This was such a sad story about a teenage girl who feels alone in this world. parents who barely gave her any attention, they also didn't take care of her properly. loved the illustrations, i loved how it was written as a personalised letter from her. I think a lot of teens could relate to her feelings, how lonely it can feel in this world.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. As someone who spent my teenage years in the 90s, this was a great throwback. I remember intricacies of folding notes to pass between classes. A great coming of age graphic novel.

Raised by Ghosts is a powerful story that sheds light on what it’s like to have parents who aren’t really there.

The main character, a young girl with divorced parents, drifts through life feeling completely alone. Her parents are so wrapped up in their own issues that they barely notice her—except to scold her when chores aren’t done.

This story deeply resonates with the loneliness many teenagers feel, even when surrounded by others. It captures that sense of being unseen, unheard, and left out, making for an emotional and relatable read.

It seems to evoke a universal feeling of growing up and finding your place in the world and people you feel comfortable with, but through a more lonely perspective than I usually see in this type of media. I loved the integration of text into illustration as written notes that they gave eachother.

A poignant look at surviving your teen years. As someone who grew up in the '90s , this comic gets the tone of the time period spot on including making mix tapes and going to all ages clubs. Definitely hit the right nostalgic notes for me.

Es una historia que tocará a varios, narra el sentimiento de sentirse rodeada de fantasmas, seres que no existen en tu realidad y se deslindan de tí. Además de que está acompañada de unas ilustraciones muy bellas.

Raised by Ghosts is lacking. It's a kind of graphic novel memoir that reads more like the present day Briana rewriting her own history than an actual story to be read. Perhaps in hind sight Briana thought those things, or was going through those things. As a reader it seems like the author is embellishing how self aware she was. It comes off as pretentious and off putting. The structure is visually gross and sloppy. The torn diary like pages and the word bubbles of gibberish or scribbles. Why a graphic novel if you're going to do it dirty like this? Why not put the story in the story instead of having these empty word bubbles?

The overall feeling is loneliness and neglect.

Thanks Netgalley and Fantagraphics for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review.
It was an AMAZING trip.
The materiality of the notes, the journal entries, EVERYTHING was incredible.
Hopefully it gets some Eisner nominations, I'm hopeful it will.

A beautifully haunting exploration of growing up in a neglectful home with emotionally immature parents and the importance of found family and creative outlets such as music or art. A comforting story that many will be able to create to pieces if not all of.

This is haunting and endearing, very emotional. I loved the art and the overall aesthetic. I would have liked more to the plot

Growing up in the Bay Area around the same time made this a special read for me. Add on the connections and parallels this book and it’s MC Briana has to my life growing up, meant that it spoke to me in ways very few books can.

I really feel most people can find their own adolescence in this book, at least in some part. Many teens go through all or some of these motions: apprehension and awkwardness with middle school in general, loneliness and feeling like you don’t fit in, family struggles /divorce, close friendships that heal and hurt, and finding independence and maturity. Seeing your friends, family, and yourself through a new lens and appreciating them all for what they are and what they mean to you.

This book was soothing for my teenage soul and I didn’t think I needed this - but I did. I don’t mean to say I had a terrible adolescence at all but I had struggles, struggles that many go through, including Briana. Her feelings of not fitting in I connect with viscerally. I can imagine the comforting balm this book would have been to my teenage self and hope many teens and young adults get the chance to read this book and experience the same.

Thank you to NetGalley for this wonderful ARC.

I actually really liked this graphic novel a lot, it made me remember how easy and simple the 90s or early 2000s were, before social media and before this became more complicated. It's difficult to replicate a time like that specially to people who never lived through that so I think a lot of people could enjoy this.

This was such a beautifully written graphic novel, I adore coming of age books in general, so when I saw this I had to pick it up, I loved it sooo much. The character is so relatable and described so perfectly that I felt so seen, definitely recommend this (also the graphics was so pretty) !!!

Raised by ghosts

I finished this graphic novel thinking that it was meant for an adult audience that would work well for teens too. The novel is set in the 90’s East Bay, so I thought this was directed towards older millennials like myself, but on the last page I learned that this was in fact a YA graphic novel.

The graphic novel is a quiet and thoughtful look at the confusing and often lonely teen years of Briana (“semi-autobiographical”) who could be described as a latch key kid. Her story emphasizes the friendships that kept her afloat.

The illustrations are kept in earthy tones and supported by notes and diary entries.

I enjoyed this graphic novel a lot and am always excited to promote and support artists and authors from the East Bay!

this was such a gorgeous book!! super personal to me and a beautiful art style. i definitely recommend this book to anyone whos going through the motions of life and feels alone despite being surrounded by people!

I enjoyed reading this. I thought the art was very nice and the storytelling flowed well between the panels. It was a good read

The coloration is spot-on for the 90s, and the illustrations are flowy in a way that imbues the narrator's haunting loneliness. The story's a little fragmented and unfocused for my taste, but I think it'll appeal to a YA audience searching for that sense of nostalgia for a period they never experienced.

I truly appreciate how this graphic novel just with the coloring used really brings you back to the 90s. It was amazing to immediately feel transported to that time due to just the palette of browns and muted colors. Graphic novels can be a hard sell but this will satisfy any nostalgic fans who were in school in the 90s.

Raised By Ghost is a love letter to all of us who were also raised by ghosts. This book made me reflect on the times I didn't have to sneak out, because I had no curfew. Or the nights when I didn't have to be home early because there was nobody there. And the moments when I wanted to talk to my parents about things I enjoyed, but they didn't set that time aside for me. This book was a love letter to music, to movies, and to me. I remembered the fun times and the heartbreak that was always sandwiched in between.

Interesting read, at times I felt like the story didn't really link up which made it both confusing but also a bit boring. I don't really think there was very much plot building, character backgrounds or story building. It was like going into a book blind and trying to figure out what is being shown on the pages. So I'm not entirely sure how to rate this as this was an awkward read. Forever grateful though for the opportunity to read it!