This is a gorgeous reflection on all of the ways that night intersects with our lives, especially in the ways that it complicates our perceptions. The English translation here is sparse and lyrical and the original illustrations are hauntingly beautiful. If you enjoy graphic novels that explore a big concept, mostly through the visual portion of the medium, this book will appeal to you.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of the English translation of this gorgeous book.

I really liked the illustration style and the way the story is told. I needed a bit to get into the novel but the mysterious way of telling was interesting.

Laura Pérez has a lovely dreamy art style which melds well with the concept of this graphic novel. Overall I see it as an art piece, an Ode to the Night. This is perfect for a quick read where you remember to appreciate the little things and the creatures brought out by the darkness. This was not necessarily a story and didn’t strictly have a plot, just snippets of the things that happen in the dark. Overall I enjoyed it and would recommend it as an art exhibition more than a story.

Maybe I just didnt "get" this book because I didnt really connect with the writing. Maybe it was the translation. Either way, the art style and vibes were really beautiful and eerie.

This graphic novel is like walking through a lucid dream. What is the night? What is a dream? Who is there with you? Beautiful art and haunting vignettes.

I absolutely loved the the author’s illustration style. I felt so captivated throughout by the mystery and atmosphere that it created. However, I found the story a bit forgettable. It was a really short graphic novel, at only 150 pages and presented lots of snippets of stories melded together. This format meant that the book didn’t leave a lasting impression.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC in return for an honest review.

First and foremost, I would like to thank the publisher, Fantagraphics, for graciously sending me a digital copy. I would also like to thank the author, as well as NetGalley for making this possible. Lastly, while this book was given to me for free in exchange for this review, I will still be honest about what I liked and did not like. All views represented here are my own.

Nocturnos is a beautifully illustrated graphic novel that explores the world at night in all it’s ethereal eccentricities. There is no hard plot or grand, over-arching story. Instead, Pérez offers us something more abstract and meditative.

The artwork in this is hauntingly gorgeous, strange and captivating. You could call it fever dream-esque. Each page further crafts the melancholic atmosphere and lends to the story a feeling of unreality.

I do enjoy the way that Pérez draws humans, yet her settings and creature design are on a whole other level. The deer, fox, and owl would look so pretty on any piece of home decoration. When we are in the otherworldly, dreamy sections of the novel, the creatures and entities are stellar and eerie. Overall, its just a visual feast.

My only critique is that the story felt very disjointed, and while that's not too surprising in a story like this, it is not inevitable. I think a little structure or a more concrete plot would have been a major benefit. Other than that, I have no complaints!

I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys weird and creepy art/fiction. If this sounds like something you would be interested in, you can find it on sale directly on the publisher’s website or at a bookstore starting October 21st, 2025. Just in time for Halloween!

Once again, a huge thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley. Thanks to all of my readers too. More ARC reviews should be coming soon, so keep your eyes peeled. Happy reading :)

[Thanks to the publishers for a review copy via NetGalley!] It may be down to translation preventing me from fully connecting with this. By far the most powerful sequences in Nocturnos are the illustrations which are devoid of dialogue. Many of the pages with narrating captions I feel would be more emotionally impactful without - Pérez's illustrations are truly stunning, and speak for themselves, in my opinion. Given that the predominant theme here is night, these dark, contemplative panels thrive when given space to sprawl, and the captions cramp the imagery somewhat. That's not to say I didn't enjoy this! It was reminiscent to me of E.M. Carroll's Through The Woods, which I love, and I'm eager to pick up more from Laura Pérez in the future. Would love to see her narrative style veer more into the abstract.

Really liked this read lyrical & thought provoking. Makes you want to reflect. The art style is simple & beautiful. Enjoyed this read.

I wish this was a little more to the story, but this is primarily a book of art with some circular musings and connections between characters only in the loosest sense. This is something that you can could flip through over and over and I will be buying for a high school library because the themes and art are striking.

“The night reveals, what the day conceals”--Charles Baudelaire, the epigraph for this book

Thanks to the author, Laura Perez, Fantagraphics Press, and NetGalley for the early look at the English language edition of Nocturnos (2019), set to be released in October 2025.

I am a Laura Perez fan, having read, among other things, Totem and Ocultos in the past year. I like this one a lot, the tale mainly of a young woman, and also a young man.

“The night does not belong to us.” So this is a graphic novel or narrative essay on the nature of night and mystery. “But thanks to the darkness, we can see the stars,” she says, but this book largely is about other darknesses the darkness yields: Images of isolation; Night walks and drives leading to road kill; Owls; things that go bump in the night; dreams.

Weird night-only images: A young woman looking at a cricket and then images of what the cricket sees; a woman with wings for eyebrows and a bird nose.

Abrupt shifts: One to an old man waking from a dream. . is it this dream we have been visiting early on in the book? The night only knows.

Abrupt shift to a spider--Is this a new story or just more night creatures drifting in and out?

Vignette: A boy whispers what he says to his mom before he goes to sleep, so as not to wake the little girl (imaginary friend? ghost?) living there in his room.

Dream logic!

Often Perez cannot help but turn her series of dream sequences and night visions to an essay about the night, which she also does in other works. Show, don’t tell, is my mantra here, Laura, but go your own way, fine! Maybe this can best be described as an illustrative--using vignettes and images to illustrate--meditation on the illusion of time passing, the difference between waking and dreaming, and death. But also, comics as poetry!

This book is beautiful, there’s no doubt about that. Each page was lovely, and the style and panel composition changed often enough to keep the reader very interested, which I really appreciated. As far as graphic novels go, this is one I will happily recommend to people looking for a meditative, thoughtful read, and I think it has a high enough range of appeal to work fantastically as a gift for almost anyone.

A poetic and mysterious graphic novels. The vibe and the drawings remind me of the game series "Rusty Lake".

The strangeness is fascinating and make all the charm of this book.

I think it is not easy to recommend that book cause the story line isn't very clear to understand and to explain. But for people who are looking but mysterious vibe and creepy style, it's perfect !

Wary of hyperbole but what the hell: hands down one of the most, if not the, beautiful graphic novels I have ever read. The use of the page and non verbal power of imagery is masterful, and my only critique is that I wish it was longer. But actually, it’s exactly as long as it should be. Story perfectly served, this is gorgeous meditation on what it is to be alive, both fleeting and wondrous in ways that this from is ideal for. Can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy.

This was so dreamlike and thoughtful in both the writing and illustrations. I really enjoyed reading this and could see myself picking it up again to enjoy a re-read when I'm feeling moody about night.

This was a very interesting read!! I absolutely adored the art style!! It felt very mysterious and spooky!!

I also loved the contents of the book, I liked the little snapshots we got into different people's lives and their relationship with "the night"

I did feel a bit lost while reading it, maybe due to it not really being a story, but it was really cool!!

Nocturnos is a meditation on night and dreams. Night is a different state of being; when all else is silent, we can hear ourselves more clearly. The reader is taken on a ride of loosely connected narratives that themselves feel like dreams. There is not a central linear story, but coupled with the beautiful, moody art, it all works together to feel like the reader is walking through several character's dreams.
I will read anything Laura Perez creates. Her art work is a gift unto itself.

The art here was gorgeous, and I found this to be more lyrical than your usual comic, which I really enjoyed. The illustrations and the text invoked a feeling of melancholy and kept me engrossed until the end.

Thank you to Laura Pérez, NetGalley and Fantagraphics Books for providing me with the ARC of this title.

I wasn't really a fan of this one. I was super excited to be able to read it but I guess I just didn't "get it". The artwork and colors were absolutely amazing. I would have our store purchase the title just for the artwork!

I found this one to be very lyrical and reflective in both writing and art style. I think that the night holds so much promise and mystery. The common thread woven throughout was that we do not own the night, even though we have tried mightily to conquer it. It got me thinking quite a bit and I always appreciate that.