The CHIEF October 2023

Book Review

By Payton Mercer

Always Human by Ari North

This month’s book review is Always Human by Ari North. Always Human actually started as a webtoon book and later became a graphic novel. It is a short story that takes place in the near future and is a sci-fi romance. The two protagonists are Austen and Sunati. Austen has an autoimmune disorder called Egan’s Syndrome that sets her aside from everyone else and for this reason she cannot use mods. This poses a problem because Austen and Sunati live in a world where everyone can use mods to enhance appearance, memory, health, and plenty more. They met at the transportation platform because Austen was stressed out and lashed out on Sunati. The book continues with them building and strengthening their relationship. Their next date was at a waterfall and hiking area. When they finished their hike, Austen left for a moment to freshen up and left Sunati to view the town square. When she returned, she told Sunati to close her eyes because Austen was taking her to see a surprise. Sunati described the scene as “Mars in the Australian desert.” Soon after, Sunati’s birthday comes up and things take a turn for the worst, or so it first seems. Sunati went to visit Austen midway through studying for her exams without mentioning that it’s her birthday. Midway through trying to comfort Austen, Sunati mentions how she is strong for not using fashion mods due to her immune disorder. This ultimately sets Austen off, causing Austen to yell and shout at Sunati on her birthday. Sunati exits her dorm and sits outside crying while Austen feels absolutely awful as well inside her dorm. While Sunati begins crying, a stranger with white feathery hair appears and comforts her. As Sunati meets and bonds with this new character, she is left with the necessity to build back her relationship with Sunati. This is a great book and I highly recommend it if you are interested in young, sci-fi graphic novels. All scenes in Always Human appear to be in watercolor paints and are always astonishing detailed.