ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

I went into this book knowing absolutely nothing about it. The cover attracted me and that was mostly it. What I found was one of the best stories I've read in a while.
Joshua's father flew his ship into the sun, causing the world to fall into complete darkness. His father's act followed him everywhere, leaving him and his mother to face the consequences. This book was about this. How you can live with the repercussions of someone's else's actions and how you can escape them. It was full of hope, gleaming into all that darkness.

Feminist graphic novels make my heart happy, especially if written by one of the most beloved modern feminists. Is it pushing a “feminist agenda?” Not overtly but a clear feminist sensibility underlies the tone and aesthetic. As someone who grew up with over sexualized female superheroes in tiny costumes fighting evil with their gravity defying humongous breasts front and center I am always relieved to find a story in which the women have their own agency and are drawn as people, not objects.

The story is a bit of a weird one. A mining company runs the town, maybe the world, and men are essentially slaves who spend their lives underground digging for a precious and mysterious substance. One man seems to snap, builds a plane, and flies it into the sun. In some strangeness that isn’t explained this causes the sun to go out and leaves the world in darkness. This story is the love story between this man and his wife and continues with the story of their son and his lover. It deals with issues like class and gender roles but at heart it is a post-apocalyptic romance. I may not have always understood how the world worked or what exactly was going on, but I sure felt all the emotions. I finished this a few days ago and I’m still thinking about it.

The mood and general feeling of the whole book was dark and melancholy but with moments of joy and delight. The art style and colouring fit the story perfectly. The blues and browns of the time of darkness and the purples and oranges of the times of light were a perfect contrast. There isn’t a lot of happy colour in this world both in the colouring choices and in the story. It was strange and haunting and somehow, I find myself liking it more after some thought and a few days than I did right when I finished. All my questions remain unanswered but that has become less important than the feeling I’m left with. This wasn’t a happy, light read but it was thoughtful, deep and haunting.

Thank you BOOM! Studios and Archaia for providing an Electronic Advance Reader Copy via NetGalley for review.

The book starts with the sun going out after a miner, Hiram Hightower, flies a spaceship into it. Exactly why he did that is something that the reader figures out as the book progresses. There are two storylines, separated into before and after the event, and each follows a couple. Before the event is the story of Hiram and Mara, and after is the story of their son, Joshua, and Claire. While it does deal with the community’s response to the loss of the sun and how they blame the remaining Hightowers, for me the main draw was the romances between the two couples.

As a miner, Hiram comes from the wrong side of town, while Mara is the daughter of a lawyer. Each are expected to follow in their parents’ footsteps, and while Hiram is proud to be a miner, Mara’s more interested in gardening and spending time with Hiram. He truly loves mining, and I found his take on it – uncovering treasures, finding the unknown – very poetic. Things change, though, when the valuable flareon is found in the mines, and suddenly the workers are working double-shifts six days a week – for five years – making others rich but not themselves. Hiram barely gets to see his wife any longer, or his young son. After the event, Claire is urged by her mother to befriend the ostracized Joshua, and as the years pass, their friendship slowly changes into romance. I found their childhood friends to lovers arc very sweet.

The art is absolutely gorgeous. The colors are watercolor-like and beautiful – yellows for the “after” and peaches for the “before.” Even with the limited color palette, the characters are well drawn, unique, and deeply emotional. There’s a good balance between the text and the art – the page never feels too cluttered.

What really didn’t work for me, though, was the ending. I think I understand what the author was trying to express in terms of healing generational trauma and wealth inequalities, but it seemed too neatly tied up too quickly.

Overall, I did enjoy the story, and will honestly most likely buy a hardcopy of this just to enjoy the beautiful artwork more.

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This story brought me to tears. The romance? The angst? The friendship? The tragedy? Everything was just so amazing.

The art style weirded me out at times, but I still ended up liking it.

I loved how we got to see the before and after. Also, can I just mention how cute and hopeful the last few pages were? I nearly died of cuteness.

Three women (and a man) teamed up to create this graphic novel being released the 27th of October
Although the cover is very colorful, in the rest of the book the color palette could be called rather sober
The story is based on a short story of bestselling author Roxane Gay
And explores a world shrouded in darkness, both night and day


Family, faith and true love in a world of darkness

The story of this graphic novel is based on Roxane Gay‘s short story 'We Are the Sacrifice of Darkness' which was originally published in a 2013 short story anthology. In 2017 it was republished under the title 'The Sacrifice of Darkness' in her collection 'Difficult Women'.

"When BOOM! Studios approached me about writing a graphic novel, I immediately knew what kind of story I wanted to tell—one about family and sorrow, faith that survives in a world of darkness, true love and an indelible bond between two people with the world against them."

Along with one of her favourite writers, Tracy Lynne Oliver, Gay adapts the aforementioned story to make it suitable as graphic novel.

The story in itself is rather slow, which is completely understandable as it is based on a short story.
But what is striking, is the fact that there are several repetitions in terms of content. This could've been smoothed out a little more.

The greatest shortcoming of this book however, is the fact that the authors can't keep up the suspension of disbelief.
Most of the time the story is very realistic and persons, events, situations, … are comparable to those in our lives.
Except for the science-fiction element: the sun doesn't shine anymore and the earth is suddenly covered in darkness. The problem is that this SF-component is actually the basis on which the whole story relies. But unlike the rest of the story, it has not been worked out realistically and there are just too many illogical things for which no satisfactory explanation is given (as this review tends to be spoilerfree, examples are left out - they can be read in my review on Goodreads).
All these incredibilities distract your attention so much that it's almost impossible to fully immerse yourself in the rest of the story.


Graphic art

Rebecca Kirby did the artwork and the coloring was done by James Fenner.

Some of the pictures depict beautiful scenes and are so strong that words aren't even needed.
Unfortunately this high level is not maintained throughout the entire book. Strange proportions and characters who look very alike regularly create a bit of confusion.

Interested in a sneak peek? Head over to Diverse Books: https://diversebooks.org/exclusive-excerpt-from-the-sacrifice-of-darkness-graphic-novel/


Potential

While it's not fully reflected by this graphic novel, it's certainly noticeable that this women's team has a lot of potential.
Hopefully they'll come back with another - more believable - story and totally hit the right note then.


*Thanks to NetGalley and BOOM! Studios for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through NetGalley.)

-- 3.5 stars --

Based On Roxane Gay's short story of the same name, THE SACRIFICE OF DARKNESS tells the tale of Hiram Hightower, a miner living in a company town on a world that might (or might not) be our own. The latest in a long line of miners, Hiram loves his job: hunting for treasure, unearthing buried secrets, exploring the second world that lies beneath the visible one. That is, until the mine owners' greed threatens the well-being of their employees - and, indeed, the entire town.

Forced to work double shifts in pursuit of the elusive and valuable flareon, the darkness begins to consume Hiram. So he buys an air machine and flies it directly into the sun, in the hope that its warmth might fill the void within him. And so it does: Hiram's soul is so desperately in need of light that it swallows the sun in its entirety, cursing his world to eternal darkness.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/50510321102/in/dateposted-public/

Since Hiram is gone, the townspeople take their anger out on Hiram's wife, Mara, and his son Joshua. They are repeatedly summoned before the Corona Council (ahem) to atone for Hiram's sins; the possibility of a blood sacrifice looming ever larger as the scientists' efforts to bring back the sun prove futile.

The story is told in a before/after narrative from the perspective of Claire, a classmate of Joshua's who befriends him in those early days of hardship. An island of two, they fall in love, marry, and start a family - and their happiness is an anathema to those adults who still mourn the sun, who have failed to adapt to this new world.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/50509446733/in/dateposted-public/

Gay's story is, of course, spectacular; her writing is achingly beautiful, and the story reverberated with me long after I moved on. While it's difficult to top the original - Gay's prose is basically perfection - the graphic novel adaptation represents a valiant try. The art is painted in drab tones befitting a sunless world. The art is mostly easy on the eyes, though an oddly proportioned hand or foot distracted me from time to time.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/50510321017/in/dateposted-public/

The adaptation is mostly faithful to Gay's story - that is, right up until the ending. Whereas Gay's ending is a little mystical and open-ended, Oliver gives Dawn's powers a scientific basis, which has the weird, seemingly contradictory effect of sapping some of the magic from the story - while also making it feel more satisfying, in a "no loose ends" kind of way. Idk, I kind of hated myself for enjoying it as much as I did (need everything spelled out much?).

If you enjoy the comic book version, definitely check out the short story, which appears in Gay's 2017 anthology, DIFFICULT WOMEN. You won't be disappointed.

This was my first Roxane Gay book. I've been wanting to check out this author's books for a while, so I was super excited to pick up one of her titles in graphic novel format, as I really enjoy reading graphic novels.

The Sacrifice of Darkness is a graphic novel based on the author's short story with the same name. It is a tale of the greed and malice of the upper class with SciFi elements and some romance. We follow two generations of couples in the same small town.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What a great graphic novel! I read the short story this is based on over the summer, and I found it intriguing. As a graphic novel, this story was elevated. The illustrations added an additional layer to the story. I love the narrative itself, in terms of how this young man is dealing with the repercussions of his father's actions, as well as the relationships it depicts, both positive and negative. Although not everything becomes resolved, the ending is so satisfying and really feel good. I am looking forward to see if Gay will continue creating graphic noverls out of her short stories!

(3 stars = liked it)

A miner goes to space and suddenly the sun is gone. It’s all his fault. His wife and son are left on earth and have to deal with the consequences. In this story, there is love and hate, solidarity, human greed and cruelty. This story was a little weird (obvi) and things didn’t make a lot of sense sometimes, but it was still interesting to read.

The social commentary in this story is really apparent, which is great. It shows how the rich and powerful just get richer and more powerful and greedier, and the working class is the one who suffers from it. The ones in power are cruel and harass this mother and son, trying to make them pay for something they didn’t do. One thing that surprised me was how they managed to go against the council so many times and remain free, but I mean... good for them! In addition, the parallels between past and present worked well, and it succeeded in showing a boy living in his father’s shadow but also trying to do better than him.

The art style was beautiful and the women especially were so gorgeous.

“A man with resolute strength, it took five years for the mines to finally break Hiram down. Five years of darkness instead of family. Five years of living more life underground than above. Five years to rip the miner’s heart from his chest...and send him away from everything he loved...so that he could touch the sun.”

There is something uniquely special about the coming together of The Sacrifice of Darkness. While I was not familiar with the companion piece by Roxanne Gay, I was pleased with this book for several reasons.

I enjoyed the concept. A mining man, Hiram Hightower is fed up with what the mines have become and decides to take matters into his own hands. He takes an air machine, as a result and drives it directly into the sun, creating eternal darkness. Coupled with beautifully crafted illustrations, The Sacrifice of Darkness is about what happens when the world loses its light source, with an emphasis on the people most affected and their stories. While one part science fiction and fantasy, this is also a story about love. The love story of Hiram Hightower and Mara Blessings before the event and the eventual love of their child, Joshua Hightower and his one and only friend through the mayhem, Claire.

I am a big fan of graphic novels and this one was truly well done!

Thank you to NetGalley for a digital ARC in return for an honest review.

Publication date: 10/26/20
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On the surface this is a touching story about families and rising above through adversity, but really it is so much more. There is a lot of discussion about class, specifically the disparity between the working class and the wealthy, and how the working class can often be dehumanized. I loved the story as it progressed and how it told two timelines involving some of the same members of one family. The art style and colors used perfectly portrayed the world and it was easy to see the difference between the timelines because of the differing color schemes.

4.5 Stars (I received an e-arc from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review)

Roxane Gay is one my favourite authors for both fiction and non-fiction, so I was over the moon when I was approved for the arc (slight pun intended). The art style is simple but still has some structure to the character design and the colour palette mixes well with themes in the story. We start off with the main event causing the darkness, from then on the story divides into two timelines. We have the present day with main characters Josh and Claire and then in the past we follow Josh’s parents love story leading up to the darkness. It’s interesting how the two timelines follow a lot of similar aspects but in reverse. Corporate greed leads to the creation of this dystopian society, with some undertones of racial discrimination and mob mentality. I loved the ending of the story and there were some tears shed at least once while reading. Roxane Gay never disappoints me and I highly encourage everyone to pick up this amazing graphic novel.

Thank you NetGalley and Boom! Studios for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review, unfortunately I was bored out of my mind reading this. I found myself not reading it after awhile, but just looking at the pictures to get a feel for what was going on more than having any interest in actually reading it. It started out promising and interesting, but for me it didn't really escalate from there. I enjoyed the art and the color scheme, but ultimately it fell short for me.

I'm hardly a comic person so requesting this comic was mainly to complete my TBNT Book Challenge and also it was written by Roxane Gay, an author I truly liked. I am glad that I did as I've enjoyed it a lot plus it's a meaningful read. Straightforward and simple yet impactful illustrations that can be easily understood with sentiments shared across the globe.

It is so relatable in our current world with so many issues we are facing that leads to mental illness in some. I may not have experienced it fully but I get the gist of it. I liked both Highwater father and son's love for both women which were exceptionally romantic filled with a strong bond that is considered very rare in current world.

I truly applaud the authors for writing and illustrating this cool comic that I've finished in one sitting. Hiram and Mara aside, Joshua and Claire, no matter their background and issues, together they were able to overcome it and conquer the world at the end.

This a beautifully illustrated, poignant story.
The story begins with a tragic event that causes the sun to disappear. That in itself is a powerful premise that immediately pulled me in. In this new, sunless world, people adapt, but the family of the man considered responsible for the event bear the brunt of the townspeople's anger throughout the years. A good portion of the book explores how the community responds and their efforts to bring light back to the world.
At its heart, however, this book is ultimately a love story: two, in fact. Alternating between two timelines and two generations, the story really emphasizes the importance of family and relationships. I am not a fan of romance, typically, but I enjoyed the beautiful love stories told here.
The greatest strength of the book is its exploration of class-based inequality and generational trauma. Although it has its dark moments, it is ultimately an uplifting story. This was both good and bad for me; I found the ending a little bit too neat. There isn't a lot of nuance here and it reads a bit like a parable in broad strokes.
The artwork is beautiful, saturated and dreamy. For a story about light, the artwork perfectly captures it and the contrast between light and dark, using different hues to correspond with varying moods and to signal shifts between timelines.
All in all, this is a beautiful story with strong themes and exquisite artwork.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

At first I wasn’t sure I was going to like this story, but the further I read the more I enjoyed it. The dual romantic storylines were lovely, and it was heartbreaking to witness the pain and suffering brought on by greed and exploitation.

Y’all. BOOM! Studios has never let me down, and they aren’t stopping now. I’ve been following this one for a while. As soon as I heard Roxane Gay was a part of this graphic novel, I wanted to read it, and I’m super grateful I got the opportunity.

“When I was a young girl, my husband’s father flew an air machine into the sun. Since then, the days have been dark, the nights bright.” The story takes place in a world with no sun, and it jumps back and forth in time to tell the reader about the history of how things got that way as well as the present and future of living in a world of darkness.

I loved so many things about this book. The catalyst. The stories of young lovers and how children often face the consequences of their parents’ actions. The art was fantastic, and it, like any good sci-fi book, examines humanity in the context of “what if,” examining the best and worst in others when faced with a catastrophic event. I think there’s a lot in this story that relates to our current situation. We aren’t without the sun, but COVID has changed all of our lives, and like the people in this story, I think we will feel its effects even after its over, perhaps forever.

This one’s out on October 27, so keep an eye out for it at your local comic shop, bookstore, or request it from your local library.

What a delightfully weird story. I found it a bit of a struggle at first to get into the story or it's unusual premise, but soon it had me compelled. I enjoyed this unique dystopian/almost post-apocalyptic take on class struggles.

For libraries: A good fit for a thriving adult graphic novel collection.

Roxane Gay, Tracy Lynne Oliver, and Rebecca Kirby adapted Gay’s New York Times bestelling short story “We Are the Sacrifice of Darkness” and turned it into a full length graphic novel, and added depth and color to a world where the sun doesn't shine.

If you haven't read any of Gay's work before this is the perfect primer. For those used to her non-fiction the graphic novel really helps you get into the world of this story. Like most of Gay's work that I have read it is both uplifting and illuminating, since she has a way of causing me to reevaluate some of my preconcieved notions about the world I live in.

I wasn't familiar with the short story this is based on, but I enjoyed even so. It jumps in quite quickly, but you'll get it soon enough. Beautiful art, really appreciated the two different time lines had diffrent colour pallets.