THE BEYOND

Find your own laughs in this labyrinthine comedy, the latest in Shiga’s choose-your-own-adventure-style series.

Though this installment follows the same structure as Leviathan (2022), it stands alone; readers need not be familiar with the previous volume. An introduction includes instructions for navigating this puzzle story, which opens with a tutorial that leads into the main narrative. Pink-skinned Mario Rivera ventures forth from a mysterious waiting room into the worlds of different books. Readers make a variety of choices for Mario, from the mundane (pushing or pulling on a door) to the dramatic (whether to force a pirate to walk the plank). Mario’s guide, light-skinned Xochitl, helps orient Mario and readers to the rules of entering and exiting books. Cheaters who disregard the story’s unique structure and flip around will rob themselves of the joy of discovering the various solutions to its clever password system. New routes and characters are their own rewards, as they bring with them an unpredictable sense of humor that ranges from slapstick to wordplay. The restricted palette of reds, grays, and browns and simple, almost stick figure–like illustrations are used to depict all routes; though readers will notice clues as to what’s going on, they aren’t readily apparent on a quick flip-through. A brief bonus chapter of gags closes out the book.

The riddle of what to read for a day of wily what-ifs is answered here in fantastic fashion.