I enjoyed this short graphic novel. I am glad that I was able to read this and find out more about Ukraine and the beginnings of the war that fell upon them.
I would recommed this book to anyone that wants to know what happened before the news coverage.

There is not much I can say about this book. The artwork is lovely and makes it feel like a pure graphic novel but you get the emotion behind everything that is being told from the author's perspective.

I would not change anything about this book. I wish that it had more coverage and that more people knew about it.

Messages from Ukraine is a snapshot of a series of human connections in the early days of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. We watch the responses roll in as author Gregg Bucken-Knapp, a professor at the University of Gothenburg, texts his Ukrainian alumni, asking them if they would like help coming to Sweden. The responses, illustrated in black and white by Joonas Sildre, range from many declarations of wanting to stand and fight, stay and help, to requests for supplies, to a few who where out of the country already, to a smaller number interested in the Swedish offer.

The illustrations are simple, which emphasizes the lack of details in the text - some of the alumni stay to help, and the artist draws multiple versions of what that vague statement might mean. It also lends an extra innocence to the portraits of people's children, elders, and pets (dogs, cats, even a gerbil).

Since it is a short book illustration very brief interactions over a fairly short span of time, there isn't a lot of depth here. But what the book does do, it does well.

"Messages from Ukraine" is a short but engaging book that may introduce some readers to Russia's ongoing war on Ukraine. It contains a helpful discussion guide.

Thank you to NetGalley and University of Toronto Press for access to a digital copy of Messages from Ukraine by Gregg Bucken-Knapp and Joonas Sildre in exchange for an honest review.

CW: war

This was such a deeply personal and emotional collection of letters and updates from Ukrainian citizens in the immediate aftermath of the Russian invasion. The vulnerability, strength, and resilience of these messages are resounding.

My only criticism is that I wish the publication of the book would have been pushed a little later so that the authors may have had the opportunity to include additional follow up. Since it's still an ongoing world event, this is very much a live document which will have value over time and be able to offer insights about the beginning days of the conflict, but it could be added to.

Sadly, this didn't do anything for me; I wanted to love it, because the publisher's writeup made it sound like it was right up my alley. I'm often happy to accept the fact that books require to be read at the right time, and that might be the case here. I also freely admit that graphic novels sometimes just don't reach me.

Out of the many books to come from the invasion of Ukraine, this had the potential to be one of the surprisingly effective and affecting. It might have still managed that, but for several things. The graphic novel aspect of this is barely 60%, and it's not at all long – but do bear in mind the charitable aspect of this. What we have is one man issuing an open door invite to many Ukrainians he knew courtesy of an academic project that helps workers in the refugee, internally displaced and suchlike kind of person field. With Putin's bulldogs at their heels he said succour and a roof could be had in Sweden, and the book adds interpretative imagery to the feedback that mention inspired.

So some say 'no, I'm stopping here where I'm needed', and the artist poses the question as to whether she is therefore in a soup kitchen or yielding a semi-automatic. Some just ask for what they need to give help to others, some might want to leave but cannot, some are definitely on the move. We only drop in slightly to these lives, before finding someone else's response to the suggestion of asylum.

The big deal is that this is better, more interesting and really quite successfully done enough to be of appeal to the General Browser, such as me. The big deal is also that the rest of the book is the subtext and context to this – a timeline, an interview with the creatives who respond in the third person, academically – and this drains the impact from the main pages. Not only does it devolve into a discussion of "comics-based research strategies", and how people can present graphic novels as part of academic discussion of histories and autobiographies, and so on, but it admits the responses have been cropped to just one or two for the purposes of fitting with what the artist wanted to make, and fuller, more rounded narratives provided by the subjects of this have ended up on the cutting room floor.

All told this shows the Ukrainian flavour – the flag is here in grey and white but we damn well know just what shades of colour are on it, after all this time – and we see the lack of consensus in this oddly-selected small group of young, refugee-minded workers and students. They are here speaking from themselves, right in the bloody moment, and of course sort of speaking for Ukraine full stop. But the book offers no full stop before going to the high-falutin' discourse about it all, which is certainly not what the average commuter would want to pick up of a morning. In trying to do too many things at once, and in disguising the editing too much, reducing our links to the characters concerned, this was a curate's egg, and no mistake. But like all interesting failures, it did manage to be have something that remained interesting.

Rather than saying I love this book, I'm going to say I'm glad to hear some authentic voices. Wishing everyone in Ukraine all the best. Love from Myanmar.

This was an interesting read. It's a collection of messages sent in the first few weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine that started in February 2022.

A professor from Sweden reached out to alumni from a program that was hosted in Ukraine and offered them places to stay in Sweden, and this is a series of responses he received. It shows the range of feelings and reactions the people in Ukraine experienced including the determination to stay and fight and provide support or to get as far away from the fighting as possible. It highlights the displacement of war, the love of country, and resilience of people.

It's a short read, and at the end features some information about how and why the collection was made. As well as a study guide, which I could see being useful for a younger audience to discuss in class or at home, or even just critically think about on their own.

Proceeds from the sale of Messages from Ukraine will go to the Canada-Ukraine Foundation, a national charitable foundation that provides humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine.

***Thank you to University of Toronto Press for providing me with the ePub for free via NetGalley for an unbiased review.

"Messages from Ukraine" follows the tradition of Joe Sacco's graphic journalism with great stride. The art is wonderful and recoups that journalistic feel when reading an op-ed or watching witness accounts. This book is great teaching tool for war studies and exploring trauma. Highly recommended.

I loved the content of this book. It is so important to have Ukrainian voices and stories heard, not just what is on the news. I appreciated the information in the back of the book, as well as the timeline of events. I would have liked more detail for a least a couple people. The format was very quick jumping from person to person. But having one or two people guiding the story could’ve added to the impact.

This was an incredible book which for me was all about human beings and the varied and valid choices they make when faced with something as horrific as war on their doorstep. The daily lives and choices feel both surreal and so relatable. From a mother trying to relocate herself and her son, to people choosing to stay to help in whatever way they can and the prays that their loved ones stay safe. I hope people read this and have even more compassion for these who find themselves on wars doorstep and choose to help no matter how far away they feel from the conflict.

I'll leave you with this final remark from the book:
"For now the only aim is to live through the airstrike."

It is somewhat fragmentary, due to its format, but the expressive images are powerful and timely reminders of Putin's war crimes in Ukraine. Full review here: http://www.jbspins.com/2022/10/messages-from-ukraine-in-comic-art-form.html

This book, a brief report on the first weeks of the (ongoing, as of this writing) Russo-Ukrainian War through the eyes of individual Ukrainian exchange students, is an interesting snapshot of a very specific moment in time. Its characters are quick sketches of real-life people, students who each make choices to relocate or not for a variety of understandable reasons (patriotism, pragmatism, simple survival). The book's overall approach is similarly matter-of-fact, its linework simple, its contents frank and clear-eyed (and not too graphic, making the book suitable for a young audience as well). Its briefness is simultaneously its greatest strength and weakness: it has the immediacy of a well-worded social media post, but it also feels a little brief. Nevertheless, it is an interesting addition to any library focusing on comics-as-documents and comics-as-ethnography, and those familiar with comics journalism can find things to appreciate. The accompanying timeline of events, literature and appendixes are also hugely useful and instructive.

I have mixed feelings about this. It seems to be more like a bunch of different message from people rather than a cohesive piece of literature readers could benefit from years from now. I would have liked to see perhaps more of a focus on a few people, and what happened to them (good or bad), or even more history. All told it seemed scattered.

A visual, graphic view depicting the early days of Russias onslaught of the invasion of Ukraine. What stands out are the diverse testimonials from the voices of people determined to survive this cruel expression of political gain.

This seemingly simple book with graphic illustrations shows a slice of Ukrainian reactions as their country is being invaded by Russia. The story opens with a colleague in another country offering refuge to Ukrainian friends who need to escape the war. The varied responses are heartbreaking and inspiring. Some are surrounded so can't get out, others have the care of family. Most though, while thankful for the kind offer of refuge, have no intention of leaving because they're staying and fighting, or staying and helping in the war effort in another way.

It's an interesting contrast: When Ukraine is attacked, its citizens stay and fight. When Putin says Russia is under attack, its citizens flee

This book is short and of course has no ending but it's a useful introduction for students who want to understand what it feels like to have your country attacked. The end notes include a discussion guide.

Timely and important.

Where to start? Probably by saying that reads about wars are far better consumed after those wars have happened. Which is not the case with this graphic novel. It portrays events that are happening right now (or I should say started approximately seven months ago) and makes it very up-to-date and important.

I am particularly fond of the way the authors portrayed people's reaction to the events that happened on February 24th, 2022. This resilience and desire to stand up for what mattes the most. I read somewhere that at that day each Ukrainian gained a family of not only their relatives, but every person that was in Ukraine. The whole country became your family.

The only thing, it felt like not enough, like the book needed to be a little longer. Although, the art style is very good for this type of story, as it gives you a mindspace to fill in colours to the story yourself.

ARC courtesy of NetGalley.

This graphic novel is a short but impactful selection of stories from Ukrainians around the world being impacted by the horrible Russian invasion. For me, it is an impactful story as I have a “sister” (so close but not blood) who is Ukrainian and had to flee the country. Her story is one of many, trying to find shelter in her home country but eventually having to leave and leave behind her family who wanted to stay. Hearing her story everyday and hoping that she was finding a refugee was something my family and I were witnessing every day. Thankfully she’s safe in Canada but her family is still there fighting to take back Ukraine. Although I don’t know that many of my students would read this graphic novel, I think it’s a powerful read about what is happening in Ukraine. What I loved most about it is it showcased how much Ukrainians value and love their country - it was something we saw with our sister and it shone through in these small stories.

Thank you to Net Galley and University of Toronto Press, UTP for the ARC.

At a time when we're hearing less about how the Russian war launched in Ukraine is progressing, this graphic novels puts it all back into perspective. This is a straight forward guide to the beginning of the war in Ukraine told through the eyes of Ukrainians to a sister organization colleague in Sweden. Their tales, which make up the graphic novel portion, are diverse and harrowing and you can't help but wonder the decisions you would make if faced with the same situation.

The second and third parts provide context to the escalation through a timeline of events and interviews with the people involved in the project helping to provide a better understanding of the facts of the invasion. Since all sides of the media are skewed in one direction or another, reading a first hand account reminded me how it all began and how far the Ukrainians have come.

Messages from Ukraine takes place in the following days and weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. I remember the first events in Ukraine shocked the entire world, and we couldn’t believe how this was even possible in the 21st century. Now, after over six months, war is not nearly over, and we all hope that this absurd war ends as soon as possible.

Gregg from SAYP (Swedish Institute Academy for Young Professionals) Program sent a message to Ukrainian SAYP Alumni and other Ukrainians to offer them help and support when the war started. Messages from Ukraine is a series of graphic vignettes, messages from Ukrainian people that are actually answers to Gregg’s message. These messages are pretty diverse, and the people who wrote them are very brave. Many don’t want to leave their country and want to help however they can.

Black and white illustrations present each message and the character that sent it in a moving way. In the end, there is more information: a timeline of events, an interview with the authors, and a study guide. The graphic novel is a quick read. It is moving, very sad, and also an inspiring read.

Thanks to University of Toronto Press for the ARC and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review and all opinions are my own.