A Review of Deb JJ Lee’s In Limbo (First Second, 2023)

Posted by: uttararangarajan



Written by Stephen Hong Sohn

Edited by Uttara Rangarajan  

Well, if you didn’t realize it by now, First Second is probably one of the best imprints publishing Asian American graphic narratives. They’ve published dozens of titles over the years, and many of them are absolutely stellar. Here, I am covering Deb JJ Lee’s In Limbo (First Second, 2023), an incredible story of mental illness that complicates a close friendship: “Ever since Deborah (Jung-Jin) Lee emigrated from South Korea to the United States, she's felt her otherness. For a while, her English wasn’t perfect. Her teachers can’t pronounce her Korean name. Her face and her eyes—especially her eyes—feel wrong. In high school, everything gets harder. Friendships change and end, she falls behind in classes, and fights with her mom escalate. Caught in limbo, with nowhere safe to go, Deb finds her mental health plummeting, resulting in a suicide attempt. But Deb is resilient and slowly heals with the help of art and self-care, guiding her to a deeper understanding of her heritage and herself” (Barnes and Noble marketing description).”

 

The book description doesn’t fully explore the challenging relationship that Deb has with her mother, who assumes that Deb will continue to excel at violin playing. While Deb is somewhat of a solitary figure, she does find some solace in the social circle she initially established in string orchestra, but by the time Deb enrolls in high school, she is beginning to lose her passion for violin playing. She also generally struggles in school, which leads to significant tension with her mother. Eventually, her mother allows Deb to enroll in a local art school on the weekends, realizing that Deb must find some positive outlet, but the strain between them continues to generate more stress on Deb. Deb begins to make some close new friends in high school, but as Deb’s mental illness begins to develop, she cannot fully navigate the intimacy that she is forming. The graphic narrative is a particularly astute look at mental illness, and the care with which Lee presents this friendship is especially impressive. An exceptional graphic narrative with beautiful art.

Buy the Book Here

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