‘Adora and the Distance’ – Book Review

‘Adora and the Distance’ was such a drag to read, despite some good artwork crowded in a confused story. The standalone graphic novel written by Marc Bernardin follows nine-year-old Adora, who lives in a royal palace and has a daily schedule packed with activities meant to groom the next ruler. When a sinister entity called ‘the distance’ looks for Adora, the girl leaves her land and sets out on an adventure with a bunch of men summoned from various lands to protect her.

What makes Adora special? We don’t know. Her characterization is poor and a forced twist in the end just does not fit with the rest of the tale. It’s the kind of twist that’s supposed to exploit your emotions as a reader. I actually wanted to stop reading the book after about 25%, because it was just too random and chaotic. If it weren’t for the colorful engaging artwork by Ariela Kristantina and Bryan Valenza, the graphic novel would’ve been completely insufferable.

Quite frankly, I got the e-book due to the gorgeous cover-art – a golden tear-drop surrounds a young girl dressed for adventure and there are building on the sides reminiscent of ‘Arabian Nights’. While there are a fantasy elements in the story, both the world-building and character-building was terrible. I literally cannot remember any character’s name, even though I finished reading the book only a few minutes ago. If ‘Adora’ wasn’t on the title, one might as easily forget the protagonist’s name too.

It’s a 1/5 from me.