I really wanted to be able to give feedback, but unfortunately the text is just too blurry for me to make this one out. The art style looks great, but I can’t read this!

A gripping tale of suffering and recovery wrapped in the horror genre. John Jennings adapts the short story by Nnedi Okorafor. Davide Brame's visual are haunting and the stuff of nightmares, it is perfect visual metaphor for the psychological turmoil Chioma experiences from the first first pages of the story.

3.5 stars, this was an advanced reader’s copy and it was hard to read in parts, but was definitely creepy. The full color art was mentioned in the synopsis, but the advanced copy wasn’t in color and I was kinda bummed about that (whether ARCs have color seems hit or miss, but I couldn’t tell going in). The story was good from what I could read, the art well done (though black and white), and there were some very creepy parts, with a satisfying ending.

This graphic novel is based on Okorafor’s short story, On the Road. I was not familiar with the short story prior to reading the graphic novel. I decided to read the short story to make sure I was getting the correct vibes from the graphic novel. My vibes were correct. The story is an eerie tale set in Nigeria involving weather, family and spirits.

The drawback of reading an advance copy of this graphic novel is that it is not in color. After reading the short story that includes a lot of color imagery that is huge disadvantage. The drawings captured the actions and setting of the short story. Having color in the finished product will truly bring the story to life.

I was given the opportunity to review an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley.

I don’t know if it was an issue with the galley or something else, but this was virtually unreadable. I tried it in the NetGalley app, my kindle, etc, and the text was impossible to read. I got some general gist of the story, but I missed quite a bit because of the difficulty of reading it. I liked the story I was able to read, so I gave it a 3, but I can’t rate it higher because it was illegible.

A creepy story that shines with Nigerian folklore, atmosphere and a slice of Nigerian life. I enjoyed the illustrations. My biggest complaint was that the words were hard to read in many places—at times I couldn’t make them out at all—which really made it difficult for me to be immersed in the story.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Nnedi Okorafor knows how to write a story. She drags you in with the first sentence, and that it. This story was interesting if a little confusing at first. Jumping between Chicago and then Nigeria it was hard to get a feel for the tale. It didn't help that on a screen the words were blury and hard to read at times, making this fast pace story something hard to keep up with. Overal this is solidly written, and I'm looking forward to picking up a hard copy to see what I missed.

After the Rain is a very interesting graphic novel about cultural identity, guilt, redemption, tradition, and above all, Nigerian traditional beliefs. It is a bit confusing at times, since the protagonist is a Nigerian American (or "Nigamerican " in Okorafor's coinage) who has little understanding of what is happening to her, and the author doesn't spoon-feed anything to us. It's really interesting that this graphic novel was based on a short story, since the art (althoguh rough) is at its best with depictions of the Nigerian mythical entities and spirits actually does help give some context and understanding as to what is going on. And the goings on are creepy, unsettling, and ultimately empowering. An engaging read.

I recieved this from Netgalley.

I have been reading a lot of graphic novels lately, which makes me so happy. I had really high hopes for this one too, but was immediately let down. This is not the fault of the author though.

The Netgalley file is only in black and white. Also doesn't appear to have the writing properly. So you can barely read the words because it is like they are faded out on an old newspaper.

I feel like I still could have loved it, but I just didn't. From what I could read it was like a having a hot fever dream. Having no idea what is really going on and you never really find out why anything happened.

This review is cross posted.

https://beta.thestorygraph.com/reviews/11421899

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3630353009

Thank you so much to net galley for sending me a copy of this graphic novel. After falling in love with the binti series I had a strong desire to read more from this author. Unfortunately I ended up not finishing this graphic novel just because I didn’t really like what was going on.

I wanted so badly to love this graphic novel, and I think it still has a lot of potential, but I felt extremely let down and even confused after I finished reading. Chioma is a Nigerian-American cop staying with an aunt and grandmother in Nigeria when a little boy with a head wound knocks on her door during a rainstorm. Chioma starts to have strange encounters and must learn to embrace her heritage. The setup for the story is so interesting that I was sucked right in.
However, regarding the atmosphere of the story, there is a lot to be desired in the ARC I was given. There was so much potential with the story, and I was truly looking forward to phenomenal art with brilliant colors and patterns, but the ARC I received was in black and white. While I look forward to reading a finished copy with color, it really took away from the experience. I think the use of color particularly in this setting will add so much to the overall enjoyment. Unfortunately, the formatting didn’t transfer well to an eARC either, and the quality of the text and linework was so distorted that it was difficult to see the intricate details. I could tell they were there, but I truly couldn’t make them out. For the same reason, certain blocks of text were extremely difficult to read - I actually got a headache trying to decipher some of the words, and I eventually skipped a few of them, hoping I was inferring the correct meaning from surrounding context. Again, I’m expecting these issues to be resolved in the finished copy, but it had a severe impact on my overall enjoyment of the piece as it was provided for me.
Sadly, I felt very little connection to Chioma. We are given an extremely vague background, along with the repeatedly mentioned fact that she is a cop, but other than that there wasn’t much on which to build any attachment. This feeling is even more prominent when it comes to the side characters. We know absolutely nothing about anyone except Chioma. I think it was meant to add to the air of mystery surrounding the events in the story, but it was a little irksome to not even get any details about the family members with whom Chioma was interacting. To that end, I could have used a lot more dialogue between Chioma and, well, anyone. There’s a lot of internal dialogue, but I don’t really feel like it moves the narrative along at all. She also tends bounce from one emotion to another without any preamble, which left me with some serious whiplash.
Throughout the whole book, I was intrigued to find out where everything was leading, but because of all the difficulties in the actual mechanics of reading and the disconnect with the characters, I wasn’t highly motivated to get it done. I often had to stop and wonder why a certain thing was happening, or why a character was behaving the way they were. At the end, I was left feeling confused, underwhelmed, and expecting something more from the story. I know you’re supposed to be left wanting more at the end of a short story, but it genuinely felt incomplete.

The psychological toll the retelling of a short story by Okorafor ("On the Road") into a graphic novel called "After the Rain", it feels very Kindred with some absolutely intense scenes while also exploring identity and heritage.

I think I followed most of it but reading a digital arc also changed my perspective a little because whether I read it on a computer or a small device, it was hard to read some of the narrative in parts. Yet, the vivid illustrations certainly made up for it and I can see why it was chosen to be interpreted into a graphic novel to bring it to life again.

Beame's artwork is fantastic. Rather than being arranged in an orderly grid, Beame's panels drip and fall across the page that mirrors Chioma's chaotic state of mind. There are many full page spreads, and Beame often uses the gutter to give his work a sense of claustrophobia as the haunting spirit closes in on Chioma. The buildup to Chioma's big supernatural encounter was superb, and the reveal of the mmuo was great, but the reason for their appearance and what they did to Chioma felt a bit anticlimatic. There was also a lot more narration bubbles used in the 2nd half, and I wondered if the illustrations could have been better used to convey the information and emotion.

After the Rain was an very odd graphic novel. I had a hard time following the story and really understanding the point of it and I think most students will feel the same way. It did keep me curious as to what was going to happen at the end, but it was a bit of a let down.

Going with a 3.5 star rating. Story was interesting enough. Main character just seemed so clueless. Didn't care for the art style.

3.5/5 - I received a digital ARC for this book that was difficult to read due to the quality which definitely made it tricky to understand some pages, and by extension, some of the details that seemed rather relevant to the overall story. That being said, I really enjoyed this comic! I haven't read the book it is based on yet, but I have read a number of Okorafor's other works and this keeps in line with her ability to weave two cultures together in a beautiful way. I always appreciate the more intense and dark elements of Okorafor's works, especially as a narrative transformation from the 'scary' unknown to a positive acceptance and understanding.

Chioma is a Chicago police officer visiting her grandmother in Nigeria for two weeks. After three day of unexpected rain during the dry season, a small boy with a devastating head wound knocks on the door. After his touch burns her, Chioma's reality is changed.

I really enjoyed the actual story portrayed by this author. Unfortunately, I felt the art actually detracts from the story. I didn't like the art at all. Because I read this as a digital ARC, there was no color in the art and some of the text boxes were illegible, making it difficult to completely follow the story. I had high hopes for this graphic novel, but it fell short of expectations.

I wouldn't recommend this read.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great story!

We follow Chioma as she's returned to her hometown in Nigeria and she encounters a strange boy. After their meeting something seems to be hunting her.

This is a fast paced and compelling read! Like Okorafor's other books it's hard to put down and keeps you guessing. It's beautifully illustrated and written in a way that's hard to put down.

A great read from start to finish!

Wonderful adaptation of this short story. The visuals were stunning and really lent an almost tangible gravity to the events of the story. Highly recommended for fans of Nnedi Okorafor's work and for any fan of speculative fiction, especially based on African folklore.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion.

I was really excited for this book especially because of that cover. I think my excitement dwindled the more I read on because this is in black and white so I am not sure about what the graphics will look like. I also had a hard time reading the words. I am hoping this will be corrected in the final copy.

Also, I really do what to know what is happening with ending because I am more intrigued. I really hope this is a series because I don't want it to end like that.

I was starting to like the MC-Chioma , a Nigerian American woman, who is also a cop in Chicago, by the end. I wasn’t sure about her, but she really started to grow on me.