The Promised Neverland Volume 1 review

Set in 2045, The Promised Neverland centres on Emma, an 11-year-old girl living at Grace Field House orphanage. Food is plentiful and aside from a complicated daily exam she and her fellow orphans have to sit, they have a happy time, looked after by their caretaker Isabella, a sweet-natured lady they all call ‘Mom’. Grace Field House has one strict rule, though: the children must never leave the grounds.

When fellow orphan Conny is adopted, Emma realises that she has left her favourite toy behind. Our plucky heroine and her friend Norman venture outside the orphanage’s grounds to return it, only to discover Conny dead, slaughtered by some kind of demonic monster. The ghastly truth dawns on Emma – Grace Field House is not an orphanage, it’s a farm; the orphans are no more than livestock for the demons; and Isabella is in on the whole thing. Emma, Norman and their pal Ray resolve to escape before they become the next tasty morsels on the monsters’ menu.

The main story quickly builds into a thrilling ‘will they/won’t they’ scenario, as the trio of children try to figure out how to get away from their suddenly sinister home, while the back story also offers plenty of intrigue. How did Emma and her friends end up at Grace Field House? Where do the demons come from? What is the outside world really like? And why is their kindly-seeming Mom on the side of the kid-eating monsters? Add in great artwork, and this dark, engrossing tale has us itching to find out more. Reviewed by Ian Wolf

INFO
Credits: Kaiu Shirai (story) and Posuka Demizu (art)
Publisher: Viz Media
Release Date: Out Now
Price: £6.99
Rating: 16+

Copyright: © 2016 Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu