Rating: 4 stars

Inspired by true events, this haunting yet hopeful young adult graphic novel weaves together family dynamics, mental illness, and religion―perfect for fans of Hey, Kiddo.

Corey’s mom has always made him feel safe. Especially after his parents’ divorce, and the dreaded visitations with his dad begin. But as Corey grows older, he can’t ignore his mother’s increasingly wild accusations. Her insistence that God has appointed Corey as his sister’s protector. Her declaration that Corey’s father is the devil.

Soon, she whisks Corey and his sister away from their home and into the boiling Nevada desert. There, they struggle to survive with little food and the police on the trail. Meanwhile, under the night sky, Corey is visited by a flickering ghost, a girl who urges him to fight for a different world―one outside of his mother’s spoon-fed tales, one Corey must find before it’s too late.

Drawing inspiration from his own upbringing in the Mormon church, Corey Egbert welcomes readers on an emotionally stirring, nuanced journey into the liminal spaces between imagination and memory, faith and truth.

I received a digital copy of this book through the publisher on NetGalley for an honest review.

Visitations is a young adult graphic novel. It tells the real-life story of the author’s Mormon upbringing and what it was like living with his mother and having visitation with his father. What I enjoyed about reading this graphic novel is that it touches on some serious themes, such as mental health and illness, grief, and family dynamics. And that it does it in a way that I feel would make this an appropriate read for young audiences.

Seeing these themes in a story like Visitations is important and is something I enjoy reading. I enjoy stories that have themes like the ones in this graphic novel as I feel like these types of stories need to be told. I also enjoy seeing them because it could be the perfect read for someone going through the same experiences. I also enjoyed this book because the story shared in it is based off of Corey Egbert’s life. I enjoyed getting to read a graphic novel that’s inspired by true events in the author’s life as I haven’t read too many graphic novels like this one before, so it was nice to see.

If there was anything with Visitations I didn’t particularly enjoy it would probably have to be the presence of the ghost in this novel. Its not that I didn’t particularly like her character or anything. My dislike comes from that the way the blurb reads of this book I thought she would play more of a role in this story than she actually does. I did find the way Corey introduces her into the story interesting, just thought she was more of a character in it than she ends up being. I also wanted to read more in Visitations too as I felt like I wanted to find out what their lives were like after the events that had transpired in the story as this novel felt too short for me even though I did enjoy it.

As a whole, Visitations is a wonderfully crafted graphic novel inspired by true events in Corey’s life that I highly recommend to anyone who can relate to growing up in a religious household, has delt with the struggles that come with your parents getting divorced, and has experienced grief of a loved one in their lives. Especially to anyone who enjoys reading graphic novels and reading stories that are inspired by true events in the author’s life.

Visitations is set to release on December 17, 2024 for anyone interested in reading this young adult graphic novel.