Kin (The Good Neighbors, Book 1) (Hardcover)

by Holly Black (Author), Ted Naifeh (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Grade 8 Up—After her mother suddenly disappears, Rue Silver finds out that the woman was a faerie. Rue's father, Thaddeus, a human, is suspected of murdering her, as well as one of his students. As Rue solves these two mysteries, she also finds out more about her parents' relationship, and her own relationship with them. Willowy, brooding Rue and her Goth punk friends don't look too different from the glamorous, aloof faeries, and this sophisticated tale is well served by Naifeh's stylish, angular illustrations. This book will appeal to readers of Holly Black's fiction and fans of intelligent, otherworldly stories such as Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" series (Vertigo).—Lisa Goldstein, Brooklyn Public Library, NY
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From Booklist
Rue Silver’s everyday life with her professor father and ethereal mother comes crashing to a surreal end when her mother one day simply disappears. As Rue starts noticing oddities in her little town—people with wings or animal faces, or vines that seem to sprout up over everything at night—she tries to tell herself that such things would be crazy. When her extended family appear and claim that she is part of a hidden faerie world, Rue finds herself embroiled in a magical fight for power. The first volume in a series, this book goes a long way in setting up a foreboding, darkly mysterious atmosphere while giving the reader quick details for characterization. Black, one of the authors of the Spiderwick Chronicles, does a wonderful job of weaving an alien faerie world through Rue’s urban landscape, and Naifeh’s art, rich with shadows, is expressive and angular and pulls the reader into the story with a solid sense of place. Urban-fantasy readers of Neil Gaiman, Charles de Lindt, and Terri Windling will be immediate fans of this title. Grades 10-12. --Tina Coleman

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: GRAPHIX (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439855624
• ISBN-13: 978-0439855624
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #88,113 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, September 19, 2008

By	Steven R. McEvoy "MCWPP" (Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

From the Publishers of Jeff Smith's Bone Volume 7: Ghost Circles comes a new series from one of the authors of the The Spiderwick Chronicles (Boxed Set): The Field Guide; The Seeing Stone; Lucinda's Secret; The Ironwood Tree; The Wrath of Mulgrath. The series called Kin debuts this fall with The Good Neighbors. This is a fantastic graphic novel. The story is strong and compelling, the characters are enticing and draw the readers in, and the artwork is excellent.

This is the beginning of the story of Rue Silver. Rue thought she was a typical student - she had good friends, hung out, went to class and broke into abandoned buildings to climb and explore in them. But now her mother has just disappeared, her father has been arrested, suspected of killing her and one of his grad students. However the story is not as direct as that. Because, unbeknownst to her, Rue is a faerie, like her mother. Rue embarks on a quest - a quest to save her father, a quest to find her mother and after discovering her fey roots, a quest to understand herself and her role in the world. For a battle is brewing between the faerie world and our world, and a dark faerie has plans to make mortals live in fear of the good neighbors once again.

This book reads like a cross between Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere: A Novel and Stardust but with a much darker edge than Stardust. Drawn completely in grayscale, it has an otherworldly feel yet strangely familiar. Black's story draws you in and compels you to read on and Naifeh's images powerfully complement the words. The only drawback is that the book leaves you hanging and desperate to find out what happens next, and yet I cannot find a release date for book two anywhere. So once you are hooked you might have to wait a while for the next installment. But even with that the book is more than worth the effort.

(First published in Imprint 2008-09-19.)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Neighbors, September 11, 2008

By	Mary Sharp - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have read all of Holly Black's work and it came as no suprise to me that I loved The Good Neighbrs. I was concerned that I would not enjoy a graphic novel as much as her other stories, but I loved it. I can not wait for the second one to come out!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Family and faerie, December 1, 2008

By	E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Holly Black tells creepy faerie tales. Ted Naifeh draws eerie stories about otherworldly creatures.

So unsurprisingly they mesh together well in "The Good Neighbors: Kin," the first part of a graphic novel series about a girl living half in faerie, half in our world. While the plot seems cliche at first, Black successfully throws some curve balls in the form of missing mothers, murders and a series of thoroughly creepy, inhuman faery creatures.

Ever since her spacey (read: faery) mother vanished, Rue has been seeing strange things -- elves, goblins, butterfly-winged faeries and other bizarre creatures. When her dad is arrested for the murder of a student, it forces Rue to find out what has happened to her mother, and to figure out exactly what kind of creature her mother really is.

Then her sinister maternal grandfather appears, demanding that Rue come to live with him -- and his servant Tam hints that Grandpa isn't planning on . Rue is forced to enlist her mortal friends in her hunt for some very nasty secrets: the student's death, the affair that drove her mother back into her own world -- and a terrible trick that is being played on her.

"The Good Neighbors: Kin" is apparently Holly Black's first stab at a graphic novel -- but you wouldn't know it. It's a very polished, lean story that successfully winds together several plot threads, and manages to throw some surprisingly twists. Some of the answers to these mysteries aren't what you'd initially expect -- and the people in them aren't always what they seem.

But Black also knows how to spin up an atmosphere of shadowy, slightly ominous otherworldliness -- moving vines, punky fairies, a few nasty geas, and some very gruesome old stories of murdered "changeling" women. At the same time, there's a beauty to many of Rue's experiences, such as when she unconsciously makes roses grow over herself, or remembers her mother's fey answers to basic questions.

And if you want to get all analytical, "Kin" handles the growing pains of an adolescent leaving innocence behind. Rue has to grapple with her faerie nature and how it may alienate her boyfriend, while she also tries to figure out what kind of world faerie is. And the mysterious Tam is a striking one: he's forced to obey whether he likes it or not, and there's a bit of a spark between him and Rue.

Ted Naifeh's artwork suits the storyline wonderfully -- dark, slightly jagged, and drawn with fluid realism. While it would be a bit better if it were colored, it adds to the poetry of Black's writing.

"Good Neighbors: Kin" is a solid start to Holly Black's graphic novel series, and though it ends on a cliffhanger, it promises to only get better.