Synopsis:
The devil has come to town. And he wants a library card. Star author Olivie Blake and artist Little Chmura kick off a deliciously dark graphic novel romance series with Clara & the Devil, Volume 1.
Clara has the rest of her life figured out. She’ll graduate college with the support of her best friend, Jonah; marry her adoring boyfriend; take a full-time job at her local library; and settle down in her small seaside hometown. But when an unusual tourist―tall, dark, and infernal―comes to town, Clara’s careful plans quickly start to unravel.
And even while the stranger, who openly calls himself the devil, strikes up a situationship with Jonah, he continues to tempt Clara with reckless talk of power, ambition, and lust. Over the course of one sultry summer, tensions between Clara, Jonah, and the devil mount to an intolerable degree, and Clara is forced to confront the desires she’s kept secret her whole life, even from herself.
This deliciously dark tale of Faustian bargains and seduction from New York Times–bestselling author Olivie Blake and fan-favorite artist Little Chmura kicks off a series that explores artistry and power through the temptation of the seven deadly sins.
Review:
I was sent a copy of Clara & The Devil, Volume 1 by the publisher.
It is rare I get the opportunity to review a graphic novel, so when Tor emailed me to ask if I wanted to review Clara & The Devil I jumped at the chance. I’ve never seen or read the original Webtoon so I went into this completely blind. I devoured the whole graphic novel in just two sittings as it’s a story that keeps a lot of information close to its chest, but hints at just enough to keep you reading. This is just Volume 1 and it’s clear that there is a lot more to be explored in the next volumes.
Olivie Blake & Little Chmura are a match made in heaven. Blake’s dark narrative blends perfectly with Little Chmura’s intense illustrations. The watercolour-style illustrations are stunning and there’s just enough detail to add to the Devil’s narrative, but not so much that it overwhelms the main focus of the story, the characters. Each page is different, some using more white space, others covered in dark imagery, and still more that have you stopping to study the small details of each section.
Volume 1 feels like just the introduction to the story. You meet Clara, the Devil and her best friend Jonah. It’s full of tension as you wonder what the Devil is up to, what Clara really wants and what exactly the Devil is doing to Jonah. While there is no on-page spice there is enough sexual tension throughout the graphic novel to have you trying to read between the lines. A choice which I think works perfectly for the story. Right at the end you get a glimpse of where the story might go. It’s almost a shame that it doesn’t continue on for longer, as this volume feels like a prologue or introduction to the story. The preview for Volume 2 shows that it develops past the town and characters that you meet in Volume 1 which got me interested in where things may go.
There’s hints of a story within Volume 1, but it’s definitely more of a character-building Volume than a story-heavy one. With that being said I’m intrigued enough that I’ll pick up Volume 2 and see what Blake & Little Chmura have in store.
Leave a Reply