Thanks to NetGalley and to Europe Comics for the eARC copy of this graphic novel. My opinions are my own.

I so enjoyed this oddball story translated from its original French, but I also struggle to summarize it as it felt all over the place and about all sorts of things and also without spoiling it, so I’m going to give you the NetGalley description.

“What happens to our loved ones when they die? No more funerals, because now we recycle! In an exuberant and swarming big city, Charlie, an employee at Eternal Recycle, is the best in his field: finding a use for your body after you die. But one day, a boy calls and asks him what has happened to his mother’s soul. Charlie is used to handling the bodies, but who takes care of the souls? To answer that question, he sets out on an investigation into the very heart of death and love...”

I found the illustrations beautiful and imaginative. And the story was really interesting and parts of it were darkly funny, but my only problem with it, is that the story kind of jumps from theme to theme kind of abruptly. It jumps from a not-so-distant dystopian world, to loneliness, to the afterlife, to what happens when we die, to *spoiler*, and to romance. But it all kind of works and is kind of surprising.

TW: Domestic Abuse

If you like graphic novels in general, I think you’d like this, and if you didn’t, it’s pretty quick to get through, but I think it was quite enjoyable.

P.S. - I thought it was odd that this book came out on a Wednesday, so I was looking it up on different shop websites. So far, I’ve only been able to find it as a Kindle edition on Amazon.

A beautifully illustrated graphic novel which I have to say is very typical of this publisher.
I have read a few Europe Comics graphic novels now and they're all quite morally themed. This is also the same.
The story follows Charlie who works for a company who deals with helping you to create something out of your loved one as a memory keepsake.
One day he is asked a moral question about the souls of the people he is helping those with.
It's a look at 'heaven', 'hell' and reincarnation and past lives.
For me, it was ok. It was a fantasy graphic novel and there were some really unrealistic and a little disturbing parts towards the end but all in all a good and well drawn/illustrated book.

Charlie works for Eternal Recycle. It is a company that repurposes human remains into an artifact or compost for family members to remember their loved one. His life is ruled by regimented routines. When a little boy calls with a question about his mother’s soul it starts Charlie on a quest to find the afterlife and get the answers he is missing. It turns into a personal quest as well when he learns about reincarnation and that people can be connected again and again in various lives. I thought the story was unique. The pencil and watercolor illustrations beautiful. I enjoyed the restful naked paradise between lives. And I was surprised at how moved I was by the poignant ending, although it was rushed with a time jump. For high school and up. Thank you to NetGalley Europe Comics for the temporary digital ARC and I am leaving a voluntary review.

The illustrations were absolutely stunning and the concept reminded me of the Pixar movie °Soul°, which is one of my favorites. I found however the second half a bit confusing and convoluted, so I ended up not being as emotionally invested as I would have liked.

This is a lovely fantasy story with a dream like quality and beautiful artwork.

Charlie, is a young man who works at Eternal Recycle, which is a firm that recycles the souls and bodies of the dead. One day he decides to find out what happens to the souls of the bodies he recycles and he realises that there is much more to life, death and love than he could have ever imagined.

The story is gripping but whimsical, with beautiful artwork and colouring.

Copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

An absolute delight!
It’s a cute and beautifully drawn story about an employee of a dystopian corporation that helps people deal with their dead (it basically turns bodies into utility goods). Charlie is the most empathetic and friendly customer service worker in his department, so when a bereaved boy demands knowing where did the soul of his mother go, Charlie embarks on a journey inside the company’s corporate bowels to explore its secrets and find the truth behind the afterlife. What starts as “Life with Louise” episode with searching for a religion turns out to be a warm and comforting story of love, loss and circle of life. Some aspects of the plot felt too on the nose, but it was still enormously quirky and fun.
The art here is absolutely superb, mixing traditional techniques like pencils and watercolors. The colours have very intentional meaning - greys and blues represent the dull everyday life of a corporate worker and the more freedom characters feel, the more colourful the panels become.
I totally recommend it!

so heartfelt & lovely!!! the art style is beautiful, i love the muted palette with the few splashes of vibrant colour ! the story is also beautiful & sweet & heartwarming. i love a reincarnation, they find each other in every universe story <3
i was a little confused at times, and i would’ve liked it to be longer to see more of eleanor & charlie together in different lives, but overall this was so cute & definitely worth the read :)

I thoroughly enjoyed this incredibly thoughtful graphic novel. Where do we go when we die? What happens to our souls? These are all questions that many will ask for years and I sort of love the idea of reincarnation as put out in this tale.

The art is gorgeous and reflective of the simple tale.

my thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Oh, where do I even begin? The art style is so gorgeous, a total treat for the eyes. I found myself roving the pages as if I were at a three ring circus, not sure what to look at first. I adore reincarnation and soulmates stories, so the second half of the story was especially beautiful to me.

I feel like the book overall could use a polish, maybe add a little more to the story and characterisation? But overall it's a solid book and very beautifully done.

Thank you to the author, Europe Comics and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this comic book - gorgeous illustrations, poignant main character facing some of the hardest questions that too often are not asked, and the path the author follows to provide answers to exactly those questions. Good for both younger and older readers, although younger readers may need some gentle help to understand. My only quibble was the pacing - I felt the story deserved a bit more space and would have profited from being a bit longer.

(Reviewing an e-ARC received through Netgalley.)

Really enjoyed this profound and enjoyable graphic novel that deals with topics such as what happens to souls when someone dies in a meaningful but also whimsical way. Beautiful illustrations.

Read on December 25th, 2023. Written on December 27th, 2023.

What a perfect book to read on Christmas!

This comic book has a sensational storyline, with a witty main character, Charlie, and a deep and profound story that I did not see coming! I mean wow!!

It started off as just a man doing his job and ended up with an emotional love story with sorrow and hope. I am just in awe of it, I swear. This book is incredibly precious and I recommend it so much! Great writing, beautiful drawings and the translation is really good as well.

Cannot wait to get my hands on this book again!

Signing off.
B.

(Free ARC from NetGalley and Europe Comics that I chose to review after reading)

Charlie is a gorgeous main character who’s just a really decent bloke. This has a beautiful whimsy to it while dealing with some pretty heavy stuff - death, souls, reincarnation. It’s done in a really gentle way and it’s not over-written. It just made me smile, and that’s a winner to me!

I'm always interested in translated works, and that fact that this is translated from French into English, both languages I speak, is an added bonus. For anyone similar to me and familiar with both cultures, there's extra humour to be found here. The story itself reminded me of Pixar's Soul and Inside Out while also remaining unique to the author, characters, and genre. The business of death is always intriguing to me, and I loved the way colour was used here to differentiate between the capitalistic monotony of the work side and the vibrancy and endless possibilities of the afterlife. I do think this could've been longer, or even a series, to avoid feeling slightly rushed or like we were jumping around, but overall, the message and the style of the graphic novel are great!

A creative story with excellent art filled with movement, great character design, and rhythm. It's weird and eerie but soon we understand death is a business and the kid who wants to know where his mom's soul is puts Charlie on a path to uncover truths of reincarnation, understanding souls and how all is connected. He is not a stranger to this woman's story or the violence in her multiple destines... and death is not the end of someone's story.
The usage of line and color accents is very clever. Great work.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced ecopy of The Many Lives of Charlie by Kid Toussaint & Aurelie Guarino.

I always enjoy what Europe Comics publishes, and this was no exception. At times I had a bit of trouble following from one page to the next, but caught back up quickly. The art was beautiful, and the concept was great. I think it could've even been a bit longer to flesh out the connected souls even more. Fans of European comics will certainly enjoy this.

I read the English translation of this book.

Cool concept, cute story, beautiful illustrations, although I feel like the conclusion was a bit rushed, I quite enjoyed this.

Thank you NetGalley and Europe Comics for the opportunity to read this ARC. This book comes out this coming week, on December 27th, 2023.

Interesting take on the afterlife subsiding personal beliefs aside. The beginning was rocky at first. I was trying to graph where the story was going at first and I wasn’t expecting that ending, it ended up flowing together. I really enjoyed the art work; creative, very cohesive and colorful. The message this of novel hinted at who has ever lost a loved one struck a cord in me and it was really heartwarming.

I loved this graphic novel! The way is told is so wholesome and beautiful. The message behind it got me.

Charlie is a sweet boy. Far too nice, far too passive and far too obedient, he greets everyone (including those who look at him like a cockroach), helps everyone (agreeing to relieve his colleagues of the most complicated cases) and strives to satisfy all his customers, including the one who wants to turn her companion into... soap. Yes, that's right, soap. Because Charlie works for "Eternal Recycle, you die, we recycle", a company that gives a second life to the dead, turning them into tree fertilizer, wallets, handbags, baseball bats and all sorts of other more or less useful things. Charlie's life is quiet and planned down to the second - subway, bed, work - until a customer asks him a question that shakes him to the core: okay, I understand what happens to the body, but... what happens to the soul? Naturally, a revolution ensues...

"The Many Lives of Charlie" is a satire not only of today's corporate reality and religious proselytizing, but also of the systematic affiliations that underpin the orderly functioning of society. The premise sounds cute and suitable for a romantic comedy, but the story is much more complicated than that. I'll give you a hint: "When you go through hell, you're allowed to remember your previous lives. So you can do better next time."

A cool album (just like Charlie...) about desire, duty, destiny and reincarnation, about how we can become better, while enriching the world.

Disclaimer: I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. This didn't influence my opinion in any way.