It was my mistake for not reading thoroughly, I did not realize this was a graphic novel. Nonetheless, I gave it a read anyway even though they are not something I typically read. The idea behind the story was definitely creative, and the art was stunning. The plot was decently paced, but the ending left me a bit confused.

People who like dystopian, futuristic, end of world novels where we regress back to basics will love this. The world building on this can not be under stated, it is the shining feature of this graphic novel and worth a read just to experience and be inspired by it.

I loved the idea that the last of humanity lives on this giant World Tree, each branch a tribe of peoples with unique cultures, traditions and religions. The role the environment/setting plays in the plot and the shaping of the characters was so complex and well thought out.

The artwork was top tier, I would buy a book dedicated to the concept art and sketches in a heart beat.

Why the low rating? The plot moves at a crazy pace. I didn’t feel it was confusing, like others suggested, but rather like it was running ahead. I got the core narrative, but I didn’t have enough information or experience with the characters to feel connected with them. I’ve not read the book this is based on, but I could sense I was missing huge chunks of narrative.

Reva was just an awful character. The stereotypical “I’m the only girl in a cast of men who knows how to fight. And I do it all with one boob hanging out”. The book was only 114 pages and I’m sure she was naked on at least 1/3 of it.

Finally, any book that illustrates a humanoid creature separating its butt cheeks with it’s hands and farting/pooping is an immediate no from me.

This world and plot had a lot of potential, with incredible art work, but the shallow female character (just the one), fast paced plot, and potty humour let it down for me.

Sap hunters is a graphic novel retelling of an older novel by the same name. The art work is beautiful. The images help support the scenes and move the dialogue along.
That said, I found the story confusing. I could not decide if the author was trying to give me an analog for colonization, an analog for exploration, a variant story for evolution, or a variant story of star crossed destinies. In the end, I think the story tried to tell all four, and they got in each other's way, weakening the story's impact. I do not know if this was the case with the original novel. Perhaps one plot took prominence over the others in that form.
This book was proved to my for free by NetGalley in exchange for my fair and unbiased review.

Honestly, I was mostly confused. The art is beautiful and the premise sounded very interesting but it was a sort of weird, bumpy journey throughout. I haven't read the novel this is based on, so I would assume that there's some backstory and detailing that didn't get included in the graphic adaptation. Perhaps someone who was familiar with the original story would enjoy it more. I didn't actively dislike it, but because I couldn't follow what they were doing and why, I just didn't enjoy it that much.

Sap Hunters is one of the more interesting graphic novels I've read this year. The graphics were decent, but the storyline felt rushed with minimal explanation was given about anything happening in this book.
This book includes what I almost felt was an unnecessary amount of murder and horror, which attributed to very unlikable characters. The goal is to find the reason their habit, the world tree with different cultures leaving in the multitudes of branches is slowly dying.. A rival, the sap hunters murders all of Pierig's clan, and then forces him to assist them in finding the reason behind the tree's poison.
I loved the attempts at world building, but felt the story was hard to follow at parts, and for a graphic novel focusing on the journey, the resolution felt too simple. I wish I could have enjoyed this more, but between the chaotic characters, a lacklustre ending this book did not work for me.
I rated this two stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and Humanoids INC for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Sap Hunters" Alexandre Ristorcelli.'s graphic novel adaptation of Laurent Genefort's novel of the same name lavishly illustrates an exotic sylvan science fiction world in elaborate and believable detail. However, the book fails to tell a convincing or interesting tale. In particular, the lack of a compelling lead character is strongly felt in this book.

This story follows a small group of warriors and their captive medicine man as they investigate the causes of environmental degradation that threaten to destroy the World Tree that their civilization calls home. The journey, perilous and mysterious as it is, is the vehicle that moves the story forward as the adventurers cross from the branch they inhabit into the previously unknown trunk and onto a new branch. This odyssey provides multiple adventures as group navigates strange environs, and tries to decipher mysterious messages that seem to be sent by the tree itself.

The illustrations of this process are breath taking, but sadly the story itself does not keep up. Additionally, the main character is far from interesting and it is hard to develop much sympathy for him even though he is initially forced into the adventure against his will. Other characters are under developed and the only ones of real interest are disposed of or quickly passed by.

Additionally important to note is the treatment of female characters in this story. The writer Gail Simone has introduced the concept of "fridging" , inspired by a particularly gruesome Green Lantern story arc, to describe the abuse and dismissal of female characters to advance the plots of male characters. There are clearly no refrigerators on the World Tree but based on the way even the female leader of the expedition in this book is treated there might as well be.. Needless, to say this does not do much to advance the narrative or make this book accessible to half of its potential readers.

Finally, this book is also significantly harmed by the way in which it abruptly ends. There is jjust too much crammed into the last few pages for the reader to easily digest and be sure of understanding the author's intent.

Thanks to NetGalley and Humanoids, Inc. for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

3 stars for interesting art, concept, creatures, inventions..also for kid like humor, slighty confusing storyline.

The concept and art drew me in. A world in the trees. Count me in. I loved the use of the colors and the details in the art. That kept me reading. Some great imagination in different creatures and types of people living in that world was also great minus the ape looking things. However, I felt the story was a little disconjointed at times and the humor to be a little immature for my taste. I felt it had more potential with the elements and even worlds inventions. I had to give it a middle ground rating.

Sap Hunters has some interesting world building but sadly wasn’t able to hold my interest. While I liked the setting and general idea of it, the characters were pretty flat for me and I wasn’t caring about the plot. Had it been longer, it would have been a dnf.

Note: arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for honest review

*** CONTAINS SPOILERS ***
I was kind of disappointed by this largely because the description of the book sounds so interesting and the art looked really good but as I was reading the story it felt very choppy and rushed. The interactions of the characters were bewildering and hurried especially since the people Pierig were traveling with killed everyone in his clan, (I believe) pissed on him, and dropped his friend’s head next to him while he was in their prison then to just try and gaslight him and act friendly the next page. Pierig also seems to get along with everyone besides Reva, to an extent, even though everyone, even Pierig keeps bringing up the fact that they all killed his clan. Also, whatever that relationship was between Pierig and Reva, cause it couldn’t have been love, was came out of nowhere. There was no build up, or hint a relationship, would happen between them, especially since she was constantly antagonistic towards Pierig and Pierig was in love with someone else. Lastly, to me the ending was very rushed. It seems that he was just given the answer after all the trouble he went through to just be told the meaning of the word and he just somehow understood what that meant.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

3.5 Stars
The Sap Hunters immediately drew me in with its gorgeous art and interesting world. The people in the world of the Sap Hunters live on the branches of the World Tree, a tree that is unfathomably large. Because they call it "The World Tree" I thought maybe this would have some Nordic mythology being used for its world-building, but from what I can tell, there is nothing Norse in this book at all. The plot of this novel started strong. A Diviner must journey out with three warriors of another tribe to find the source of the tree's sickness, and potentially cure it. This novel loses the plot about halfway through. Things start to get muddy and the overall plot loses its cohesion. Characters make decisions that make no sense, and characters get killed off for no reason. (I'll put my thoughts that include spoilers on my GR) The ending of this novel was insanely abrupt. I flipped back and forth because I thought I had missed something, but no, it just ends that suddenly. The art for this graphic novel was amazing! So many details were crammed into even the smallest panel. The world felt beautiful, and the background designs really let its wonder shine through. I will warn you, there is nudity in this graphic novel, which threw me off. It's casual nudity though, unrelated to the spice scenes. There are only a few of the spice scenes, but they are all either just implied or a fade-to-black type of scene. If not for the oddly done plot and the pacing issues, this could have been a five-star graphic novel.

Unfortunately, this wasn't quite for me. Although I really enjoyed the setting and the beautiful illustrations of the forest environments, the story and characters couldn't really capture my attention. The plot was a little choppy and at times I felt like I lacked context for the events that were taking place. Most importantly, none of the characters (especially Pierig) felt likable or memorable. This wasn't helped by the fact that the character art-style wasn't my favourite, contrary to the environmental artstyle.

Thanks to Netgalley and Humanoids Inc for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Exceedingly strange but I was riveted the entire time. I’m a little confused at the ending but I love a quest and this had all the hallmarks of a great one. I wasn’t super invested in the characters but more so the mystery of the tree sap poisoning. The world building wasn’t exactly new but it was unique enough to keep me curious.

Thank you to NetGalley and Humanoids Inc for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.