Anya's Ghost

‘'No one has the right to decide who gets to live or die.''

I will tell you straight away that this is so much more than a comic. I thought it would be a cute tale, a whimsical ghost story and, following a discussion with my dear friend Marina, I decided to try my luck with Brosgol's work. I was definitely in for a surprise. A bleak, haunting, and yet quirky and beautiful surprise.

Anya is a young girl in high school. Having arrived to the USA from Russia before primary school, she has adopted to the ways of her new homeland. She has even lost her accent and yet her life is anything but easy. Her mother, a cheerful, loving woman, and her six-year-old brother don't seem to help because Anya wants to fit in, influenced by the vile notion of the ‘'popular'' student. One day, after a really bad day and a strange accident in the park, she finds herself attached to the ghost of a girl who died under mysterious ways. Her life changes drastically in ways that she couldn't have anticipated when she decided to make the 90-year-old spirit her new best friend.

Yes, this comic is rich in beautiful illustrations whose palette consists of blue, white, black and grey but this is just the tip of the iceberg of excellence. This is a comic book that could have easily become a spectacular novel. The themes that Brosgol communicates through the storyline are plenty and utterly relevant to our times and the lives of the young students, particularly in the USA. First and foremost, the difficulty of being accepted when your roots lie in a far-away country that your classmates know only through hearsay and prejudice spread by ignorant, uneducated fools. Moreover, you don't meet the standards of the time, you're not blonde, skinny and stupid, you haven't managed to gain a place in the cliques therefore you don't exist. And the worst danger comes when you are tempted to shed off your identity and your heritage like a skin that has no use anymore just because the social circles demand everyone to be the same. And Anya falls in love so what can she do? That's where the ghost comes to help and the price will be... but you have to read it to find out. Love is such a weird thing...It can make our lives a brighter place and it can drive us to deeds that we never thought ourselves possible to commit. And then, there is the devilishly thin line between love and obsession...

I have to stop here because I'm dangerously close to start spoiling the plot. What I can tell you is that this is a comic book to be enjoyed and taken seriously. I felt that this isn't only targeted to teenagers but to adults as well since the social commentary is evident and provides an opportunity for parents and educators to think of the problems of the young ones and the ways to help them accept themselves and avoid the trap of the notion of the ‘'popular'' kid. I was more than satisfied with Anya's development and her courage to recognise her mistakes and illusions...

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I'm a Supernatural fan...and SPN canon bleeds into other things.
Like books where teenager takes home a bone by accident and then keeps it.
The rest of the book I was like, duh-ghosts are not our friends!

But then I kicked my SPN brain to the curb and focus on the story. The angst of teenage years I could connect with but add with that angst is the being an immigrant. Of how cruel kids can be, even without aiming to be sometimes.

This was a melancholy look at friendships and fitting in and yes, ghosts. It was a great Halloween read and something I would recommend.

The top things I love most in this book is that the art is beautiful and really well done and that Anya feels like a believable young character struggling through school and having difficulties with herself image and such. I feel that her character and illustrations really seem to compliment each other well. She's worth reading about but the story is kinda predictable. This spooky read will be perfect in October


If you liked this but want something with a blast of color I recommend Nightlights

Pretty cute. The story is simple. It had a plot twist but it didn't really surprise me that much. I'm sure there was an important lesson in there somewhere that would reach out to adolescent readers, since this is a YA novel after all.

I really like the art style though.

I didn't really like Anya and I wished the ending took a little while to develop her personality but I felt like it was so abrupt (?) idk, it was, overall, good for spooky season

Cute illustration and touches on some more sophisticated subjects like body image, assimilation, bullying, etc. Pretty good introduction to those kinda things for younger audience, but I would've loved to see a bit more resolution to some of them. For example: Dima, the only other russian student at her school, is being bullied for their accent and look. The solution to their problem is reduced down to it just being high school so it doesn't matter in the long run. This non-chalantness becomes illogical, if not completely against the point. To be fair though, this graphic novel never promoted itself for being a positive lesson for kids. I just find it weird to pluck in details of her dieting, being bullied, etc, just for nothing to come out of it.

The creepiness was pretty good. It wasn't scary or gory but had a great twist. Honestly the scariest part was the illustration of the ghost throughout the book. (What was with her chafing appearance though?). Overall, it was a pretty good spooky story with a realistically written young girl as an MC. Anyone can enjoy this. Definitely a low effort read that takes about 45 minutes-hour to finish.

3.5 in all honestly but i rounded down because it just didn't leave what i think is a lasting impression

good story i just wish the characters were a bit more developed, more fleshed out, and their motivations and growth shown more

didn't expect to relate so hard to the body image, bullying, and religious aspects of the book so that was a pleasant surprise.

it was good. but that was it.

Really lovely. Low-key creepy plot, good pacing, and perfect artwork. I am slightly irritated that Vera Brogsol has published so few books as yet.

Was on my TBR since a year, I believe.
A good YA graphic novel with a twist you possibly couldn't predict.
Would recommend.

I really struggled with enjoying Anya's Ghost for the first half, but I think the author pulled the most important part of Anya's character development off in the end.

It started out sweet but then it gets a little scary

A fun, inventive, fable-like comix about a surly Russian-American teen, Anya, and her accidental friendship with a dead girl's ghost. Wonderful commentary on the self-involved, socially insecure narcissism of high school - aka that 30 Rock skit where Tina Fey remembers being an unpopular dork, but forgets that she was also super mean. I loved the rich characterizations of Anya's best friend, her mom, her little brother. And I loved the plot and pacing - it was like a John Hughes movie mixed with some light-touch Gothic horror. Charming and a lot of fun.

Very charming, and i liked all the twists.

I thought this was an interesting graphic novel. The plot twist with the true origin of Emily the ghost was unexpected, yet I liked it. I thought Anya being proud of her culture at the end of the book made for nice character development.

3,5/5

My only complaint about this book is that I wish it was longer! Very cute and happy to be in Anya's world. I wish we got a bit more time with her though because it felt a little short to me.

I'm so disappointed because this book was not what I was expecting. Maybe I'll read another book by this author in the future, but I'm 100% sure I won't be re-reading this one.

It really was a page turner! I loved everything, from the sassy main character to the art, everything was so beautifully done! The story was so interesting that I HAD to read and read and read, and I couldn't stop turning another page..and another..and another.. The humour was also something that I enjoyed; I found myself laughing out loud a lot throughout this book. So my first experience with a graphic novel was one of a kind and I will definitely try to explore this genre more.

Anya's Ghost is a graphic novel about a first-generation Russian immigrant living in the United States. She struggles to fit in, embarrassed by her heritage, her body, and her lack of popularity. After accidentally falling in a well, Anya discovers the remains of a murdered girl... only the girl never left. Tied to her bones, Emily Reilly has waited for ninety years as a ghost stuck at the bottom of the well for someone to find her. A tentative relationship forms between the two girls and soon Anya finds her life improving with Emily's help and support. But things take a dark turn when Emily takes “best friends forever” a little too seriously.

I strongly encourage you to go and read this graphic novel before reading any further in this review. Go in knowing as little as possible. It's a lot more fun that way.

Anya's Ghost was a thoroughly enjoyable read. The art and text are simple, never overwhelming the reader, yet express many complex themes.

What I enjoyed most about this graphic novel is the progression of characters. You can clearly see the changes in the characters frame by frame. There is Emily who begins are an intensely charming ghost girl to a terrifying monster that will probably haunt my dreams for the rest of the year. And then there are characters like Anya and Dima who change in much subtler ways.

Another thing I enjoyed was how scary the story became. I went into this graphic novel with no idea what it was about and that made the story all the more engaging... and terrifying. It was like taking a stroll through Candyland singing la-la-la while skipping along only to stumble upon the super secret ingredient of Candyland: the souls of lost children! There's a distinct moment you hit while reading where you flip back and forth between a few pages going, “wait... what?! WHAT KIND OF STORY IS THIS!?” For me that moment was on page 152 in the third and second to last frames. Hopefully, if you're reading this you've already read the comic because I felt it had such an impact going in knowing absolutely nothing about it.

I rate this a 4 out of 5 on goodreads and a 9.5 out of 10 on my own scale. This story was sooo good! I related to all the problems Anya faces as a girl and as a student. I only take off some points because the ending seemed a little too neatly tied up. But other than that, it was great!



P.S: Thanks ever so much, Vera Brosgol, for adding a few new nightmares to my nightly repertoire. ;)

What starts out as a light comic about teen travails, with added ghost, makes a gradual slide into something a lot darker. This was a nice story, despite the main protagonist being somewhat annoying at times (which might simply be because I am probably not the target audience).

Initially picked this book up back in college but wasn't able to finish it before it was due back at the library. I enjoyed what I read so I had to come back to it and I finally did. Great art style and nice ending.

I started reading this book going, “Okay, this is kind of a cute story.” Then we hit the twist in the middle and my brain did a somersault. I don't think I've ever read a book that so perfectly captures what it feels like to be a teenager, that so personifies that voice we all listened to at one point or another. The artwork is beautiful. The story is unparalleled. Highly recommended for anyone, but I especially wish this book existed when I was fifteen.