Twelve Percent Dread - Emily McGovern

 

       

                     ABOUT THE BOOK

Katie and Nas are best friends, exes, and co-dependents. They share everything, including a tiny room in a North London townhouse belonging to their landlord, Jeremy, former host of the hit 90s show Football Lads.

While Katie bounces from job to job and obsesses about falling behind in life, Nas has bigger things in mind, such as waiting endlessly for their visa to come through and working on a seismic art project that will revolutionize politics and society as we know it.

Their friend Emma, meanwhile, seems to have it all figured out – job, mortgage, engagement – yet the long hours working for tech giant Arko and endless wedding admin have left her similarly anxious and unsatisfied.

But when Katie’s latest job finds her tutoring the daughter of Arko’s formidable CEO, and Emma welcomes the eccentric and enigmatic Alicia to her team at Arko, neither are aware that all of their lives – and possibly the future of society itself – are about to change forever . . .

                            MY THOUGHTS

 Well, this was fun (in a good way, not a sarcastic one!). I'm fairly new to graphic novels, although I did read and enjoy McGovern's Bloodlust and Bonnets.

 This tale is set in a London where all seems to be run by tech giant Arco who are the producers/suppliers of the majority call the electronic gadgets - phones, screens etc. - that the populace just can't do without. Yeah, pretty much the world today but the names have been changed 😉. It flits between characters Katie, Nas and Emma quickly enough that you don't get bogged down in one particular storyline which makes for a quicker read than I was expecting (believe me this is a hefty book) and I got through it in 3 sittings (3 sunny afternoons, sat in the garden letting the day drift by gadget free). When the storylines start to come together is where the book is strongest although the ending felt a tad too neat and quick.

 As for the art, a very simplistic, uncluttered style really worked here. The wording and dialogue were clear and, again, uncluttered. A very enjoyable reading experience.

 There is a lot here that resonates with today's world and McGovern is able to get this into the story without being preachy about it, again making it enjoyable.

Thanks to the lovely people at Black Crow for sending me an early review copy (all views are my own). Please have a look at the posts by the other reviewers on the tour.