Recent graduate Mia has just joined a space crew that rebuilds broken structures on planets in an attempt to preserve their history. While working, Mia remembers her past and her first love Grace, who had to leave their school mysteriously during the school year. Mia then asks her crew to help her in an impossible mission to find Grace, but the crew is more connected to Mia’s past than any of them could have guessed.
On A Sunbeam by itself is an absolutely gorgeous. I fell in love with the art work just from the front and back cover and found myself just gazing at the artwork on the pages once I’d finished reading just so I could look at all the details in the world Walden had created. One of my favourite things illustration wise was how Walden made the spaceships look like fish, a weird but beautiful artistic choice that I became obsessed with.
But the story is just as beautiful as Walden’s illustrations. I loved how Walden created a female utopian universe, I’d studied them in university and it was nice to see that creators are still making stories with this idea. It was done so casually and effortlessly and made me feel so empowered to see so many different women characters as the leads of this story.
I especially loved how Walden linked every plot point in her novel, there were no loose ends. Every panel and word of dialogue had a meaning; it’s a very concrete and tightly written novel that even its ending felt complete. While I’d love to read more in the On a Sunbeam universe I’m very satisfied with how it ended, it’s a book I will definitely be re-reading.
Publication: October 2nd 2018
Publisher: First Second
Pages: 533 pages
Source: Bookmobile
Genre: Fiction, Graphic Novel, Sci fi, Coming of Age
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤⛤
Summary:
Throughout the deepest reaches of space, a crew rebuilds beautiful and broken-down structures, painstakingly putting the past together. As new member Mia gets to know her team, the story flashes back to her pivotal year in boarding school, where she fell in love with a mysterious new student. Soon, though, Mia reveals her true purpose for joining their ship—to track down her long-lost love.
Sarah O'Connor 