Member Reviews
Bury the Lede was very interesting but it suffered greatly due to how short it was. The LGBTQ+ and POC rep was nice, the mystery/thriller aspect was good, but the plot could have been more fleshed out. Still, this was absolutely gorgeous!
When I had my first glimpse of Gaby Dunn's `Bury the Lede´, I was struck by its gorgeous, vibrant and visually stunning story panels. Then I actually started reading it. The twists and turns keep you guessing, the story will draw you in and leave you wondering not only who the guilty party truly is; but leave you pondering right, wrong, justice, injustice, guilt and innocence. And above all, are some crimes justifiable and is justice ever really served? The characters were unique and definitely not always likable and found myself alternating between empathy and disgust at times. Not all the characters were as fleshed out as they could've been, but they weren't one-dimensional either. All in all, worth a read and a gorgeous graphic novel.
I was given a free copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The artwork in this book was beautiful, but I didn't love the story. It felt very confusing. But the premise was interesting and I haven't seen many Mystery graphic novels around.
That was fun and interesting. I wish it was a bit longer, though.
The art was good; I really liked the cover and the first pages' design. I loved the diversity of the characters, lots of POC and LGBTQ+ rep and even some dialogue in Spanish!
I loved the plot twists and Dahlia's character was great. A lot of strong and powerful women were presented here, although their ethic might vary.
This wasn't the type of book I normally pick up, but I've enjoyed Gaby Dunn's prior works and I was curious to see how this compared. I didn't end up loving it. I liked the art style, but I thought the story was disjointed and hard to follow. I was often confused about what was happening, and I think I missed a lot of the plot because of that. The ending wasn't satisfying to me because I had been lost for so much of the story.
This was just an OK read for me. Madison is an intern at a local newspaper when a local socialite is accused of murder. She sets out to cover the story and the accused will only talk with her. The story fell flat and the artwork was too dark. The story had a lot of holes, got confusing and was unbelievable.
Unfortunately this book was archived before I had a chance to read it. I would really like to read this comic one day.
Though the art style is beautiful and captivating, the plot line falls short. It felt very hard to follow and jumbled. I often had to go back and reread sections to ensure I was following the plot correctly and often did not understand the characters motives or intentions.
Bury the Lede is proof that good representation, decent plot, and sexiness are not enough to make a story interesting. Unfortunately I was very bored during this investigative story. Yeah there are dead people; but I don't know them and so I don't care. I could barely bring myself to care about our leading gal; especially after she started betraying many people around her.
The theory here is that there is nothing a young reporter won't do for a story. And so our leading gal ventures into jail to speak to an accused murderer, seduces cops, and fights for her name to appear in print (even while having relations with her queer co-worker). The best part of this graphic novel is definitely her fellow reporter who describes herself as a 'queer woman'. She appears to work hard, love kindly, and fight for her right to exist and be recognized. Meanwhile our leading gal is bumbling around causing issues for those around her.
The artwork is also pretty bland here. I think Gaby Dunn was going for a noir look but it didn't come through. Instead it just felt like muddy pages of boring dialogue and characters (minus one). There's no defining moment, plot climax or build-up to the conclusion. Sadly Bury the Lede feels like a boring 60s cop show that was plunked onto a comic book page and had a queer female thrown in for good measure.
Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.
A solid 3.5.
The art was fantastic, the rep was even better, but the plot felt a little lacking. It was still an interesting read.
I really enjoyed this. I loved the artwork, it was gorgeous and fit the story. The story itself was intriguing, if a bit messy. There's a lot of characters but I was easily able to follow. There's some humour and great LGBTQIA+ rep.
3.5 stars
A sometimes confusing thriller/crime story about a young intern reporter following up on a grisly murder, while pushing herself to take more and more drastic actions.
Madison is an intern at The Boston Lede, a local paper, and she is assigned to the case of a woman supposedly murdering her husband and son. Madison think the alleged murderer is covering for some reason and hasn't murdered anyone. Madison soon starts making dubious decisions, that seem to push her over the line. How important is being a reporter to her? Important enough to hurt and alienate the ones she loves?
Madison regularly talks to Dahlia Kennedy, the alleged murderer, who is in jail and basically out-Lecters Hannibal Lecter in the insane killer department. And when I say regularly, I mean regularly - I have no prison experience myself (no, really..!), but the ease with which Madison gets to speak to Kennedy seems kind of nuts.
Madison also develops a thing for the female reporter she's working with, and with a male cop who functions as a source - it's interesting to see her exploring her sexuality, although it seems to link more to her unscrupulous manipulation of others for her own ends.
This is a twisty, twisty tale, and there are a LOT of characters. I have to say it all got a bit confusing. I'm not entirely sure what to think of the denouement of the crime story, it feels a bit unconvincing, as if there's some narrative sleight of hand being played.
But the crime story isn't the main point of the book, I think - it's about a young woman finding herself, and the personal cost of that. And it tells that story quite nicely.
A pretty good story with a good cast of characters. There felt like a lot to take in and the story was messy and all over the place, and I know that was the point, but it made it hard to read.
I was so excited to receive this book from NetGalley, it had been on my radar for a while.
We are following a young reporter for this newspaper as she lands an interview with a prominent woman suspected for the killing of her husband and her young son. But nothing is as it seems and the story runs deeper than Madison ever expected.
I loved the illustrations in this novel, I felt the style was so fitting to the story.
The mystery itself is quite intricate, twisty, and a bit unexpected, very enjoyable.
Madison is bi, we have two love interests vying for her attention. Really great LGBTQIA+ rep.
Overall, I really enjoyed this. My only complaint was that it was so short!! I wanted it to be a little bit longer.
3.5 stars
**ARC Provided by Boom Studios via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I’m starting to think that perhaps Gaby Dunn can do no wrong.
I became aware of her when she guested on a podcast I enjoy, which led me to her podcast, then her book, then her YA novels with Allison Raskin, and finally to this delightful foray into graphic novels.
While this lacks the sweet charm and employs less riotous humor than the I Hate Everyone But You series, I enjoyed the clever plot and more adult humor.
The plot is perhaps a bit over ambitious for a graphic novel and thus becomes confusing at times, but in the end it felt satisfying. And while (as a journalist myself) I wouldn’t exactly call it a realistic portrait of what we do, it captures the spirit of the profession well and offers the opportunity for those of us in the business to laugh at ourselves through a charmingly absurdist lens.
Oh, and the art is fantastic.
Went into this blind and enjoyed myself. The title is fitting of the story and the mood of the story - modern noir reporter complete with mysterious women and questionable ethics. All to get the story, all to tell the truth. It was quick and punchy. The illustrations fit the tone/mood of the story and the dialogue/words were balanced (nothing overly verbose). I wonder where it will go in the next installment and if we can get another character's perspective.
I absolutely love the cover for this the colors are beautiful and made me want to read it but the story kind of fell flat to me.
Madison’s a college intern that somehow gets the high profile murder to ? Also said murder only talks in riddles? The twist at the end was interesting but I doubt I’ll read the next volume
Dunn’s graphic novel follows journalist Madison Jackson during her internship at the fictional Boston Lede. Madison’s internship is uneventful, until an alleged murderer – a femme fatale socialite – chooses to speak about her crimes to Madison and ONLY Madison. What follows is Madison getting sucked in to a web of deceit as she searches for the truth, and attempts to make a name for herself as a journalist in the process.
Roe’s illustrations suit Dunn’s tone for the graphic novel: shadowy, sharp lines, muted colours – like a colourized film noir. Another plus is that the cast of the story is diverse: racially and sexually, which is expected from outspoken queer activist Dunn. It’s a welcome bonus when a book has respectful diverse representation, but I can’t recommend this graphic novel based on representation alone.
While the story keeps you guessing, it leaves you with a bittersweet ending that’s more bitter than sweet. The plot felt a little stiff and gimmicky – leaning to shock and edginess where there could have been nuance. As a result, I felt like both the characters and the plot were underdeveloped.
Going into this book I expected a pulpy noir whodunit, and instead got a much more grim story. To be fair, I’m not a fan of true crime, and that might have affected my enjoyment of the story.
As others have stated, this book does come with trigger warnings including drugging, and child abuse. I didn’t feel that these topics were treated tastefully, and their inclusion left a bad taste in my mouth.
This graphic novel misses the mark for me, but the art style and representation was enjoyable.
This was pretty boring and I didn't really enjoy this that much. There were a few problematic things in it from the main characters that didn't get addressed by the end and the plot was overall a little too unbelievable.
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Madison Jackson wants to be a reporter – and she’ll do anything to get there.
This is an interesting story marred by a disappointing narrator. Madison’s determination to succeed leads her to making questionable choices and involving herself in morally ambiguous relationships. The story about Dahlia and the murders is interesting, and Madison’s POV is intriguing, but the choices that she made left me cold at the end and happy to wash my hands of the story. The artwork and dialogue are nice, and I appreciated the diverse cast of characters that peopled the tale. I do think that this story might possibly have been better as a prose novel than as a graphic novel.