Afterlife: The Boy Next Realm by Gina Chew & Nadhir Nor

If you enjoyed Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, then you will probably also be swept away by the romance of this sepia-toned graphic novel, as a teenage girl fights Death itself to bring her little brother back to life.

If, however, you found TNC as wildly mid as I did, then you’ll probably feel the same way about this book. But, y’know, TNC was a publishing phenomenon, so clearly I am in the minority here.

Much like its predecessor, Afterlife: The Boy Next Realm is one of those books that’s great in theory. There’s a plucky young heroine on a quest, metaphysical questions on what happens after we die, and a love interest who’s genuinely self-sacrificing without being a simp (archaic usage.) The book even opens on two young lovers whose romance is forbidden, sneaking away on a night train and trying to escape the actual circus they work in. Alas, things go poorly. The boy, Eric, subsequently makes a bargain with Death to forever be able to watch over his beloved Kyralee.

Fast forward a century and a teenaged girl named Kyra is in a hospital at her beloved brother’s bedside. She’s exhorting him to keep living. He doesn’t. She spots a cloaked figure by the doorway and takes off in pursuit, much to the consternation of their parents. When she finally catches the cloaked figure, she discovers that he’s a Soul Keeper named Eric, who was sent to guide her brother Major to the Afterlife. Kyra decides that she’s going to get Eric to help her bring Major back to the realm of the living instead. As Kyra is the latest reincarnation of his lost Kyralee, Eric finds it difficult to say no, even when her actions grow increasingly rash and dangerous.

When Kyra’s choices bring her up against Death itself, will Eric continue to support her as she strives to upset the balance of the cosmos? Is any happily-ever-after possible for these star-crossed lovers?

I think I would have been more into this book if Kyra weren’t one of F Scott Fitzgerald’s beautiful fools, ready to rush ahead to get what she wants without any concern for what anyone else thinks or feels. Kyra is the privileged hub around which the wheel of the plot revolves, one of those characters we’re told to admire because they’re the protagonist. Obviously, I found her insufferable. Eric would have been more intriguing if the girl he sacrificed his soul for was anything but a presumptuous ninny. None of the other characters have depth, and the surprise twist feels more self-serving than actually interesting. The ending does work as a lead-in to another book in the series, which might prove worth reading if it chooses to thoughtfully grapple with the results of what happened in this one.

I do hope that any sequel abandons the flatness of the sepia palette tho, or at the very least includes some contrast between the Real and Afterlife or whichever realms the book chooses to depict. Between the drawing style and the lack of color variation, everything felt very briefly sketched in, and I spent more time than I’d like trying to figure out what was happening, especially in the action sequences.

I really prefer to big up books from my native Southeast Asia, so I was pretty disappointed by this graphic novel. It has potential for a bigger, smarter series tho, which I hope they choose to do.

Afterlife: The Boy Next Realm by Gina Chew & Nadhir Nor was published October 15 2024 by Difference Engine and is available from all good booksellers, including