STUNNING series visually and thematically. the premise was so fresh and interesting and i was sad when it was over ( )

Spectacular, style to story. I will hand sell this book to every person I know. ( )

My review of this book can be found on my YouTube Vlog at:

https://youtu.be/lV5vcEX1vbo

Enjoy! ( )

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr explores the fine line between living and dying in Mumbai through the lens of magical realism. Humanity is on the verge of discovering immortality. As a result, the avatar of Death is cast down to Earth to live a mortal life in Mumbai as twenty-something Laila Starr. Struggling with her newfound mortality, Laila has found a way to be placed in the time and place where the creator of immortality will be born. Will Laila take her chance to stop mankind from permanently altering the cycle of life, or will death really become a thing of the past? This 2021 5-part series was written by Ram V and Filipe Andrade.

Our Laila has died several times during her time on earth as a mortal. Each time she has had contact with Darius, a child who was expected to bring immortality to all upon his birth. In the beginning, Laila wants to kill Darius when he is born so that death can continue. However, something keeps her from killing him, a humanity that she did not know she possessed. The reader watches Laila as she grapples with the emotions of mortals.

During the series we see Hindu mythology as a theme. There are characters such as the funeral bird, a talking cigarette and a Chinese temple. These characters are fun and give the series a light feel. The artwork is colored with bright hues that also contribute to the hilarity of the story. With each issue of the comic the reader gets a full story but they all fit within the plot of a larger story. ( )

There's a lot to admire in this book. The colors are gorgeous, and many of the illustrations are touched with the most fascinating choices of detail. The whole thing is, overall, completed with such care and grace, that there's little to complain about simply because it's clear the writers'/artists' vision came together so beautifully, and with the concepts being so crisp.

At the same time, I have to admit that, in the end, this just wasn't something I enjoyed. There were moments where I thought it was taking a turn toward something that would become a favorite for me, particularly around the middle issue in the collection, and then it went in a direction that, for lack of any other way to put it, left me far less than interested. Perhaps if I'd gone into it expecting a meditation on grief and moving on, I'd feel different, but I'm not someone who seeks out books on grief. In fact, I generally avoid them. And when that is combined with the fact that I didn't particularly find a way to like Laila, and was incredibly frustrated by a choice made about leaving a question unresolved toward the end of the book...well, I'm leaving the book with less than positive feelings.

This is a book that will bring a lot of readers great wonder and thought. It's also a book that, to be truthful, I'd just as soon not have read. Both can be true, but I'll leave it up to readers to decide whether or not a speculative and thoughtful examination of the place of grief and moving on, on a grand scale, is something they want to explore. The book is more thematic and vignette-focused, as well, which surely matters, but I suspect it wouldn't have mattered much for me, given the end result of the dialogue on grief and acceptance. ( )