FefferBooks

Review originally posted on fefferbooks.com.

Drawn is kind of an interesting, if slightly unfocused, novel. The story, itself, is actually pretty good. The synopsis sounds fascinating, right? And it is, actually–the writing is engaging right from the beginning, and though, a couple of times, it’s a little quick to jump scene, overall it’s a really solid book with a fun plot.

HOWEVER, I was completely and entirely thrown off by the inclusion of the…I hesitate to say graphic novel here–you’d understand if you saw them…comic strips? inserted between each section. It’s kind of a gamble of a convention; if done well, using graphic novel sections can be really cool and edgy, as seen in [b:Chasing Shadows|15756269|Chasing Shadows|Swati Avasthi|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1373381697s/15756269.jpg|21453739] by Swati Avasthi (which I quit reading because of swearing, but was exceptionally awesome up to that point). Here, it’s just sort of weird and off-putting. Presumably, the graphic sections are supposed to have been drawn by Sasha, an untrained but supposedly gifted artist. The strips, though, are unimpressive, and sometimes confusing, and rather than lending anything positive to the story, they tend to detract from it--particularly the very first one, which comes out of left field. Frankly, the book would stand well on its own without them.

Apart from that issue, I did enjoy the story. Sasha’s friends Vivi and Sebastien are particularly vivid and fun, and though I was left wanting more, I enjoyed the relationship between Sasha and Chelsea. Shasha’s “power” manifests itself in curious ways, and makes for some different and interesting plot development. It’s not bad, in the end, and hey, you might find you’re not as bothered as I am by the illustrations.

A couple of very mild swear words. Otherwise clean. 3.5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. Drawn was released last month and is on shelves now!