Love and Gravity
Always Human, #2
A young woman debates taking her dream job, though it would mean separating from her girlfriend, in the graphic novel Love and Gravity.
Sunati and Austen are students in a future, spacefaring, Earth-based society. They’re also falling in love with each other. Facing school difficulties caused in part by a condition that prevents body modifications, Austen considers changing her course of study, but she doesn’t want to feel like she’s giving up. Meanwhile, Sunati is confronted with a different choice: whether or not to accept an exciting job offer that would require a year-long stay on Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Though these seem like insurmountable problems, there just may be solutions.
Though it takes place in striking settings featuring advanced technology (there are space elevators and deep-space colonization) the story is intimate—grounded in emotions, relationships, and life decisions. Sunati and Austen navigate universal questions about love, career, family, and happiness with wisdom.
The book’s cast is diverse; Austen’s parents have a boyfriend, and a variety of skin and hair colors are on display. Rendered in beautiful pastels, the art shows manga and anime influences, but with its own stylish storytelling tweaks. A “soft focus” appearance to the backgrounds gives the book a pleasing, dreamy quality, while the captions and word balloons, which are color-coded for each character, allow for easy narrative flow.
Love and Gravity is a sweet, futuristic graphic novel in which young women make hard, adult choices in their lives.
Reviewed by
Peter Dabbene
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
