"You live your life a certain way for so long and well, you forget what's a lie and what's the truth. You forget that there's more to life than just surviving."

Odessa is a graphic novel unlike any I've read before. I've never read a dystopian graphic novel before and I have to say: it's quite something seeing the dystopian ruins play out right in front of you as you read the book for the first time. Sure, many dystopian stories have been turned into movies, but there's something different about seeing the environment at the same time as you're experiencing the story for the first time. I really enjoyed this aspect of Odessa and I also liked that pink was the sole color that author Jonathan Hill picked for this story. Pink is not the color I would typically think of for a dystopian story, but it really worked.

Odessa tells the story of 18-year-old Virginia (Ginny) and her search for her mother. After an earthquake changed life as they knew it, Ginny's mother disappeared. For her birthday, Ginny gets a note and necklace from her mother and decides to leave her father and two younger brothers behind to search for her mom. Little does she know that her two little brothers followed her and she's about to have one heck of an adventure. Despite numerous warnings of the dangers of life outside her community, Ginny and her brothers are determined to find their Uncle Hank and their mother, Odessa. This journey is full of adventure, surprise, and danger.

I really enjoyed how this graphic novel asked the question: are humans good or evil? We don't really know based on our civilization but place those same humans in a dystopian society and you get a completely different story. I really enjoyed this story and was equally disappointed and thrilled to learn this story will be continued in another volume to come.

TW: violence, death, dead bodies