anniereads221's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, War, Violence, Death, Racism, Injury/injury detail, and Xenophobia
emily_mh's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Spoiler
half the recruits changed their mind on colonisation after one discussion was downright unbelievableGraphic: Colonisation, War, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Violence and Injury/injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Physical abuse, Death, Cursing, and Torture
Major: ethnic racism Minor: famine, capital punishmentmnerd63's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Colonisation, Blood, War, Xenophobia, and Injury/injury detail
asexualandriod's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I also thought the art was beautiful, and the style suited the story and the setting perfectly.
Graphic: Racism, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Injury/injury detail, Blood, Colonisation, and Fire/Fire injury
rainzephy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Moderate: Violence, War, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Racism
Minor: Injury/injury detail
rnbhargava's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Confinement, Death, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Violence, Trafficking, Gaslighting, Gore, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/injury detail, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and Xenophobia
This book has all of these themes but does it all in a fairly most ages friendly way. Think of the sensibility of a show like “Avatar: The Last Airbender”tinyelfarcanist's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
For such an easy-to-read graphic novel, the characters are well-developed.
Graphic: Racial slurs, War, Classism, Xenophobia, Racism, Colonisation, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Violence, Outing, Injury/injury detail, and Death
Minor: Emotional abuse
amortristis's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Spoiler
Aiza putting on a bandage to cover her tattoo (major plot point!) only for that bandage to be missing a couple of pages later.Spoiler
At first I was annoyed that General Hende was the chief antagonist. It felt like an easy out – our heroes defeat the Big Bad and so we get a nice and tidy conclusion to the story while not properly addressing the colonial power that’s supposed to be the focus. But, upon reflection, I think what they did with Hende works quite well. She represents Bayt-Sajji. Her demise can be read as parallel to the eventual fall of the empire, in that she wasn’t defeated by a gang of plucky young heroes, she was defeated by her own hubris and her self-destructive refusal to stand down. I suppose you could argue that Aiza represents Ornu, in that she’s the catalyst to that downfall. There’s a satisfying contrast between Hende refusing to give up and Aiza proudly announcing “guess I’m a quitter” at the very end of the story.Squire isn’t bad but it could have been better. Both the art and the writing needed further development. I can’t bring myself to give it a higher rating because it feels so incomplete. I’ve seen other reviewers wondering if there’ll be a sequel and while the idea that every piece of media needs to be transformed into a series frustrates me to no end, I do understand where this yearning/speculation is coming from. It does feel like there should be more. Squire is similar to Locatelli’s Persephone in a lot of ways – good and bad. Persephone’s execution was just a tad better.
Moderate: Injury/injury detail, Racism, War, Blood, Bullying, Colonisation, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Death, Child abuse, and Torture
azrah786's review against another edition
4.5
--
I have been excited for Squire ever since I first heard about it and it was so good!
Set in a Middle-Eastern inspired world Squire follows a young girl from an oppressed background, who’s dream of becoming a hero comes at the cost of hiding her identity.
I don’t want to give too much away about it but with a wonderful group of characters at its core this is an inspiring story about following your heart and being brave enough to stand up for what is right, no matter the cost.
The commentary on the weaponization of history, imperialism and complicity in such regimes was also so well addressed.
And of course the artwork is STUNNING! It enhances the story further by beautifully portraying the characters and the setting and I absolutely loved Sara's note on how the colours were chosen and inspired by photos she took when she was in Jordan and Turkey.
I did find the ending a little rushed compared to the rest of the story and I wish it could have been split into a longer series but I loved it all the same. Though this is for a YA audience, I'd say anyone of any age would definitely take something away from it so definitely check it out!
Final Rating – 4.5/5 Stars
Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Violence, War, Blood, and Injury/injury detail
purplepenning's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Blood, Injury/injury detail, Colonisation, Violence, War, and Xenophobia