"Anna" is a modern-day fairy tale set in the sleepy German countryside, where generations of women, known as the Annas, are cursed with laughably long limbs and gangly frames. These women struggle to conform to societal norms of delicate femininity, facing trauma and prejudice for being different. Yet, their physical burden reveals an unexpected blessing: a unique resilience and strength, much like the towering mountains surrounding their town.

With delightful exaggeration and formal inventiveness, "Anna" is a tongue-in-cheek exploration of being "too big" for a narrow-minded world, celebrating the power and perspective that come from embracing one's uniqueness.

I enjoyed the art style however felt the storyline was lacking. Not for me, but I can see how it might appeal to someone else.

I'll get this out of the way first: this is not a tale for everyone. It won't click with all brains, but my neurodivergent brain really enjoyed it. If you've ever been othered for things that are beyond your control, it will likely click with you.
The story is set in a small town in a valley surrounded by tall mountains, the kind of place where everyone knows everyone, and conformity is the unspoken rule. We meet a tall woman, Anna 1, who has a child with a tall man. Now, Anna 1 is *acceptably* tall, and well-liked for her beauty and figure - she meets societal beauty standards. However, her child, Anna 2, is unusually tall, very noticeably tall in fact, and while the townspeople get used to her, she's treated as an outsider, most of all by her own mother, who doesn't hide her disappointment in Anna 2's differences. Once Anna 2 grows up, she goes to the city for a while, where she meets a short man and has a child with him, the child being Anna 3, who also turns out to be very tall. Anna 2 returns home to live with her mother, Anna 1, who continues the generational trauma of othering by telling her granddaughter a fairy tale every night about a very tall little girl being born in a small town and bringing such misfortune to the residents that they finally ran the girl out of the town, and everywhere she went, the girl spread misfortune. How messed up is that? Anna 2 finally breaks one day, and climbs to the top of the highest mountain and releases her anger in shouts, yells, screams... that part was so cathartic, not gonna lie. As Anna 2 climbs back down the mountain, Anna 3 is climbing up with a young man who she's fallen in love with, and who has fallen in love with her. She looks down on the small town that has looked down on her for so long, but she's able to look beyond the town and sees how big the outside world is, and how much room there is out there for her. We're left with the hope that she'll be able to move beyond the generational trauma and be happy. All of this is how I interpreted the story; others may find a different interpretation.
The story isn't told in a completely linear fashion; this is slice of life, featuring events in each of the Anna's lives, and the timeline does skip around a bit. I enjoyed the art once I got into the story, it suits the tale well, emphasizing the otherness of Annas 2 and 3, and to me, it showed the exaggerated self-view of the Annas. As I said before, this isn''t a story everyone will connect with, but I feel anyone who has ever felt like an outsider will "get" this. Recommended to my fellow odd ducks!

#Anna #NetGalley

Employing a minimalist comic book style, "Anna" uses expressive linework to evoke both charm and isolation. A standout moment is the chapter where the women's collective fury is depicted atop a mountain peak.

While its social criticism may not universally resonate and some readers might find the font less readable, "Anna" remains compelling. Its engaging narrative and visually captivating artwork offer an intriguing exploration of resilience and defiance against societal norms.

Book 090 of 300 ~ 2024

🌟🌟💫

This was a bizarre graphic novel about super tall people. I have no idea what the author was on, but I'd like none of that, thank you very much.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Weird graphic novel about a select few women in a family who all grow up to be exceptionally tall. It's just too easy to take against the style, and the presentation of the myth-seeking short stories really isn't as notable as the females involved might have been.

A fascinating graphic novel about three generations of women who live in a small German town. None of them are accepted because they are ………….(wait for it)…… too tall.

Across the three generations they experience exclusion and criticism in their small town because of their height and it takes generations for them to break free from this shadow and be who they really are. I enjoyed reading this and I thought the story is engaging and will resonate with any who is different or who doesn’t conform to others in some way. It is easy to say ‘be who you are’ but not always easy to do that.

A lovely story.

Copy provided by Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

I enjoyed the very unique art style of the graphic novel, but unfortunately that was all I enjoyed. The story lacked substance and it felt off in a way. Some layout and the font choice was pretty bad.
There's really not much else I can say about this.

Thank you netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received this ARC from NetGalley.

The art style was something I definitely had to get used to, but I appreciate the vividness of the art and think it's a unique factor of the book as a whole. Sadly, the story fell flat for me; it was very long-winded and all I got from it was there were three generations being talked about. It felt very anecdotal and disjointed, and I wonder if something was lost in translation.

I have read a decent amount of graphic novels in the last couple of years and this one did have a unique art style that was interesting to read. I found that the harsh, simple lines were powerful but also made me feel distant from the story at times. Although the story is about family and the truth or folklore of our parents, I found that I wasn't very invested in the characters at all. I liked the look of the book but I didn't always find that it was able to connect properly to the story. I would read more graphic novels by this author and I did enjoy the time spent with this work, I just think it lacked some depth at the end.

Thank you NetGalley and Fantagraphics Books for the ARC.

I liked the artwork and the surreal touches to the story, but the story just seemed to keep going without accumulating. In the end I was left with some interesting images and mostly a shrug.

About three generations in a family of very tall women living in a remote German village. I appreciate the messages but I have a hard time because of the art style and also the story does not make sense at all. Thank you Netgalley and Fantagraphics for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

I wanted to like this because I like to support Fantagraphics but this was stupid with some real fugly art. It's about 3 generations of Anna who are really tall. That's the whole story. Then it's page after page of legs turned every which way as they spill out of baby carriages and the like. Even as a baby, she has 8 foot long legs. Just dumb with no story.

This was an entertaining graphic novel about three generations in a family of very tall women living in a remote German village.

What I loved: the graphic style was wonderfully unique, really loved it. The graphic story was great! And so's the cover.
What I liked less: In words, I didn’t really feel the story had a good flow, and I think this is due to the translation. Parts of it didn’t really seem to gel in English.

Thanks to Fantagraphics and to NetGalley for access.

Thank you Netgalley and Fantagraphics for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this graphic novel didn't resonate with me. It has a weird premise, and I think the story is not making sense at all. But I commend the colorful illustration.

Thank you to NetGalley and Fantagraphics books for providing me with an early digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book introduces us to a lineage of towering women named Anna, set against the backdrop of rural Germany. The story unfolds through a series of vignettes, offering glimpses into their lives and their challenges in asserting their identity and place in society.

The graphic novel delves into themes of female empowerment and intergenerational trauma.
With a minimalist comic book style, the artwork of 'Anna' employs expressive linework to evoke a sense of charm and isolation, at the same time. My favourite moment is the chapter depicting the women's collective fury atop a mountain peak.

While the social criticism undertones may not resonate universally and some readers may find the font choice less than ideal for readability, its engaging narrative and visually captivating artwork make it worth reading. It offers an intriguing exploration of resilience and defiance in the face of societal norms.

Overall, I'd give 'Anna' four stars. It's an interesting read with bold, provocative illustrations. It offers an intriguing exploration of resilience and defiance in the face of societal norms. Definitely worth checking out if you're into stories about breaking the mold.

Thank you to NetGally and Fantagraphic Books for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review. Annas by Mia Overlander follows 3 generations of women named Anna with Anna 2 & 3 being so tall that they are ostracized by their communities. It explores community, generational trauma, and self love.
This was honestly a very odd story.
I wanted more. I was happy that some of the conflict was brought to light at the end, but I felt like there was no resolution. It felt messy like life and that is probably the point, but I wanted more. I wanted there to be more healing and for the story to feel a bit more connected. The art style is very unique and, overall, I'd give it 3.75/4 stars.

This was bad. I'll admit that I requested it simply because my name is Anna but I'd like to not a single thing about this book. I usually try not to critique illustration style and artwork for graphic novels because I think that art is subjective But the illustrations in this were just not good. Half the time they looked like they were out of a children's drawing. The fonts they chose for the words were hard to read and there were these weird bright and neon text boxes every once in awhile. I'm not sure if that's because this was a arc or what but I was not a fan. It's supposed to be some great feminist fairy tale story but I did not get any of that.

A fascinating story with unique visuals. I love how flexible comics can be and this story certainly showcases some slice of life and intriguing storytelling.

I think I wasn't the reader for this book. It's intriguing, and using metaphor for familial trauma, but I found it ineffective for me.