Graphic Novel Review – August Moon by Diana Thung (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Graphic Novel/Fantasy
Length: 320 pages
Publisher: Top Shelf Productions
Release Date: November 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-1603090698
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Bought
Rating: 4/5 stars

I had been wanting to read this graphic novel for a while. It ended up being a very good story, the illustration is okay as well but nothing spectacular.

Fiona Gan comes to town with her father who is there to research some strange unknown rabbit-like creature that has been found in the City. When Fiona arrives she meets Jaden (who says he came from the moon), sees Soul Fires, strange graffiti on the walls, and meets some gentle rabbit/bear-like creatures. However, Fiona isn’t the only new arrival in town, an evil corporation set on taking down the forest has set up shop as well. Jaden enrolls Fiona’s help in stopping this evil entity.

This graphic novel does a great job of telling a fairly complex story through pictures and dialogue. There are some neat ideas here and a lot of magical realism. Also some commentary on saving the environment, the importance of family, friendship, and the evil of corporations. There is also some discussion about religion versus science and whether or not heaven exists. I found the story to be very enjoyable and engaging.

I wasn’t a big fan of the illustration style though. At times it was a bit hard to tell what was going on and hard to distinguish characters from each other. The illustration is all black and white, the pictures get a bit crowded and hard to follow. This is a case where the illustration of this graphic novel didn’t add much to the story for me, it does help with telling the story…it just didn’t add anything special to it.

This graphic novel is appropriate for all ages, but given the nuances behind the corporate politics, I would recommend for middle grade or older readers. I think younger readers will just be confused about what is going on. Also there is some violence, one of the characters get shot.

Overall a decent graphic novel full of magical realism. The story is very engaging and quite good, it was more complex than I thought it would be and touches on a lot of interesting issues while weaving in some magic as well. I was disappointed in the illustration though, it was hard to follow at points and didn’t really add anything special to the story. Tentatively recommended to graphic novel fans, especially fans of fantasy graphic novels.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– 150+ Reading Challenge
– Graphic Novel Reading Challenge