3.5!

I think there’s a collection of love stories at the core of this one. Love of parents for children, of people for purpose, of human for light. I liked the way Hiram and Mara’s “before”s were interwoven with Joshua and Claire’s “After”, how they both had a distinctive colour scheme and feeling to them - also in line with the event that separates their before and after, that is? the disappearance of the sun.

I did feel like I missed some depth to the characters, particularly to Claire. Besides her loyalty and sense of justice, I feel like we know very little about her, and I wanted to know more. In addition I found the focus on women bearing children, and how prevalent and automatic that felt as a logical course of action a bit much, especially since it felt like that notion really just existed without the women in question having much of a different purpose besides supporting the men they love. I think that in combination with a world that felt at times pleasantly ungraspable and at times confusingly distant left me feeling a little unsatisfied with the story in the end.

And of course I have to point out the artwork, which is absolutely gorgeous. I love the style, the fluidity of it, the colours, the sense it gave you of the space this story exists within, which is both similar and very different from our world. It really enhanced how connected I felt to the story.

A very pretty, contained work of art.

I received this digital arc in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and BOOM! Studios/Archaia!

What an interesting graphic novel! The art was gorgeous, and the way it portrayed time jumps was interesting. The story was intriguing, with themes of classicism, specifically the violence and lack of compassion from those who profit off the lower class. As such a short story, it did a great job of exploring corporate greed, the way in which society dehumanizes the working class in order to exploit them, and the repercussions of such dehumanization. It talks about social ostracization and injustices in society. It was well told, and it made an impact on me.

There was a sweet love story centered on found family and making the best out of a terrible situation. It was great, but I think it should have been flushed out a bit more. I would have loved to learn more about the characters, watched them grow close and interact with each other a bit more, get some context on why things happened the way they did. The pacing was too quick for me, I think. But as a short story, it was a strong one for sure.

this was beautiful. i think the combination of the artwork and roxane gay's writing is perfection. i wasn't expecting such a powerful and deep storyline from the synopsis, but i very much enjoyed it. i think is a great introduction to roxane's writing if you've never read something from her, because is a lot lighter than her non-fiction work, but still great.

This graphic novel was pure magic. First of all, the art style was incredible and had a very stylistic feel. It reminded me of an older indie animated film and I adored every single panel. The story was heartwarming and uplifting. A true tale of love and companionship, with a powerful message of never letting your light fade. I enjoyed absolutely every second of reading it. Would highly recommend.

This story is unique in a lot of ways. At the beginning it shows a miner Hiram Highwater breaking down from the greed of the company working the miners and he drives his plane into the sun causing the sun to go out for everyone. The town was forced to use lanterns to bring light to the town to bring back some normalcy of night and day and basically to be able to see, with the light going out this also caused the town to be cold. This brought out a lot of resentment towards Hiram's wife Mara and his son Joshua.
Then, the story switches between the love story about Hiram and Mara then Joshua and Claire. How they came to be together, how Mara's family did not approve of Mara becoming a wife of a miner and how she went ahead and married him. Then, it switches back to how Joshua and Claire start hanging out and their love develops and they get married and eventually have a daughter.
I really enjoyed this graphic novel and the story line. It was hooking and kept me interested. The story definitely was deeper than I originally thought and the wealthy and the influential people of the mines that they became greedy basically forced the workers to work overtime to get all the minerals that they wanted out of the mines. I definitely recommend this graphic novel to anyone who enjoys a good love story and a little bit of a mystery! I definitely will check out more from this author as well!

The world feels especially dark and heartless right now, which makes perfect timing for this strangely hopeful, empowering graphic novel adaptation of a short story by Roxane Gay (from the collection "Difficult Women") in which the sun's light has disappeared. It's just what I needed to read at this moment in time. The art is beautiful, I grew to care about the characters, and I loved the allegorical, speculative sci-fi feel. Pull this book out when you need a breather from the injustices of the world; when you need to be reminded of what's good.

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have never read any of Roxanne Gay’s work so this graphic novel adaptation of one of her stories felt like an easier way in than her non-fiction, which I know tackles a lot of tough topics.

The story was interesting and followed two sets of characters, some ‘before’ and some ‘after’. The world building was a bit confusing at points because although this could be classed as sci-fi/fantasy or at least speculative fiction, it is very close to our real world and so some of those speculative aspects were not fully explained.

Rebecca Kirby’s artwork was my favourite aspect of this reading experience. The muted colours not only differentiated between the two time lines but she managed to pack so much emotion into each panel.

Overall I enjoyed this and will be seeking out more of Rebecca Kirby’s work. The story itself wasn’t the strongest aspect for me but I would be interested in reading more by Roxanne Gay.

3 out of 5 stars!

The artwork is stunning in this graphic novel. I found myself spending a good amount of time really looking and taking it in.

Story wise, at times I found it a little confusing and would probably have worked well if fleshed out so we had more information.

Overall it was entertaining and would recommend this clever little graphic novel.

I thought that this story was interesting, if you looked beyond the surface level.
It had a lot to say about the working class and the exploitation of them to benefit "society" to their detriment. It also explored the way working class people, but especially working class people of color, are blame when they rise up and fight back against their exploitation.
This is all handled in a very subtle way. I think many readers could miss the significance of the story.
I found myself sometimes less invested than I would have liked to be.
The art was quite lovely and unique and I appreciated that the artist tried to make the past and present clear to the reader.

Roxane Gay is one of my favorite writers and I had read the short story this is based on before.
After years of working underground at the mine, Hiram Hightower flies into the sun and then the sun disappears. Life goes on after the sun disappears but the council is desperately searching for a way to bring the sun back.
The story alternates between the past with Hiram and Mara, and the future with their son Joshua and his friend Claire. The two stories are beautifully illustrated and I loved how the colors changed between two to show what the absence of the sun did.

A very clever idea that was turned into an entertaining graphic novel. The story got confusing at times especially since the science of the world nor the properties of flareon. The side story of money hungry corrupt politicians and misplaced bandwagon hate were well done.

This could have been five stars if it was fleshed out a bit more, but overall it was quite good.

I thought I wouldn't like where the story is going to take me. But man, I was so wrong. I really love the ending, it is just beautiful.

The illustration is just beautiful too. I like the way they used color to differentiate between the time setting.

The Sacrifice of Darkness is a beautiful, haunting, and atmospheric graphic novel. It’s a wonderful example of visual storytelling and the adaptation of ideas to image and text.

Highly recommended as an example of the literary work and possibilities of this medium.

"The Sacrifice of Darkness" draws on the Icarus myth and oral tradition in a way I hadn't seen in a while. The art is superb and does bring forth the darkness and light in the story. Nonetheless, I do feel the story lacked body, if I may say. I haven't read the story from which it is adapted, but you can definitely feel its connection to the original text by way of its structure and language.

The narrative element of prose was present even in the dialogues, creating or giving you a sense of reading prose while reading a graphic narrative. Rebecca Kirby's art and James Fenner's colors made the story come to life and brought that textual/descriptive connection forward, which helped the mythical theme be a lingering element in the text.

This graphic novel is an adaptation of Roxanne Gay’s New York Times best-selling short story “We are the sacrifice of darkness”. The art is absolutely gorgeous. It’s not that colourful as the story is set in a world of darkness but I found the colours to be a bit vintage in a way and I loved it. I would buy this one just for the graphism by Rebecca Kirby and James Fenner. On the other hand, the story was a bit difficult to follow, at least at the beginning. I was a bit confused as to what was happening and why. However, it got better after the first thirty pages and I enjoyed the Before/After a lot. It was interesting to see the parallelism in the lives of the parents and of their children. It talked about the subject of identity, greed as well as survival and adaptation. I think it would be intriguing to analyse this book because a lot of things are said behind the lines. The romance in this graphic novel was subtle and touching, the kind you wish to experience. I would have loved to know more as to why some events occurred but overall, I really liked this book. I am going to try to find the short story in order to compare both. I recommend this graphic novel to adult who enjoyed romance and a bit of fantasy.

The Sacrifice of Darkness is unlike any of Roxanne Gay's previous books I have read. It is true, pure, science-fiction. The illustrations are beautiful, particularly the coloring. I found the story itself to be a bit hard to follow.

I got an ARC of this book.

I am going to admit something that I am ashamed of: this is my very first Roxane Ray piece. I have heard so many wonderful things and I keep saying that I am going to grab something by her every time I go to the library or her work pops up in my feed on Goodreads. Still haven’t done it.

The art is gorgeous. It took me a few pages to get used to it, but after that I really couldn’t image any changes that could be made to make it better. The light and dark, the faces, the everything is just amazing. I love how well the story and art pair together. Neither overpowers the other.

The story! So I knew I should expect something great, but this was just amazing. It wasn’t necessarily about a physical light source, but more about the greed and dehumanizing of the working class. It was about how the light went out for people that were used for profit. It was about so much more than just what was shown. It was wonderful. It is something that hit really hard. It made me think about how much of my world was destroyed by the greed of the holiday season when I worked retail. The company did not care that I had a life as long as there were bodies in the store to ring up sales. I was no longer a person. It is not as intense as mining for 16 hours, but the idea is still there. The greed of some can destroy the lives of many.

There is also the element of the poor being punished for the greed of the rich. The demand for a blood sacrifice was so infuriating. It fit so well and it made no damn sense at the same time. It was the best detail. This is very much the issue with climate change and health care wrapped up so nicely.

This story could be read just as it is, but there is so much under the surface that is not hidden at all. I am not one to go into themes and the real meaning behind books. This was just that obvious, but not heavy handed. I loved this story. I really shouldn’t have waited this long to read Roxane Gay.

A tragic event forever bathes the world in darkness. Follow a woman and a man's powerful journey through this new landscape as they discover love, family and the true light in a world seemingly robbed of any.

As they challenge the world's notions of identity, guilt and survival, they find that no matter the darkness, there remain sources of hope that can pierce the veil.- Goodreads

It is/was hard for me to write this review.  And it was because I liked this graphic novel for the first 80% of it and then it tanked. 

You ever read a story that was creative, insightful and promises a huge twist or at least a satisfying ending and then it didn't. That is what happened with this. 

It is written as if there wasn't enough time to finish the book, so it had to just stop.  That was just disappointing. 

The book takes its time to build the characters and the town. It also takes the time to develop the evil of people and the idea of what normal is. These aspects of the novel are perfect. It is not only tense for the reader but pulls you in and hypes you up. The story is told in past and present for a while before sticking with the present. This adds so much insight into the event that changed the world. But it also leaves a lot of questions. 

Because the book stops in the way that it did, none of the questions are actually answered.  I don't want to add spoilers to this review, so please forgive me if I am being a bit vague. But there is an event that changes the world, a why is searched but it isn't discovered and when attempts to find the truth is made it stops. 

I would have to say I was extremely disappointed in this book because 1: the ending could have been written better 2: answers should have been addressed 3: it felt like a waste of time being that invested for nothing really being answered

Overall, I wanted better. 

2 Pickles

I'm normally ok with books that don't provide much explanation but this was way too vague, too little world-building, maybe I should have read the short story this is based on first.
The colour palette for the drawings we're excellent however.

This is a lovely graphic novel based on a short story I'm now very keen to read. The artwork is gorgeous and I the use of different color palettes for past and present was very effective. The premise is interesting and the relationships within the narrative are very moving.


My thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.