Review: Ashes

Artist/Author: Alvaro Ortiz
Publisher: Top Shelf Productions
Released: February 7, 2023
Received: NetGalley

Book Summary:

Who hasn’t dreamed of taking an epic road trip with their best friends? We’ve been told repeatedly that the right road trip can change our lives and forge new bonds of friendship. Well, can it reconnect old friendships? One group is about to find out.

Polly, Moho, and Piter used to be great friends. Now, not so much. Time and distance have changed all of that. But perhaps one epic road trip can help them come back together, even if there is a bit of drama.

My Review:

I’ll be honest with you here; I really didn’t know what to expect from Ashes. It looked like it would be such a fun read, and I’ve been trying to be better about reading translated works lately (there are SO many gems out there!).

Naturally, my lack of expectations meant I was pretty blindsided by how intense and emotional this read it. Think about any faded friendship you’ve had – there are a lot of complex emotions wrapped up in those memories, right? Consider that emotional mess the foundation of a graphic novel, and you’ll have a better idea of where Ashes starts.

From there, it turns into so much more as these three friends tackle death, the nature of forgiveness and understand what friendship means to them. I love that each of the characters gets a chance to show their backstory – including the monkey! That was a cute surprise, if I may say so.

Highlights

• Spanish comic
• Friendship
• Emotional
• Road trip
• Surprise monkey

Trigger Warnings

• Car accident

Thanks to Top Shelf Productions and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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