"Avatar The Last Airbender - Smoke and Shadow" || Book Review

 

Hello friends!

I'm back with another comic book review. This time it is "Smoke and Shadow" from the universe of Avatar the Last Airbender. If you want to read my last ATLA review ("ATLA - Team Avatar Tales") you can check it out here.

 I was very eager to read this one, because of things I had heard about it or because of scenes from it I had stumbled upon on Instagram or Youtube. The story is interesting and keeps you turning the pages. It is rich in action and feelings as well. The pacing is a bit off in the first two parts but really takes off in the third part and it definitely pays off. I enjoyed these comic books as much as the previous ones, although admittedly I thought that Part 3 was better than Parts 1 and 2. This is why I rated Parts 1 and 2 with 4* and I gave Part 3 a 5* rating.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

My main objection to this story is that it takes place in a very short period of time, so much so that it doesn't really make sense for many of those things to change like this and take place in such a short period of time. As I understood it, the story takes place over the span of a couple of days, so it was weird to me that over just a couple of days - or even a couple of weeks - a group of people (like the Safe Nation Society) would grow so popular amongst the common people, that they would have so much acknowledgment, support, and trust that they're heroes. It seems strange to me that, even with the children disappearing, there would be so much and widespread unrest within a couple of days of the investigations starting. It would make more sense and it'd be way more impactful if it was implied that the whole thing took place over a period of a couple of months; they could show us an exhausted Zuko, a desperate Aang, a devastated Mai, and even an arrogant, almost-victorious Azula. It would also give Ukano more time to regret his decisions and change his mind, whereas, the way it is now, it seems like he make each decision overnight and changed his mind every other day.

I wasn't a fan of Mai and Kei Lo at all, but I lived for the cute little moments between her and Zuko. I really wish and hope they get together in the future. The hints and the electric moments between them were great and really got the vibes through. It was quite open-ended between them but I am certain that these two will end up together eventually. They belong together!

Ukano drove me mad at the beginning but I was happy to see him change his mind in the end and help the children. It was nice to experience his change of heart, his character arch and also the evolution of his relationship with Mai. 

Kiyi was hands-down the most adorable and precious thing in the whole story! I really loved her, I thought she was so cute, I loved seeing her so much in love with her big brother, and I was excited to see her fire bending!

There was something deeply satisfying about Ursa finally facing Ozai and their scene was short, but it was very strong and conveyed what it needed to very well. The ending in general was satisfying and tied many loose ends together, but it still left so many questions to be answered in the next comic books, so I'm really eager to read more of them soon!

That's about it for today's review...

Thank you for reading!