inlibrisveritas
I’m not entirely sure if this ancient tradition exists or not, though it certainly seems like something that could have happened in the past, but I loved that Novgorodoff decided to tell a modern story with it. It’s hard to imagine what one would do in a situation like Deshi’s. There is a bit of personal growth for him as he travels with the very much alive Lily Chen, who is full of energy and personality. I would say my one complaint about the story was that at times the language used didn’t really fit.
The artwork is kind of simple and I was kind of disappointed with the way it looked overall, though I did love the watercolor’s used. The scenes where there was very little line work were among my favorites as the watercolors really help set the tone and mood for the scenes.
Overall The Undertaking of Lily Chen is a very unique story with some beautiful watercolors to help prove just how moody this piece is.