I stole this part of my review from Melchior on Goodreads, “Obviously anyone reading the third book in the Island Book trilogy already knows by now but Evan Dahm’s art style is so perfectly suited” for this theme. However, I did not realize The Rising Tide (Island Book volume 3) was book three! I had a “wiggle” in the back of my brain that something was off, but it was not until I was halfway through that I realized my goof. Yet, for the most part, things flow perfectly. There are a few things such as characters saying things like “we tried to stop him from making that kind of world and here you made it” and a few characters that have backstories, but most people could start with this book and not feel lostThe story is familiar (the world is being destroyed by the rising ocean, war is happening, and friendships are not always straightforward) but there are a few “fresh pieces.” But for me it is the art that grabs you. This book has some of the least complicated work I have seen and it is also some of the most amazing, strong and complex storytelling I have seen done by images. It is practically a wordless book, with text only where it is needed. In many ways, adults will see below the surface and honestly, you probably should be scared (a character tells us they are not scared by what they see under the surface) but there is hope, and kids will enjoy the action story.
However, no matter how good the book is, it probably would have been better to read books one and two first. As there are several “holes” that would probably be filled. Such as there is a character that is a “Christ-like” figure so knowing her background would be interesting and it might help explain how she came to have a child that one is to assume is not her biological one (they are different skin tones, head/body shapes and it will seem from different lands due to the ending).
