Spoiler alert! This review contains spoilers. The non-spoilered version is at Goodreads.
Rating alert! This publication puts the graphic in graphic novel; 18+ only, please.
When I was describing my graphic novel series to one of my good friends, she immediately stopped me and asked if I was also into crime and mystery. Nancy Drew being my first book series, I said yes. She told me I absolutely had to read Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees (link earns commission). The blurb on Libby was certainly eye-catching.
It should probably disturb me that Samantha’s character did not disturb me. Obviously, I don’t condone her behaviour; yet, I feel like this is an incredibly interesting way to apply animal instincts to an otherwise fully-anthropomorphised character. I’m not entirely convinced she’s a sociopathic serial killer. I think underneath the fur, she’s … a brown bear. By being able to go to a store to buy food, she isn’t fulfilling her innate instinct to hunt. So, hunt she does. Perhaps that necessity makes her think she’s sociopathic out of protection; thinking specifically of the scene in the cave.
I genuinely thought the Woodbrook killer was going to be Melody, especially after the reveal that she sleeps with a stuffed effigy of her lost mate. Loss like that can really mess someone up. I could see how that could have been twisted into something even vaguely sympathetic even – some sort of deranged “I’m giving him friends in the afterlife!” sort of thing.
That was not where the author took us.
I had thought about Nigel being a potential suspect when he sneezed at the funeral, but there were so many distractions – and Mary’s callousness was definitely one of them – that it didn’t fully register in my head. Sure did in Sam’s, though! I’m glad that Sam and Lola were able to have the discussion they did before the dementia took her. And honestly, Sam saved Lola a lot of suffering with that – not only having to live with the knowledge her son is a monster, but also to slowly wither and die with that disease and no caregiver.
Oh, and let’s discuss the artwork here. This was exquisitely illustrated in a style that evokes storybooks for children. The characters all felt like actual animals, just anthropomorphised. You could almost feel the fur texture on the page. It was disquieting seeing ultraviolence in such a style, to say the least! I have a pretty violent volume that I’ve drafted for my own graphic novel series, and this publication definitely made me feel much, much less apprehensive about my own ideas.
In conclusion, this was an enjoyable hour-and-a-half ride. About the same length as a Midsomer Murders episode, with a plot that actually challenged me to think about their motivations and how animal society would actually function given the world’s constraints. All applause to the author.