The Incredible Nellie Bly - Review

 

Author: Luciana Cimino

Genre: Graphic Novel

Format: NetGalley

Pages: 144

Huge thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book for my honest review!

Before starting The Incredible Nellie Bly I only knew three things about Nellie Bly: her trip around the world in 72 days, her undercover story at the asylum, and she was one of the first women journalists. I love using graphic novels as a way to open the door on historic subjects I know little about. A jumping-off point, if you will.

And, that is exactly what The Incredible Nellie Bly is. I had no idea the amazing life this woman had, even really by today's standards she did some amazing things. The fact that she did it all during the Nineteenth century is even more impressive. She was a woman who didn't know when to quit, and she paved the way for women, not only in journalism, for years to come. I definitely need to read more about Nellie Bly's life, and thanks to the bibliography page at the I end I have a place start.

It also means that this book is very well researched. Not just about Nellie Bly's most famous achievements, but about the ones the footnotes of our history books don't talk about. Luciana Cimino does a wonderful of touching base on those moments but leaving you hanging a little bit. Enough information to make hungry for more and occasionally leaving you with questions. All the while not leaving too many holes in Bly's history. I want to know more about Bly's marriage and her life after returning to journalism. I want to know read the book she wrote, and I want to know more about what happened in that asylum.

I think Luciana Cimino chose a wonderful way to tell Bly's story. Not only she helping another female journalist, but the facts of Bly's life are being presented in a dry academic fashion. Bly is telling her own story, and choosing what she thinks are the most important things she did. Smaller things that lead to bigger things. 

Since my copy is an early edition the panels hadn't yet been colored, but the artwork was amazing even in black and white. I didn't struggle to tell the characters apart and they added lovely detail to the story being told. There were little details like newspaper clippings that added to the dialog being told. I honestly can't wait to see the book completely done in full color. I think it's going to be absolutely amazing! Just from the cover alone, I feel like it great visual addition to the story.

My biggest worry about this book was that it is a translated text. The Incredible Nellie Bly was originally written in Italian, and I've run into some disappointments with translations before. Luckily that wasn't a problem with this book and it followed wonderfully. My only real issue was the copy I received from Netgalley was so hard to read. The dialog was blurry and there was no way to zoom in and out to try and fix it. Luckily I'm used to deciphering questionable handwriting so I was able to stumble through it. 

But, all that means is I cannot wait to get a finished copy of this next year and re-read it. Because there were details I missed in the edition I received.

Buy, Borrow, or Skip: I say buy or borrow, whichever way you fit into your budget to read this book. It's definitely a graphic novel I'd love to add to my collection!

The Incredible Nellie Bly comes out on March 2, 2021!

  

HAPPY READING!!