A post-apocalyptic story starring a strong female character and her adorable pet cat? This should have been right up my alley. But despite the art being streamlined and stunning, the story never quite grabbed me.

Though the internal narration conceit was very cool, it seems the author erred on the side of “less is more” when it came to world-building. Unfortunately, that “less” led to a world that didn’t make much sense. I also did not figure out Aria’s place in it soon enough to care, and only finished the story because it was so short. 

Even though things got super violent (almost unnecessarily so) about halfway through, the ending to this tale was incredibly poignant and I’m glad I stuck with it. The surprising twist and Aria’s response were lovely.

And, of course, I think Jelly Beans the cat is pretty awesome.

Rating: 3 (out of 5) stars. Cross-posted to Amazon and Goodreads.