Book Review: Sabrina by Nick Drnaso

Quote: Do you have my book?
Yeah thanks for reminding me.
What did you think?
there were some interesting ideas but I felt empty when it was over.

Sabrina, 27, goes missing and it's the story of the aftermath of her murder. Her younger sister Sandra is trying to cope up, Sabrina's boyfriend of two years Teddy has a nervous breakdown and moves to his friend Calvin's place in Colorado and ghosts his house in underpants.

This is more a novel than a graphic novel. Rather a novel that has images in it. A typical American crime dramedy story you watch on Discovery Crime files. Throw in insensitive paparazzi, alternative facts, real news, fake news, conspiracy theorists, self-proclaimed experts on radio and ahem ahem American Herd Mentality on social media: you have a novel.

While the missing case gets solved, the murderer found and video of crime getting downloaded by 5million people, I did feel the fear. This is real life, it is happening right in front of my eyes. The online trolls/investigative theorists questions the authenticity of the video, they question the authenticity of Sabrina's existence, ask the suffering boyfriend to speak out and send death threats to Sandra, and Calvin for uttering Sandra's name in place of Sabrina's because he was irritated by reporters.

But does this story give us anything new?

No.

We have had better graphic novels, with much greater art. The art is too clean and clinical, almost reminding of a detached House of Cards' world. The colour play and detailing is the bare minimum, a finer form of the same style can be seen in Ritu Modan's books. Some paneling was good where the dialogue box forces the character to a corner. The lettering was definitely annoying!

And the characters, sad to say, were too white. We have hardly ten characters who speak, only Sandra's lover had a slight trace of colour. When we have read graphic novels of different kinds over the years, with great themes and political narratives, this book was disappointing by the existing standard. The meta-fiction ending was predictable from the very first and only conversation Sabrina has with Sandra.

I wonder what made Booker pick it for the long list.

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