Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Mariner Books/Harper Collin’s for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
This was a really lovely graphic novel. I enjoyed the way it used fictional characters to mirror real life events, and that the characters were all living in community together (some literally living in a communal house and starting polyamorous relationships). The juxtaposition of the college kids radical ideas with the maturity and experience of the older characters was really fun. I enjoyed all the farm stuff-the many goats and cats especially. I liked that the book ended on a hopeful note.

I picked this book out of random curiosity with the book cover and I am so glad I did. I haven't read the author's work before so it took a drag pace to appreciate the beauty of the book. The book is cleverly witty and humorous in a knife-edge way. It is a great pickup book for a fun reading on a Saturday night

Set amidst the backdrop of COVID protocols and the US generally descending into madness with recent elections. <i>Spent</i> feels like everyone's internal thoughts often, and at the same time is such a weird but purposeful time capsule of 2020-2025 while still being a personal story. It has the meta-ness I kind of love while playing with autobiography. I just always love spending time with Alison Bechdel, and now with pygmy goats!

<i>thanks for the ARC</i>

“Is spiraling a practical skill?”
This memoir starts mid Covid pandemic. Alison has made it. She lives in her own house, on her own property, with her partner, Holly, 5 cats, and their goat pygmy sanctuary. Her last memoir was made into a TV show, but that is the least of her worries. She has been having difficulty envisioning her future or any future lately. Should she write a new book? Should she write her own TV show? Should she be giving more of her income to charity?
Nobody’s life has been easy since 2019 it seems like. Alison is no different.
One of my only hangups about this book was I wasn’t sure what to think about the whole sideline story about her friends and their proclivities. Otherwise, I’d like to read more of this author.

#ThxNetGalley #AlisonBechdel #Spent

I requested this solely based on the author, without knowing what it's about. This can work, with the author's other works, as a memoir series, or alone as a snapshot of the 2020-2022 period.

If read alone, this joins a not-insubstantial list of GN memoirs of artists making content about needing to make content-- see Uncomfortably Happily and related titles.

I do really enjoy this artist's illustration style-- I appreciated all the little details that are always included.

Readers will do best to have previously read Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic and/or any other of the author's previous memoirs. eARC from NetGalley

I love Alison Bechdel and this she is great, but this really was too meh for me.
The story felt like it did not flow as I kept reading. A fiction memoir/graphic novel brings a lot of thoughts to mind.

I have been reading Alison Bechdel, as they say, long before she was famous, back in her “Dykes to Watch Out For”(DTWOF) days. I always used to look forward to each new strip, and her take on what was going on in the world.

This graphic novel is a sort of combo of that, with characters from her DTWOF, as well as versions of her and her partner, dropped into that world, interacting with her creations. It is a bit of a trip, at first, to get used to it, but once you do, you just sort of go with the flow.

The story takes place just from mid-pandemic to just before the Orange Mango is reelected. Through this all, the Alison of the story comments on society, as we follow her trying to write another graphic novel. In this world, she has written her story of her father, who instead of a funeral home, ran a taxidermy service, which has been made into a strange tv series. And her version of DTWOF is called “Lesbian Peta Members to Watch Out For”.

If you love her stuff, you will love this book. If you have never read her before, you will miss a lot of the meta jokes, but will probably laugh at her observations.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book is coming out the 20th of May.

I thought the autofiction concept was interesting, especially the author placing herself in the real world with some of the characters she created in DTWOF. The drawing was funny. I wish the narrative arc was more concrete. I thought the author did a good job conveying the headlines of recent times, and the times at which she highlighted the differences between the generations was where the book shined the strongest. It seems like the author was trying to tackle many themes at once, but there wasn’t enough room to delve into many of them exhaustively. I look forward to more from this author!

You probably think you know Alison but just wait, she literally 'bares' it all in Spent Too funny situations with sex, lack of sex and different ways to do it. Even the goats are doing it so we get a little goat midwifery too. I love seeing the change of seasons in Vermont in her illustrations. She navigates difficult family situations with a generosity of spirit that I find inspiring. Plus it is laugh-out-loud funny! Also cat lovers will love all the feline antics that sprawl across the pages. Bravo!!

While I'm quite familiar with who Alison Bechdel is, this is my first time reading her work; and I must say, I quite enjoyed it! It was oftentimes hilarious while also a scathing commentary on today's political climate. I really liked the colorful and expressive artwork, and all characters were easily distinguishable.

4.5 out of 5

Great graphic novel covering very timely subjects. It reads like a memoir, shining a light on Bechdel’s home and career life, friends, and family relationships, as well as political and economic beliefs. Bechdel struggles with selling out and making lots of money, which could be used to pay for good and ethical things and activities, and remaining true to the person she once was. Her sister, Shelia, is a pretty scary depiction of a “regular” American. Shelia is writing her own memoir to set the record straight against Bechdel’s graphic novels. The show based on Bechdel’s work takes a drastic turn from the reality Bechdel showed us. And I didn’t even get to the friends living in the experimental coop and their shenanigans!

This is a fast paced, laugh out loud roller coaster of a ride. The reader is along to see everything, with illustrations charmingly “colored” by Bechdel’s partner, Holly. I got this graphic novel electronically, my least favorite format for graphic novels, and I still loved it. Although my screen was very small, making each frame of the novel also very small, graphic novel in general was a top notch choice for being a vehicle for this project. I loved that it was set mainly on a goat farm, and showed many different ways that people live with, interact with, and support each other.

Spent has a very authentic feel, and I love getting that slice of life from characters with a different story than mine. It left a lot of food for thought. This graphic novel would make for a really good book club pick, with lots to unpack and discuss. Some people may have a problem with some of the illustrations being very relevant to the scene at hand in an explicit way. But it’s not gratuitous at all. Really shouldn’t matter and I hope I’m right on that but in the current are of censorship and book banning, who knows?

Thanks Mariner Books and NetGalley for an ARC!

This is the third graphic novel have read by Alison Bechdel. There is something on her written style that I can’t fully connect but always make me curious. I loved the fun and vibrant art she used on this book. The cover called my attention immediately. It was good to know a little bit about her current life journey and I sympathize with most of her perspectives on social issues. Unfortunately, I did not feel much about it. It’s very forgettable.

Loved it. Not surprised but happy to have loved it. Will be sharing the good news with all my readers and friends.

4 stars.

The wonderful Bechdel (of the famous Bechdel test…in a particular work of art do two females have a conversation about something other than a man? So simple, yet perfection.) brings us a new chapter in her overall graphic autobiography with this book (at least I think, but what do I know? I don’t know her. I would love to, though.). Here we see Bechdel, life at present as a semi-famous person living in Vermont on their goat rescue(!) with her partner and their friends and neighbors. It also covers some of her struggles with writing and Hollywood (one of her earlier graphic novels was turned into a TV show.).

It’s sweet and fun, about issues large and small, and a gentle reminder we’re all struggling through on this planet together. I would love to read more about this motley crew.

"Spent" is a fictionalized graphic novel about Alison Bechdel's life in Vermont with her wife Holly. The book is focused on Alison trying to write another novel (as well as pitch a new anti-capitalist tv show) with side stories about her friends attempting a poly relationship. The humor is satirical and a bit over the top, but those who have read Bechdel's other graphic novels will enjoy it. I enjoyed the part of the book where Alison tries to reconnect with her conservative sister over her sister's unpublished book telling "the real story." Definitely for adult audiences. A must buy where Bechdel's other works are popular.

New Alison Bechdel...AND it's an anti-capitalist work of auto-fiction? For me and many others this will be an immediate read, and it is well worth it. No one escapes commentary--least of all book-Alison and book-Holly who run a pygmy goat sanctuary--not zoomers, not poly folk, not lesbians, not kindly straight neighbors, not covid-deniers, not instagram celebrities, and certainly not Hollywood. It's not cruelly done though...except where warranted.

I just did not like this one. I get its supposed to be a sort of metafiction of Bechdel's life, but I simply could not get beyond the kind of gross and oblivious privilege of pretty much everyone in the story. Yes, I get that that is the point, but for me it was just an unpleasant read that took time I could have used doing something more enjoyable. I'm sure I will be in the minority on this and most folks will love it, so this is very much an instance of YMMV.

A disappointing read, much as finding out about Bechdel's TERF friends or general transmisogynist sentiments. Would not recommend this book to others, and will not be getting it at our library.

I am a fan of Alison Bechdel, so I was excited to receive this ARC of Spent. Spent follows the "character" of cartoonist Alison Bechdel living with her partner Holly on their goat farm in the early COVID days. Alison is struggling with the success of a TV show based on her book because she has no control over it; she is struggling to meet deadlines for her new book, which she has determined will be about late-stage capitalism as she herself is struggling with living in that world. There are a band of friends whose lives we learn more about and who reflect on Alison and Holly's own, especially as Holly finds viral success. Bechdel's comics are always witty and insightful-- in this case with plays-on-words referencing Bechdel's actual successes in comics, TV, and theater.

Hilarious, tongue-in-cheek, and self-depreciating, Spent is an excellent addition to Bechdel's catalog. 
This adult graphic novel is best in hands of those  familiar with Bechdel's previous work to truly appreciate it, but it could be an intro for new fans as well. Thanks to the publishers and Net Gally for this ARC!

I wasn't a fan of Fun Home, I'm not sure why I thought this would be different. It's Bechdel in her element, using the same style and writing the same prosaic way, and just not being my kind of humor. I was hoping for something I could shelve in humor and political science, instead it'll go in graphic novels with Fun Home.