✦•┈๑⋅⋯ Silent Jenny by Mathieu Bablet ⋯⋅๑┈•✦

• 3.5/5 ☆ •

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── Silent Jenny is one of those books that’s incredibly easy to admire, even when parts of it didn’t fully click for me as a reader. The amount of talent and detail poured into this graphic novel is undeniable. The artwork is stunning, intricate, atmospheric, and full of emotion. Every page feels crafted with intention, and the worldbuilding around climate change, loss, and survival is both powerful and relevant.

The concept itself is fascinating, and I can absolutely see why this story resonates deeply with other readers. There’s a quiet beauty in the way it explores a changed world and the emotional weight that comes with it.

Where I struggled was with the pacing and with my connection to the story. I found myself appreciating the craft more than I was enjoying the actual reading experience. The storytelling felt a little too distant for me, and the emotional heaviness made it harder to stay fully invested. 

Even so, I don’t think this is a bad graphic novel, far from it. It’s creative, thoughtful, and visually stunning. It didn’t fully match my tastes, but I can see its strengths clearly. ── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

If you like:

✔️ atmospheric worlds ✔️ graphic novels with unique art ✔️ quiet, introspective storytelling ✔️ post apocalyptic themes  ✔️ slow, reflective pacing ✔️ stories rooted in loss and survival

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

📅 Pub Day: Oct 16, 2026 📚 💌 ARC gifted via NetGalley from Oni Press. All opinions are my own.

✦•┈๑⋅⋯ Claustrophobis by Evan Jameson ⋯⋅๑┈•✦

• 2.5/5 ☆ •

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── The beginning of this book hooked me right away. The writing is sharp, the atmosphere is unsettling in the best way, and the setup feels like it’s building toward something dark and claustrophobic. I was fully in. The tension, the mystery, the strange little details, it all worked.

And everything slowed to a crawl.

The middle section slows things down considerably. Scenes start repeating themselves. The same ideas circle over and over. The pacing loses its edge, and the dread that felt so tight early on just… stalls. Some of the rules around the horror elements feel inconsistent too, which makes the stakes feel softer instead of sharper. It’s like the book keeps promising escalation but never quite delivers on it.

There are still flashes of what made the opening so strong. The writing stays solid. The atmosphere stays eerie. The premise is genuinely cool. But the momentum never fully recovers, and by the end I felt more tired than tense.

Overall, a strong start weighed down by a sluggish middle. Not a bad read, but not one that held me all the way through. ── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

If you like:

✔️ stories with strong openings ✔️ slow creeping horror ✔️ atmospheric dread ✔️ unsettling creature lore ✔️ isolated settings ✔️ horror that takes its time

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

📅 Pub Day: June 05, 2026 📚 💌 ARC gifted via NetGalley from Witching Hole Publications. All opinions are my own.