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Soft Places
Soft Places is a novella / graphic novel hybrid.
Johnna is found naked, wandering the streets with a mysterious head injury. Seemingly psychotic, she's forced into the care of perverted psychiatrist Dr. Gonne. She must escape his clutches and return to a strange place she only half-remembers.
suggested for mature audiences
Johnna is found naked, wandering the streets with a mysterious head injury. Seemingly psychotic, she's forced into the care of perverted psychiatrist Dr. Gonne. She must escape his clutches and return to a strange place she only half-remembers.
suggested for mature audiences
- GenresHorrorGraphic Novels
100 pages, Paperback
Published October 25, 2022
35 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
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October 26, 2022Emotionally rich, wonderfully weird, and wholly original. Rocksteady already has a long line of bangers, but Soft Places is a true gem. The dual format (traditional prose and graphic novel) is not just a gimmick, but a very clever necessity in this particular tale. I loved it.
November 20, 2022
The narrative is more of a short story, in scope and character immersion, which might affect your experience (depending on your expectations) but it feels bigger due to the nature of the project. Sort of an extension/side mission of the wonderful series and book The Maxx. And the rationing of the illustrated pages is masterfully handled, blowing open the text not unlike when the IMAX scenes of a movie kick in, or when the murky 3-D glasses come off. Recommended for readers looking for something a little different.
October 29, 2022
Soft places starts off fast and only gets faster. You're instantly pulled into Johnna's dreamlike, traumatic experience as she begins to see a world beyond her own, but nonetheless is trapped by circumstance under the control of a manipulative pervert of a psychiatrist. You feel as powerless as she does as you traverse Rocksteady's slipstream prose and psychedelic rubber hose illustrations. The hybrid model truly creates an immersive experience unlike any other.
June 25, 2024
A highly original blend of mediums with fantastic execution.
December 20, 2022
Visions of eerie creatures, otherworldly realities, clouded memories. A surreal journey of a girl named Johnna, chronicling her escape from a creepy hospital and the even creepier Dr Gonne.
This little novella/ graphic novel hybrid is an extremely uncomfortable read. It's very surreal, and there are no clear or easy answers anywhere. No one can capture the essence of 'uncomfortable' and 'surreal' quite like Betty Rocksteady. Without spoiling anything, the ending is very weird (love the last few illustrations) and very satisfying at the same time. If you liked the author's previous work (like Writhing Skies or Like Jagged Teeth), you'll enjoy this as well.
This little novella/ graphic novel hybrid is an extremely uncomfortable read. It's very surreal, and there are no clear or easy answers anywhere. No one can capture the essence of 'uncomfortable' and 'surreal' quite like Betty Rocksteady. Without spoiling anything, the ending is very weird (love the last few illustrations) and very satisfying at the same time. If you liked the author's previous work (like Writhing Skies or Like Jagged Teeth), you'll enjoy this as well.
November 1, 2022
My first hybrid novel! It's 50% illustrated novel, 50% graphic novel, and 100% fun!
The story is great and the artwork is fun and retro-ish. Highly recommend!
The story is great and the artwork is fun and retro-ish. Highly recommend!
November 11, 2022
Betty does it again! A wonderfully grotesque quick read with imagery you'd only find in your dreams (or nightmares). The hybrid nature of this novella/graphic novel is an amazing way to transport the reader between scenes. And the art is both nostalgic and refreshingly new. I highly recommend you give this book a read!
November 2, 2022
I loved everything about this one. The novella was fantastic and combined with the graphic novel format it really knocked it out of the park.
I believe I need more Rocksteady in my life. Well done!
I believe I need more Rocksteady in my life. Well done!
June 14, 2023
Soft places is an illustrated dark, surreal novella by Betty Rocksteady. It deals heavily with mental illness, self discovery, and personal mysticism
We follow Johnna as she’s taken to a hospital after a vague traumatic incident leaves her with an apparent head injury. She winds up in the “care” of a Dr. Gonne, who is pretty obviously not a great dude. As Johnna comes-to, she realizes she needs to get away from the hospital, which she does, but only briefly before she’s taken back.
Johnna has her inner eye opened and explores a dark and surreal world, beautifully illustrated by Rocksteady. The style evokes old timey cartoons where flowers, snails and mushrooms all have faces and greet you as you saunter along. I like the artistic style with thick, chunky linework, swatches of black sky, and hatching and stippling for tone and shading. The characters are round & appealing, all making me think they’d feel squishy to the touch.
Traveling between the real world of text, and the illustrated other world, we follow Johnna as she learns the truth about her attending doctor and comes to find a well of strength in herself.
Though parts of the narrative and dialogue are simplistic, I appreciated the presentation of being a mentally unwell individual on a psych ward. Parts of this one hit close to home in ways.
It’s a quick read and if you’re like me, you’ll find yourself spending more time on the illustrated pages than the written ones. The artwork fits wonderfully with the prose here. I found myself wishing for some more complex turns of character in the story, and I struggle with pieces in which the protagonist is abused by practically every other character, but that’s just because I’m a big softie.
I recommend this one. I think it hits a lot of important themes about mental health, self-knowledge and the artwork is just a treat to look at. I’d love to see more from Rocksteady in this style.
We follow Johnna as she’s taken to a hospital after a vague traumatic incident leaves her with an apparent head injury. She winds up in the “care” of a Dr. Gonne, who is pretty obviously not a great dude. As Johnna comes-to, she realizes she needs to get away from the hospital, which she does, but only briefly before she’s taken back.
Johnna has her inner eye opened and explores a dark and surreal world, beautifully illustrated by Rocksteady. The style evokes old timey cartoons where flowers, snails and mushrooms all have faces and greet you as you saunter along. I like the artistic style with thick, chunky linework, swatches of black sky, and hatching and stippling for tone and shading. The characters are round & appealing, all making me think they’d feel squishy to the touch.
Traveling between the real world of text, and the illustrated other world, we follow Johnna as she learns the truth about her attending doctor and comes to find a well of strength in herself.
Though parts of the narrative and dialogue are simplistic, I appreciated the presentation of being a mentally unwell individual on a psych ward. Parts of this one hit close to home in ways.
It’s a quick read and if you’re like me, you’ll find yourself spending more time on the illustrated pages than the written ones. The artwork fits wonderfully with the prose here. I found myself wishing for some more complex turns of character in the story, and I struggle with pieces in which the protagonist is abused by practically every other character, but that’s just because I’m a big softie.
I recommend this one. I think it hits a lot of important themes about mental health, self-knowledge and the artwork is just a treat to look at. I’d love to see more from Rocksteady in this style.
November 5, 2022
This was a very weird, but heartfelt novella/graphic novel hybrid. The hybrid approach works and breaks apart the story nicely. I’ve read THE WRITHING SKIES so I already knew I loved Rocksteady’s writing style. The whole thing reads like a crazy dream and I loved every second of it. Betty- please make more strange, experimental works like this!
October 28, 2022
I loved Soft Places! And I have a new found love for snails. Might even let them live in my garden and share my tomatoes next year. The hybrid novella/graphic novel helps you slip into another dream like realm and also keep you planted in a terrible reality. Well done!
December 29, 2022
Betty Rocksteady's Soft Places is an incredibly cool hybrid of novel/graphic novel. She uses the switch in form to have readers jump between worlds in a really cool way. I'm a huge admirer of her work.
April 1, 2023
The novella/graphic novel hybrid idea turned out to be a nice change of pace. This story starts out fast and does not let up. Our main character Jhonna was well fleshed out and the plot was excellent. My only (slight) issue was it was too short which made it seem a bit rushed. Still very enjoyable!
January 18, 2023
dreamy dreamy body horror with snails <3
April 12, 2023
I wanted to love this so much, but I think the idea of it was better than the actual experience of reading it. Still a cool book to own since it's part prose and part illustration/comic style.
July 4, 2023
Creepy, effective novella/graphic novel hybrid.
August 17, 2023
Fun to read, pretty awesome drawings.
December 2, 2025
Weird, dark, and wonderful
May 1, 2023
This is a wonderfully told hybrid graphic novel. A sophisticated story told in a very accessible way. gorgeous artwork that pulls reader into the story. Fantastic!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews