Reviews

Bountiful Garden by Ivy Noelle Weir

geekwayne's review

4.0

'Bountiful Garden' by Ivy Noelle Weir with art by Kelly Williams is a graphic novel about a deep space exploration with a team of teenage scientists.

A group of deep space explorers, referred to by their job title, is suddenly awakened out of deep sleep by their ship stopping near a planet. The crew has to fix their stalled ship, but also they want to explore the nearby planet. As seems to be the way in these stories, things don't go well.

I liked this creepy story of space exploration. The characters are decent, but not deeply explored and serve their roles fairly stereotypically. The art has a quality that is not my favorite but does work fine for the story at hand.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Mad Cave, and NetGalley. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

kailey_luminouslibro's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.0

A group of teenagers have been trained to terraform a distant planet, but their spaceship stalls and they are awakened out of cryostasis ten years too early. They explore a nearby planet looking for supplies, and a mysterious presence begins to make itself known.

This graphic novel was a little too scary for me. There is some gore and blood that was gross.

I liked the characters, but they didn't have a lot of depth. They mostly spend their time freaking out about all the things that are going wrong on their mission. They are cranky and mean to each other. These people are not friends. They have been assigned to this terraforming mission, but do not exactly work well together. I wish there had been a character arc of the teens learning to work together and forming closer relationships, but most of them die before that can happen.

The art style is good, but everything is so dark. It made it difficult to see what was going on in the panels. I wish the coloring were brighter, but the darkness definitely fits the mood of the story.

I liked the mystery of the weird planet they explore. They find some weird ruins with strange markings, and there is an arcane history to be uncovered. Everything they discover makes them more afraid.

This was not my style of story because I don't like scary stuff, but I think someone else would really enjoy this graphic novel.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.

danibanani's review

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

3.0

mel_books's review

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

3.0

It’s the year 2200. A team of teenage scientists is sent on a mission to inhabit a new distant planet. They should wake up from cryostasis just before they land. But they wake up much earlier and discover that they don’t have enough food for the journey.

Bountiful Garden has an excellent story and concept, but it bothered me that all the characters were pretty much unlikeable. All of their childish quarrels annoyed me to the extent that I had difficulty keeping my focus on the story. I had one question: why would someone send immature teens on such a mission?

The art is very good. It creates the creepy atmosphere. A dark sci-fi/horror story. For fans of Alien and similar stories. This edition includes volumes 1-5.

Thanks to Mad Cave (Diamond Book Distributors) for the ARC and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review and all opinions are my own. 

larkken's review

adventurous dark fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Body horror

Minor: Murder