I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Spectre Deep 6 by Jennifer Brody, Jules Rivera Published by Turner on May 12 2020
Genres: Adult, Science fiction, Graphic novel
Pages: 108
Format: Finished paperback
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
The nitty-gritty: Fans of sci-fi graphic novels will probably love this, but I struggled a bit with the format and plot.
Before I get into my review, I want to mention that I’m not a big fan of graphic novels, and I’ve struggled with them in the past. Every time I’m offered the opportunity to read one, my thought is that I’d love to give this format another shot, because I feel like I should love them. But once again, I have to admit I only partially enjoyed this one, and I’ll try to explain more below.
The story is actually pretty interesting. Soldiers who have died in the line of duty are reanimated and brought back as ghosts to join a covert black ops team called Spectre Deep 6. As ghosts, these operatives can more easily infiltrate sensitive areas and complete their tasks, especially since they each have supernatural abilities. The science behind their reanimation, however, involves the team members needing to be “recharged” after each assignment, and so they spend their down time in an underground bunker in individual capsules (like battery chargers). After each assignment, their commander decides how well each one did and allows them “day passes” to go back and revisit their old lives.
Kudos to the writing team of Jennifer Brody and Jules Rivera for including so much diversity in this novel. Not only do we get a wide variety of people of color, but there is one character who dies as a man but is reanimated as a woman. I loved this twist on a trans character and thought it was a brilliant idea.
Each character is portrayed as having unique thoughts and passions and lives, and I loved that the authors spent quite a bit of time developing each one. This isn’t just an action-heavy story, but really delves into the emotions and relationships of the characters. My favorite parts of the story were the times the team members got day passes and were able to go back to their old lives. We learn a lot about each one during these sections. Bianca Vasquez has a young daughter in foster care (her husband disappeared and she died, so it was inevitable). Bianca always visits Zoey on day pass, and in this rare case, Zoey is able to see her mother in her ghost form (most living people cannot see the spectres at all). Bianca’s story is heartbreaking because Zoey is not in a good place. She’s staying with a horrible family and all Bianca wants is to get her daughter out. The story also includes Bianca’s missing husband Zane, and due to spoilers I won’t tell you what happens, but I will say Zane was my least favorite character in the story.
The other characters were also interesting, although their backstories aren’t as heavy as Bianca’s. Kim Masters is a cat lover who always goes home to visit her cats. Kaycee Flame is the trans character who is worried about those she left behind finding out about her true nature. James Sparks was a talented aircraft designer who was betrayed by his boss at work. John Song is an aggressive soldier who died by suicide. And finally, Bart Bartholomew is a laid-back hippie who loves to surf and play video games. Each one brought something unique to the story, although in this volume those character strokes are rather broad and we don’t get a lot of details about their lives.
So why did I only rate this three stars? Well, for one, I found the overall story to be rather fractured and hard to grasp, which again might just be the nature of the graphic novel format. It took a while to figure out what was going on as the story jumps around quite a bit, going from present to past and back again. The sections in the past are great to fill us in on the characters’ backstory, but visually they came out of nowhere and were sometimes more confusing than illuminating. I also had trouble understanding some of the artwork. It seems like the characters are encased in a weird ghostly bubble whenever they are out on an assignment, but I don’t think that was ever explained (or I simply missed it!). Other parts of the world-building left me scratching my head as well, like the mechanics of the spectres getting from place to place and the actual reanimation process, which was like poof! You’re reanimated!
The story arc was a little vague as well, and I didn’t get a true sense of growing tension. There is an action-packed ending involving other Spectre teams from around the world, but it just wasn’t fleshed out enough to be truly engaging.
It’s very possible that I simply missed a lot because of the format and not having a lot of experience reading graphic novels, so do give this a try if you are a fan. This is only the first in a series, and I have to admit I’m a little curious to see what happens next.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
Too bad you didn’t love this graphic novel more. I don’t read a lot of graphic novels, it happens very rarely but if I can recommend one to you: Illegal by Eoin Colfer & Andrew Donkin. It’s a really good one!
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…June 2020 Of Books Giveaway Hop (INTL)
I’ll definitely check it out, thanks!
I did try a few graphic novels now and then, but like you I ended up with a formless feeling of… not so much dissatisfaction, but rather the sensation that something was missing. Maybe it’s a matter of getting into the graphic format and forgetting the bookish one… 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…STORMBLOOD (The Common #1), by Jeremy Szal
Yeah, exactly. I feel like I missed something.
Not every format will work for all of us (audiobooks are another example), and I don’t think there’s any problem in that. But kudos to you for continuing to try them. It’s certainly possibly you just haven’t found the right one yet, but it’s also possible the format just doesn’t work for you. Either way, it was a well-rounded review, so thanks for that.
Chances are I’ll try another one someday:-)
This is a very fair-minded review, Tammy and I am hugely admiring that you are persevering. Yes – I am aware that there is a lot of sub-text within each illustration. My eldest grandson is a fan and he has explained the nuances, which I simply miss, so I think this is a format that doesn’t suit me, either.
I think it’s just one of those things you need to practice, like audio. I still don’t feel that comfortable with audio either, but I haven’t listened to enough of them.
I love graphic novels but sometimes the design and format is not something I am a fan of and makes it harder to enjoy.
I wasn’t that crazy about the artwork and that was part of the problem.
I really enjoyed this one — I thought it was such a creative premise, and you’re right, the bits that followed and focused on the characters and who they were, were fascinating.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! I did love a lot of the ideas, it’s just the execution that didn’t work as well for me.
Aww, I’m sorry that the comic book format doesn’t work well for you. Did you read a digital or physical copy? I think the digital version can be very helpful for readers to easily follow the story panels and the illustrations are sometimes crisper there too.
I have a physical copy, so maybe that’s part of the problem.
I don’t really read many graphic novels either. As much as I enjoy looking at the art, I just never seem to get into the stories as much as I do with a regular novel format.
Suzanne @ The Bookish Libra recently posted…Weekly Recap #157: Week of 5/31 – 6/6
It’s definitely a different way to read a story, and I guess it doesn’t work for everyone.
Shame this didn’t work out for you. Probably not for me either tbh.
Lynn 😀
I think I need more practice with graphic novels, lol.
This one looks kind of interesting, sorry that it didn’t quite work out for you. Maybe next time!
And maybe if I read the next installment it might make more sense to me:-)