Rutu Modan's graphic novel is the story of Koby, a young man living in Tel-Aviv in 2002 whose life changes when his estranged father, Gabriel, disappears. Koby is approached by Numi, his father's lover, who believes that Gabriel has died in a suicide bombing. Koby is initially reluctant to get involved in finding out what happened to a father that he professes to hate, but he slowly gets drawn in as he discovers more about his father's life.

Koby is a pretty unlikeable character—he's self-centred, aimless, and can't let go of the hurt and embarrassment his father has caused him in the past. I was itching to give him a good shake at some points of the book! But through his developing relationship with Numi and the discoveries about his father, Koby comes to a kind of resolution that enables him to let go of his hurt and start living his life.

Exit Wounds has definitely left me with something to think about. Rutu Modan shows a society in which all aspects of life are touched by violence and the military on a daily basis. Numi is just finishing her term serving as a soldier, Koby's cousin died fighting in Lebanon, and people live in the destruction left by bombings. Of course, I know that this is what happens in Israel, but it's the first time I've been made to stop and really think about what this constant close proximity to aggression (committed by and against Israel) does to Israeli society and how it must affect a community's behaviour over time.

Finally, a word about the art work. It's a truism to say that a picture paints a thousand words, but it never ceases to amaze me how much story and emotion can be conveyed by a single frame in a graphic novel. The majority of Modan's illustrations are simple and brightly coloured, providing an unobtrusive backdrop to the story, but there's one image of Numi that really stands out for me. She is standing in the sea, battered by waves, with a look of pure joy on her face.