Absolutely incredible. Visitations might just be my favorite graphic novel of the year. The imagery perfectly complements the story without overwhelming the text, creating a beautiful, balanced narrative. This memoir captures Corey Egbert’s childhood when his mother takes him and his sister on the run, aiming to protect them from their father after a traumatic event. Along the way, Corey confronts the complexities of his religious upbringing, his relationship with his parents, and his own mental health. This book tackles such deep, difficult topics with a careful hand, never shying away from gritty reality yet handling each subject thoughtfully. It's a stunning, powerful read.

Graphic memoirs are so interesting to me and this was no exception. I thought the book was well-written with excellent pacing. The sparsely colored illustrations added to the serious tone of the story. I question who the audience is for this book - it is more adult or teen than middle grade

Visitations is a graphic novel based of Corey Egbert’s childhood. It deals with difficult topics such as divorce, faith and questioning religion — specifically the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and mental illness. Egbert is vulnerable in sharing the stories he experienced when he was younger and navigates a complex situations and events. I think this novel though maybe not a comfortable read for some people, is an important voice about family dynamics that don’t always look like the perfect Latter Day Saint picture.

This is a graphic novel with a complex message about putting faith in religion and family. Corey is raised by his mother, who is extremely faithful, to question his relationship with his father and grandparents. He is torn between living a chaste life and finding out who he is and who he wants to become.

This is the story of a teen who has to navigate the difficult world of his parents divorce and a journey through this young man's journey with his faith while struggling with hard things.
I will say that this was hard to read as a mother because all I want to do as a mother is keep my kids safe, but there is a point if one is not taking care of themselves mentally and physically that a mother's protection can become hurtful to her kids.
I thought that the discussion around faith was done well because as a parent raising kids within a belief system I know personally that I want my kids to be able to question their faith so that they can choose the faith themselves. This story does a great job of exploring the devotion that our main character has for his mother and his religion and how that got them into some sticky situations.
While this book discusses some hard topics like homelessness, child abuse, and sexual assault I do believe that it was done in an age appropriate way.
I want to thank NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) for the opportunity to experience this story early so that I can share with others how impactful this book was for me.

A powerful memoir about a kid finding their own truth after a lifetime of following their parent's clouded judgement. It made me feel the same tension I had when I read Educated and The Glass Castle--the frustration and anger over these kids who are manipulated and hurt by a parent they love. I appreciated that it was a short read (done in an hour) so I could get some resolution to that tension quickly. Egbert handles the complexity of his feelings for his mother beautifully, especially in his concluding author's note. I loved the artwork, especially the imaginative parts that expressed his feelings with a touch of fantasy.

Educator perspective: I think this is a good quick read for any kids who are particularly moved by a class study of books like Educated and The Glass Castle.

Visitations is a graphic novel based on the author Corey Egbert's true life experience. The story follows Corey and his sister Sarah as their zealously religious mother works to isolate them further and further from their dad and real life. This is a beautiful and emotional novel touching on the complexities of mental illness and religion, and how those two can interact and affect each other. Despite the novel being so personal to Egbert, he really shows each side of the story and explains why situations are not all black and white.
This stunning graphic novel will stay with you long after you finish reading, and is a must read.

Visitations is an impactful story of how a teenage boy living through a rough family life, staying true to his religious beliefs and being a teenager. There are some heavy topics and I would have liked to have had a few content warnings. Some of it really caught me off guard and took me a moment to get back into the story. Other than that, I did enjoy the story of the events that happened in his life. The back matter of the book was really useful information and the photographs were a perfect touch.

I ended up DNFing this book at about 40%. It was just not for me. The art is lovely but I wasn’t intrigued by the story and was kind of put off by the way the mom spoke to the son. Just not my cup of tea.

What an interesting read! At first glance I assumed this book would be a cute narrative about aliens given the title and desert scenery on the cover. Instead I was surprised with an interesting tale based on a true story that really brings you into the head of Corey and his experiences with his mother's decision to flee with him and his sister to avoid court ordered visitation time with their father. The story is artfully told and really brings you around to his mother's perspective and she controlled the narrative under the guise of religion. The story was compelling, and enjoyed it even more having lived in Utah (where the story partially takes place). An important view that showcases bravery and overcoming control from others that demand they have truth.

Thank you to Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and NetGalley for a free digital copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I'd never read a graphic memoir before, and this was a great one to start with. This details the true story of the author's experience as a child of being kidnapped by his mother after the divorce of his parents.

For one, the drawings were absolutely gorgeous. The muted colors and simple color palette were a good accompaniment to the story without distracting from it.

The story itself is impeccably done. I love the addition of the more fantastical elements that didn't actually happen, because they serve to display what was going on in the author's head at the time. The discussions of religion and mental health were poignant and impactful.

Definitely one I will recommend be purchased for my libraries.

Visitations by Corey Egbert is a graphic look at divorce through the eyes of a child and more importantly religious trauma mixed with mental illness. Corey highlights the struggles children face as their family breaks up in completely relatable images. His mother’s increased schizophrenia is masked by her devote belief in the Mormon faith. Corey details his kidnapping adventure as one of acceptance of his mother’s view and his father’s betrayal. His experience with his dead grandmother could also be described as extreme hunger hallucinations. The reader must make sense of the story through the eyes of children.

Such a powerful graphic novel memoir about faith, family, and mental illness. It's hard to see how mental illness and radicalism in my own religion can cause such pain, but sadly not unheard of in Utah County where the author grew up and I have lived my whole life. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the digital ARC.

Visitations is such a superb graphic memoir! Corey Egbert relates his experiences with Mormonism and as a child of divorced parents where his mother asks him and his sister to not say a word to their father during visitations. I found this to be such a gripping, compelling read and I really appreciate the way Corey handled such complex topics with care. Corey is able to capture really well how it feels to come of age and question religion, parents, and things you have been taught. At times I was reminded of Marjane Satrapi's Perspelois, especially because both she and Corey have scenes where they depict themselves talking to God as they imagined him when they were younger. Visitations is also very touching at times and I teared up reading about Corey's estranged relationship with his grandparents because of his mother. I think this could be a fantastic novel to teach because there is so much to reflect on and discuss here. Highly recommended!

Visitations is a coming of age story building on discovering who you are in the midst of establishing one's faith. This feat is difficult enough on its own, but Corey had to do it under a divided household. He goes through a heart wrenching experience trying to decide once and for all who he is and which parent he should believe. This is a quick yet powerful read.

Cory Egbert tells the story of his parents' divorce and his mother's decent into a world of religious fervor and mental illness. Cory and his sister live with their mother, and from the start, she convinces them their father is evil. She keeps them from him and his family, isolating them to mostly their apartment. When she gets a 'message from God" that they need to leave, they set off in their car, running from the custody agreement. It is a story from the kids' perspective - they love their mom, and they know that she thinks she is doing the right thing, but they also know something is not quite right.

Visitations was not what I expected. Instead of a boy escaping from a cult, I found a young man wrestling to make his faith his own in the light of his mother's post-divorce mental health crisis. The magical realism blends well, though it's a tad confusing since only one section has the real magical element. The ending felt a bit abrupt, but everything is wrapped up. I appreciated the author being vulnerable with his audience, and it was refreshing to see a memoir where someone made faith their own instead of running away from it altogether.

Visitations is a graphic novel memoir. The author, Corey Egbert was raised very strict Mormon, with parents that were divorced. Mom had a mental illness and poisoned his mind against his father and eventually kidnaps Corey and his sister and takes them out to the desert.

I was thinking this was going to be more into the kidnapping trauma and less religion based. This book was definitely not my style and I feel like it will have a smaller target audience, at least in my part of the states. I also am not sure if this was the intention, but it really does not show the Mormon religion in a very positive light.

I really enjoyed this graphic memoir that tells the story of child trying to make sense of the line between faith in God, and faith in a parent which can feel even bigger than God, I love the direction the story took with the importance of having faith in oneself above all to be able to discern between blind faith and having the courage to recognize and challenge when something does not feel right. The drawings were well done and the story unfolded in a way that drew me in from the first couple of pages. Well done!

Based on the author's own experiences as a child, this graphic memoir is compelling, disturbing and beautifully drawn. Corey as a teen is tasked with protecting his sister and blindly following his mother through her increasingly disturbing behaviors and thoughts.