<I>Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this graphic novel via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</I>

<u>Ever After</u> was deliciously dark, gory and morbid - more so than one would expect from a middle grade novel. The art style and colours were absolutely gorgeous, the storyline was captivating (in a creepy dystopian kind of way), and you could feel your heartstrings being tugged at while you read. That being said, I had a hard time getting on board of the zombie train. Ghosts I love, zombies are enhhh. The zombies in this book were not revolutionary by any means, but if that's what you're into than you will likely fall in love with this.

I gave this graphic novel Ever After a three out of five stars. I really liked the art in this graphic novel and the story was really interesting.

This was interesting. This felt like a more artsy issue of The Walking Dead. It is very quiet and contemplative while still having some exciting plot points. The full page panels are gorgeous. They could stand alone as art prints on my wall. I do wish that the story was longer so that I could be more invested in the girls friendship. As it stands, I found both the main characters kind of irritating. I want to know more about how this world works. For a one off though, it was pretty decent.

I will admit I don’t read nearly enough graphic novels as I probably should. What drew me to this particular book was the cover and premise. I love a good zombie book. The illustrations in this book were beautiful and brought the story to life. I easily read all of it in one sitting. I’d recommend this book to anyone looking for a unique and thoughtful read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

Final Rating: 4 Stars

«Within my ears, there is a stream, no place for ghosts to stay. Within my eyes, the grass grows free, no place for ghosts to stay. I never sleep, I keep good watch, and keep the ghosts at bay.»
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Thank you NetGalley for the e-ARC! Expected publication: September 1st 2020
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Honest review:
Ever After is about a post-apocalyptic world with zombies where Vivi adventures into the wild by mistake with the company of Eva, a rebellius girl who is escaping something. I liked that the story was centered in the friendship between the two of them, and in Vivi's past, more than in the world-building. It made the read so much light and friendly, and it was amazing to see the world from the point of view of the survival and friendship. I mean, I liked very much that there weren't descriptions about what happened or meticolous details about it. Everything was built from the perspective of Vivi and Eva, and it was great because they have different ways to see the world. This last thing also helped the personal growth of Vivi, and I loved to see how she transformed from a scared person to a brave one, how she was able to overcome with her fears. Also, the script was awesome too, tho at the beginning, at the introduction of the story, was very VERY boring. Also, some details were innecesary in my opinion, like some characters that played small roles that later on the story are forgotten.
Now to the illustrations: I didn't like them. I loved the color palette but the illustrations were too childlike for me? I undestand it's Olivia's style, but I don't think it my type of style. Anyway, there were some pages that were BEAUTIFUL. I think it was worth reading the graphic novel for just those pages.
Anyway, if you like zombies and want a light read, this graphic novel is all you need!

The premise of this story was what prompted me to request the eARC of the graphic novel. The story is set in a world overrun by zombies. It follows the journey of Eva and Vivi as they try to navigate their way back to their safe zone, a barricaded city in Weimar, Germany. (How cool that the story takes place in Europe?!) Their journey forces them to rely on each other and face their own demons – guilt and grief. I had a hard time following the development of the story, and a lot of things were unexplained and confusing. Some people who were bitten by zombies became half-zombie, half-plant, and were fine (?). I don’t know. I had a hard time understanding this. But I must admit that the graphics were amazing – colorful, original, and simply beautiful. For librarian/teacher notes: this book includes images of self-harm, blood, and gore. It touches upon mental health and fear. Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this eARC. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

EverAfter is a graphic novel where two young girls Vivi and Eva try to escape from the zombie apocalypse. Eva was part of the team in Weimar protecting people from zombies. Vivi was stressed because of her sister's death. The two girls meet in the train when trying to move to Jane. The train stops because of some issues, and they need to walk along to reach the city. The obstacles they face while moving is the story.

After a long, I have read a graphic novel. I was confused while reading and moved back to the pages to get clarity.

I was a bit confused even at the ending because Eva was trying to move to the city to get medicated to recover from her transformation but she can’t and she doesn't change into a full zombie in the climax like the man Vivi met in the journey half-man half-plant.

There were a lot of pictures and I enjoyed it. There should be more sentences to make understand the situations. Anyway, I enjoyed the story, and it took me an hour to read the story.

Review to come August 12th on blog, August 17th on goodreads.

I received this graphic novel from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

OK, honestly, not that big on reading zombie books at the moment given my mental health and oh yes the pandemic outside. But I couldn't resist this graphic novel. It just looked and sounded too good to pass and so I clicked on request.

I have to say that the book was quite confusing story-wise. I get the whole apocalypse, everyone is going to die, etc. etc. But we get thrown in what feels like the middle of the story. I had no clue why Vivi was locked up in that hospital and not allowed to go outside. What was up with that old man? Then she goes outside and meets new people and we even switch to another girl, named Eva. The girls, Vivi and Isabelle, have to go fix the barricade. From that point the story was still confusing, but at least we get zombies and I am always in for that. Some action. I do wonder why Eva let two newbies handle the barricade without making sure they were armed and prepared to fight. How stupid are you? I get that you don't want two newbies in your team, but they are your fucking responsibility. That poor Isabelle. :(
But then everything gets confusing again, and I just had no clue what I was reading. Did I miss something? Should I have read something before this one? I thought only American graphic novels liked to throw you in the deep end...
And the confusion just keeps on going throughout the story, at times I just had to go back because did I miss something? Is it like this in the original German GN? Or did things just get left out or mistranslated?

Also, I am sorry, but how did Vivi walk ALL THAT WAY on freaking flip-flops without ever having pain or discomfort? We do see later that parts of her feet were wounded, but nothing else. Believe me, I walked a lot on good sandals, specially made for walking, and my feet were BLOATED and red and hurt like heck after I walked a lot on them for a couple of days (like 5-7 hours a day). I just cannot see how someone can walk on flip-flops for days, even run on them. No. That is just like the lady from Jurassic Park running from the freaking T-rex on her heels. No. Just no.

I am also confused about the zombies? So some people become zombies? Others just become plant thingies? Or half-plants and still human?

We do learn something about the characters. Vivi lost everyone around her in a gruesome way and was found by that warden from the hospital (which finally explains why she is at the hospital), Emma is changing into something and the apocalypse happened on her birthday (wow, worst birthday ever?). I have to say I hated what she did there, the choice she made. No just no.

I did like how the mental health, depression, fear, anxiety, and also guilt was presented in this book.

I love that this one takes place in Germany. Bless. I have read so many zombie books and almost all took place either in the US or in the UK. I am happy to see another country for once.

There is enough zombie action that I really liked and that was well-done.

The art was also quite nicely done, it doesn't entirely fit with the apocalypse, but I did like the style. I love how soft it all is.

The ending... OK I guess. I just don't know what to say about it other than that it fits totally with the very confusing story we have had.

Not sure if I would recommend this one. :(

Stars: 1.5/5

I feel like the author/ illustrator attempted to "show not tell" but it just did not work out. The execution wasn't there and a lot of the time I had to go back to really understand what was happening in that part of the book.

I feel like a lot of images were missing which led me to feel like parts of the book were missing, as if I were opening up to random chronological pages and the story made no sense.

I would suggest perhaps more dialogue so the reader could understand the situation more. I really struggled to understand the characters and they were interesting characters! I tried to receive the message through that reader-writer connection through a story but I really couldn't and it disappointed me. Something is missing and it made the story confusing and unenjoyable.

The story is there, I got the overall gist, but the ending was confusing. Is it all in the psych patient's head? If so, it's a bit of a childish and cliche ending.

I just did not relate to this book at all. The art was ok but couldn't say it was anything special. Just not my cup of tea.

DNF @ 66%

I liked the art and the setting of this graphic novel a lot. I'm a sucker for a zombie apocalypse and I liked the cover to the book so I was keen to pick this one up. Unfortunately, I really struggled to get attached to the characters. Even two thirds of the way through the book I didn't care much about either of the main characters, or the struggles they were going through. Both have something going on (I won't say what, because spoilers) but while I understood one character's story, the other was still confusing and strange. I do think there was some intentional lack of clarity and maybe there's a big reveal later in the novel, but I was confused and disinclined to keep reading to find out what it was. I did like the art style a lot though, and the use of colour was brilliant. There was excellent contrast between creepy zombie stuff and surviving life, and I do think that the setting was really well shown through the graphic novel instead of relying on clunky exposition.

Ever After is a graphic novel about two young girls, Eva and Vivi, who are living in post-apocalyptic Weimar Germany. A zombie apocalypse has taken over the world, and while tending to their community’s fence, Eva gets attacked by a zombie. She keeps her impending infection a secret and independently both Eva and Vivi sneak out of Weimar to set out for the town of Jena. The two girls battle dehydration, numerous zombie attacks, and their own personal demons as they make the trek to Jena.

The artwork is very unique and stylized but the plot at times makes very little sense. It’s unclear why the two girls form a friendship outside of necessity (but multiple times they risk their own lives to save the other, indicating a deep bond). I wish their backstories had been more developed, as Eva and Vivi’s histories haunt them throughout the novel. I wonder if the translation from German to English played a role in the muddling of the plot. I did however appreciate a zombie apocalypse story that centered female protagonists, a rarity in an otherwise male-dominated genre.

I received an ARC of Ever After by Olivia Vieweg through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review *

Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Vivy, with an insecure and gentle character but still tied to the past that pursues her, finds herself in a terrifying adventure together with Eva, a girl who on the contrary has buried the past but who hides a secret.

I've read this in a very short time. I enjoyed reading it. The designs and the various colors are well made, both pleasant and terrifying, when needed. It's a little bit confusionary, I still have so many questions. I don't know if there was a problem with the traduction, but I think there are some missing points. Nevertheless It was not that bad! The story it's really beautiful and addictive, and really scary! Few characters, but essential and I found the ending a little emotional. I recommend it for a light reading.

* I got an E-ARC of Ever After by Olivia Vieweng through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review *

CONTAINS SPOILERS

TW: Self-Harm, Grief, Psychiatric Ward

Ever After is about two girls, Eva and Vivi who both get lost outside of their barricaded city, Weimar, Germany. They’ve been living in this post-apocalyptic world for 2 years and have been running away from zombies. While helping Vivi and Isabelle kill a zombie, Eva gets scratched. She doesn’t tell anyone and tries to go to Jenna, Germany, a city known for having medicine to help stop the virus. Vivi escapes Weimar with Eva and they set out to go to Jenna.

Vivi has been hallucinating her sister’s zombie. She feels like her sister’s death is her own fault. She remembers her sisters poem and says them aloud when she starts seeing ghosts and zombies.

Eva was rude when we first met her and still stayed mean. She had random fits of rage and almost choked Vivi to death. She left Vivi on her own and popped in whenever she wanted to. She was pretty toxic.

I’m the end, Eva tries to sacrifice herself and tells Vivi to go to Jenna and live her life and when Vivi finally gets to Jenna, Eva comes back and asks her to stay with her, even though she’s a zombie.

My final thoughts:

I don’t get why Vivi would leave a possible cure and a chance at a normal life to keep staying with Eva. Eva kept treated Vivi poorly and would say rude things and Vivi would just take it. Stand up for yourself, Vivi!
I was getting so frustrated reading this and just creeped out. There are bits I read that still doesn’t make any sense. I gave this three stars because though it was weird and frustrating, I read this in an hour and didn’t want to stop. I’ve never felt this was with a book that weirded me out.
I also love the fact that this was translated from German to English. I haven’t read much translated books.

I honestly wouldn’t recommend this to anyone UNLESS you are into zombie apocalypse themed-books and weird ass books 😂

*3.5 stars

It took me a little while to get into this graphic novel, however I did enjoy it in the end.

Trigger warnings: Mental illness & graphic violence.

It was nice to see a zombie apocalypse story with female protagonists. I enjoyed how their friendship blossomed to be something that neither of them expected. I also enjoyed seeing their dark histories and how that shaped them now.

I found some of the dialogue to be choppy which I am sure is something to do with the translation.

At first I wasn't a fan of the art but it definitely grew on me and I felt it suited the story.

Overall it was a pretty good alternative to the zombie books I've read before.

Thank you for the ARC!

I love graphic novels and one of my favorite things if to look for new ones.

Ever After is a post apocalyptic story and it follows put two characters Vivi and Eva, they are both looking into fleeing the city. and they finish out of the safe of it when it's full of zombies. It's like all the zombies movies, if they bite you, you become one.

I really love this book, the colors, the illustrations and the characters. They complement each other. It has everything, a bit of gore, plot twists, complex characters. because they are dealing with their own problems and its full of adventure.

Finally, it is set in Germany, so I won.

This story takes place in a world after the apocalypse. It follows two girls who are both dealing with mental health issues.

Trigger warnings for mental illness and graphic violence.

I really enjoyed the color scheme of this story. I thought they were very vibrant. The illustrations were beautiful!

However, this story was a little hard to follow. I think that it was harder to follow because it was translated. Sometimes bigger themes can get lost in translation, and I found that to be true with this one. The story was a little all over the place causing me to have to go back and reread many passages.

Overall I thought it was a really cool graphic novel. If you’re new to the genre then you might like this a lot more than I did. Also if you love zombies you’re sure to love this!

I settled on a 3 star rating. With consideration to my personal enjoyment it would have been a 2 star read, but I added a leniency star due to it being a translated piece (i.e, not originally written in English).

Thanks to NetGalley and Lerner Publishing Group for providing me with an e-arc.

ARC of English translation provided by NetGalley

I'm not usually into zombie apocalypse stories, but I'm on this graphic novel reading bender and the cover looked pretty.

The art is great with lots of pretty wide shots and action close-ups. I loved the watercolor backgrounds and how the artist used color to show the different times of the day.

The story is a straight-forward zombie apocalypse and gets pretty real fairly quick. Vivi was a little annoying in her helplessness at first, but I can't be too hard on someone living through an apocalypse. I didn't 100% understand that ending but there was a dog so that's all that matters.

Actual rating: 3.5

I feel like maybe some things got lost in the German to English translation in that I had to regularly go back a few pages to try and make sense of what was going on. This book feels a bit like it's the second or third in a series, and I wish I had had more back story.

Aside from those quips, I did enjoy the spookiness of the story and the zombies, and the growth of Vivi and Eva in this short novel.

I wasn't touched that much by this story and sometimes I was unable to discern what was happening, the transitions felt weird. The art was quite good though.

Thanks a lot to NetGalley and Lerner Publishing Group for this ARC. :)

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

This was such a cute zombie apocalypse graphic novel with a blossoming female friendship. The zombie plague/situation didn't have a ton of backstory, other than a couple flashbacks. Vivi has spent the past two years in some sort mental facility/ asylum, never going outside and naive to what is going on in the world. Through having to work on the barrier fence she meets Eva and when disaster strikes the two end up having to work together survive. Both girls share stories of their lives before the zombie takeover and manage to stick together. I hope their is going to be another volume because the story finished kind of open-ended. There was a weird little section involving plants and a greenhouse, which wasn't my favourite. But over all I really enjoyed this graphic novel, even with some of the gross and gore.