String #1

by Paul Tobin, Carlos Javier Olivares (illustrator)

Yoon-Sook Namgung is a 25-year-old Korean-American woman with the remarkable ability to see two types of “strings” connecting various people. The first is blue and stretches between sexual partners. The second—dark black—connects murderers and their victims. If you have a murder that needs solving, Yoon can help. Worried your partner is cheating on you? Yoon can literally SEE the connections. Yoon’s life—for all the drama and constant TMI—is good, at least until the day she notices a string, a BLACK string, connected to… herself! This means she’ll either soon murder someone, or be murdered herself! So…dang. Which one?

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics

Kindle Edition

Published November 27, 2024

About the author

Paul Tobin is the Eisner-award winning, New York Times-bestselling author of Bandette, Colder, and many other comic books and graphic series.

Bandette, drawn by Colleen Coover, was awarded the Eisner Award for Best Digital Series in 2013, 2016, and 2017; and was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award for Graphic Literature in 2016. His original graphic novel I Was the Cat was nominated for an Eisner in 2015.

The Genius Factor: How to Capture an Invisible Cat , first in his five-book series of middle-grade books, came out in 2016 from Bloomsbury Kids. It was followed in 2017 by How To Outsmart A billion Robot Bees , and How To Tame A Human Tornado in March 2018.

Reviews

[☽｡⋆ Shells (jlreads_) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read and a story that could have been so much better. I really like the concept as well as the color pallet on this comic. My only issue is that the dialogue really felt off to me. I could not properly immersed myself on it, as well as the transition of scenes.

Overall, I think this could have been better.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yoon-Sook Namgung is a 25 year old who can see the strings joining people. There are two strings, one is the blue string between partners who are sleeping together and the other one is a black string that connects a victim to its murderer.

This ability of hers has helped her solve many cases. But she will have to use this ability for herself as there is a black string stretching from her. Either she is going to murder someone or she is about to get murdered herself. Teaming up with an officer of law, she embarks on a whirlwind adventure.

As she is cornered every step of her way, she is not meek for sure she can and will save herself because there are things that she wants to know and dying wouldn't help in any way.

This graphic novel was immersive and extraordinary. I was captivated by the story line as well as the characters. The plot in itself is quite unique and I am sure many readers will absolutely love this. The story has elements of suspense, mystery, anticipation and curiosity. The artwork is breathtaking. I am really excited to read the next installment.

I'd highly recommend this.

[Royal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yoon-Sook Namgung is a police consultant who can see strings - blue that connects lovers and black that connects murderers and their victims. I think the premise is interesting but I didn’t realize how this graphic novel is more of a police procedural, and the crass dialogue and jokes themselves seem very cringy and dated.

I liked the artwork of Seattle, but most of the dialogue and scenery feels very out of place for the city.

Special thanks to Mad Cave Studios and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest, independent review.

[Radwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

uses the concept of red string of fate that i know about from watching korean dramas, and introduces a korean girl who can see tw types of strings: black for murder, and blue for hookups and relationships.

loved the art style and the mc design and color palette. it was a short and sweet adventure, and her partner in solving the crime was funny and they had good banter. i could see it becoming a series with the vibe of "monster of the week" shows.

[Aimee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 Stars

Thank you to Mad Cave studios for providing me with an arc.

I saw the cover and the blurb and I thought this was a cool idea for a graphic novel so I requested it. Overall I enjoyed it but I did struggle with the text a lot unless I zoomed in on each section it was hard to read. It was a pretty traditional comic book text but I struggled a lot with it and found myself skimming at times due to it. I think this was still a decent read but felt a bit under developed at times with how and why she had this ability.

I may read the next in the series but we will see. Overall I still recommend this one as it wasn’t super long and still was interesting.

[Chandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book.

First, the graphics in this book are excellent. I wish I would have been able to see how this looked on my color e-reader but enjoyed them just as well on my phone, although I did have to zoom in on my phone. That did tend to disrupt the flow of reading a bit. With that being said, I think that a bigger screen this wouldn't be an issue.

In this story, we are following a young woman who can see "strings" that ultimately join the relationships between people. This is a twist or different take on the Red String theory and I was here for it. Purple is connecting people with intimate relationships and a black string connects victims to their murderers. This is a twist or different take on the Red String theory and I was immediately drawn to this because of that.
The female lead is out to find out why she has a black string attached to her and enlists some help.
Overall, I enjoyed this book,. The only thing I would change is more of an explanation of WHY she can see these strings to begin with. I will definately be reading the next installment. If you like graphic novels and mysteries, this will be enjoyable for you too!!

[Short and sweet · Rating 4 out of 5]

The red string theory is a Chinese belief that two people connected by this thread are destined lovers. Paul Tobin put a different spin on it, where blue threads show sexual partners and black threads show a murderer and their victim. While this premise was interesting, the execution didn't quite catch up to the hopes I had for it. Because it's a graphic novel, the pace was on the faster side, meaning the investigations we follow unfurled a bit too easily for my taste. Plus, we don't have the time to dig deeper into the characters except for the FMC, about which we still don't know a lot, causing a disconnection from the characters and what they were going through. It was like being told what was happening without actually living it with the characters, worsened by writing that was a bit too explanatory for my taste. I couldn't connect with their emotions as much as I would have liked.

However, I still enjoyed the experience and look forward to the next installment, hoping it goes deeper into the story and the characters we follow.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read quite a few stories with the string of fate inspirations. This had such a fun twist to those tales. The author made it very interesting and different than what you think of with typicl string of fate stories. I love the depth to Yoon's (our main character) abilities with seeing the strings, from the different colors, to how they can be faded, etc. I'm very excited to read more and see what else they add to her abilities. Will there be other colors, other aspects to her abilities? Thanks Netgalley for the access!

[Mella aka Maron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one felt kind of … fine?

The pacing was weird - I know it’s a graphic novel (I read a lot of manga) but the scenes changed without any warning - and sometimes I had no idea what was going on. The plot was interesting but kind of got sidetracked sometimes and I was pretty bored for the middle of this volume.

The art was pretty except for the random times where we had to see her butt from behind. 🙄 You can tell a man drew this.

I won’t be continuing.

[Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was wonderful. I am usually not one for the traditional comic style, but I really enjoyed the characters and the story, including the unique take on the concept of seeing strings between people.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I adore the art style, it’s super engaging, and the color scheme is just chef’s kiss!

The concept of the strings is a really cool spin on the red string theory. The dialogue had its moments, sometimes funny, but other times a bit unrefined or filled with unnecessary details.

Maybe it’s my slight inexperience with graphic novels, but I felt the pacing was a bit off at times. Big events would sometimes unfold too quickly, making me feel more like a bystander than fully immersed in the action. I loved the diverse cast, but a lot of the characters felt more like fillers. They didn’t really contribute much beyond supporting the MC’s abilities or moving the logistics along. The modern approach was interesting, though at times it leaned a bit too much into the sexual aspects.

I’d be keen on reading the next novel in the series, but if the same issues persist, I probably wouldn’t continue further.

Overall, 3.5 stars!

Thanks to the publisher for providing an ACR copy through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

[Adri Holt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yoon-Sook Namgung can see two types of string flow from a person, one blue and one black. One indicates who has slept with who and the other indicates murder. As a private consultant for the police department, being able to follow both sets of strings is incredibly helpful and extremely chaotic. Despite the rest of the police department making themselves scarce in Yoon’s presence, Detective Luke Mayfield needs Yoon’s assistance on a cold case.
I don’t want to say anymore because it’s an enticing graphic novel that you need to read for yourself. It’s worth the read.

#ThxNetGalley #PaulTobin

[Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 🌟 I read this as an arc.
I'm liking graphic novels more and more! This one has such an interesting concept. I enjoyed this so much! The art was fun, and I was excited and engaged through the entire story. Although there are times when a characters facial expression doesn't quite match the tone.

[Wm · Rating 5 out of 5]

More of a 3.5- to 4-star comic, but this is the most fun I've had reading a new title since Kelly Thompson's brief run on (new-to-me) Powerpuff Girls. I'm hooked.