Greater Secrets

by Ananth Hirsh, Tess Stone

In a family gifted with the ability to see a mysterious light in the distance, one teen embarks on a fantastical journey to find her missing sister, and finally answer the question: is this ancestral gift a blessing or a curse?

Maya’s family is cursed.

Or blessed, it depends on who you talk to. For as far back as anyone can remember, her family has had to ability to see a mysterious pillar of light in the distance. Those who have tried to find it have never come back. Maya has no idea what you're meant to find if you follow the light. Adventure? Destiny? But what if your destiny isn't a good thing?

Maya’s sister left to follow her light…and has been missing ever since.

That’s how Maya finds herself on a surreal road trip with two people she barely knows, headed towards a ghost town where her sister was last seen. Unfortunately, the closer Maya gets to her sister...the closer she gets to her own pillar of light. Maya doesn't know if she's ready to face her destiny but if it means finding her sister then she'll do whatever it takes.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Young Adult, Fantasy, Comics, Mystery, Adventure, Fiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published November 12, 2024

Reviews

[Roanna25]

It made sense until it didn't

[Maia]

Recent high school graduate Maya comes from a family with a blessing or curse: they can all see a pillar of light on the distant horizon. Some family members choose to chase this light. Some of them return, and some of them do not. Maya's older sister, an indie musician, disappeared two years ago and Maya thinks she went chasing the light. When two younger teens show up saying they might know where her sister is, Maya decides to go on an impulsive road trip with them. This is a beautiful and mysterious comic, which ends without much resolution, but took me on an interesting journey.

[Kennedy Elder]

Soooooo, why did it end like that?

[ria]

a random pick off the library shelves! i loved the art but the ending left a lot to be desired

[Cherlynn | cherreading]

Huh?

Gorgeous art and colours, but the plot left me with more questions than answers. I liked how each character had their own struggles they were trying to work through. A quick read where you enjoy the journey more than the destination, I guess.

[Ashley]

With the limited detail in the blurb, I wasn’t totally sure what I was getting into with this graphic novel. There’s a fantastical element, an apocalyptic element, and a high school road trip element.

Maya, Cardea, and Dyno each have their own motivation for wanting to search for Maya’s sister Amara. There’s family stress/angst, and there are also strong familial bond with strong currents of love.

The authors’ note mentions combining elements of a world falling apart/things feeling wildly apart with elements of living life…because life keeps going on no matter what. This absolutely shows up across the story.

I can’t tell if there’s an opening to continue the story for these characters. I’m also not sure how I feel about the ending, though I think it’s overall positive.

Though the characters are in high school and thinking about college, this is still very accessible and appropriate for a middle school audience, and I look forward to adding it to my classroom library!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

[Jane]

I can not wait for the second installment. While I dread a cliffhanger, jumping into this with no knowledge of it, made me speculate the ending more and more! The pacing was good and the characters' emotions aligned with the story. The character's personalities were explained greatly through the art style and their dialogue. This graphic novel is full of good representation. A truly lovely coming-of-age novel that you will quickly breeze through!

[Victoria Sanchez]

I'm not rating this until the ?next? book in the series. That's a messed up ending!

[hope h.]

3.5 stars

i wasn't really certain what was happening at any point while reading this but the art is so beautiful so i'm just enjoying being along for the ride!

[Jamie]

3.5

[Amanda Workman]

Solid 3.5. Fun read.

[Meg]

to be honest, i'm not sure i undestood much of the plot at all but the art style and characters were so stunning that it was worth it.

[Eliott]

Greater Secrets
Overall Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ (3/5) or 6.42/10 overall

Characters - 6

Atmosphere - 7

Writing - 6

Plot - 7

Intrigue - 7

Logic - 6

Enjoyment - 6

[Wafflepirates]

*Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review*

Depending on who you ask, Maya's family is blessed, or cursed. Each member of the family can see a pillar of light on the horizon, and any of those who give in to the call to seek it out are never heard from again. A few years ago, Maya's sister disappeared presumably chasing the light as well. Now, with new clues to follow, Maya and two virtual strangers go on a roadtrip to try and find her. The setup of the story was very interesting, but the bulk of the story is more about the three main characters becoming friends and facing their issues than learning more about anything potentially supernatural going on. The ending was a bit lackluster, though open enough to make sense for the kind of story being told. The art, however, is great and I loved the style and the color choices. I do wish that the story had focused more on the aspects of the curse and the pillar of light, however.

[Ellis]

I saw this in my library’s new books section and decided to check it out basically sight unseen. It was not worth the read and is incredibly unmemorable.

There’s a lot of heavy-handed exposition in the beginning (yes, I understand Amara was 25 when she disappeared and two years have passed). Maya, one of our main characters, also comes across as incredibly childish and immature—while we are hammered into the ground with Amara’s age, Maya’s is up to guessing. She works at a coffee shop and acts like an angsty teen, so maybe 16? Nope, she’s out of high school :/

And then the rest of the book is vague in ways that make the world feel underdeveloped. For example, there’s a roadtrip to Dyno’s hometown, where Amara may be. Do we ever get the name of Dyno’s hometown? No, it’s just Dyno’s hometown. Why not add in a name somewhere?

And then, finally, the magic or supernatural elements or whatever else is not explored well enough for the reader to feel satisfied with the ending. Instead of being ambiguous and left up to the reader’s interpretation, the book juts suddenly ends. No explanations, no insights or even hints of insights. I’m seeing a few readers indicate that they will read the sequel—do we even know a sequel is planned, or was this intended as a standalone? I don’t care enough to google it, but it doesn’t seem like a sequel is planned and instead the authors wanted it to end ~mysteriously~ (eyeroll).

Positives: I like the art and the use of color, altho there were a few instances when the action was visually unclear.

[Stephanie Tournas]

Maya and her family members can see a magical pillar of light on the horizon, and it never bodes well. Is this what happened to her sister Amara, missing for two years now? Maya teams up with Cardea and Dyno, all young adults on the cusp of big change, to search for Amara in the “climate-ruined world.”

The three young adults, Black and Brown (Maya is Indian American) traverse an existential crisis while traveling through a mystical wasteland of fire and desert. Clearly, the plight of the planet is not far from the protagonists’ minds as they search for Amara and a path for their future. Despite the fraught nature of their journey, the reader is treated to a gorgeous display of colors and mythical monster-snakes, courtesy of Maya’s Indian heritage. The sumptuous graphic journey is complemented by the philosophical and mundane: flashbacks indicated by video stop and start buttons, peeling concert posters of Amara, and IM texts. Although there isn’t a resolution to their search as such, and Amara remains elusive, readers will find themselves changed by the deeply affecting journey.

[Katharine]

I have loved several of Anath Hirsh and Tess Stones's works, so I was so excited to read a graphic novel by both of them together! The art, of course, is gorgeous. I absolutely love the art, and the page flow is pretty fantastic. Unfortunately, the story itself falls a bit flat for me. It had several story concepts I enjoyed, but the overall plot felt confusing. I think I understand what their journey is meant to represent, but the plot ideals are so nebulous that I found myself confused about what is actually meant to be real or not within the story. Also, is magic real in this world or is it not? I enjoyed that the story's magical elements are based on Hinduism which is something I feel like I rarely ever see! If the story had been less vague in certain plot sections, I think I would have enjoyed it more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

[Elliott Christian]

Me 5/5: I wasn’t originally planning on reading this with my 11 and 8 year old gremlins but they thought the cover was cool and I didn’t see any tags that concerned me. Their thoughts are below. As a parent, the kids had a good time and none of the content felt inappropriate for my kids understanding of the world. The cursing my 11 y/o mentions is very light.

For me, I loved this. I love a powerful and complex sibling relationship and Greater Secrets delivers on that. I also enjoyed the various family dynamics shown that gave each character a lot of depth. The friendship built between Maya, Cardea, and Dyno was probably the best part for me. The art was also incredible.

11 year old: 3/5 there was some language I didn’t like (cursing), I really liked the flash backs.

8 year old: 10,000/5 I really liked it and I liked the part when she was talking about her ancestor and the lights and snakes.

[Jessica]

Maya’s family has a gift, or maybe it’s a curse. No one is really sure. Those who have it see a mysterious pillar of light that lead them to their destiny. Maya’s sister followed her light and has been missing ever since. When Maya goes searching for her sister, she finds herself approaching her own light. She must decide how far she’s willing to go.
This coming of age story integrates themes of magic and mythology with apocalyptic elements and found family. There were wonderful elements, such as the relationships between the main characters and the dynamic illustrations. However, there was so much going on in this story and so many ideas that none of them every came fully to fruition and then it ended on a massive cliffhanger. I hope that a sequel allows this story to fully develop and express the ideas that were introduced but not coherently fleshed out.

[Tara]

Maya's family has always been able to see the light, but whether it's magic or a curse is determined by each individual. Maya's sister left to follow the light and it left her family disjointed. When one of Amara's biggest musical fans tracks down Maya and says she knows where to find Amaya, the two leave on an adventure joined by Dyno. Three strangers, traveling together, looking for Amaya. Each has their own secrets and each is taking the journey for a different reason.

Greater secrets has a good premise, but the plot lacked development. Each character seems thrown together on this trip with their secrets hastily revealed to wrap up the ending. Not a strong enough story for me to want to purchase it.

I read an ARC from NetGalley.

[Lynne]

I have such mixed feelings about this one! The art was super gorgeous, and I was really invested in the plot. It follows a teenage girl, who is looking for her sister, and dealing with a family "curse?". The mystical elements were interesting, and I was thoroughly engaged in the book throughout! But without giving too much away, I felt like the ending was really, really abrupt. I so wanted a conclusion of some sort, but it just makes me look forward to book 2! (Please let there be a book 2 lol)

Overall, a fun graphic novel with some great fantasy elements and fantastic illustrations! Thanks to NetGalley, Ananth Hirsh, Tess Stone, and Random House Children's for the chance to read and review. My opinions are my own.

[Tracy]

This was an interesting graphic novel. Maya's family is cursed some say. Some say they are blessed. Either way, the members of her family all see a pillar of light in the distance. Maya's sister Amara disappeared when she went to look for the light. Maya has been obsessed with her disappearance ever since. She finally decides that she is going to follow her own pillar of light and see if she can find her sister. On the way she is joined by two others, Dyno and Cardea. Cardea is also obsessed with Amara, but for a different reason. As they go on this journey, Dyno and Cardea discover that Maya can see this light. Then they find out that she can show them the light and they can see it too. No spoilers here, so you'll just have to find out what happens next and if they find Amara.

[Emily]

I love the art in this graphic novel and the story has a really interesting premise. But for me, the plot didn't seem to develop fully and was quite slow until all the secrets were rushed to be revealed in the end. Most of the book takes place in a car with just three characters but I wasn't really attached to any of them, and although they seem to make connections, I wish I'd felt more emotion from them. I also felt that the dialogue was awkward and didn't flow as naturally as I'd hoped.

I can't say I'd be motivated to read a second book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's for the eARC in exchange for a review.

[Jessica]

I don’t really get it. I’m not really sure what I just read. I want to know if she says yes or no but it didn’t tell me so I guess there will be a book 2? I don’t know. I wasn’t invested in this story, though. It was pretty boring. My face stayed in resting mode the entire time which is not good. When a book is really good, my facial expressions change throughout the book. I’ll smile, laugh, cry, etc. but this book made me feel nothing. I don’t understand what the point was even supposed to be. I do still want to know what’s up with the ending though and if there’s a second book I’ll have to see what happens next but it wasn’t great overall. 2.5 stars.

[Traylor]

Having read Ananth Hirsh’s Pixels of You, I was excited to pick up this book. I loved this book for everything from the art of the graphic novel to the nuance of how this book told the complexities of young adulthood, and even the rather frustrating ending. It’s a story of the newly found freedom that comes with adulthood, along with the complications. This captivating graphic novel shows the complexities of life teetering on the edge of countless decisions; where everything seems so grand, yet simultaneously seemingly worthless. This book will leave you wanting more and will show you there’s magic in this world, you just have to look for it.

[Victoria]

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Random House for providing me with an arc.

Greater Secrets revolves around Maya meeting two random strangers who then go on a roadtrip to try and find her missing sister.

I enjoyed the two secondary characters more than Maya. They were wholesome and supportive.

I felt like I had to suspend my disbelief because even for a graphic novel aimed at a young adult?/ teen audience- the relationships these characters form is super rushed and feels a bit forced.

I know I only got to see a couple pages of the art in colour, but I know it will be stunning when it comes out.

[Sesana]

Something about the way this book treats magic so matter-of-factly makes this feel almost like a slice of life novel, though it's clearly not. There's a definite plot and journey, but at times that journey almost feels secondary to the characters forming a friendship. This isn't a criticism, but it makes for a book that feels much slower than expected in a 200 page graphic novel with a beginning, middle, and end. That ending is extremely open, actually. I don't think this is the first volume in a series, because it feels just as final as it does open, which is quite a narrative trick. Not for everyone, but a strangely relaxing read for the right person at the right time.

[Matt Glaviano]

I liked it more than Will did. He found it confusing, and I agree with him. The story wasn't always clear and the artwork didn't help that. The Play Pause flashbacks, especially the first one, were awkward and confusing.

Despite that, I found myself interested, even invested, in the post-apocalyptic road trip storyline. The character bonds worked. Increasingly, I wanted to see what happened when the trio reached the light pillar.

And then they did, and it was confusing and disappointing. Will was right again.

Good bones to this one - my favorite Hirsh piece since Lucky Penny - but it only kinda worked for me.

[Vanessa]

3.5 rounding up cause it feels right.

The artwork is amazing. The lines, the colors, the overall mood. The artwork is carrying this book for me.

The story has a good premise. But things felt a bit disjointed at times and very rushed towards the end. With another 100 pages maybe we could have gotten more connection and understanding. I don't even need a full resolution cause I get that that's the point. I would have liked a little more time for things to... be. Seeing our trio spend more time together, learn to trust one another, see that bond really form.

Overall a solid book, but I can see it being very polarizing.

[Billie]

Thanks to NetGalley for this arc!

I'm honestly a bit confused? I loved the art style in this graphic novel and the magical elements, and the characters were established well. The setup was so good that I think I expected a little bit more from it? It ended so abruptly and I ended up sitting here, trying to figure out what happens next, where the story goes, why everything happened so fast. I honestly think it would've benefited from a longer story or a sequel.

Still enjoyed most of it. I was just left wanting more and not in a satisfying way.