GREATER SECRETS

A young woman joins two strangers on a road trip to find her missing sister.

Two years ago, Maya’s then-25-year-old sister, Amara, had a music career that was on the rise. But Amara left to seek the pillar of light that members of her family are cursed to see. Now, Maya works as a barista and feels stuck, abandoned, and conflicted. When high school senior Cardea, an Amara superfan, shows up at Maya’s coffee shop claiming to know where her sister is, Maya is angry at first. But she decides to join Cardea and Dyno, Cardea’s childhood friend, on their road trip to find Amara. They all have their own reasons for embarking on the journey, and none are fully prepared for what they’ll find. Unfortunately, the characters, their motivations, and the plot all feel superficial, so there’s little to ground readers in the story. The art is bold and vibrant, playing with depth to establish a beautiful contrast for the dreamy art of the otherworld the trio discovers, but often at the expense of nuance in facial expressions and background details. This graphic novel may appeal to those who enjoy impressionistic or open-ended stories; others may simply feel frustrated and unmoored. Maya’s Hindi-speaking family is cued Indian American; Cardea and Dyno present Black.

Light characterization and worldbuilding make for a work that’s hard to settle into.