Representation: Black and Asian characters
Trigger warnings: Death in the past
Score: Five out of ten.
Find this review on The StoryGraph.

What a massive disappointment.

I hoped I would enjoy Coming Back by Jessi Zabarsky and find it an improvement over Witchlight, but she underwhelmed me again. I haven't read from Zabarsky in almost three years, but so far her books don't deliver. I shouldn't have even picked this one up, since the low ratings warned me to avoid it.

It starts with Preet and Valissa living typical lives in a magical all woman society (what happened to the other genders, though?) The only catch is Preet has magical abilities and Valissa doesn't, rendering her as a human, but I'm tired of books that have two types of people like this. Soon enough, their lives separate, with Preet going off exploring a new realm outside the human one, while Valissa is left behind to continue her life without her. Let's start with the positive aspects, I mostly liked the art, even with a limited colour palette of white, black, brown, coral, and sometimes blue and orange, except the faces put me off, as the eyes are only dots. Why is the font rounded? I'm unsure. Unfortunately, that is where the likable aspects conclude.

The characters don't have any depth or development, making me disengage from the creation, but writing the characters better would help. There are some intriguing worldbuilding aspects of the setting, but some aspects are vaguer, much to my confusion, as it leaves behind unanswered questions, like where did the Shifter and Shaper come from? Were they always there? Are they the creators of everyone and everything here? These two all powerful beings birthed humans, both magical and non-magical, into existence, but what about the other magical beings Preet meets, like the race of cloud people? How did she meet these deities? Preet literally grew a child, Lue, who grew quickly in a few pages, and then she turns from a human to a humanoid hedgehog, making me wonder what happened to her (so that's why other genders are unnecessary.) In the concluding pages, Valissa had had enough, so she searches and finds Preet, bringing her back into the village. That finish is heartwarming, but not enough to redeem the rest of the novel. ( )

I reviewed this book on No Flying, No Tights.

SO beautiful and strange, mythic. I've had good luck with my last few books, but this still felt like a breath of fresh air. ( )

This graphic novel wasn't 100% clear all of the time - I had questions about the fantastical world and characters and I think I need to give it another reread before I understand it fully. Two women love each other deeply - one is filled with magic the ability to shape and shift - while the other struggles greatly with it. When a mist takes over the library that stores all the wealth of their ancestors, Valissa volunteers to see what it is. The task takes a long time and in the meantime Preet is lonely - she decides to hatch a seed all on her own (which is forbidden - two need to be present to raise a seedling). Soon she has a precious child that she has to keep hidden because it goes against the customs. What if love can conquer all? Or maybe the rules of magic are bound to get in the way. Beautiful, but hard to follow. ( )