Rain: The People That Melt in the Rain #3 – Book Review
I love graphic novels and I have loved this series since the very first book. I was very happy then to receive a review copy of the third installation in The People That Melt in the Rain. The illustrations by Mike Dubisch are amazing and bring the whole story to life.
If you haven’t read the series yet, I recommend starting with the first installment, Deluge. It was winner of The Reader’s Favorite 2024 Gold Book Award for Illustration and The Reader’s Favorite 2024 Silver Book Award for comics and graphic novels. And you’ll want to start this story from the beginning. But here’s my spoiler-free review of the third installment.
The town of Deluge has a captivatingly eerie quality. We are drawn further into the spooky, rain-soaked mystery of a community plagued by something far more sinister than a passing storm in Carolyn Watson-Dubisch’s third part of The People That Melt in the Rain series.
The village’s ever-watchful weatherman Jason and his sister Jana, who is itching to escape the confining confines of their cursed town, are reintroduced to us in Rain: The People That Melted in the Rain #3. This book is a graphic novel that is as physically stunning as it is emotionally captivating, combining imagination, suspense, and a hint of supernatural terror.
In book three, Laura moves to a small town in the Midwest, a far difference from Seattle in more ways than one. This is where her life turns sideways. Frogs rain from the sky and the woman in the painting at her new school’s library is calling out to her.
Laura begins to question if she is going crazy. And surviving middle school is now the least of her concerns. Her mother has unwittingly moved her to a cursed town!
This edition maintains the series’ unique charm – its ability to tell a suspenseful, creative tale with subdued, almost dreamlike graphics. The artwork perfectly conveys the melancholy tone of the story with its muted colors and expressive linework that depict the emotional weight of the town’s misfortune. Each panel brings the reader closer and increases the suspense as we work through the increasingly complex layers of Deluge’s secrets.
This graphic novel’s multi-layered storytelling is what really sets it apart. In addition to telling us a terrifying story, Watson-Dubisch allows us to go into a universe in which the weather is more than just a setting; it is a menace, a villain, and a curse. Nevertheless, her characters exhibit incredible fortitude, intelligence, and even humor in the face of that peril.
And they know how to appreciate all the good things about living in a small town. Everyone knows everyone else, crime is low, and people look out for one another. It would be perfect if not for this one little problem…
Readers between the ages of 10 and 18 who enjoy a story with a unique twist, fantasy, and suspense will continue to find this series to be an excellent choice. Adults who value graphic books as an art form and like atmospheric storytelling will also find it very appealing. Rain is an exciting following chapter that keeps the suspense high, regardless of whether you’ve read Book 1 or are new to the series.
In only a few rainy pages, Watson-Dubisch demonstrates once more that graphic novels are capable of evoking strong feelings, gripping narratives, and stimulating the imagination. Get this book if you want to read something immersive on a wet afternoon, although you might want to keep an umbrella close by.
Fans of mysterious realms, imaginative curses, and exquisitely dark graphics will love this book. You’ll never see a drizzle the same way again, I promise.
I loved it and I cannot wait to read the next edition. You can find it on Amazon in paperback and Kindle edition and as of the day I am publishing this review, the Kindle edition is FREE!