Olivia Twist: Honor Among Thieves

Olivia Twist

by Darin Strauss, Adam Dalva, Emma Viecili (Illustrator)

The Dickens classic reimagined as a female-centric, dark futuristic fable.

To save a boy she barely knows, teenage orphan Olivia Twist joins THE ESTHERS, a rag-tag girl gang of thieves running free in a dangerous future. Olivia's life in this London of internment camps and strange technology gets even more complicated when she discovers that she has more power and wealth than she's ever dreamed of. But it comes with a great cost.



This volume collects issues #1-#4 of Darin Strauss, Adam Dalva, and Emma Vieceli's Olivia.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Retellings, Fiction, Dystopia, LGBT, Young Adult

136 pages, Paperback

Published May 14, 2019

About the author

A recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship and a winner of the American Library Association's Alix Award and The National Book Critics Circle Award, the internationally-bestselling writer Darin Strauss is the author of the novels Chang & Eng, The Real McCoy, and More Than It Hurts You, and the NBCC-winning memoir Half a Life. These have been New York Times Notable Books, Newsweek, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Amazon, Chicago Tribune, and NPR Best Books of the Year, among others. Darin has been translated into fourteen languages and published in nineteen countries, and he is a Clinical Associate Professor at NYU's creative writing program.

Reviews

[Adam Dalva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Out this May! I'm happy to answer any questions in response to this post!

[Joe Krakovsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Honor Among Thieves" starts off with a touch of "Oliver Twist" in a futuristic dystopian setting. Our heroine, Olivia Twist, who has taken up with a female band of thieves, must fight against the evil overlords. This seems to be a common theme in this genre.

Being as this was only my second graphic novel, and the first of which was a children's book, I had a difficult time rating this. Raised with DC and Marvel comic books, I wasn't sure what to expect. Therefore, my memory of those publications will probably have some bearing on my rating, even if subconsciously.

The purchase price was not excessive, considering our present inflation. The artwork was appealing enough for me, but not quite as good as my childhood Thor. My parents wouldn't have approved of this back then because of the occasional swear words. I can't say there were any major twists because the story was straightforward enough. Lesbian themes are not acceptable by everyone. The characters seem human enough.

Was I disappointed? No. Would I read another? Maybe if I found it in a library. Would I recommend it? Certain friends would enjoy it. Therefore, I am rating it 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

[Lata · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the artwork, and the many shapes, colours and sizes of girls and women in this gender-swapped, grim future earth story and retelling of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist.
Olivia is a biracial, teen orphan who falls in with thieves after escaping a workhouse, and has her evil uncle after her.
While I could appreciate the way the original 19th-century classic had been updated to some dark future, I found the storytelling in this comic a little hard to get my head around. I thought the transitions between sections of the story abrupt, and even at times from panel to panel, leaving me rereading pages repeatedly to grasp the authors' intent. I kept feeling like I was missing parts of the action or characters' motivations.
Did I mention that I really liked the artwork and the many kinds of women in the story? I think those are the strongest elements, and much as I wanted to love this, I'm giving this a 3 stars.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

A gender swapped Oliver Twist set in the future where Fagin's gang of thieves are revolutionaries, I guess? There was some V for Vendetta-ness mixed in as well. The story started off well enough but once the authors tried to attach a revolutionary plot to it, it just all dissolved into an indecipherable mess.

Received a review copy from Dark Horse and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was kinda dumb.....

[Mitticus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cyberpunk dystopic retelling with females of Oliver Twist.
Nice drawings, but the story jump all over the place. Really confusing and messy.

[David Gardtman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Art and character design was nice. I liked that part at least. Transitions were super jarring, not only when jumping between events but also transitions within a scene. Character development was equally jarring.
I suppose this is an issue of trying to retell a story in way too few pages perhaps. An "adaption" needs to be able to stand on its own without the source material and I really don't feel this does. General story structure is all right, but how the characters get there and their interactions are not.
It wasn't horrible, and the art certainly makes it an okay read.

[Summer Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who can argue with a queer cyberpunk post-apocalypse version of Oliver Twist? Delightful 🥰

[Ksenia (vaenn) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ідея в цього коміксу насправді дуже проста: давайте змішаємо один відомий соціальною нерівністю сетинг з іншим. Вікторіанство з кіберпанком. Додамо впізнавані характери, відголоски актуальних сьогодні політичних проблем, увиразнимо антиутопічні нахили сюжету і приперчимо це все янг-адалтовим пафосом боротьби за все хороше проти всього поганого. І що вийде? У кількох американських та британських авторів та художниць вийшла "Олівія Твіст" - гендер-світч ретелінг роману Діккенса.

2050 рік, над Лондоном височить мегахмарочос "Вертикальне місто", де живуть американські багатії, які встигли знищити власний континент. Британці живуть на землі. Колишні британці - нащадки мігрантів - живуть в концентраційних таборах. Мігрантські діти ростуть у робітних будинках, підпорядкованих корпораціям (власне, одній). А коли дитині виповнюється вісімнадцять, вона має йти на всі чотири сторони, всі з яких - працювати на ту ж таки корпорацію, тільки тепер добровільно і з піснею. Але сирітка Олівія випадково зустрічає п'яту сторону: злочинне підпілля, учасниці якої можуть допомогти їй врятувати маленького Піпа - іншого сироту з робітні.

Фух! Забагато всього? Ну, так, тут все по-багатому: типова підліткова антиутопія про "Від нас приховують всю правду" невимушено зустрічає Діккенсівську вікторіанську сльозогінку про сиріток-спадкоємців, яких переслідує зле зло - і всі радісно танцюють.

І все було добре: ідея, стилістика, чесна спроба поекспериментувати із зображенням жіночої групальності, соціальна складова (трохи надмірна, але там в іншому проблема), старанний розподіл антагоністів на "не аж такі погані" та "абсолютне зло" - але... Але те, що сюди завезли замість сюжету - оце вже доволі сумне. І ще нелогічне. І ще надміру пафосне. Так, навіть на тлі першоджерела нелогічне і надміру пафосне. А шкода.

Детальніше про особливості коміксу з тизерами-ілюстрацій (і маленьким бонусом) - у блозі.

[ArchaeoLibraryologist · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting twist (see what I did there) on a classic!

[Jodi Geever · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, feminist steampunk retelling of Oliver Twist! Loved it!

[Eline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has potential but is underdeveloped

[Marit · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5*

[Dawn Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Needed more scenes to full tell the story and properly make all the connections.

[Josephine Draper · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do not read many graphic novels so this is a bit hard to review. However, I'm comparing with Y The Last Man Vol. 1:Unmanned which I LOVED - and this book I did not. What I did like, very much, were the illustrations. Including an ace drawing where the Dodger rescues Olivia. I appreciated the references to Dickens in the names of the characters. I also enjoyed the gender-switching. I used to think, when I found a story which used to be populated mainly with male characters now dominated with females, that it was a gimmick, but it's now starting to feel like a simple (and needed) gender re-balancing.

This version of Oliver Twist is set in a futuristic society where America has been eliminated, migrants are confined to camps, and children are set to work as semi-slaves. In common with the source material, our hero(ine) escapes the workhouse and falls in with a gang of thieves. From here the plot gets very murky with twists, backstabbing, confusing familial relations, and I struggled to follow along. The plot is also deliberately non-linear which confused me even more.

We have a lovely gang of rogues, beautifully drawn in steampunk style. Most of them wear kind of pantaloons and have gorgeous hairstyles. Must be fun to draw. I did feel the myriad of characters were underused though, and with the exception of the Dodger, Olivia, Pip and Fagin I struggled to discern between them. I wonder whether the intention is to use the rest of the gang better in a subsequent book. I also struggled to tell the difference between the villains and generally found the storyline a bit confusing.

Still, a beautiful book and some fun ideas. Maybe the future books, if they come, will help flesh out the other characters.

[Amber Lucassen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only good things about this are the art, the inclusivity, and the concept of a cyberpunk setting. Apart from that, this graphic novel is a little disappointing. The story makes no sense whatsoever, and the relationship and character development are so rushed that character motivations stop making sense after the first few frames. Next to this, there are also no stakes? For a comic seemingly about defeating villains and overcoming evil, this comic saves Olivia pretty much immediately every single time she seems to be in trouble.

I liked the fact that there was a queer relationship, but, honestly, it was so badly developed that it almost felt performative. The only reason I know it is not performative, is that everything else is rushed too, so the queer relationship is not a stand-out in that regard. I admit that I did like the inclusivity with different people being represented, it is just a pity that the narrative was not as strong as I would've liked.

All in all, cool idea, wasted potential, disappointing.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[angelofmine1974 · Rating 3 out of 5]

My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/iejzVBJ-62k

Enjoy!

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn’t expecting the plot twists. But it was a good book to read.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[bente · Rating 2 out of 5]

discombobulated.

[Victor van Rijen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0