I received this book from Netgalley/Yen Press in exchange of an honest review.

I was very curious about this one, I knew it would get dark. The cover alone screamed that, but the blurb also made that clear. Still, I couldn’t resist reading this one and yep, it was very dark. Very sad. But there were also moments of hope. Very very small pinpoints, but sometimes you saw something that resembles hope.

In this one we meet a boy in a war-torn country. What exactly is happening we don’t yet know, maybe in later volumes we find out more about the country and why it is in this state, but for now we follow the boy as he tries to find safety. Tries to find hope and happiness. From the start the book is gruesome. We see how the boy is able to hide, thanks to his mom, and then he sees all the people there get shot. Including his mom. Cue scene with him trying to get her brains back in her head. Yup. I told you this was going to be dark. From there we travel. Travel and run. Run run run. As things are sometimes silent… but sometimes there are guns and violence. I was happy for the boy that he eventually found a companion, a girl around his age that was also on the run. I do wonder if the boy had made it this far if he didn’t have someone to talk to. To care for. For her to care for him. For each other to watch each other. I found myself rooting for these two. For them to survive. To not give up even if everything was fucked up. Everything messed up. Death surrounding them always.

The man? I found him very spooky and scary and I was very much on my guard around him. Just like the boy. He didn’t trust that guy. He was wary. And blame him. He is a child. His mother and everyone he knew got killed. Danger is everywhere. And here is a man who is making strange notices, eats frogs alive, just doesn’t seem to sleep. I found him so sus. While I could understand that the girl wanted to give it a chance, I was just no no no-ing at that. Girl, I get that you want peace and happiness and everyone to just fucking get along, but this is a strange wild man, you are a girl. You should be on guard. I was just constantly hoping that I would be wrong. That the guy was actually nice. I won’t spoil it, but be prepared.

The ending, NO NO NO NO you cannot end this one like this. I was so happy that x happened and now this happens and the manga volume is over. I just need to know what is next for the kids.

The art was magnificent. Quite a simple style at times, but I do think it fitted very well. I love how dark it was and how it captured the darkness of the story.

All in all, a very dark, at times depressing, often shocking, very OMG nope manga/graphic novel that I would definitely recommend. But be ready for things.