Rapid Review: In by Will McPhail

In 

by Will McPhail

Finished reading: 9/7/21

My rating: 5/5 stars

In is a graphic novel that follows Nick, an illustrator and millennial who lives alone, as he spends his days searching for human connection between a meaningless array of independent coffee shops.

This graphic novel had me hooked from the very first page and it really just got better and better as it went on. It’s a very simple narrative and yet it was funny, authentic and incredibly deep. It actually reminded me a lot of Anthony Browne’s children’s picture books in terms of tone, specifically Voices in the Park, if it were targeted at adult millennials.

The story has a rare quality in that it works perfectly as a graphic novel and I can’t imagine it having the same effect in any other format. You can tell that McPhail really understood the medium and used this to build the story in a really imaginative and artistic way. I liked that the dialogue and internal dialogue worked with the illustrations and yet the illustrations worked independently as a story of their own without relying on the words. I loved all the details such as the silly coffee shop names—these details added their own narrative throughout the book yet also told us something about Nick’s emotions too.

I absolutely loved how McPhail used coloured landscapes to represent deeper human connection and contrast to the black and white cartoon reality and the shallowness of the small talk dialogue. This was so clever and conveyed the theme in a really inventive way. It is a very simple technique but the effect was breathtakingly beautiful.

The dry and intelligent humour was definitely up my alley and really helped to ground the somewhat deep and abstract themes explored. I thought it was balanced really well in that it didn’t take away from the core message of the story but helped to add shades of light and dark throughout.

I think what also made this an even more interesting read is that it was released during a global pandemic at a time where we are even more aware of the importance of human connection than ever before. We can all relate to Nick’s sense of isolation and the release of meaningful contact with others and this is what makes the story so powerful.

Overall, In was a very enjoyable and emotional read that really took me by surprise. It was to be one of if not my favourite graphic novel of the year so far. Considering this is McPhail’s debut novel, I’m very excited to see any future projects that may be on the horizon.