Name: Wonko the Sane's review of Dreams Factory by Jerome Hamon
Item: Dreams Factory
Rating: 3
Author: Wonko the Sane

Jerome Hamon

London, 1892. Like most children in the working-class town where she lives, Indira works the coal mines every day without protest. But when her little brother Eliott disappears, nothing matters anymore... She embarks on a desperate quest to find him and discovers that he is not the only child to have mysteriously disappeared. All clues seem to point to the same person: Cathleen Sachs, the wealthy owner of the coal mines. But why would she kidnap these children? From the acclaimed writer of NILS: THE TREE OF LIFE and animation designer SUHEB ZAKO (Netflix's "ARCANE"), this adventurous tale of magic and mystery leaps off the page like an animated feature in print.

Dreams Factory

Wonko the Sane

With thanks to Diamond Book Distributors and NetGalley for a free arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is a dark and atmospheric middle grade graphic novel about a brother and sister duo, Indira and Eliott. They live in a fantasy version of 19th century London, and the aesthetic is basically steampunk Dickens. 

The artwork is very beautiful and actually was about 90% of the enjoyment for me in reading this book. Kudos to the illustrator, Suheb Zako.

The story is where this book falls down. It’s aimed at children so you might expect the plot to be straightforward and understandable but it really isn’t. Concepts and characters are introduced and dispensed with in the blink of an eye. Characters will help and betray each other and help each other again and it all just washes over you because none of them were built up. For a short book, there were also too many characters so they were all by necessity extremely shallow. 

The idea of the factory with a mind of its own is interesting (a critique of unchecked capitalism perhaps? Industry is the monster?) but undeveloped. The concept of it choosing its next caretaker could have been fun and intriguing, but the author seemed to change his mind three or four times about what he was trying to do with it.

Overall, three stars but almost all of them are for the beautiful and atmospheric art.

Wonko the Sane &
Dreams Factory by Jerome Hamon

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Wonko the Sane &Dreams Factory by Jerome Hamon

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Wonko the Sane &
Dreams Factory by Jerome Hamon