3/5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m a novice when it comes to graphic novels, but the cute cover appealed to me, so I snagged this one anyway. I love Fables, but other than that often feel like the stories told in graphic novels are too thin and disjointed. That’s also the case in Sheets.

It’s a bittersweet story of a young girl – Marjorie – who has lost her mother and has to try to keep the family business going while she also goes to school and takes care of her brother and father. A skeezy fella by the name of Saubertuck wants to buy out the property because of the prime location. And by “buy out” I mean he’s offering them room and board if they come work for him, and by “wants to” I mean he tries to sabotage the business so they lose customers and have no other choice. So yeah, pretty much your standard unsympathetic bad guy.

Parallel to this is the story of Wendell the ghost, who escapes ghost town and ends up in Marjorie’s laundry business, accidentally wreaking havoc and playing right into the hands of the sinister Mr Saubertuck.

The story is however resolved to everyone’s (but the bad guy’s) satisfaction, and Marjorie’s family finally begins to heal after the loss they have experienced.

What elevates this graphic novel is the graphic aspect. The artwork is really beautiful. Delicate and intricate with a colour palette that invokes melancholy and mystery and something vaguely nostalgic. I really enjoyed the drawings and am thoroughly impressed with the level of detail and the sensitivity with which they are created. A shame the story didn’t quite live up to it.