3.25**
This comic is one of the most unique stories I’ve read in terms of supernatural abilities. Our main character, Yoon, can see strings that connect people who have had sexual relationships and see strings connecting murderers to their victims.
While I think the dialogue between the two main characters was at times witty, there were other times where I felt the dialogue was unnecessary. It’s not like Bendis level, but there is a lot of background yapping that could’ve been edited out. Additionally, for other women or femme readers, it’s very obvious this story was written by a man. I applaud him for being inclusive to many sexualities, genders, and races, so it’s not bad. There were just some scenes that I audibly laughed at because it made very little sense to my woman brain.
Issue 1 is solid enough to entice readers to come back. Again, very interesting premise.
As the story progresses there are many allusions to the fact that Yoon has a past with Litty Mondo, one of the side characters, but we never find out much about her personal life. I feel like the author is hinting at them being ex-lovers, but that was not wrapped up really well.
Issues 2 and 3 were solid, though sometimes the ambiguity of Yoon’s powers are used to quickly end case. It felt like the red herrings were just wastes time, as neither Litty nor the Quinones case had much to do with Yoon’s initial concern. I was waiting for these cases to tie into each other, as well as Yoon’s parents, but in the end neither did.
Overall, fun characters, art is average, the colorist did a good job. I would be willing to read another installment of this series!

Thank you to NetGalley and Mad Cave Studios for the e-arc!

String is a dark comedy about Yoon-Sook Namgung who can see two types of "strings" connecting various people. One of the string colors is dark blue and it connects murderers to their victims. Yoon-Sook helps the police with their cases using her ability. That is until one day she sees a dark blue string coming from herself. She now has to figure out if this string means that she is going to be a murderer or become a victim. I felt this first volume was a bit all over the place with its tone. I expected it to shift to be more serious since we have this mystery looming over Yoon-sook. This just felt a bit too unserious. Which I think will make people want to continue but for me I expected things to shift once we started laying down the groundwork for the plot. I still recommend checking this out if you like reading about the "strings of fate" and want to see it executed in an urban setting.

Strange yet enjoyable. I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out for future volumes.
Loved that it was fully in color.
Not sure why/if the scene with the pornstar handing out food to the homeless was necessary (what was the point? Will it make a difference in a later volume? Is it moving the story forward?)
There is a lot of cursing, which I usually don’t care about, but this much was a tiny bit jarring.

String is an absolutely fun, fast-paced crime comic in the fashion of The Mentalist or Lucifer.

Yoon has been able to see the strings connecting murderers to their victims—and lovers to each other—ever since her parents were murdered. Now, she’s working with police officer Luke to solve a case when, suddenly, she sees her own black string. Is she the victim or the murderer? And can she escape her fate?

With its witty banter and blunt humor, this story had me hooked immediately! The dynamic between the no-fucks-given Yoon and the straight-as-an-arrow Luke is a fantastic mix, leading to plenty of funny moments. And, as with every great story, we don’t just get one but two cute-as-hell animal sidekicks. The LGBTQIA+ representation was the cherry on top—we love a crime-fighting nonbinary character and a chaotic bisexual.

I also really enjoyed the art style; the fight scenes, in particular, almost felt like they were moving.

Dug this one quite a bit. A fun premise led by a quirky character with an odd ability. It really has an unforced inclusive, now-generation vibe to it that’s made me smile. Great artwork, wonderful character design, and an interesting layout brings the whole presentation together. Rad book, would definitely seek out further adventures.

4.5 rounded up to a 5 star

The cover and colours of this comic instantly drew me in to requesting this book from netgalley.
A unique spin on the red string of fate. Yoon-Sook Namgung can see blue and black threads since the age of 14 when her parents were murdered. Blue strings indicate sexual partners whereas black strings tie murderer to victim. Due to these abilities she is hired as a detective for police investigations. However everything changes after she has a black string attached to herself.

The pacing of this novel felt fast, which was good. The only downside to this is the characters besides Yoon felt a little undeveloped. Hopefully we get to see them return in later volumes and are further fleshed out. There was no problems with text size on a tablet or computer when reading this comic.

Thank you to netgalley and Mad Cave Studio's for allowing giving me access in order for an honest review.

I have received an ARC copy through NetGalley, however my review is my honest opinion. (4.5 stars rounded up to 5)

***
Do you know the story of the red string of fate? Good, good.

How about the black string of murders and blue string of lovers, hm?

This graphic novel has a something for everyone: a stunning cover and artwork (these pulled me in to request it, actually), an intriguing premise, a diverse and loveable duo, a solid backstory to build up on, pets (!).

It's also the funniest damn thing I've read in a long time. I was chuckling at our characters banter on almost every page.

Who doesn't want to get take away coffee from Agatha Crispie's?

I am looking forward to enjoying the rest of the series.

A story about a young girl with a unique gift: Yoon has the ability to see the two types of strings connecting people - blue for sexual partners and black between murderers and their victims. One can guess what interesting stories are a result of that!

I really liked this idea and I honestly love the execution. The plot flowed nicely, and there was a lot of adventure and mystery. Yoon's character is quirky, and I liked her. I also liked the inclusivity!

The illustrations and the art style used were magical and I feel this really elevated the story to another level.

I was hooked until the end and can't wait for the next book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for granting me this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I'm always very happy about an ARC and being able to give it a review! <3

I saw the cover and read the blurb and found the idea quite interesting. The color scheme and the drawing style in the comic were really beautiful and unique.

However, I didn't find the story that gripping and exciting. The text was also difficult to read - you had to zoom in a lot to be able to read anything.

It was an okay Story, but I probably won't read the next parts.

Nevertheless, I would still recommend the book if you want something quick to read.

Read this for a Net Galley review, and I have to say, I enjoyed it! However, I will say it didn’t live up to my expectations. The premise was extremely interesting to me, but the pacing wasn’t executed as well as I would’ve liked. Things were slow and then something would just happen, sometimes feeling very random.
I did like how diverse the cast of characters was though, and the art style (especially its use of colors) I loved! I’m probably going to read the next volume when it comes out, and hope some of the pacing is cleared up by then.

I adore the art style, it’s super engaging, and the color scheme is just chef’s kiss!

The concept of the strings is a really cool spin on the red string theory. The dialogue had its moments, sometimes funny, but other times a bit unrefined or filled with unnecessary details.

Maybe it’s my slight inexperience with graphic novels, but I felt the pacing was a bit off at times. Big events would sometimes unfold too quickly, making me feel more like a bystander than fully immersed in the action. I loved the diverse cast, but a lot of the characters felt more like fillers. They didn’t really contribute much beyond supporting the MC’s abilities or moving the logistics along. The modern approach was interesting, though at times it leaned a bit too much into the sexual aspects.

I’d be keen on reading the next novel in the series, but if the same issues persist, I probably wouldn’t continue further.

Overall, 3.5 stars!

Yoon-Sook Namgung can see strings connecting people, invisible to everyone else. Blue connects people who've slept together; black links a murderer and a victim. I read this more for the writer, Paul Tobin, who's done a fair few things I liked, especially when working with other half Colleen Coover; gimmick detective stories aren't necessarily my bag, and this one seemed particularly prone to handwaving. So it proved, with the black strings especially prone to flickering in and out according to plot requirements, especially once Yoon finds one attached to herself, indicating that within a day she will either be killer or victim. So, with the aid of her new police liaison, she sets out to close her open cases, in case it's someone tied up in one of those who wants to get her out of the picture. And they all resolve a little too neatly, and often include some heavy-handed social commentary (the porn star who feeds the homeless, who in turn are only there because of the WGA strike and doing their best to get their lives back together...) – but in between the very important messages, there's a countervailing grasp on how people really speak and react, a winning sense of rapport and of the utter strangeness of the world: how many stories open with the lead catching a French bulldog being thrown out of the blast radius by a suicide bomber*? Which Olivares and Colella render on the page in all the absurd yet deadly serious roundness that life deserves. Though, less happily, the main area in which the art can falter (aside from a van described as white when it clearly isn't) is in the titular strings, absolutely crucial to the whole concept yet not always as legible to the reader as they're supposed to be.

*Fair warning: that isn't the only animal jeopardy, and it doesn't always end so well, though is never unpunished.

(Netgalley ARC)

String is a fast paced graphic novel with a really interesting premise - Yoon, a young Korean woman can see two types of strings: the first one ties sexual partners, the second one ties a murder and a victim.

Considering I love some murder mystery I was excited for this, but found myself quite disappointed.

Yes the pace is fast and clues are there enough but it takes quite some time to understand what Yoons job is - like, you get her skill and her possible roles but it takes quote some pages before you know what her specific role is within the police. And even now, after finishing vol 1, I don't really understand why she needs a police partner.

Luke is an interesting character but since it's been only one volume, I don't really feel that police partners bond between them and Yoon.

While I like the casual diversity within this volume, I kept finding myself irritated by the even more casual sexualisation of everyone and everything. I know it's easy when once can see strings between sexual partners, but some jokes, choices in art etc really weren't necessary in my opinion.

There was just something overall missing that didn't make me fall in love, and I don't think I'll read vol 2.

I’m not sure if it’s because I’m not used to reading graphic novels, but I absolutely loved String!
The story is fast-paced and captivating. I thought the concept of the different strings was original and well-executed, leaving the reader wanting to know more about the story and the origin of the main character (and definitely eager to follow more of her adventures!).
The art style is stunning and vibrant!

The two things that didn’t fully convince me were:
- Some parts of the dialogue felt unnecessary and a bit too long.
- Although all of the characters were supposed to have important roles in the story, some of them still felt like they didn’t contribute much to the plot and seemed more like fillers.

Overall, I’d rate the graphic novel a strong 3.5–4 ⭐️

Yoon can see strings attaching people to each other (black for murder, blue for sex) and then suddenly her own black line appears. Which is the basic plot, but we also get just a fun, badass, manic-pixie-dream-girl (complimentary) character who was so much fun to hang out with. I enjoyed this and can't wait for more Yoon and her adventures.

The red string theory is a Chinese belief that two people connected by this thread are destined lovers. Paul Tobin put a different spin on it, where blue threads show sexual partners and black threads show a murderer and their victim. While this premise was interesting, the execution didn't quite catch up to the hopes I had for it. Because it's a graphic novel, the pace was on the faster side, meaning the investigations we follow unfurled a bit too easily for my taste. Plus, we don't have the time to dig deeper into the characters except for the FMC, about which we still don't know much, causing a disconnection from the characters and what they were going through. It was like being told what was happening without actually living it with the characters, worsened by writing that was a bit too explanatory for my taste. I couldn't connect with their emotions as much as I would have liked.

However, I still enjoyed the experience and look forward to the next installment, hoping it goes deeper into the story and the characters we follow.

3/5 Stars

Thank you to Mad Cave studios for providing me with an arc.

I saw the cover and the blurb and I thought this was a cool idea for a graphic novel so I requested it. Overall I enjoyed it but I did struggle with the text a lot unless I zoomed in on each section it was hard to read. It was a pretty traditional comic book text but I struggled a lot with it and found myself skimming at times due to it. I think this was still a decent read but felt a bit under developed at times with how and why she had this ability.

I may read the next in the series but we will see. Overall I still recommend this one as it wasn’t super long and still was interesting.

This was a very unique graphic novel that, overall, I had a good time reading!

I also really loved all of the variant covers at the end, those were all so cool (I always love looking at those when I'm reading a graphic novel or a comic book)!

This follows Yoon, who has the ability to see the strings connecting different people. Blue strings are for romantic connections and black strings connect murderers and their victims. Because Yoon has this ability, she works with the police to help track down killers, but one day, there is a black string connected to her. And she wants to track down that connection. Is she going to kill someone or is someone going to kill her?

I thought that was such a cool premise and I did find this to be a fun story. I did find it to have quite a bit of filler, information that I didn't find super relevant or interesting at times. But if you're looking for a new and unique graphic novel, I would definitely look into this one~

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

Yoon-Sook is a woman who can see strings of blue and black tied to people. Blue strings for sexual partners and black for murderers and their victims. Yoon-Sook is working on cases to help solve murders.

I enjoyed this novel, Yoon-Sook’s ability is really interesting. I have always enjoyed stories with the red string of fate so, this was an interesting read! The main characters and side characters are fleshed out in a wonderful way and each have great back stories and unique personalities.

Thank you to Mad Cave Studios and NetGalley for this ARC! Due to be published May 20, 2025.

3.5
There were many things that I liked about this graphic novel. Yoon-Sook Namgung is a young Korean American woman with the ability to see "Strings". No, not the Red string of fate, but the Blue strings that show sexual partners and Black strings that show death. This concept was honestly a really interesting, and very cool play on the common "Red String of Fate" story trope. I also enjoyed the other characters, they were all fairly well-rounded and felt very real. However, the pacing is all over the place in this comic. Some scenes are just characters walking and talking, and my God there is just so much dialogue and the scenes just drag. The action scenes are intense, but always pretty short. The way events unfold in this story doesn't feel smooth at all. It's just "lots of talking then suddenly OMG THIS IS HAPPENING then oh well that's over". I think if the pacing was better this would have gotten a much better rating from me. I do have to say, I absolutely love the art style! The character designs, and the locations, all look so pretty in this art style.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!