Sheets // cute graphic novel about ghosts

I’m impressed. I wanted to read this ’cause I was attracted to the cover, and it was in the graphic novels category. I wanted to read it just for the illustration, because the cover is beautifully illustrated, methinks.

What I got was a story full of all sorts of emotions, character development, and hearty thematic goodness.

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

SheetsSheets by Brenna Thummler
Series: Sheets #1
Published by Oni Press on 28 August, 2018
Genre: Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic novels, Middle grade, Paranormal, Science fiction
# pages: 239
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads
Rating: ★★★★★

Marjorie Glatt feels like a ghost. A practical thirteen year old in charge of the family laundry business, her daily routine features unforgiving customers, unbearable P.E. classes, and the fastidious Mr. Saubertuck who is committed to destroying everything she’s worked for.

Wendell is a ghost. A boy who lost his life much too young, his daily routine features ineffective death therapy, a sheet-dependent identity, and a dangerous need to seek purpose in the forbidden human world.

When their worlds collide, Marjorie is confronted by unexplainable disasters as Wendell transforms Glatt’s Laundry into his midnight playground, appearing as a mere sheet during the day. While Wendell attempts to create a new afterlife for himself, he unknowingly sabotages the life that Marjorie is struggling to maintain.

World-building and story

Sheets is a bit of a slow-burn. The first part has to build the world up so the reader can understand it, but I feel it was executed quite well. I liked how there weren’t any long explanations of who so-and-so is, like I tend to see in a lot of American graphic novels and comics (and why I seldom read them). Instead, the world-building is well-placed, using pacing to sprinkle it it all about as the reader needs to know about it.

Marj’s POV is wordy at the beginning, but it’s neither unbearable nor too much; Thummler spends more time showing than telling.

Illustrations

The illustration style shown on the cover is what initially drew me in, so.~ I like Thummler’s style. There’s no same-face syndrome, which tends to trip me up a lot when I’m reading comics due to my difficulty remembering faces. I didn’t have to keep looking back over what I read to figure out whether this person was the same character as earlier, just in different clothing.

Overall

I don’t have a lot more to say than this. I really enjoyed reading Sheets. It’s a quick-paced book. I liked the themes in it, especially in regard to Wendell. I felt several different emotions, Mustache Head ticking me off the most, though I feel he is an important character considering the current US president. 👌

Also worth saying Paige Braddock read and reviewed this, and I read and reviewed her Jane’s World anthology in August.

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