Goblin Girl by Moa Romanova 
Nonfiction

What it’s about: While a lot of us would probably find it embarrassing to recount a bad date, even to a close friend, Moa Romanova has turned her experience of a painfully awful Tinder-match-gone-wrong into an autobiographical graphic novel. To say that Moa’s having a rough time would be an understatement. Her depression and constant panic attacks make work and socializing nearly impossible. Her friends and her therapist don’t seem to understand; meanwhile, she’s getting rejected from art schools. Then, she meets a famous older man online (in the book, he’s drawn with a paper bag over his head and called “Known TV-Guy, 53). When the man offers to be Moa’s patron and support her art career, she feels like she has no option but to accept. Goblin Girl, through a highly-stylized and cartoony art style, goes on to recount how this relationship spirals out of control in surprising, disturbing, and manipulative ways.

Why you should read it: Romanova’s work is an intensely raw and highly relatable exploration of the pressure young women artists feel to give in to older male mentors’ advances, especially when financial and promotional support is on the line. Goblin Girl is also an incredibly accurate depiction of what it’s like to live with panic disorder.

Author Alert: Swedish graphic novelist Moa Romanova is certainly a writer to watch in the comic book scene. Born in 1992, Romanova studied at both the Gothenburg School of Fine Arts and the Malmö Comic Art School. Goblin Girl, her first graphic novel, has already been translated into seven languages.