Adam Smith (12)

** Free copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

2.5-3 stars.

At the End of Your Tether is a mystery/sci-fi graphic novel following two teens - Ludo and Arlo - who grow up on an air force base and fall for each other. When Ludo's mother transfers bases, his relationship with Arlo ends. But now, several years later, Ludo and his family are returning to visit – he is nervous but excited to reconnect with Arlo. However, when they arrive, it turns out Arlo has been missing for several days, and for Ludo, nothing about it adds up.

This is kind of a mystery story, kind of a coming-of-age, and kind of a sci-fi. The first half is pretty wholesome – Ludo has this super supportive relationship with his parents, (they all bond over their love of motorcycles, aww); and I liked his meet-cute relationship with Arlo. Things quickly take a turn when Arlo goes missing, and it turns out the multiverse has something to do with it. Overall, I liked the characters, and I think there was a lot of potential there. Not only were they well-designed and recognizable, but they felt full of potential - I was excited!

However, I had two big problems with this story – the plot and pacing. I had a really hard time following what was going on. There were elements to the multiverse aspect of the story that were ill-explained for me. Additionally, there were a lot of side-plots and leads that didn't seem to go anywhere or that were not elaborated on. I was asking myself, "what was the point of that?" or, "why is this in here if it's not important later?" There is also an omniscient narrator throughout the story that said things like, "Oooh yes, in this version of the story, it happens like this!!" – which made sense given the multiverse aspect, but those constant asides left me feeling even more confused trying to figure out what they meant.

Unfortunately, the wandering story isn't leaving me feeling super invested or interested enough to continue to the next installation, hoping there are explanations. I do give the creators massive props for the beautiful artwork, especially the fact that some (all?) of the coloration is done with gouache. Additionally the characters were wonderfully designed and felt fully realized; it's just too bad the story was so weak in comparison.

Would I recommend it? Maybe, maybe not. It is quite a quick read, yet it was also so unsatisfying to me I felt I could've spent my time better. I wanted a lot more out of this one than I received.… (más)

Through a Southern Gothic/Folk Horror lens, Smith and Fox examine themes of bereavement, suicide (TW for that, method and discovery depicted), depression and abandonment, and that there is hope and life beyond loss.

The story gets a bit hallucinogenic towards the end, which seems to have thrown a lot of reviewers and downgraded the average rating. I thought it was a solid 4⭐

Smith says that he completed the book during an ongoing period of bereavement, and I think he handles it all sensitively.… (más)