Faeries Are Among Us and Guess Who Can See Them! Review of the Graphic Novel: The Good Neighbors: Kin

The Good Neighbors – Book One: Kin by Holly Black & Ted Naifeh

Publisher's Description: Rue Silver's mother has disappeared . . . and her father has been arrested, suspected of killing her. But it's not as straightforward as that. Because Rue is a faerie, like her mother was. And her father didn't kill her mother -- instead, he broke a promise to Rue's faerie king grandfather, which caused Rue's mother to be flung back to the faerie world. Now Rue must go to save her -- and must also defeat a dark faerie that threatens our very mortal world.

Book Review: While I read graphic novels more for the story than for the artwork, I do realize that they are generally short stories that move quickly through the paces. So, I try not to pick on the parts that would normally be a flaw in storytelling within a novel. This book does have several of those jumps that make it hard for me to rationalize the story.

All of that aside, the idea of the story is what is best about this book. I am a fan of Holly Black’s other works and her storytelling skills carry over into this book. The story of a girl discovering who she truly is and not wanting it, but accepting responsibility anyways is a familiar one, but with Black’s writing and Naifeh’s artwork it is transformed into something new.

This is only the opening of the story, as more in the series are to come, but I still feel that this book would have been better as a novel. There isn’t enough substance for me to care about the main character, Rue, or to hate any others. The characters aren’t filled out enough for me. It feels like you are watching the opening credits to a TV show, so you know who’s who, but nothing more. The follow-up, Kith, will hopefully expand more on the characters and get into some of the action that I am waiting for.

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