Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this graphic novel. Unfortunately, while the blurb really interested me, I have been unable to get into the story.

'Satania' with story by Fabien Vehlmann and art by Kerascoet is about a trippy trip to the center of the Earth. Or something like that.

A young woman, nicknamed Charlie, heads up an expedition to find her lost brother. He disappeared underground on a mission to prove the existence of Hell, kind of. Charlie's team finds more than they bargained for as they are forced to venture further and further down. They find deadly situations, strange situations, and odd creatures.

The story is certainly weird enough. Perhaps a bit too weird in places. There are a lot of panels and lots of art to go along with this story. I do like a good explorer story and this wasn't too bad.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from NBM Publishing, Papercutz, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Charlotte sets off on an adventure underground to find her lost brother. Her brother went underground to prove the existence of Hell. As the group heads deeper underneath the earth they encounter strange worlds and creatures. While I enjoyed the adventure I was disappointed in the ending. The artwork was good and fit the story.

I thought this was a good read. Some panels were a little hard to follow, but I thought the artwork was nice, and fit nicely with the themes and story.

A Journey to the Center of the Earth type story with a bit of existentialism thrown in. Gets really weird in places.

Another interesting collaboration between Fabien Vehlmann and the Kerascoët illustrators duo. I absolutely loved "Beautiful Darkness", so I decided to give "Satania" a go too. Though not as weird and cute, Satania is a truly interesting graphic novel about a group of people trying to find an underground passage to Hell, and then getting utterly lost in it's weirdness and complexity.

Young Charlotte is looking for her older brother, Christopher, who was lost in underground tunnels. Christopher was looking to prove his theory that demons are really just another evolutionary chain from monkeys rather than hellish monsters. Charlotte and her team of five are lost in the caves during a storm. A few weeks later, a priest finds the group. Father Monsore was the guide for the trip where Christopher was lost. He was the only survivor. Before the Father can guide them from the cave, another storm hits and the group is swept downwards, deeper into the tunnels.

One part Jules Verne, one part H.G. Wells, two parts Dante and a pinch of Aesop, Satania is like no other graphic novel. The story is definitely only for adults. Christians may be displeased with the portrayal of what may, or may not, be hell and its demons. The illustrations are serviceable at best. However, the imaginative plot, particularly the ending, is what makes Satania unique.

While I enjoyed this obviously French tale, I hesitate to recommend it to most readers. However, if a reader is bored with regular graphic novel plots and is willing to go down some extremely dark paths, Satania may be a perfect quick read that will resonate long after the last page is done.

This story is a bit of a blend between Darwin’s theory of evolution (on crack) and the Divine Comedy. I think the author was hoping to aim more for the former, but I didn’t feel it quite so much.
Charlotte (aka Charlie) has gone off on a crazy adventure in an attempt to find and rescue her missing brother. Unfortunately for her and the team that accompany her, this is anything other than an ordinary rescue mission. Things rapidly take a turn for the worse, followed by the unbelievable, and finally the unthinkable.
Charlotte’s brother believed in hell, and how it was connected to Earth through tunnels like the one he was researching in. Somehow his theory also connected back to Darwin’s theories, but I’ll admit I had trouble seeing that bit. Regardless, this belief ended up engulfing nearly a dozen people in its mystery.
This was an interesting tale, to say the least. It raises questions of perception and sanity – did the rescue team see any of what we were shown, or was it all a dream; something that their freezing brains came up with in their last minutes of life?
The concept of hell is not a new one, but I really do appreciate seeing new interpretations and twists on it. I’ve certainly never heard of a story that had both hell and evolution in its description before this one.

I was not overly impressed by Satania.
The premise is: simple a group goes looking for a missing exploring while he was looking for the entrance to Hell. Bad stuff happens and the explorers find themselves never being the same again.
There isn't much new brought to the idea except there is a girl hat the story revolves around. While this is awesome, it's jut a gender swap of other stories that follow the same theme and plot.
To be fair, I would have loved to have read this graphic novel in high school instead of Heart of Darkness; Sanania shops teh worls and make is clrea wht is going on . It's less long winded and not as boring. This would be my perfered retelling of Dante's Inferno.

I was willing to give this vividly-coloured, painted graphic novel the benefit of the doubt, and say it had some of the weird world-building of the likes of Walter Moers, but in the end I couldn't say I enjoyed it. There is too much bonkers odd-for-the-sake-of-odd, and a touch too much of the midnight cinema aesthetic about it.

I did not realize this was the same person that did Beautiful Darkness, but now that I know that it definitely makes more sense ...in a way. I mean, I'm still not entirely sure what the point of the entire thing was but in the same way that I wasn't entirely sure what the point was in Beautiful Darkness so I guess at least it's consistent.

The plot was kind of confusing and weird to me, or maybe it just wasn't what I was looking for. At first it seemed like it was going to be a Journey to the Center of the Earth kind of thing but then it got all existentialist and completely lost me or else just had me rolling my eyes. Also I don't really like the way the people are drawn because I feel it just looks childish and reminds me of comics in the Sunday newspaper, but the landscapes and backgrounds were absolutely gorgeous once they got really far underground.

There were some good parts I guess, but overall I could have definitely skipped it.

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I really don’t have anything to say about this. It didn’t make any sense, there were too many plot holes, too many things unexplained, and too many characters and archs introduced for absolutely zero reason.

Sorry, I just couldn’t like this. Maybe someone that enjoys fantasy more than I do, and someone that can do without real world-building and characters, would get something out of this.

Received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

*thank you to Netgalley and Papercutz for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

1.5 stars.
This was so weird! I wasn't a fan of the illustrations either, though there were parts where I loved the use of colour. I don't know what to make of this really. It just seemed to make no sense. I didn't feel connected to the story or the characters and why ohhhh why was one of the main characters, Charlie, walking around naked part way through? Umm yes. If you are after a weird graphic novel, then this will be a good choice.

Wow, but this was fascinating.

What a well-written and creative story.

And the art was amazing.

The art and the story had just the perfect amount of <i><b>dark</b></i> in them.

[Note: I didn't realize this until I checked out some other reviews, but this is the same creative team that brought us Beautiful Darkness.

I'm not sure I fully understood the plot of this particular graphic novel, but it was definitely interesting. A small party of adventurers works their way below the earth in an attempt to find a long-lost brother. Many strange inhabitants of the underworld - Satania - cause problems for our intrepid explorers. The ending provides an interesting twist, which I enjoyed, but I came away overall befuddled at the purpose of this particular book.

Absolutely boring and tedious story about one-dimensional characters stuck underground, bickering over nothing. Utter waste of time.

A fabulous, grotesque and lurid vision of subterranean life, recalling A Voyage To Arcturus or Veins Of The Earth in its determined strangeness. Alas, there are people here too, many drawn in a caricature style which would be fine for an editorial cartoon but gets trying at length. Nor are their stories anything new, with the rivalry of science and religion, religion and desire all following well-worn paths (and desire in particular is present in that distinctly French fashion which may give even non-religious readers pause). Still, well worth a look just for its caverns and creatures.

(Netgalley ARC)

This was SO WEIRD and so beautiful! I takes elements and inspirations from Dante and Jules Verne and manages to create something totally original and interesting that is also visually stunning, gross and creepy! Loved it!