Review Detail

With beautiful artwork reminiscent of classical Chinese paintings and Japanese monogatari scrolls, Danica Novgorodoff tells the story of the gritty and hard-fought journey of tragic Deshi and bittersweet Lily.

Deshi Li has a dark secret, and to atone for his mistake he must find the fresh corpse of a woman and return home with it by Sunday. The truth of China's corpse bride black market is gory, brutal, and inescapably real. When Deshi meets the down-on-her-luck Lily Chen, he thinks he might just get a break - over her dead body. Literally. Can Deshi complete the deal and murder Lily so she can be married off to his dead brother? Will Lily use her cleverness and strength to escape the harshness of her dirt-poor family? Or will something bright and warm blossom between these two desperate young people?

Told with few words, raw dialogue, and breathtaking illustrations, The Undertaking of Lily Chen is a magnificent graphic work. With some mature content, such as profanity and sexual content, this is a graphic novel for mature teens and adults.