Sabrina

Now this is what i call a powerful book. No dystopia novel comes even close to it as it shows that there is no dystopic future as the dystopia is already here. This book shows the horror of lives in contemporary society.Amazing bookAmazing buy

I will not talk a lot about how it was such a surprise to see a graphic novel on the Man Booker Longlist 2018, because it is alright. It is more than alright for this to happen and about bloody time that it did, given how popular is this genre and stories need not be told through just one form. There are plenty and I am glad that finally some people took notice. That’s that. Now coming to Sabrina.Sabrina is literally about Sabrina missing and it hits hard where and when it must. Drnaso, at the same time doesn’t let Sabrina go. She is there, hanging around in the sense of being a presence, as the lives of other characters are in a limbo, emerging from or facing their own troubles. There is something about Drnaso’s storytelling that is not only bleak and dark, but somehow enchanting. You want to remain stuck in this world and not get out. To me, that was highly fascinating.Sabrina though is about the titular character, to my mind, it is a lot more about the characters on the fringe. Where do they go from here and what happens to them were the questions I found myself asking time and again, long after the book was done with. There is something so real about the book that it shakes you to the core – I think most of it has got to do with the times we live in – separate from each other, connected virtually and not knowing what is going on in others’ lives.Sabrina deals with so much more – mass shootings, notoriety, depression, marriage, privacy – it is a melting pot of issues – that are so relevant and need to be told. Most readers and critics were skeptical of a graphic novel being on the Booker longlist, but think it is so worth it in every way. Hooting for this one!

A very relevant graphic novel about today’s society. It makes for depressing reading. A woman, Sabrina, goes missing and her boyfriend goes to stay with his childhood friend who is in the military. His friend is actually the central character in this. When Sabrina is found murdered, there are those on the Internet who believe that this is ‘fake news’, that her murderer has been framed, and when they find out where her boyfriend is staying, they target his friend. They send him emails, trying to prove a conspiracy. When the video that the murderer made of Sabrina’s murder, which he also sent to news outlets, is leaked on to the internet, it means that anyone can watch it. But the conspiracy theorists still believe that this isn’t real. That it’s a set up. It’s depressing and scary, and it happens. It’s fictionalised in the book, but it has happened. And that’s what makes it stand out. That, and the starkness of the artwork.

My first introduction to a graphic novel as a result of its longlisting for the Booker prize was an interesting experience.A very current and unsettling look at aspects such as fake news and the use and impact of social media, lazy and dangerous thinking, etc.I was at times unnerved and the lack of dialogue gave a sense of atmosphere and creepiness.The final sequences fell rather flat for me but may have been synonymous with how a big news story can suddenly become yesterdays news but I would have preferred a different finale.I did enjoy Sabrina on the whole though and was certainly worth a delve into the Graphic Novel world.Would be surprising to see it shortlisted next month for the Booker though.

I've read a few graphic novels and have always enjoyed their creativity. I'm not drawn to the fantasy and science fiction genre so there is not always a huge range of choice. This book however seems to review well and I was impressed that it had been long listed for the Booker prize.The book is just over 200 pages.It's a strange story with the main emotions being bleakness and confusion. The dialogue is sharp and minimal, being used to gradually start to feed through the basics of the plot.The illustrations are disappointing. They show emotions in the faces but there was not enough to distinguish between the separate characters and I found myself being distracted from the story by having to work out who was talking, particularly in the military setting.Without doubt there are some very worthy issues covered here - mental health and conspiracy theories to name just two - and they are explored in an interesting way.The problem is the plot which is completely confusing and doesn't seem to have any sort of resolution. Life doesn't have tidy endings but a book has to have some sort of conclusion - yet this book doesn't have anything which is possible to work out (well I couldn't anyway).Over and over again the author repeats his messages of anxiety and isolation but this needed more balance to engage with me. I particularly found the ending unsatisfying.

Whilst I liked (some) of the drawing I found it confusing sometimes as a few of the characters look exactly the same. I might give it another go (it only takes an hour or two to read) as I feel I've missed something, mainly, the plot. It's pretty bleak and captures a fragmented isolating world pretty well but beyond that I'm not sure what to say. I'm guessing the conspiracy theory DJ was a reference to Alex Jones.

Utterly boring, bland, dreadful graphic novel however the marketing was brilliant. Total waste of money. A wasted journey.