Clean Sweep A Graphic Novel by Ilona Andrews Series: Innkeeper Chronicles #1
on March 5, 2024
Genres: graphic novels, PNR
Pages: 320
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
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The graphic novel adaptation of Clean Sweep , book 1 of the Innkeeper Chronicles by #1 New York Times bestselling authors Ilona Andrews.
On the outside, Dina Demille is the epitome of normal. She runs a quaint Victorian bed and breakfast in a small Texas town, owns a Shih Tzu named Beast, and is a perfect neighbor. Her biggest problem should be what to serve her guests for breakfast. But Dina is ... Her broom is a deadly weapon, and her inn is magic. Meant to be a lodging for otherworldly visitors, the only permanent guest is a retired Galactic aristocrat who can’t leave the grounds because she’s responsible for the deaths of millions and someone might shoot her on sight. Under the circumstances, "normal" is a bit of a stretch for Dina.
And now, something with wicked claws and deepwater teeth has begun to hunt at night. ... Feeling responsible for her neighbors, Dina decides to get involved. Before long, she has to juggle dealing with the annoyingly attractive ex-military new neighbor, Sean Evans—an alpha-strain werewolf—and the equally arresting cosmic vampire soldier, Arland, while trying to keep her inn and its guests safe. But the enemy she’s facing is unlike anything she’s ever encountered before. It’s smart, vicious, and lethal, and putting herself between this creature and her neighbors might just cost her everything.
This is a book I pre-ordered the second I heard about it. I love the Innkeeper series so much, and I was beyond excited to dive into the graphic novel, even though I don’t usually read graphic novels.
First thing I want to talk about is the art. It’s beautiful. It’s perfect, the stylistic choices, the changes in the panels from anime to chibi art (reference is my daughter who is an artist) for emphasis, or for humor. It’s an amazing use of stylistic choice. For someone who isn’t a graphic novel or manga reader, I really enjoyed the art. While I can appreciate some of the mangas out there, I really don’t love some of the styles. I feel like the way this book was adapted allows for people who love graphic novels, and people who are new to the genre to both be happy with the art.
This story begins with Dina, an Innkeeper (she runs an intergalactic bed and breakfast, so to speak), noticing that there have been a lot of dog killings in her neighborhood recently, and she’s beginning to think something is hunting in the area. Something not of the earth. Her newest neighbor Sean Evans is an alpha strain werewolf, a bigger and badder version of werewolves, and she lets him know that something is killing in his territory. He calls her crazy, and she tells him that if he isn’t going to take care of it, she will. Enter lots of flirting, learning that there is more to the world than meets the eye, and that there’s a big giant universe out there. It’s amazing.
The next thing I want to talk about is more of how this book makes me feel. It leaves me feeling as if I don’t want to leave the world. I would up re-reading the entire Innkeeper Chronicles series because I just didn’t want to leave the Innkeeper world.
And then, something amazing happened in my household. My 10 year old saw the book and took it. She read this graphic novel cover-to-cover. Luckily the graphic novel isn’t inappropriate in any way (there are like 3 swear words, and maybe one joke that went over her head). And when she was done, my teenagers each took turns with it. My 19 year old has it at the moment and won’t give it back. I fully expect Lord Arland fan art by the end of this.
The main thing I do want to emphasize is that things have been changed slightly to make the graphic novel smoother, and the ending really is a cliffhanger. Which if you’ve read the novel Clean Sweep, you know what you’re getting into. That being said, the graphic novel ends at about where the halfway point would be in the novel. And it works. I wasn’t frustrated or upset. It really was a good spot to end the story. And I eagerly await the next installment of the graphic novel, because it is just the coolest thing ever,
***I bought this book
