Afar Graphic Novel Review

Boetema and Inotu are two African siblings who love their life in their village. When their dad is caught lying about being an expert on well creation/water filtration, the village is left without water and the family must move. In the new city, Inotu gets into trouble, and Boetema starts having dreams where she feels as if she is traveling to other worlds. Boetema and Inotu need to protect each other on their journey, but Boetema has to also learn to harness these dreams at the same time. 

This graphic novel is beautifully drawn and has a compelling story. I love the tale of the African siblings traversing across the desert to try to find safety while dealing with powers and other people chasing after them. I loved Boetema and Inotu, and only wished I had more time to learn about these characters. The worlds that Boetema sees in her dreams are also beautiful, and I wish further graphic novels were written just about those characters!

This world that Boetema and Inotu called home was regular Earth, but I could not exactly pinpoint what year it was supposed to take place in, or what country in Africa the story was supposed to take place in. I did not mind this, as it allowed me to focus on the story rather than comparing it to how “realistic” it was. I struggle with this as a bit of a history nerd, so this book completely took this struggle away from me. 

The main thing that disappointed me about this story was how it ended. I felt like it wasn’t quite finished at the end, although the main storyline about the traveling dreams seemed to be a bit finished. I just felt like this book could have been the beginning of a series rather than a standalone, but it looks like a standalone as there is no mention of a sequel on Goodreads 3 years after this book originally came out. 

I love graphic novels and this one really spoke to me. I think this was the first fantasy graphic novel I’ve read with two African main characters. I would definitely read more by this author, as it seems she has written more series after this one with similar characters. This book may be short, but it is rather long for a graphic novel and has a lot of story packed into its pages. 

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a new fantasy/science fiction graphic novel to read! 

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 books.