grid's review against another edition
3.0
I really liked the tone of this, but ultimately either I didn't get it, or there just wasn't enough there for me to feel like it was complete. It felt like a prose poem that somehow got expanded to a really long graphic novel. The art was pretty decent, some nice architecture stuff. The dreams weren't weird enough to feel like dreams to me. Then again, "the city" didn't really feel like our reality either, so maybe it was all one big dream.
driedfrogpills's review against another edition
4.0
I loved the artwork. The story took a little to get into, and I'm still a little unsure about Eartha's characterization, or rather how the antagonists interacted with/described her, but overall I liked this graphic novel. The last couple of pages really sold it for me.
emeraldreverie's review against another edition
2.0
I don't really know yet how I feel about this book. The art is stunning with a shifting spare color palette used to excellent effect. The story is...a lot. And there were a couple really big turnoffs that I don't know whether they were necessary. Still processing. May update.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
3.0
It's readable. And the art basically works. But I liked neither the artwork nor the story. I found the art distracting. There were inklings of interest but in general I found the story too obscure to enjoy. And the explained relationships between the characters at the end was not an improvement. Really not bad, but not good.
tromatojuice's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
iffer's review against another edition
3.0
Overall, I enjoyed this, especially the whimiscal premise of an island refuge that learns about the world, and helps the world, by tending to others' dreams. However, the execution did not live up to the potential. This seemed like another case of Fantagraphics trying to be "literary" and succeeding, at least in marketing to snooty people (e.g. people who find graphic novels from bestseller and book award lists) but overall seeming just okay to me.
I enjoyed the landscape art, but I'm not a huge fan of the sometimes-grotesque appearance of the humanoid character. I am also not a fan of the unnecessary, and repeated, groping of the main character who is portrayed as a physically fully-grown female with an intellectual disability. The book's pacing is uneven. It is understandably slower at the beginning to communicate a sense of wonder, and provide background for how the fantasy setting works, but the story then sags in the middle and then reveals all the "twists" in short order at the end in an unsatisfying manner.
I enjoyed the landscape art, but I'm not a huge fan of the sometimes-grotesque appearance of the humanoid character. I am also not a fan of the unnecessary, and repeated, groping of the main character who is portrayed as a physically fully-grown female with an intellectual disability. The book's pacing is uneven. It is understandably slower at the beginning to communicate a sense of wonder, and provide background for how the fantasy setting works, but the story then sags in the middle and then reveals all the "twists" in short order at the end in an unsatisfying manner.
ermily's review against another edition
5.0
This book takes you on a beautiful journey. The character development was really well done, especially with so many characters and such a short amount of time/space within which to develop them. I sometimes have a hard time following each panel of a graphic novel, but Malkasian does a good job of creating another world without losing the reader in the illustration of the story. Overall, I loved it!
mohawkm's review against another edition
3.0
I love the art and the central character - the original idea, that dreams are visible and pop up in one world by agreement with another looking to have them removed, was really interesting. However, it turns dystopian in a way that felt like the reader was being scolded without showing any real resolution, almost like some diet propaganda. It's not actually that bad, but the storyline was disappointing overall considering how much I liked the art. Hope this author will create other books with less of a dystopian bent.