Meet Teresa, a young woman named who’s plagued by prophetic dreams that connect her to something powerful, something divine...and the dark, twisted journey that will lead her to the truth.
WILL THE FAMILY SET HER FREE?
Meet Teresa, a young woman named who’s plagued by prophetic dreams that connect her to something powerful, something...divine.
When she fatefully crosses paths with the Family of the Sun, Teresa believes them to be exactly what anyone else in the late ‘60s would expect - a hippie cult whose leader claims to have met the divine.
But secret blood rituals, powerful drugs and sex runneth amok will bring Teresa face-to-face with the truth about the Family, herself and the dark secret behind her dreams.
Immortality, magic and alchemy, and the true power of enduring love collide in this new dark thriller from acclaimed writer and artist Maria Llovet (Faithless, Heartbeat).
Maria Llovet is a graphic novel author and illustrator from Barcelona. Her work explores themes of desire, intensity, and aesthetics, blending emotional depth with striking visual storytelling.
Llovet continues her trend of being overrated. This was terrible. None of it makes any sense. Llovet uses flowery language to hide the lack of a plot. Theresa comes across a hippy cult that drinks a god's blood that just happens to be chained to this cave someone found. Some other god stuff is lost in random headtrip imagery and flowery words that say nothing. There's a lot of trying to be sexy nudity that does not succeed to go along lots of vampiric imagery or people biting one another. This whole thing is a big mess.
Nope this wasn’t for me at all. None of this made sense. We follow Luna as she makes her way to a hippy like cult in the middle of the desert after she has an accident. There are some weird things that happen, ritualistic things with sex that leads to drinking other peoples blood. Honestly, this was just a hot mess. Lllovet attempts to use this flowery language to make the story appear deep when really nothing of significance happens. I was so confused while reading this that I felt like I should have been high to comprehend anything that happened on page. Such a huge disappointment considering that I really enjoyed the artwork especially the color pallet that was chosen.
Finally I understood. That your violet voice would pull me forever. And that I would follow it through the air, on a tidal wave, or caressed by fire…anywhere.
Lol, what? Literally purple prose. The plot and dialogue were pretty cheesy and nonsensical, I wasn’t feeling this one at all.
I went into Luna because it sort of seemed like a thing I might find entertaining but it was mostly a trainwreck. The story on the whole is unintelligible blubbering about gods and moons and blood and what have you. There is a blue guy with an eye patch wearing chains in a cave and some dork who is pretending to be Charles Manson and a lot of crudely drawn sex and kissing going on. I guess the upside is some pages look nice, and I was mildly interested to see what the hell was going on because of how weird it was. At one point a glowing eyeball becomes a key part of the story, and the blue cave slave god dude just tells her to eat it. So, yeah. You do get that.
This was really annoying in that it had loads of potential that was never developed, explored, or finished, yet it was somehow published anyway. I kept reading because it was so quick, because it was just pretty enough but very nothingy. A quick glance at the last review: one star, no plot, apparently this author-illustrator does this. I agree, though I won't bother looking at her other work. This was a vague Manson-Family-but-with-Lestat-meets-Sailormoon thing, which sounds awesome, right? but that's what was so annoying. Zero character development, zero backstory, nothing ever actually explained, just visuals with a concept and bam, it's over. The visuals, too, are *just* pretty enough, as I said: actually I'm not a fan of digital comic illustration, and while a rough or sketchy look is one thing, "I scribbled this whole thing out in a few hours" is another. So much potential! Ugh. 2.5 stars.
Very vibrant. Some of the art was better than the rest of it. The "awakening" page after the eating of was fantastic. Most of it is kinda messy, like the plot.
The story was mostly nonsensical. Why was Teresa a "human" exactly? First I thought Ahohma was saying she had given up on existing and then it sounded like he had to end up in the cave, so I have no idea. The cult aspect was all just a vehicle for that plot.
First parts of the story was cool,different and it got me hype but the whole story is so cheap and you are not wondering the story not at all while you r reading . All drawings,scenes was amazing ,masterpiece i love it . i wish it was published as an art book it would be better .
This was so weird, but not in a bad way. I love the art so much and really appreciate that I could see the signature on every page. Will definitely be reading more from this author in the future.
I feel like I say the same thing. Gorgeous art and several good pages and spreads in this final issue. "Richie" finally gets what he deserves, but of course Theresa is the star of the series. Some of her panels are so amazing you can just stare at them and feel energy jump off the page (maybe that's just me ;)). I loved the symbolism yet again and the use of mythology. It would've been nice to learn more about the eye, but if you know about the Greek Fates, you have another thread to tie. ;)
This isnt anywhere as bad as the reviews seem to be making it out to seem. No, it doesn't make complete sense, but everyone here is tripping out of their mind on drugs and I get the impression we, the readers, aren't supposed to fully get it but vibe with it. It's more like an experimental art piece with some beautiful full page panels, though I am confused on one particular plot point towards the end and I do feel the story is too short to fully care for the characters, but still, worth a read!
It feels unfair to rate this book because I adored the art so much but had so little feelings about the story. It felt like the beginning was missing. And so much context.
But if you want something weird and mysterious and beautiful and a little gory, try it. I don't regret reading it.
3 stars to even out what I loved and what I hated.
Was looking for a quick read late last night and picked this up from the stack of library books I had checked out. The art is phenomenal and I may need to buy my own copy so I can stare at the art whenever I want!! Though the story is quick and you may have questions that were never answered, I think the mystery and whimsical nature of the story is what makes it appealing. My brain can't handle anything too long or complicated right now and this more than fit the bill. Excited to explore more from this author! :)
Maria Llovet does prove herself be a talented writer and artist in this book. However, the book is full of a bunch of weird a$#, psychedelic hippie, pseudo vampire, sex sh*t that is neither as deep or tittilating as it should be. Not for the very young, the faint of heart or those seeking complex storylines, - or any storylines for that matter.
What attracted me first to this GN was the art. I loved all the vibrant colors and doodles, however like others have stated, the story itself was lacking. It all felt a bit rushed and I would have loved for there to have been more back story to certain characters. I’m not sure if this author is continuing Luna’s story, but if so I will be reading the next installment just to see where it goes.
I expect that the most esthetically inclined will love the highly decorated artwork. I'm more of a story man myself and prefer action. This story is not action-oriented. It features the love of a mortal and a god. It's rather shallow in anything but the artwork, so don't expect much.
A car crash leaves Theresa unconscious. She is found and cared for by a group calling themselves the Family of the Sun led by Lux. They live on a desert oasis surrounding a cave they consider sacred and off limits. Theresa feels happy with her new friends, though she is unaware that Lux is hiding something from everyone. Something that involves a blood pact.
An environment between hippie and psychedelic from the sixties where the protagonist appears lost and seems to find herself are the basis of this story where dreams, memories and hallucinations intermingle to form a story between mystery and eroticism with a mystical background. . Illustrations as curious as original.
Hirurogeiko hamarkadako hippie eta psikodelikoen arteko ingurunea, non protagonista galduta agertzen den eta bere burua aurkitzen badirudi, ametsak, oroitzapenak eta aluzinazioak nahasten diren istorio honen oinarria da misterioaren eta erotismoaren arteko istorio bat osatzeko atzealde mistikoarekin. . Ilustrazioak original bezain bitxiak.
Un ambiente entre hippie y psicodélico de los años sesenta donde la protagonista aparece perdida y parece encontrarse son la base de esta historia donde los sueños, los recuerdos y las alucinaciones se entremezclan para formar un entramado relato entre el misterio y el erotismo con un trasfondo místico. Ilustraciones tan curiosas como originales.
Un environnement entre hippie et psychédélique des années soixante où la protagoniste apparaît perdue et semble se retrouver sont à la base de cette histoire où rêves, souvenirs et hallucinations s'entremêlent pour former une histoire entre mystère et érotisme sur fond mystique. . Des illustrations aussi curieuses qu'originales.
This comic is definitely not for everyone, on many levels. First off, you need to leaf through it twice: once to take in the art without caring too much about the story, and once to actually read the story without being distracted by the art.
So to get the obvious out of the way, the art is beautiful, mesmerizing, like an acid trip right out of the era when the story takes place: the psychedelic '60s. In fact, it very much looks like an actual acid trip transferred onto paper.
As for the story, it seamlessly blends a number of things: the ostensible easy hippie living with its dark undertones, cult mentality, an initiatory journey, alchemy, vampirism both literal and figurative, addiction, the colonial rape of the Americas, the divine male and female - and very impressively, it all seems effortless, never tripping over itself.
Pages that seem to have a simple meaning are revealed to constitute a greater whole, and the setup is not meant to lead to a pay-off for a select few. No, Llovet makes a gift of the hidden meaning to everyone, like a good storyteller who wants all of her audience to enjoy the tale.
The comic will especially appeal to roleplayers in the World of Darkness settings, specifically Mage: the Ascension.
This was... something I guess. The art was the only part I actually liked and even that wasn't amazing. There was no introduction to any of the characters so I didn't care what happened to them. There was a notable lack of consent for a number of different acts that took place. There wasn't really any underlying story just a lot of sexy scenes that needed some less sexy scenes in between them so it could pretty at a plot? There was no actual explanation for anything that happened. It felt like someone was high and thought they'd figured the world out but hadn't actually figured anything out when they woke up.
Beautifully drawn & beautifully poetic story of a girl who joins a free spirited community/cult in the 60’s. Everything is colorful swirls and flowers and gorgeous naked bodies in bliss …and underground caverns and captive gods and silver blood and the universal struggle for power, for immortality. It’s the collision of these two worlds, how to live together in balance in that tragic way we all seek.
This was my second time reading a Maria Llovet story and it has the same problem as the first, not enough plot. The story feels too rushed to properly develop the ideas introduced.
That being said the artwork is phenomenal and the characters all have clear personalities, but unfortunately they don't have time to be developed.
All that being said I did enjoy it, and will likely re-read it again, primarily to enjoy the artwork.
I found this graphic novel while browsing at the library and I was definitely drawn to the cover. Read in one sitting, I'm not even sure I understand what I just read...I think the author was taking me on too fast a journey and I just wasn't getting all the breadcrumbs. The illustrations are vibrant and beautiful. All in all just okay.
Blood, supernatural sex, transcendence: this is all well within the sort of thing I've come to expect from Llovet, and it's not like the plot's mixture of the alchemical marriage with sixties cults is massively original either. But her aesthetic, that fevered and fleshy heir to art nouveau, is so utterly my bag that I don't mind in the slightest.