Spoke by Eisner and Lambda Literary Award–nominated creator Kat Leyh, is set in a dystopian, pastoral future where protagonist Spoke, a deaf courier, tries to find belonging and purpose. The Stereo Geeks received an advanced review PDF from Simon & Schuster, and Mon shares her thoughts on the graphic novel.

Spoke opens with the declaration that the world ended some time ago. Humanity, what’s left of it, has had to find a way to rebuild and survive in this new normal. This is a world without power sources. Hence, tools and vehicles we have all become accustomed to are impossible to use. Or maybe they are if you have some determination, and plenty of goodwill. 

Spoke, our protagonist, is a young woman living alone and away from the nearby villages. Connections from one village to the village have become challenging in this pastoral landscape, but especially during the tough winters when the roads are blocked. 

Spoke is welcomed with open arms by her acquaintances and friends when she is finally reunited with them in the Spring. And now she brings with her a new hope – the possibility of connecting the disparate villages through her job as a courier. 

But, a wandering stranger, harsher weather conditions, and the past, offer both opportunities and obstacles for Spoke. 

Spoke is a pensive, thought-provoking story that’s centred on community. Our modern world is always on; always connected. And in this book, Kat Leyh places us in a world that is desperate to stay connected, but is torn apart by nature. 

The wistfulness of Spoke meeting and greeting her loved ones was incredibly touching. Anyone who’s been away from those they love due to external circumstances will immediately be drawn to the first act of the book. We’re introduced to a plethora of characters who circumnavigate Spoke’s world, but instead of reading like a roster (which sometimes happens when creators need to list off characters) we’re enveloped in the warm glow of happiness that Spoke feels to be reunited with these people. 

And yet, despite the camaraderie of community, Spoke and those around her are flawed and human. There’s a twist that closes the second act that’s heart-breaking. But it asks a core question – who are we to those around us? Is our sense of self governed by what we can do for others, or by who we are? It’s an interesting question that Spoke throws at us, showing us that community isn’t a monolith of good things. It’s a learning experience, and sometimes a harsh one at that. 

I loved how Leyh incorporated ASL in Spoke. She differentiated between the sign language conversation bubbles and the verbal ones and added subtle hand movements to showcase ASL. It was clever and organic, though I do wish we’d seen some more gestures to read the ASL ourselves. 

While wistful or sweet, Spoke is so pared back and sometimes non-linear, that I felt discombobulated at times. I wasn’t sure if the characters were some past remembrance, or new ones introduced. I kept trying to figure these portions out before having to move on. The overall story isn’t affected, but some of the flavour dissipates due to this confusion.

The book also has a ton of characters, which fills out the world that Spoke lives in, but is extremely hard to follow in a story this concise. Yes, they’re body diverse, racially diverse, queer, and represent various types of disabilities – I love that about this book – but most of the characters just fill out the backdrop. They have colourful personalities but aren’t fully-realized people.

Because we don’t build on the dynamics between Spoke and the different groups of characters, the emotional aspects get short-shrift. There’s a bust-up in the third act that feels contrived, something that the rest of the book didn’t suffer from. Other moments take place among characters that are sweet, but we have no context for the stakes or the meaning behind them. 

And yet, the comfort of seeing all these characters and Spoke almost makes up for the book’s shortcomings. 

While the sparse nature of the writing and art may be confusing, Spoke is about so much, despite saying so little. It’s a book about finding ourselves, our purpose in life, and about building community. The story is also about innovations and making the most out of any situation that we’re in. The effortless way Kat Leyh develops a community that isn’t just inclusive, but builds on its inclusivity, makes one question why that’s so difficult in the real world. 

Spoke by Kat Leyh is published by Gallery 13, an imprint of Simon & Schuster and released in bookstores on October 13. 2026.