Oh Alison I am so glad you are back. and with Dykes to Watch out For Characters again. You made my year. Reminscing with these old friends and seeing how they are living their lives and how important community is while also bringing in todays issues.
I want more!!!!!

DYKES TO WATCH OUT FOR: WHERE ARE THEY NOW should have been the title of this book! Alison Bechdel fans are sure to enjoy this extremely autofiction graphic novel about trying to live ethically in today's messed up world. Our protagonist, a cartoonist named Alison, grapples with consumerism and political division while trying to come up with her next book idea, while her group of queer friends explore polyamory, communal living, and protesting. I wouldn't start here if you're new to Bechdel's work, but as someone who has read all of her past books, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

ARC -- I rarely give 5 stars. I loved Spent even reading it on my iPhone. Alison's art, her pacing, and her detailed panels are amazing. Her detail is down to the Blundstone's on her characters and the goat obstacle course in the background. I read DTWOF as it was published in the day. It is wonderful to see her work progress. Spent releases May 20, get a copy.

Big fan of Allison Bechde's work and look forward to reading this in print. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see it on my devices, so I'll be careful not to request non text based ARCs going forward.

I'll read anything that the brilliant Alison Bechdel writes, and this one was especially fun. Her humor and affection for her characters (including Alison) really shine through on every page. It takes a great artist to deliver powerful messages, poke fun at just about everyone and everything, and somehow get the reader to adore the characters all on the same page!

This was so fun and such a wonderful insight into Alison Bechdel's everyday life! I loved the normalness and domesticity throughout the whole book!

I also loved her relationship with her friends and seeing into their lives as well!

As someone who's lived in Vermont for the past 4 years, I loved seeing all the places and experiences that I recognize so well! From the Burlington exit, the co-op, seven days, those damn F-35 planes, the flood in 2023, and the northern lights at the end!

Overall it felt very familiar and relatable! I think this will be a great staple in Vermont and will be a wonderful read for everyone!

Loved the illustrations and the humor throughout the book. I found myself googling things about Alison Bechdel’s family history to see if things mentioned throughout the book had actually happened or not. Some of the panels were such a stark reminder of how much changed during the early days of Covid — especially when interacting with others and all the precautions used early on in the pandemic. I loved the inclusion of all of their animals and of course the queer representation that I would always expect from an Alison Bechdel graphic novel.

Beautifully illustrated and created like all of Bechdels work with her trademark humor and wit. A bit less emotional and heartfelt than her most well known work but a nice slice of life piece. A bit of annoying generation gap humor that has been done to death but oh well.

In this heartwarming picture of Allison Bechdel's later life, you will be taken through Allison trying to figure out how to remain creatively productive, politically involved, and connected to her loved ones during the world's current descent into political and climate apocalypse, all in the wackily charming setting of uber progressive rural Vermont. I loved this book, but it was also meant exactly for my demographic--I think young lesbians will appreciate this window into what our futures could look like: the more things change the more things stay the same. I laughed aloud throughout this book and also was touched throughout. It's hard being a person, and we are all just trying our best.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel! It had me thinking a lot about how much changed during and directly following the pandemic. We all have different stories but in so many ways we had a shared experience. This book is great to recognize that with all of our differences we are all just humans trying to navigate what happens on this world! Most relatable was Alison’s challenge of trying so hard not to contribute to the problem that is corporate America…when she asks if Amazon really is delivering by drone, those were words I’ve spoken!

I also really enjoyed Sheila, I think we probably all have someone we love who is so much like her. Her quirky seed art just adds to her mystery!

Thank you to Alison Bechdel, Mariner books and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

Bechdel brings back loved characters from Dykes to Watch Out For but "all grown up." I enjoyed revisiting these characters and seeing how time and age has impacted Bechdel's writing. I particularly liked the family dynamics and how polyamory is explored! The art is standard Bechdel, with little surprising to an avid reader. Overall, a fun and timely addition to the series.

Alison Bechdel is so smart and this book proves it. This graphic novel is filled with dry humor, satire and wit. The illustrations are intricate with brilliant coloring and eye-catching shadows that make every page pop. This book is about as far left as you can get in the world of liberal America. Set in Vermont on a farm filled with goats, the story feels very autobiographical as Alison struggles to create interesting, relevant and meaningful content. Meanwhile, her creative partner Holly is oscillating between putting her art on social media and rejecting digital distraction to feed the new generation of goats and flirt with the vet. The polyamorous throuple threw me for a loop and tested the limits of my prudish cis-hetero ways. I felt a bit voyeuristic at times as we get a peek in the bedroom- eek! This is certainly a book for the times that celebrates nonbinary sexually liberated folk who are out to save the planet and fight the patriarchy. This book also made me feel dumb at times as Bechdel’s cerebral and literary references are over my head. If you’re looking for a visual, carnal, anti-MAGA feast for the eyes, pick up a copy of this book!

I loved Funhome so I really wanted to like this, however, I think the story plot / trope of "writer / comic struggling what to write during Covid" is just not for me. I am a nurse and Covid is quite triggering for me so I think maybe this is a personal issue.

Alison Bechdel continues to cement her place in comics history with yet another strong entry in her repertoire. The art is dynamic and kinetic, the colors are beautiful, and the story is heartfelt and engaging.

This was not what I was expecting going into this. I have read previous works by this author but this felt distinctly different somehow. This is definitely a slice of life story but I didn't have a lot of interest in the characters and it felt like a lot of the story actually centered around some side characters as opposed to the author. There was some of the characteristic humor that Bechdel always has in their work but this is nothing that I would rush out to read.

What is more Alison Bechdel than an Absurdist take on a graphic memoir of her life post-mainatream fame, living the privileged New England liberal commune life. This is no shade, I'm genuinely delighted that she put out a work that employs her brand of satire to reflect on her own life as well as the increasingly chaotic world with rising intolerance, and how her bubble of queer elites try to make a difference, despite each of their quirks and disconnects. The only downside of taking the piss out of everything and everyone is that it's hard to tell what the author is mocking and what is self-deprecating. But ultimately it just tells a story about a long term found family trying to stay together and live their best, most conscientious lives through dark times. Unfortunately, since this was clearly written before the second Trump era, the humor feels a bit flippant because the conceptual conflicts played for satire in this have much more existential dread attached to it than the time period this story is set in. That is hardly the author's fault, but it did mean that overall this effectively reads as performative and reductive of activism rather than a proper satire of the times.

This was an easy-to-read, light graphic novel. I loved Fun Home, this one was for an older audience and was a little funny but overall didn’t really resonate with me. I enjoyed learning the dynamics of this certain group of friends.. they do seem like a good time!

Thank you to NetGalley for my Advanced Reader's Copy.

Alison Bechdel has written a semi-biographical book filled with humors, politics, and friendship. As always, I loved the artwork and the characters, but this time the story felt quite disjointed. Still, I do look forward to buying it for my library.

Oh gosh. Okay, backstory: Bechdel's comic strip "Dykes to Watch Out For" was syndicated in my sister's college newspaper, which was how my sister found out about it. She brought one of the collections home with her one holiday and left it on the kitchen table. I read it—my mother read it—my father read it—my father went upstairs to the computer and ordered every other volume that was out at the time. When "Fun Home" came out, my mother ordered about six copies to send to various relatives (and the reason I own a copy of "The Secret to Superhuman Strength" is that my mother shipped that to me); now she has multiple copies of "Spent" on order, too, for the same reason. (My family, we are fans. Also, my husband and I talked Bechdel on our first date, which is maybe less specific than it might be when you consider that he's a comic artist and I...well, I just read a lot.)

Anyway, all of this is to say: This is a book unlike any of Bechdel's previous books. To be perfectly honest, if you've read both "DTWOF" and Bechdel's memoirs, I'd recommend skipping all of the reviews—and skipping the book description—and diving right in so that you can be gloriously confused and delighted. I read the description* when I first saw this book, but I have a habit of reading a description, shelving a book for future reference, and then forgetting everything but general theme until I pick the book up again; in this case, that meant that I spent a while going "wait, what?" and checking Wikipedia to make sure I hadn't missed something major before figuring it out and settling in to enjoy. And folks, that is a reading experience that I highly recommend.

This is fully enjoyable for readers who have read some but not all of Bechdel's work; certainly it helps if you've read "Fun Home" (or should I say "Death & Taxidermy"?), but you don't need to have read it, and you don't need to have read "DTWOF". (I'd have to do some rereading to say whether there are specific callbacks to Bechdel's other books.) But—I do think the ideal audience here are those who have read and loved both. This is a catch up with old friends (if the sort of catch-up where you maybe learn a little too much about them), and it was both so nostalgic and so current.

Plus, that picture of Bechdel near the beginning, where she's wearing gardening boots and scrolling on her phone? That inexplicably looks both 1) exactly as Bechdel generally draws herself and 2) exactly like my mother, who looks 2a) really nothing like Bechdel. And that may be weird and specific and not useful in terms of a book review, but for me it was just an excellent start to the book.

*Maybe. Or maybe I just saw the author and cover and winged the book onto my Goodreads shelf without needing to know more. Who can say?

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

Thanks to Mariner books and NetGalley for the ARC.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading Spent, and I finished it in a single day if that is an indicator. However, Spent doesn't feel as weighty or important as Fun Home--the one other book I've read from Bechdel. I also am not sure it will stick with me in the same powerful way. It has eschewed the Joycean references and literary illusions of fun home, and instead the graphic novel simply tries to capture the feelings of helplessness and guilt one can feel in our current political and social climate while showing her cozy and often heartwarming relationships with her family and friends. Bechdel's autofiction asks a lot of interesting questions; many of the same questions I deal with in my own life such as: how do you prevent lifestyle creep? How do you disconnect from clearly evil corporations which are ubiquitous? How do you deal with loved ones who have seemingly gone of the political deep end? How do you deal with finical success in the face of less successful friends? Some of the solutions in the book feel a little too trite <spoiler>like the sister who rethinks her Trumpism and anti-abortion stances in the face of a bit of familial acceptance. Other solutions like the Kropotkin quote about mutual aid feel like a far more reasoned and long term answer.</spoiler>

All of my review so far gives the impression that Spent is serious, but it is a relatively light hearted and a genuinely funny graphic novel. Bechdel uses many of these pages to show the irony and humor at the heart of our modern existence, and she is often the butt of the jokes she tells. Whether she is making fun of her own pretentiousness in the naming of their new male pygmy goat or her inability to stop spending on amazon, her comedic touch is deft. Sometimes I'm not sure if she is making light of her other characters or trying to illustrate something genuine. Is the asexual polyamory podcast a joke? It seems to be presented as such... The fact that it is the rich yuppies from next door's favorite podcast seems to being trying to say something, but I'm not really sure what... perhaps I'm not smart enough to understand some of these things... The absurdities the book points too, like the polite Trump fan complimenting her partner's chainsaw sharpening video are funny, but they are also sad. Much like the book itself.

Ultimately, I would recommend this to anyone who as enjoyed Bechdel's previous works, enjoys satire in general, or has dreamed of owning a pygmy goat farm in Vermont. This is an adult graphic novel and not meant for a younger audience.