A review by wardenred
The Traveller by Hari Conner

emotional hopeful inspiring slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I don't know if I can help you. But I hope I can be there for you.

This is an absolutely lovely story about two people making their way through the woods together, getting to know each other better, stumbling, picking themselves and each other up, and very slowly but inevitably falling for each other. It's heartwarming and optimistic in the best possible way; the message isn't, "Look, all is sunny and no bad things happen, ever, as long as we have each other!" but rather, "Bad things have happened; some of the world we live in sucks; but it's still sunny, and we can heal, and we can move forward." It's very hopepunk, I would say.

The art is impossibly gorgeous. I have literally no words to express how beautiful and moving it is—just go see for yourself. I can't believe this started life as a webcomic and is still available online completely for free! I very much appreciated the fat rep: one of the main characters is unopologetically big and that doesn't stand in the way of him just... being himself. Living his life. Tracking through the woods and climbing rocks and being part naked when appropriate (no NSFW content here, btw, at least not in this volume—I'm talking about some washing up in a stream :)). 

Speaking of rep, I loved the honest, sensitive depiction of being an abuse survivor and the struggles with opening up to other people and, in a way, to yourself after an experience like that. I can say the same about the depiction of nightmares and panic attacks. I recognized a lot of my own experiences in Chepi's, and some details actually hit home so hard that they had the potential to be triggering—except in every such scene, there was Janek, providing such excellent support and comfort that the scenes turned out soothing instead.

I must also note all the bits of big-scale worldbuilding gradually inserted into the small, private plot with just two characters. I can't wait to get to know more about the setting! Like, what did those dark creatures mean about the Elder? How will Janek's homeland prove different from the Empire in regards to how the fae are treated, and will it? And can I get even more details about the magic system, and the academic parts, and Chepi's family's hierarchy? So intrigued by so much of this.
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