The Cutting Garden: A Graphic Novel by Darcy Van PoelgeestMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Absolutely gorgeous visuals. The art throughout this story is stunning, with beautiful use of colour to affect mood.
A mysterious girl, Adeil, tells a mysterious story to a florist who makes an arrangement for her. Chapters are separated by detailed illustrations of flowers and plants, and the whole thing does give a strong appreciation of the natural world, which quite appealed to me - especially when depicted so beautifully.
The story itself is too thin to really engage on a deeper level, but it's interesting enough to keep you hooked throughout. I think unfortunately it asks more questions than it answers, leading to a lack of satisfaction when the end comes around.
There are some really interesting threads to the story, so I would really have liked to know more. I think there's a lot of symbolism and analogy here that's simply lost in its attempts to be subtle. I love the gentle poetry of it, but it just seemed too convoluted to be able to try and tease out all the intricate meanings behind each sentence.
The watercolour art is beautiful, though, and honestly just taking in the pages was such a pleasure. I think if you took a panel from this featuring one of the women, and hung it in your house, it would be something you'd be constantly thinking about. This artwork really provokes thought, and I suppose the scarcity of the story sort of assists that.
So for me, it's a 3-star graphic novel that gets a bonus star simply for the artwork and how engaging I found it. I'll happily recommend this to graphic novel fans looking for something thought-provoking.
With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC
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