This was not for me. The story was all over and the artwork was not my cup of tea. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

I really wanted to get to this one, as it seemed interesting. This was requested when I first found out about NetGalley and I had requested so many ARCs that I could not get to all of them before they were archived. If I can find this somewhere for a reasonable price, I will try to get it!

This is a gripping tale that takes readers on a wild journey through the mysterious swamplands of Cypress Knee. With its fast-paced narrative and colorful characters, this book is a thrilling page-turner from start to finish. The writing style is casual and accessible, making it easy for readers to immerse themselves in the story. Whether you're a fan of suspense, adventure, or just looking for a captivating read, "Knee Deep Book One" is sure to satisfy. Get ready to be knee-deep in excitement as you delve into this enthralling world created by Joe Flood.

I had a hard time putting this graphic novel down. Right away we get a glimpse into this world, and it isn’t as nice as it seems. Cricket can’t seem to find anywhere to fit in, and keeps failing at each job they are given. When they make a rash decision, they wind up in a strange looking place. It is here they make a few friends, and come up with what they want to do next. As this graphic novel comes to a close, it is clear this adventure has only just begun.

4.5 Stars

Graphic novels bring a sense of nostalgia to me. My mom used to get me graphic novel versions of Shakespeare's plays, Pride and Prejudice and The Odyssey. These graphic novels were the stepping stones to me reading the unabridged versions of these novels but, they were also an experience in and of themselves, compelling me to read these novels countless amount of times. Knee Deep Book One evoked the same feeling in me - a need to read every panel again, to scrutinise how drawing characters like that would ever be possible for me and to just stare at the art style.

Not only nostalgic in the feelings it evokes but also with an amazing plot I think Knee Deep might have been one of my favourite reads this year. I love the incorporation of flashbacks, science and the ‘mystery parts’. However, I do have to say that this book gets boring at times because when the action isn’t there, the plot becomes deflated at times. It’s almost as if you’re going up a rollercoaster, you drop, you go fast and then you go really slow for some time. Apart from that, this book is a great read!

Read if you like, science fiction, great art and good action scenes!

Thank you, NetGalley and Oni Press for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Good, but I wish this had a little bit more of a cohesive arc for a first book! I like the world and the MC and I think there’s some very cool visual storytelling but it’s definitely lacking a clear problem/solution storyline which feels especially important in a middle grade age book! I will certainly read the next volume, though :)

2.5 stars

I had fun but not enough fun to keep going. This could be a good graphic novel for a kid who needs an introduction to non-mainstream comics. But for me this is where I stop.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I have no idea what I was expecting from this graphic novel, but it wasn’t what I got. This whole thing felt like a wild fever dream but without the fun parts. It’s not often I find myself bored when reading a graphic novel but that definitely happened here. Near the end I found myself skimming the pages because I just didn’t really care for the story.

I’m sad because the cover and title made this look and sound really cool, but it fell completely flat.

The art was ok but it didn’t blow me away or anything. Actually a lot of the time I thought there was too much happening on the page and it made action sequences hard to follow. Too much chaos.

I’ve come to realise recently that I’m a fan of more minimalistic art styles and having too much background detail really detracts from the story for me. This isn’t always the case as there are plenty of detailed art styles that I love (The Tea Dragon Society).

The story was all over the place. I can’t actually tell you what the overall arching it is, something to do with the destruction of humanity I think? The world building wasn’t done very well and a lot of information was crammed into too few pages.

Which is funny to say because my next opinion is that this is entirely too long. Considering it seemed to move at much too quick a pace, it feels like nothing happened. An impressive feat really. There were way too many pages that were just illustrations that did nothing to move the story along. You don’t need six pages of a fight to add action to the story, it was a bit much if you ask me.

There is definitely potential here but I’m not interested enough to continue the series.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

Knee Deep is a sci-fi / fantasy based graphic novel. I did enjoy the illustrations of this book, but the plot / storyline was lacking in some areas.
I'm not too sure what the target age is here to be honest.
The plot had some obvious holes.. and since this is book one, it is an unfinished story... which i'm not a huge fan of .

3 stars!

Knee Deep is a thought-provoking adventure novel that I'm sure kids will enjoy. However, I do feel like the target audience is not very clear. The illustrations are fun and well-drawn and are definitely for middle schoolers. However, the content in itself seems like it's geared toward high schoolers. This is because the storyline is confusing, and lacks solid worldbuilding, which can make it difficult for kids to understand what's going on.

3.5/5

- Huge thanks to the author and publisher for approving me a copy of this title through NetGalley -

Mixed feelings for this one.
It was a fine read but I didn't feel that spark while reading it.
I really liked the pace of this book because it's very fast, it's hard to get bored and the art was okay as well. We learn from the title that this is a "book one" and a book two is absolutely needed because:

1) the story is unfinished
2) there are many plot holes

Speaking of the plot, yes, there are many plot holes. I think that for the amount of ideas that were thrown into the story all together, there are way too many characters to handle.
The result is that all of them were pretty flat and sometimes it was hard to remember who was who.
And this connects to the fact that there are not many explanations of what was happening in general and this never helps when a book is a very fast read.

Definitely more infos were needed because I did feel lost, especially when the story was cut due to the end the book. I hoped for more explanations and maybe less characters but used better.
There are many ideas there but they are all over the places, they are left here and there and every time we think we found a main path, there's already a new addition to the story.

Not gonna lie but I am curious to know if we will ever get a solid worldbuilding behind all this or not, and if all the questions find an answer... but for now, three stars it stays.

This graphic novel definitely surprised me. Knee Deep was the perfect mix of dystopia and science fiction with some weird and wonderful characters.

Knee Deep Book One is the first volume of a three part science fiction graphic novel series written by Joe Flood. The book is set 200 years into the future and follows Cricket, a rebellious and headstrong teenager, who flees into an underground city built in the sewers to; escape PERCH, a deceitful mining company who has control over her life, to search for her missing parents and find out the truth behind the lies she’s been told her whole life.

I was really drawn in by the characters and the story and I’m very intrigued to see where the following volumes take us in Crickets journey.

Thank you to NetGalley and OniPress for providing me with a copy of this e-ARC,

This was a new kind of reading for me from author/artist Joe Flood, but so very worth it. I love the visual and verbal world he has created, and I love the use of the science fiction genre in comics form. The book is atmospheric and an innovative vision.

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.**

Joe Flood presents Knee Deep Book One, a graphic novel set 200 years in the future after a climate disaster. Mining for phosphorus is essential to life as Cricket knows it, but she maintains that her parents are missing, not dead as she has been told. When her childhood teacher gives her a warning prior to his death, Cricket sets off underground to find them.

Flood has a story here that really takes some of the best aspects of dystopian scifi and puts it at the forefront. There is a science basis to the story and a clear timelime and establishment of how things got to our starting point, but we are strategically focused in on Cricket and her perspective. The world is much bigger than the story and the lens Cricket views the world through is in the process of broadening. Combine this with a really neat art style and a color palette that manages grunge without being overly saturated with blacks. Flood absolutely has a winning combination here.

I am happy to have had the opportunity to read this early and I look forward to future installments in Cricket's journey.

Personally, I thought this graphic novel was okay. There was nothing that released out to me. Personally, the story wasn’t really too interesting. The art style felt a little dated with a muted colour tones, and the characters are very relatable, and it just felt a little flat, especially when the description pulled me into the story as well as the cover just felt like it was promising more than the graphic novel actually gave I think there wasn’t any character arcs no progression. The relationships felt a little two-dimensional and it was just lacking generally for me. This might not be because I’m the Target audience.

This was not entirely my vibe. It has some great elements that intrigued me, but others I just did not care about.
The art style is really cool and I thought the majority of what was happening was clear through the imagery (which is a big issue for me usually).
(I also spotted some nods to the Last of Us, which may have been on purpose or not.)

Received an arc from NetGalley, thanks!

"Knee Deep" is an interesting take on how the world 200 years into the future can look like – what will happen if the ecosystem falls. This idea obviously has a twist, in order to make an adventure oriented comics, I like it, I think it's a great start to very atmospheric history, but there are a few flaws.

Division of "chapters" (or rather – changes of perspective, from one character to another or from now to past) is a bit confusing. There are no breaks between them, so sometimes reader can lose the thread – I certainly did. Because of that the story becomes messy. It has a spark that makes you want to know more, to continue the story, but it still could be improve.

Can't really say anything about characters yet, as it's the very beginning of their adventure. We just met them, and here the world-building has to stand in the first line in order to build fundaments, so I'm interested to see how it goes.

It's a pretty okay comic despite shortcomings – it has a heart and a soul of a good story, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for it.

The art in this book is great, very rich and immersive. I think readers will really like the characters, especially the scrappy protagonist, Cricket. I did find the plot a bit hard to follow and some of the world building was not fully explained. The target audience of YA readers who like action-packed graphic novels is likely willing to overlook this. I'm sure there will be more development in the sequels. It's a good option for people who can't get enough of graphic novels.

Knee Deep was a fun read and intriguing start to a series.
I really liked the Art-Style, it was very detailed and atmospheric. The characters are relatable and likable and in the first half I really loved everything.
Unfortunately the second half had some more silly elements that didn't really fit with the theme of the rest of the story and made me enjoy the whole thing a little less.