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auroralgr's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
I really enjoyed the concept of this story and overall theme - having hope and an optimistic outlook even when things seem bleak and pointless. The artwork is apparently all watercolour but before knowing that I struggled at times to differentiate characters due to blurriness. The female characters are sexualized nonstop which is infuriating even given the context of the time this was written. Still going to continue the series though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, and Sexual violence
beanjoles's review
I got about halfway through this book, hoping at some point I’d finally get interested, but it just wasn’t to be. The beginning was A Lot. The art, while beautiful, was busy and lent to the confusion I felt upon being dumped into a complicated world with no help in determining what I was reading. I could see this style working well for a movie or a traditional novel, but I didn’t feel it lent itself well to a graphic novel.
The reader isn’t really given any reason to care about the characters, and they manage to be astonishingly unlikable, astonishingly quickly. They’re very flat and one dimensional. Stel’s whole thing is optimism in the face of impossible odds, as we are reminded on literally every page. She doesn’t get fleshed out beyond this, and because I don’t know her motivations, it’s an irritating trait rather than an inspiring one. Her son is wretched and I don’t care about his fate, much less what seems to be their mother-son redemption arc.
Maybe some of this would get balanced out in the rest of the book, but I couldn’t make myself stick around to find out. It’s a shame to be writing this because the concept could have been cool, but alas, here we are.
I was also not a fan of how the women in the novel were treated. I know sci-fi written by men is very fond of relentlessly sexualizing and borderline, if not outright, abusing women, but it’s still not fun to see on the page. This graphic novel reminded me a lot of why, growing up, I thought comics were boring and for men only. Fortunately I know now that there are plenty of amazing comics that are made for everyone. This just isn’t one of them.
The reader isn’t really given any reason to care about the characters, and they manage to be astonishingly unlikable, astonishingly quickly. They’re very flat and one dimensional. Stel’s whole thing is optimism in the face of impossible odds, as we are reminded on literally every page. She doesn’t get fleshed out beyond this, and because I don’t know her motivations, it’s an irritating trait rather than an inspiring one. Her son is wretched and I don’t care about his fate, much less what seems to be their mother-son redemption arc.
Maybe some of this would get balanced out in the rest of the book, but I couldn’t make myself stick around to find out. It’s a shame to be writing this because the concept could have been cool, but alas, here we are.
I was also not a fan of how the women in the novel were treated. I know sci-fi written by men is very fond of relentlessly sexualizing and borderline, if not outright, abusing women, but it’s still not fun to see on the page. This graphic novel reminded me a lot of why, growing up, I thought comics were boring and for men only. Fortunately I know now that there are plenty of amazing comics that are made for everyone. This just isn’t one of them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence and Murder
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