and the pace. It moves lightning fast, and even though I got sleepy while reading, I refused to go to bed until I finished. The epilogue felt a tad disjointed, like, I wanted to spend more time with them, but I understand the need for a quick and tidy wrap up to such a fast-paced story tumultuous story.

If you’re looking for a cool, adventurous and self-contained story between longer comic runs, this one’s out in March, so keep an eye out for it.

I received an eARC copy in exchange for an honest review from Diamond Book Distributors and Mad Cave Studios via NetGalley.

Firstly, what many readers might find confusing is the title. I sincerely hope I was not the only one confused by it. There were no dry feet mentioned in this short but sweet (and beautifully illustrated) graphic novel, FYI.

So, what does dry foot mean? I found these two explanations to be useful:

"U.S. immigration policy played a major role in the Cuban exodus and the rise of the chugs. In 1994, after then-President Fidel Castro announced it was no longer a crime for Cubans to flee their country, the number of annual Coast Guard interceptions at sea jumped from a few thousand to more than 37,000. In response to the rafter crisis, the U.S. government revised the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, creating a new policy that became known as "wet-foot, dryfoot." The program more or less granted Cubans who made it to shore the legal right to stay."


Dry´foot

n. 1. The scent of the game, as far as it can be traced.


Secondly, I wish that the story was more developed; it was way too short for my liking and understanding of the plot. Had it been longer, it would have had more space and time to develop the story and form the characters, ending gracefully.

The graphic novel represents the Hispanic culture of 1980s Miami, giving us the bilingual vibe, the fast-paced action of four teenagers trying to escape the city of violence, crime, and drugs. The short description I read gave me a great vibe; it was a fire burning between pages. The only reason I found it fell short was the length of it; shame it was rushed.

The length of this graphic novel, thus rushed and undeveloped story/characters are the only reason I gave it three stars. But I would like to share a few words of praise to the illustrators, Orlando Caicedo and Warnia Sahadewa - I loved every single detail in the novel. The powerful Mariana with her bat, the swollen Angel's face; your attention to detail came through.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc.

3 stars.

I would be interested in continuing with this story and I hope that they put out more issues. This definitely could've been longer with the character development and the plot more flushed out. Other than the language and violence the plot struck me as very middle grade.

This graphic novel is about four teens in Miami living in the 1980s are sick of living under a violent gangster. Fabian lives with his drug addicted mom and dealing with poverty. Mari lives with her grandmother who wants the best for her. She loves to play baseball but in 80's there weren't many opportunities for girls. They want to escape from his cage and lead a proper life. So they decide to rob the gang who is a drug dealer and move to Hollywood to start new lives. But their plan doesn't work and everything goes wrong.
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Ahhhh....It was so little! It's only 98 pages long, I wish the writer could give some more time on this, because I couldn't connect myself with the story. Story was pretty predictable. Ending felt a bit rushed, there might be a sequel. But overall it was a fun read. And the illustrations were beautiful! I loved that 80's vibe, retro-neon, gave me Vice City vibe!
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The book comes out this year, on the 9th of March. I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

'Dry Foot' is a graphic novel set in Miami revolving around four teenagers.I got into the book having high expectations but it failed to live upto it. The book lacks nuance and the story isn't fleshed out. There might be a sequel to it considering the note on which the book ended. Having said that the illustrations were beautiful, no doubt. Overall 'Dry Foot' is a graphic novel with mediocre storyline but enticing illustrations.

<i>I received an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

This novel desperately needs <b>more</b>. It it way too short on its own to do itself or anyone any favors.

Four kids growing up in gang-ruled Miami attempt to steal money from the drug-dealing cartel to start new lives. The heist does not go as planned.

I liked the first two parts of this novel because they established characters and gave a very succinct background to the story. That was well done; I was interested in the main characters and curious to know more. There was conflict and drama. Good.

Unfortunately, the actual heist is laughably handled, both by the characters and the author. The plot twist is an old one and one you can see coming from a mile away. It just highlighted how incredibly <i>stupid</i> these characters, one in particular, are. The wrap up makes little sense except as a band-aid over a large wound and by the end I was soured on the story.

It's a shame because if this were a series and given time to be more clever in the heist, then this could have been a really quality book.

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

This was a solid and wonderfully illustrated comic. The storyline and premise wasn't ground-breaking, but it did very well considering the short amount of pages it was limited to.

I loved how unique all four main characters were and the glimpse we got into their different family situations. I wish there could've been some more exploration, but like I said, there was a limited amount of pages available and the storyline worked well to even have any exploration at all.

The bilingual aspect of this comic was extremely refreshing. One thing I would probably say could've been improved would be to have English translations for the quite a few Spanish-only sentences. It hindered me from fully enjoying the comic because I couldn't understand what some people were saying. Sure, I could've whipped out google translate, but I shouldn't have to look stuff up in order to appreciate and enjoy a comic.

I think the ending was a little too happily ever after despite the one tragic thing that occurred. It was both closed enough that I wasn't left wondering what happened to characters and also open enough that there's potential for a sequel. Which I would happily welcome and could work so well.

note : this is an ownvoices graphic novel for cuban-american rep.

rep :
💫cuban-american characters

•••

D R Y F O O T

okay, so before we begin with the review, i just wanted to say that i was absolutely confused about what the title was referring to. i thought it was an obscure metaphor of some kind. but obviously, i got curious so i did a lil google search and found this on wikipedia :

"The wet feet, dry feet policy or wet foot, dry foot policy was the name given to a former interpretation of the 1995 revision of the application of the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 that essentially says that anyone who emigrated from Cuba and entered the United States would be allowed to pursue residency a year later. Prior to 1995, the U.S. government allowed all Cubans who reached U.S. territorial waters to remain in the U.S. After talks with the Cuban government, the Bill Clinton administration came to an agreement with Cuba that it would stop admitting people intercepted in U.S. waters. For two decades thereafter, any Cuban caught on the waters between the two nations (with "wet feet") would summarily be returned to Cuba or sent to a third country, while one who made it to shore ("dry feet") got a chance to remain in the United States, and later would qualify for expedited "legal permanent resident" status in accordance with the 1966 Act and eventually U.S. citizenship. On January 12, 2017, Barack Obama announced the immediate end of the policy."

anyway, with that out of the way, i think this graphic novel should have been longer if it wanted to make any real impact. the characters had real potential and could have been more sympathized with if only the book was longer. also, i did not feel like the heist angle of this story was realistic. and i don't mean it in the 'that's so daring, how will they ever do it ?' way but in the 'nah, that just isn't possible' way. [an example : after mari escaped, wouldn't diego's father have tracked mari's abuela down and held her hostage ? he would've certainly known his own son's friends, right ? and by extension considering that he's a gangster he would have to know the whole neighbourhood quite well too. so how was it that she was still safe ? of course, i am glad that she's alive but i'm talking about the unrealistic element here. (hide spoiler)]

it was also fast-paced, which under normal circumstances i would have loved, if only it had not been at the cost of the length of the book. i did love the art, though. it suited the action aspect of the story quite well. i was also afraid that this book would go down the romance territory but luckily it did not, which is for the best, considering that romance in a book of this sort would have been redundant.

would recommend if you're looking for a fast-paced, action-packed, ownvoices graphic novel featuring four cuban-american teenagers on a dangerous heist.

// 3.5 stars

3.7

Dry Foot is a fast paced series about trying to get out of a bad situation by stealing from a violent gangster. Almost all four of our main characters are in pretty bleak lives. The pretty boy Fabian has that typical poverty setting where he tries to live the best way he can thanks to his drug addicted mother. While he knows he gets into a lot of trouble he's also very loyal and the things he leaves behind help out by a lot. The tough girl Mari lives with her grandmother who wants the best for her and Mari wants to use her skills for good use. But this is the 80s and there aren't many opportunities for girls in major professional sports. Then there's Diego, like anybody living in the bad parts of a neighborhood, gangsters look like something to get out of. Planning to get out of dodge to avoid a bad life by stealing from a dangerous gangster makes a lot of sense. Because while our final main character Angel might have a semi-good life thanks to his gangster brother, it's a life where someone can get killed. You really can't help but sympathize with these teens for wanting a better life and trying to make sure nobody gets hurt. Even their mistakes feel in character.

The premise of this novel sounded exciting, but it personally didn’t quite live up to the Oceans-movie-heist level of story tellingI thought it might. The characters seem very intriguing and would’ve loved to learn more about them. The fast pace matches the action and intensity of the novel, but it was very short and quick for everything that happened.

A graphic novel full of facile silliness, when it wants to be gritty, this covers four teens in Miami who think by doing a job on the Mister Big gangster they can escape a life of gangsterdom and turn their destinies on their heads. Unless the creators were trying to make a virtue of this being one of the least believable books of the year, they failed badly in this. One and a half stars.

Dry Foot was an enjoyable fast-read! Full of action, realistic characters, and amazing artwork. The story itself is also good with a few twists - some unexpected and some predictable. The language is realistic but for a more mature audience (I also enjoyed the bilingual element). This graphic novel could have been longer, as the ending felt a bit rushed, but overall it was a fun read. Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC.