I really liked the idea behind this story, but unfortunately, I didn't like the execution. The art style also didn't manage to grab me, so I ended up rating this only two stars. Also, just the whole 'this person is on trial for eating meat' kind of made me uncomfortable, but I'm guessing those scenes were meant to be uncomfortable... Oh well...

The premise intrigued me...talking animals, who doesn't like that? But it took a bit of dark turn when a person was supposed to be incarcerated because in past he/she has consumed venison. But after that, it went downhill and I struggled to keep my focus. Sadly I didn't finish this so it is in the looks-promising-but-not-for-me category.

I can't say I enjoyed Eden. Too many of the elements did not work. It is overly long. The black and white art in parts is fantastic but also inconsistent. It would have benefited Woroniak
to have worked with an editor that could chop 20 or 30 pages from the novel.

Eden is set in a world where animals begin to talk and have taken over. I kind of fell at this hurdle. In terms of suspending my disbelief and falling into the world that the author created I just didn't. I just don't believe that with humanities violent capability that this would have happened.

Humans have been relegated to being an underclass, and there are hints that the new animal regime is rife with hypocrisy and abuse.

The themes of veganism, virtue signalling, tyranny, and, how to navigate a brave new world are all explored.

The dialogue is effective. It is in turns sharp and funny when it needs to be, and it also pulls on your heartstrings, especially in the scenes between Simon and his parents. I did a podcast about this book, and I was less harsh on it there but thinking about it now I don't think I can recommend it. The good stuff in here is marred by cliché drug-taking scenes and a protagonist that is hard to root for because he is so passive.

Woroniak is a talented cartoonist, and I'd look forward to reading his future, but for me, this was a miss.

2.5 Stars

Wow, this one was crazy. Imagine a world where animals start to talk and become part of every part of our society and politics? Imagine what those animals would want to do to humans after they had been treated? Caged, mistreated, eaten. I’m not really sure what my takeaway from this story is. It certainly didn’t magically make me a vegan or anything, but I think it’s an interesting though exercise.

Received via Netgalley. All opinions expressed are strictly my own.

A black and white comic, originally in Polish, which shows a world where the animals have got the ability to speak and think like humans. As a result they've spread themselves round, so that we all live with one official animal flatmate, so they all have a home and we all have surveillance. Oh, and where exactly our homes are depends on our historical keenness to be vegan or to eat meat. Some do-gooders have cushty villas, some are in a kind of ghetto in the city, and you don't want to know what happens with the predators in the woods… This book follows our hero as the father he's not seen in years has to testify in court ready for his status decision. Oh, and he also tries to score some of the semi-mythical psychedelic drug of the title…

Despite some clever montages of still images, that animate themselves into the fantastical, whether that be dream, nightmare or hallucination, this book is not a classic. It is very much the idea, and the plot takes second stage. The world is set out very well, although the animal world is rather odd – as I've noted in other books where the characters are anthropomorphised, why do we only get one of each critter – don't they ever want to be with their own, to like, have a family? Also, opposable thumbs. But quibbling about that aspect of it is hiding the bigger picture, that the way this shifts suddenly from this aspect of the story to that, and how the two never really gel (and leave an exceedingly lame ending), means this cannot really be recommended. An interesting failure.

Disclaimer: received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thought provoking but rather unsettling read with an almost whimsical art style for something rather dark. Interesting as it brings up a bunch of considerations regarding hidden or nonobvious consequences. Which can be applied to many different situations and not only the one portrayed in this story where animals who have gained speech are bringing man's past actions to light. Ignorance I think never excuses the gravity of the act but mercy lies at the hands of the judge and what they take into consideration is what is subjective.

Anyhow, the work by itself is sparse and paced quite steadily but it will leave you with thoughts and then some.

Eden by Tomek Woroniak
ARC from Netgalley

I kept putting off reading this one because it was 236 pages long and I had other good books lined up. I forgot this was a graphic novel and is a fairly a short read. Anyway, I remembered it today and did not want it hanging around my head anymore and decided to read it.

And I have to say,
Wow
I did not expect that

To put it briefly we have this guy (G) who is still waiting for a verdict from the reigning council who arranges new human settlements in their community based on previous eating habits and treatment of animals.
Basically, if you have been an ally to the animals and did not in your life eat their ‘carcasses’, remained complicit and enabled their abuse you have a higher chance in being able to live in the beautiful part of the city. For those who did not pass the judgement, like G’s parents, are relocated in the riffraff and basements.
In short, after an illegal visit to his parents, conversations with his vegan girlfriend Maya (who lives in the villas) and rat cohabitant, Sylvester, and then, eating Eden (drug like stuff who makes them see God who gives them advice), G’s verdict was ‘maladjusted’, which I guess was not a verdict he deserved, because his friends protested. He ended up being on the run with hi supportive girlfriend.

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1.One thing that struck me the most is how they contemplated their verdicts. If you have in any way before tried to avoid eating animal carcasses and have made efforts to avoid enabling animal abuse then, your verdict will not be an automatic bad one.
This implies that they have factored the element of knowledge and ignorance. The moment that you know that you shouldn’t eat meat or cheese or that animals shouldn’t be put in slaughterhouses but ate anyway and have enabled all this stuff then you get thrown into the part of town.
I thought that was a soft punishment. Just getting relocated. No equal revenge on all animal abuses.

2.I would like to point out a part when the novel shows the serious lack of knowledge on vegetarian dishes. Cultures all over the world have been on a plant-based diet since ancient times and they did not suffer for it. Why? Because vegetarian food is delicious if you just know how to cook or have someone else cook it for you. I went to a Daoism seminar last December in Taiwan and spent the whole 9 days eating pure vegetarian food from meals to snacks. Everything was amazing, and I ate my full up to 3 bowls per meal and still lost weight when I came back home.

So really! Vegetarianism is not all about salad with soy sauce dips. ** But in context, I have a feeling that the exaggeration in the novel was purposeful, so no hate 😊

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Ultimately, this graphic novel contributes to the rising movement of animal rights, who have today earned more influential allies and forerunners who have radically gave impassioned speeches that made everyone uncomfortable and hosted rallies all over the place. Don’t worry animal friends, the rescue is coming!
I loved how uncomfortable this novel made me feel.
I have been trying to go vegetarian for months, but still eat meat from time to time. But on an extremely lesser scale.

I may have to do some serious rethinking on my sporadic eating lifestyle.
So, try picking this one up too. If there is anything 2020 has taught us, nothing is too crazy.

In the far future, you may find yourself waiting for a verdict and cursing yourself why you did not take Tomek Woroniak’s, Eden as a warning.

Peace out!

What if animals could talk? Would they condone the human’s race position on the food chain? These are the questions Tomek Woroniak addresses in this monochrome graphic novel. Or at least how things begin.

In this world an event dubbed “The Eve” has taken place, wherein the animal kingdom suddenly and simultaneously became sentient over night. We, the reader, enter the life of Simon, a man stuck between worlds. You see, the animals, as a whole, didn’t like the way they’d been treated over however many thousands of years and now they hold the cards. Your worth to society is graded depending upon your eating habits and, well, Simon hasn’t currently received his grading. That’s where we join him, living with his animal co-habitant: a rat that later takes the name Sylvester. Unable to see his parents who have proven themselves unable or unwilling to change their habits and thus consigned to living in a ghetto, and also having to travel across borders, interacting with an elephant border patrol guard in the process, in order to see his girlfriend Maya.

Roughly half way through the tale takes an unexpected turn and then things move at a breakneck pace towards the books conclusion.

That would be fine, however, it’s not. You see, the world building, whilst we only see a small part of it, raises some interesting questions, why and how have the animals found themselves in control? The book suggests humans relinquished their position willingly. But if everyone now has to become vegetarian or vegan, then what of the predators? There’s hints of what their position in society is, but its brushed away as things are kept confined to the relationships Simon has with Maya, Sylvester and his parents, the bigger picture is never addressed.

It’d be easy to see this as a piece of Vegan/Vegetarian propaganda, just going by my description of the tale above it would suggest that this was maybe Tomek Woroniak’s (who provides both the script and the artwork here) intention, but whilst being someone who’s always preferred meat over veg (and admittedly has only really recently done anything to address the amount of veg I don’t eat), it never feels brave enough to be preachy. Serious questions aren’t really asked and instead we’re given a glimpse of a world where the animals take on human-like qualities and mostly squabble over who’s superior between themselves.

Maybe that’s the point the writer is trying to make? That all of the worlds ills: our treatment of those who are different to ourselves, makes us look like uncivilized animals? I don’t know, its not particularly clear nor brave enough, instead, the reader is given the impression of a voice who, like Simon, is stuck, sat on the fence.

I loved the style of this book, including the use of wordless panels and the inclusion of science fiction elements. Lovely artwork and story!

Interesting reading, and also a bit scary. I'm feeling quite guilty of eating meat now. However, I'm not sure if I love it.

In a world where animals could talk, what would they do to us?

The idea behind it is truly special and I've loved some bits of it, but nothing has real consequence to the story. The protagonist takes risks and nothing happens to him; his parents are fine no matter what; he is judged and it doesn't matter at all.

I love the artwork but it sounds a pretty patronizing moral as well. I'm not really sure if I like it.

This is a very creative work from Woroniak set in a dystopian world where animals have gained the ability to speak and have now taken over society, with their own sense of justice installed.

I feel that the first half of this was definitely more coherent than the second half and it felt like it was headed in a really interesting direction. However, where it ultimately went was a bit of an odd place which I am not too sure I understood. This graphic novel makes me feel strange as I feel it could have expanded so much more on this fascinating world it established in the beginning, but simultaneously the latter part went too far in its adventure and exploration. The epilogue was definitely effective and well done however.

I am not the biggest fan of the art style but it was functional, effective and conveyed the story.

Ultimately, this was a weird graphic novel. Too weird? For you to decide.

When the animals began to speak the entire world changed. Things were no longer the same. A new way of living began as animals asserted their rights and people were assigned to living places based on how they treated animals before the animals began to speak.

The main character is caught in the rules of this new world. His girlfriend lives in a lovely area because before the animals began to speak she was a vegetarian or vegan. His parents have been banished to the ghetto areas because of how they treated animals in the past.

The main character has to find a way forward in this world as he faces his own tribunal. I thought this was interesting but the story didn't really go deep enough for me. We get to see the main character discussing situations with his flatmate who is a rat and we get to see him visiting his girlfriend in the plush area and at the heart of the story is the tribunal but I wanted more world building and context. In any case one cannot have everything.

The story is illustrated in black and white graphics which were simple but conveyed the story and characters in a powerful way. I did enjoy reading this but I was left with lots of questions and perhaps that is what the story was supposed to do. I do think it was still a good read and the graphics were good.

Copy provided by Europe comics via net galley in exchange for an unbiased review.

This is a really thought-provoking, unsettling, propulsive, and ultimately slightly incoherent graphic novel. It asks the question, what would happen if suddenly all animals on earth started talking, thinking, and being as intelligent as humans. At the beginning of the graphic novel, it's clear that the animals are severely pissed off and the humans have submitted to what is either a truth and reconciliation commission or a revenge committee, where humans are judged on their level of meat, milk, and eggs consumption and placed in ghettos or free society. The protagonist's fate sits in the balance; his girlfriend (a vegan) is in the free society while his parents have been banished to the meat-eating ghetto. The art style is loose but each character is distinctively designed and works well with the theme.

I was expecting, given the world building, more of a focus on ethics and animal rights and humanity's environmental hubris. And while some of that is there, it felt to me like the author was making exploring more questions of individual versus society. How much do you have to go along with society' conventions? What sot of life should a person be choosing for themselves? What's the point of all this? What sort of life should we create? And while the author goes some interesting directions, it does seem a bit....overly individualistic misplaced, given the huge other ethical issues this world brings up.

But it did make me stop and consider the consequences of the choices I make every time I make dinner. It's too easy in our society to not have to consider the direct impacts of those and other choices we make.

A beautiful story of a world suddenly turned topsy turvy, and where we go from there. It was something that struck me as perfectly timely. There was comfort to be found in chaos, and a theory about the world around us that I will carry with me for the next few days as I reflect on Eden.

A wonderful journey from beginning to end.

I have no idea what graphic novel all the other reviewers were praising, but this wasn't it.

But I slogged my way through all the dialogue at the first half, where the main character spent a long time talking to a rat. Then more time talking to his girlfriend.

Finally, stuff started to happen, and then...I have no idea what happened, so this is no spoiler.

I think something was lost in the translation.

I have little patience for telling rather than showing, especially in a graphic novel.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

I would say this graphic novel really creative and makes my imagination actually feel that the story is happening for real.
At first, I was really impressed with how it started with the simple yet amazing artstyle. The story flow makes it rather believable. The characters seem too real.

The moment I start thinking that the story is going nowhere, the art sequence does something to make it interesting and engaging.

I thought this would be a rather depressing read and that the animal characters would be overwhelming. But damn, I love the humour and the realistic, mundane real life touches to the characters. It seems like the story is actually happening somewhere in the world.

It's terrifying to read what the animals have to say just because of all the truth in it and how the few humans left in a world taken over by animals gives me the vibes of Animal Farm by George Orwell but in a relatable, opposite manner.

My favourite character is the rat living with our main character. The dialogues are simple, mature and something we need to think over.

The characters are amazingly well developed.

In the end, I felt like I was in a very realistic nightmare.

The language is mature and the art is simple black and white ink. The art sequence and the dialogue bubbles are apt and fit.

Sometimes some scenes tend to overstretch a bit but otherwise it's a pretty good read.

Thought provoking.

Thank you #NetGalley for the book.

This was interesting, but too short. I would have liked to see what happened both before and after the story.