Problems with the document make this impossible to read.

Namely, the text font is very tiny, but when you zoom in on it in order to read, the text stays blury and it is impossible to actually read.

This was a problem that occured both on my phone and computer, and in several programs, so I suppose it is the document.

I am really sad to report that I was not able to read this graphic novel.

I was very much so looking forward to it because I think Nellie Bly is such a unique and interesting woman and her story being put into a graphic novel sounded wonderful.

However, upon downloading the eARC, I was not able to read the text of the story due to image text pixelation. I tried on both a Kindle download and from the NetGalley Shelf app, but they had the same result.

I hope to have a chance to read this graphic novel in the future.

The tile and description of this graphic novel really intrigued me so I was delighted to learn I received a copy of this eARC. Nellie Bly is a person I know nothing about. Her life as an investigative journalist sounds fascinating. Unfortunately, I had the hardest time reading the eARC. No matter which platform I used, or how much I zoomed in, the text was next to impossible to read. The illustrations are great, and I'm sure they will look even better when published in full color. I may continue my attempt at deciphering the text bubbles, but frankly, I may just have to wait until publication to read the physical copy.

I was looking forward to reading this graphic novel because Nellie Bly is a fascinating woman. I was a bit disappointed to see that the translation was nearly impossible to read at times throughout the novel. I the artwork is lovely and the idea of having a young lady interview Bly to weave the story together was very well done. I will still likely hand sell this cover, but I will warn readers that the wording is a bit dicey throughout.

I really wanted to love this graphic novel. Its focus on pioneering investigative journalist Nellie Bly is an important one. But the translation to both Kindle and NetGalley Shelf apps made it impossible to read. Also, color appeared on the covers only, making the black and white interior pages even harder to peruse. But don’t despair if Nellie intrigues you, as she should. The entire comic will be in full color once published this March, adding vibrance to match its extraordinary subject. Until then ...

3 of 5 Stars

Pub Date 02 Mar 2021
#TheIncredibleNellieBly #NetGalley

Thanks to the authors, Abrams ComicArts, and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are mine.

I was really excited to get approved for this ARC. However, the poor quality of the ARC means I cannot read the font. I have zoomed in all the way and it is too blurry to read. I'm happy to review in full if a higher quality copy is uploaded.

It's 1921, thirty some odd years after Nellie Bly's expose on mental institutions and 1 year before her death. A young student from Columbia's School of Journalism dares to ring Nellie Bly's door pleading for an interview.

I believe that Cimino chose to use this device to show that although Nellie Bly may have opened the door for women in journalism that it still needed to be pushed even wider open for others to follow behind her. That there still existed many obstacles for women in the workforce.

In this graphic novel we learn about Nellie Bly's childhood, her voyage around the world and her coverage of corruption in politics.

As an ARC, it was quite difficult to read the print. I downloaded different versions - pdf, epub - but the results were the same. Pixelated fonts that become more blurry as you zoomed in. Conversation bubbles with darker backgrounds were for the most part indecipherable. I do not know if this is a problem inherent with graphic novels, but at this point I will reserve my galley requests of graphic novels to print copies only.

As a novel, I found that there were as many pages dedicated to Nellie Bly's outfit as there was to her time on Blackwell Island. I know that Cimino was trying to point out how the world judges women based on appearance but feel there should have been a better use of space. In covering Nellie Bly's life Cimino jumps around touching on too many topics. None of these are discussed in enough detail to give the reader perspective. On some topics I took the liberty of looking them up. Belva Lockwood - second woman to run for the office of President of the united States. The Teapot Dome Scandal and bribery in the Harding Administration. Edward Phelps, the "Lobby King". All of these are subjects that could be whole novels in their own right. By skimming the surface I am not sure Cimino does history or her readers any justice.

The graphics of the galley were in black and white. I do not take issue with this. Sergio Algozzino's artwork and attention to the fashion of the times is still clear.

I love the story of Nellie Bly, a journalist who did amazing things despite being a woman in harrowing times.

However, because of the quality of the ARC it is hard to say whether it is as good as I'd like to think it was. The text was unreadable. It was only because I knew her life's story that I was able to make out what was happening in the book.

The framing is that Nellie is being interviewed a year before she dies, about her life, by a student. Not sure why this framing was used, since Nellie's history is amazing in itself. She went into an insane asylum to show how they mistreated patients, by being one herself. She traveled by herself around the world in less than 80 days, to show that woman could do what a fictional character had done.

It could easily have been told differently, but wasn't. I would still say the work is worth picking up just to learn about this amazing woman, and her real life at the turn of the last century.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Have you ever heard of Nellie Bly?

If the answer is no, don’t feel bad. The majority of us – sadly – won’t know her name or the things she accomplished in her life. And that’s why we should all read this graphic novel.

The Incredible Nellie Bly is an illustrated biography of the first woman to become an undercover investigative journalist in the second half of 1800s. Bly was also the first woman to travel around the world in 72 days, on her own. All of this and even more adventures is what we can read in this graphic novel, written by the Italian journalist Luciana Cimino and illustrated by Sergio Algozzino.

The most famous episode from Bly’s life and career involves a Manhattan female asylum. Bly pretended to suffer from mental health conditions so she could be admitted in the hospital and carry on her research and investigation from within the institution. Needless to say, what she uncovered about the conditions the patients were kept in the hospital were horrific.

The way we get to know Nellie is fictitious. Miriam, a young journalist, is interviewing an elderly version of Nellie, so we constantly jump between the end of the Nineteenth century and the 1920s.

Feminism, civil rights and gender gap are some of the main themes involved in the narration.

Although aimed at giving information about Bly’s life, some of the passages seem to be somehow scholastic, looking more like a list of events, but nonetheless enjoyable. The novel is never boring and it keeps the reader trapped in its pages with Nellie.

Fun fact: some of the articles we can read throughout the novel are actual articles written by Nellie Bly of some of her colleagues at the time.

From a graphic point of view, it is interesting to notice how the colours and lines chosen by Algozzino give the reader vintage and at the same time investigative vibes with the blue and green alternated to yellow illustrations.

The Incredible Nellie Bly is a great historic graphic novel. Bly’s career and life are still inspiring for all the young women stepping into journalism even to this day, as it shows how women could never take their right for granted and have always had to fight for them, then and now.

Upon reading the NetGalley synopsis, I knew right away this was a book for me. A non-fiction graphic novel based on a female who independently rewrote history. #girlpower

Pushing past the boundaries of the time, Nellie became a well renowned female journalist. She wrote about groundbreaking topics such as corruption, the poor, and unfair treatment of women. Her pivotal journalistic moment came in 1887 when feigning insanity, she committed herself to an Asylum. In this grandiose move, she was then able to expose living conditions and cruelty to patients in such a facility. This precipitated an investigation and brought to light much needed improvements of these institutions and more importantly, patient care.

As if that wasn’t historic enough in its own right, she also made a trip around the world in 72 days. What couldn’t she do? A feminist, a pioneer and one hell of a historical figure.

In regards to this arc, I am a bit distressed at the fact that the speech balloons were extremely hard to read. I tried the iPhone, iPad and Kindle with zero improvement. Ultimately, reading the storyline was impossible.

My rating is based on graphics and what little I could get out of the story.

On a positive note, I will be purchasing the physical copy as Nellie Bly was a force to be reckoned with and someone I’d love to learn more about.

I enjoyed this so much! It was so fun to read, I loved how it told the story of Nellie through the lens of an interview with her older self and a journalist. I've always loved Nellie Bly, and I absolutely thought that this told her story in a fun but still beautiful and informative way. I think my only issue was that it was in black and white, which it won't be when fully published, and the e-book was a bit hard to read at times with how small the text was, but it didn't take away anything from the story. Overall, I loved this so much, and will be getting a physical copy for myself and my niece, because it's such a fun way to tell kids these stories.

Perfect for fans of WHY SHE WROTE.

I was very excited to read this visual biography of the groundbreaking female investigative journalist Nellie Bly. I’ve heard about her undercover investigation in an insane asylum and her journey alone around the world, so I was looking forward to finding out more about this incredible woman.

The finished book is supposed to be printed in full color, but since my advance reader copy is black and white I can’t tell you much about the quality of illustrations. I mean, they were beautiful! However, I’ve no idea what the final product will look like. To make matters even worse, the text was so blurry that I wasn’t able to read this novel despite Zooming In.

I can tell you that it looks very promising! I added this graphic novel to my to-read list. However, given the quality of my advance reader copy, I’m incapable of properly reviewing this book. I guess I’ll have to get my hands on the published copy!

(I gave it four stars only because I’ve no idea what’s written in this book. What if the text is terrible?)

E-galley was provided by NetGalley for an honest review. Thank you so much!

I was looking forward to this but I couldn't read it due to the quality of the e-arc. It was unreadable. Hopefully, I can get the book and actually give it a good read as well as a review.

The premise and concept of the book s intriguing and I am very interested in learning more about Nellie Bly. Unfortunately the formatting of the digital copy made the book challenging to read. The graphics were clear but the text was not which made reading laboursome and detract red from my enjoyment of the book which unfortunately affects the overall rating. I do believe that a print copy would offer greater clarity and be a lovely feminist graphic novel highlighting an important women.
My thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC.

I was really excited to read this graphic novel on Nellie Bly because her story is really inspirational. I wanted to know more about her life, her struggles and accomplishments.

I think this book has covered her life's journey. in the most amazing way possible. The author has done extensive research which is remarkable and the artwork is also good.

Unfortunately the the state of the digital copy I received wasn't good. There were issues in clarity which did cause problems while reading. I really do hope those issues are rectified.

Thank You NetGalley and ABRAMS for this e-ARC!

The egalley I received was badly formatted and I was unable to read the text. I enjoyed the art but could not enjoy the book to its fullest without the text. So the rating is reflective only of the formatting and not the content

The egalley I received was very badly formatted and I couldn’t read the text at all. I enjoyed just looking at the art and wish I could read the text that accompanies it as well. The rating is reflective only of the format and jot the content of the book as I was unable to read it and I am rating it only because it’s mandatory while giving feedback

Unfortunately the book was so badly formatted when I tried to open it that I was not able to read it properly.

I’m very interested in this book and can’t wait for it to get published. I’d heard of Nellie Bly before but wanted to know even more about her, and I thought this would be the perfect way.

Unfortunately the formatting of my arc was weird and the words were slightly blurry, and I was unable to read some of them. I will not be able to give an accurate review at this time because I was not able to fully finish the book. I am hoping that I will get a chance to read this once it is published.

While I'm sure this is a great book sadly the words were blurry and squeezed very tight together in the ebook form on NetGalley therefore I'm unable to give an accurate review. Sorry.