I'll admit I definitely wanted to read this based on the cover and the art in this is stunning, absolutely gorgeous. Some formatting of the pages made things a bit confusing, but overall really well executed.

As for the story, I can't say I was a huge fan of Wren as a main character, and the story was sort of difficult to follow at time. I'm also not exactly sure how I feel about the end, it's left me with a lot of questions and very few answers, but overall I enjoyed the story. If you're a fan of stuff like the Matrix this will be right up your alley.

I'm particularly a fan of Cy and whatever is going on there. I'd definitely be interested in seeing a follow-up to this, it's gripped me!

ARC courtesy of NetGalley.

This book is absolutely remarkable. Stunningly visceral and impossible to look away from. An intimate (at times uncomfortably so) picture of obsession, focusing on one woman's obsession with knowing the truth about her past and then broadening to a more general obsession with knowing every detail about the lives of those around you. It absolutely had things to say about technology, society, and human nature, but not in a moralizing way - which is appreciated. I did occasionally have to reread text boxes because their organization on the page was not always intuitive (and it was occasionally tough to read on a computer monitor due to occasional landscape-oriented pages). Still, it was well worth it in the end.

ARC provided by NetGalley.
I thought the cover art of this graphic novel looked really cool and the concept is fascinating but I personally couldn’t get into it. But putting my opinions aside, i think the graphics were phenomenal, the creatures terrifying and it left you with a feeling of “wait what” that I think a lot of readers want in a story such as this. So although not my favorite, I can see a kid in my high school picking it up and enjoying the story.

This was insufferable honestly. I love me a good graphic novel but this just left me angry. It was confusing as hell and the ending amounted to nothing. Nothing was solved and nothing was gained. The only upside is I quite liked the art style and that is why I would give it a 1.5 stars. However, the story felt SO rushed and the beginning was so confusing and so fast that I wasn’t sure what was going on. I didn’t get to know any characters super well and so I didn’t care about any of them.

I also couldn’t tell where some scenes went. Thought certain scenes were in the past but they were in the present. Maybe it was more difficult reading a comic on my phone that was meant for print.

Beginning of the novel: hate Wren. like she is strung out on on her past and making it everyone else’s problem. Like her friend was literally killed trying to help her. And then after he’s dead, we literally only see him mentioned like twice and never again.

At one point she even says she has nowhere to go but didn’t she have a whole boyfriend whom she bought a house with? what lmao??? Like what do you mean?

The entire concept was literally like a fever dream. It was so confusing and so ridiculous that I absolutely despised reading it.

As always, thank you Netgalley for the arc!

Firstly, thank you NetGalley and Oni Press for the ARC!

The first thing I have to say about this graphic novel is... wow!! for the art style alone. The panel layout is unique and visually interesting. This does lead to a little bit of confusion at times about which order to read text boxes in, but not enough to really hinder the experience.

Now, the plot. There was a rather slow build-up for the first 60% or so, and then what felt like massive info dump for another 30%. The last few pages that should have given some sort of satisfying conclusion only left me with questions and really wishing for another 20-30 pages. The general plot beats are solid and surprisingly socially-relevant (cameras everywhere, every moment of one's life just a social media post away), but again. The pacing just felt... off? No other way to explain it, really.

If you're a fan of vague horror-adjacent vibes, social commentary, or just have a couple hours where you want to get briefly but heavily invested in a story, give this a consideration. Light-hearted with a fluffy, happy ending, this is not, so keep that in mind.

3/5 stars for wonderful art and an interesting story that felt both fast-paced yet not enough to be truly satisfying.

The art is beautiful, the cover is what first enticed me to start reading. But what could have been a good comic was just a confusing story that stayed at a superficial level. I couldn’t get absorbed because I had to keep flipping back a few pages to reread.

*Thank your to NetGalley and Onipress for the egalley review copy**

"Blink" is a thriller/horror story that keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end. I am left wanting more after finishing this book. It would be perfect for fans of "The Nice House on the Lake". I would say the mystery left me wanting a bit more and the protag felt a bit one dimensional but the world the author built makes up for it.

2/5

Uff I really wanted to like this one but I unfortunately really didn't.

At half way through I felt so bored and confused that I basically dropped it and just started to read the essential things just to get to its end, which surprisingly even if super predictable I liked.

I was very interested and invested at first but then I started to disconnect with the story till I just couldn't get into it anymore.

The drawings are really cool and I liked how sometimes the panels were put in some innovative way, but that's it.
Sigh

The art is really nice but the story and characters just didn't grab me. I found myself bored and forced myself to get a little over half way through before I ended up dropping it.

I'll start by saying that the artwork is amazing. The choice of colour, layout and art style was perfection. I read the book digitally and I can image that a print copy would be even more engaging.
Unfortunately, the story was a bit of a letdown compared to the illustrations. I was much more interesting in the artwork than the story.
Thank you for allowing me to read and review this book.

I found this story to be confusing and hard to follow. Sometimes the story felt rushed but then other times it was lagging.
It was a very cool premise but the execution was not there.
I gave this 2 out of 5 stars.

Wren Booker was three when she was found alone and covered in blood on the streets of New York. Since that day, she’s been haunted by the childhood she can't remember…until decades later when she finds a cryptic website streaming multiple CCT feeds from strange rooms in a ruined building. Something clicks, setting off hidden memories that lead her back to a place she’s seen in lifelong nightmares. Hunting for answers, Wren breaks in and finds herself lost in the camera-filled dark mazes of a decayed social experiment known only as BLINK

Wren Booker has no memories. Found alone and covered in blood as a child, she has spent her life trying to escape her unknown past. That is, until she finds a mysterious website showing CCTV feeds that stirs her memories and leaves her desperate to find out more. After breaking in to a building with impossible dimensions, she finds herself lost in a maze of CCTV cameras and horrific creatures. In the centre, she will find out the truth about her past and finally discover who is watching the tapes.

The idea for this story is really interesting and there was some great sections but I felt like it was too short for the writer to really explore their vision. It was very rushed and I'm still not 100% sure who most of the characters were and what they represented.

The artwork really saves this one - the colours are so vibrant and it is so visually stunning! The panels are laid out in such a clever way that really reflects the story. It's just a shame that the story itself doesn't hold up as well.

What made me want to read this graphic novel in the first place was the cover. So eye-catching!

I was really impressed with the look of this graphic novel. Really gorgeous artwork and colors, the panel setups were interesting and unique, and the plot drew me in. I got a little slowed down by the exposition and would have preferred more dialogue instead of thoughts. It leaned a little too much on setup and explaining backstory and trying to create tension rather than keeping the reader interested and moving forward. But it was overall a really enjoyable novel and I would read a second!

The art style is both gruesome and stunning, and the story is interesting and creepy, though the organization of the panels can be a little hard to follow.

The story itself is compelling, but the art is what really makes BLINK a worthwhile read. The cover art is what pulled me in, and the unusal page layouts and dreamlike (nightmarish) scenes throughout kept me engaged and devouring page after page.

I was a bit skeptical at first--how is "found footage" horror going to work in a non-moving, visual-only media? But Hayden Sherman blows it out of the park. Their art is unsettling and delightful, and the way they work with Sebela's writing to hone in on those themes of surveillance, paranoia, and fear is FUN.

I've already told a handful of friends to keep an eye out for BLINK when it's released in May, and I think this'll be a solid recommendation for horror-fans who like a trippy story where it's a little hard to tell what's "real" while digging through what's "true." That being said, I definitely don't recommend BLINK for folks who are uncomfortable with body horror and unreality.

I absolutely love Blink's cover art. It's immediately intriguing, as well as its mysterious premise. Lost memories, a mysterious social experiment in an abandoned building, some sort of surveillance conspiracy - what's not to get excited for?
Before I get more into the story, I want to applaud the creative panel layout. Be it unconventional shapes forming a picture by themselves, constructing borders out of cassette tape flowing over two pages or, my favorite, going from portrait to landscape layout by creatively flipping panels/utilizing characters' movements. The flow of the panels and text bubbles was at times unconventional, but always so superbly constructed that you could easily follow it. Outstanding job by the creators here.

Sadly, I didn't like the writing as much as I liked the visuals. The introduction sequence was weirdly awkward and rushed and I often found myself going back a few pages to see if I'd missed anything, but nope, the storytelling was just confusing. It took a long time for me to understand what the characters meant when they talked about the signal and the static and how the building worked in the first place. Impossible spaces aren't exactly new, but this one wasn't set up particularly well imo. The whole story stayed very surface-level; there was a lot of potential to explore its concept and I think it's an utter shame the themes weren't dealt with in more detail. I feel like Blink is a great comic book trapped inside just a good one.

Still, Blink's creative visuals are worth checking out and I wish it had been a little longer so characters and themes could have been introduced better and the story could have progressed more naturally.

Wren Booker was three when she was found alone and covered in blood on the streets of New York. Since that day, she’s been haunted by the childhood she can't remember…until decades later when she finds a cryptic website streaming multiple CCT feeds from strange rooms in a ruined building. Something clicks, setting off hidden memories that lead her back to a place she’s seen in lifelong nightmares. Hunting for answers, Wren breaks in and finds herself lost in the camera-filled dark mazes of a decayed social experiment known only as Blink.


Thank you NetGalley\Christopher Sebela\Oni Press
For this eARC in advance for my honest review. My opinion is of my own volition.

Read BLINK, and find out what happens to Wren.

Calling all sci-fi and horror fans - this is for you!

Follow Wren as she tries to piece together her childhood having escaped from a mysterious cult. One day she finds a clue online to where the house is that she escaped from, and the story escalates quickly into a mind-bending nightmare as she tries to stay alive and solve the mystery.

The story is compelling, but what makes this a 5/5 read is the illustrations and layout by Hayden Sherman. Just like he did with Scott Snyder's Dark Spaces: Wildfire, he elevates this story from a straight forward reading experience into art. I want to frame every page in this book, and can't wait to re-read it.

This book is best read under the covers with a flashlight while home alone. Just kidding! Don't do that, it's too scary. Read it with all the lights on, and your best friend on speed dial.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for this advanced reader copy.

The artists’ creative use of the page was honestly so cool. Like it wasn’t just boxes filled with a story. And it all fit in with the theme so well. The art really is incredibly well done. I thought the point of it all was just a little too on the nose for me. The idea of how technology and data sharing have taken over our world. I think it would vibe really well with some people but it just wasn’t for me. I also think that it was all a little confusing at times which honestly may have been intentional. I did appreciate the groupings of people. Like the idea behind the signal and the static was super interesting. I feel like both groups kind of succumbed to it all and didn’t end up being overly different, but again. That may have been the point.

Overall I think it was really well done, but just wasn’t really for me.

Characters: 4/5
Plot: 3/5
World Building: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Overall Feelings: 2/5
Art: 5/5
Total Rating: 4/5

3.2/5
Thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In this Blink, we follow Wren, as she tries to find answers to her traumatic past and her connection to a mysterious building called BLINK. She soon becomes consumed by her obsession with her past and becomes sucked into the social experiment of BLINK.

Blink was freaking cool for so many reasons. First, the premise and story were really intriguing (more on that later). The art was absolutely BEAUTIFUL– I honestly took much longer than anticipated reading because every few pages I would spend minutes admiring the art. The paneling is really creative and makes the story much more immersive. I enjoyed having to turn the book around from different angles and it helped illustrate the feeling of disorientation within BLINK.

Despite the awesome premise, the storytelling fell a bit flat. The characters lacked depth and the climax felt rushed with not enough information given for the story to feel complete. I think this story should have been so much longer as there is SO much that can be expanded on. It had all the elements that could make a really cool horror/suspense and the premise was so cool. I hope this story gets expanded on or made into multiple volumes to give us the full potential of the premise.