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CLEMENTINE by Tillie Walden Kirkus Star

CLEMENTINE

Book Three

From the Clementine series, volume 3

by Tillie Walden ; illustrated by Tillie Walden

Pub Date: July 8th, 2025
ISBN: 9781534397378
Publisher: Image Comics

Clementine and her friends find a true sanctuary from the zombie wasteland—but is it too good to be true?

Clem, Ricca, Olivia, and Fen, survivors from the second series entry, have started a new life in Nuuk, where the community is living in relative peace. Nuuk has real leadership: A council assigns jobs and distributes resources. The walls are guarded by a squadron of girls who patrol the perimeter, led by a figure called the Gardener. But stability feels strange to this group after the harrowing experiences they’ve endured. Clem struggles to feel at ease, even with her girlfriend, Ricca, there to ground her. Olivia, a new mother, is floundering. Fen is acting suspiciously distant. Amid this uncertainty, something unthinkable happens, leaving Clem crushed. Seeing her vulnerable state, the Gardener offers her a new path forward—but it comes with a price. When she learns that the Gardener may not have the community’s best interests at heart, Clementine must gather her determination to protect those she cares about. The citizens of Nuuk speak Greenlandic and Danish, and Clementine has medium-toned skin and wavy black hair. Walden’s hand-drawn style feels both elaborate and effortless, playing with light and shadow to enhance her storytelling. Like the other volumes, this series finale crafts an allegory from the horrors of the post-apocalyptic world, exploring themes of power, trauma, survivor’s guilt, and love in times of darkness.

A bittersweet, hope-tinged conclusion to a stirring trilogy.

(Graphic horror. 14-18)