Reviews
Rivers of London Vol.10: Deadly Ever After by Andrew Cartmel, Celeste Bronfman, Ben Aaronovitch
awahle's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- 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
3.25
woodsbookclub's review
3.0
I have never read anything from The Rivers of London series, so I didn't know what to expect but it turned out to be a satisfying read and I didn't felt I was lacking information even though I am sure I would love it more if I had some prior relationship with the characters. I really enjoyed the artwork and the twist to classic fairytales. The plot is interesting and has a good pace so I found it to be a quite fast read.
cloudwriter's review
adventurous
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
turrean's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Cool to get a glimpse of Peter and Bev’s twins!
Annoying AF that the creators included a plus-size (barely) character and ruined it by explicitly stating she was self-conscious about it.
Annoying AF that the creators included a plus-size (barely) character and ruined it by explicitly stating she was self-conscious about it.
vandelocht's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
user226's review
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Quite disappointed by this one. Maybe it's the change in author. It felt a little too flat and in your face; lacking the complexity of earlier runs.
theirresponsiblereader's review
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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What’s Deadly Ever After About?
Two of Beverly’s sisters, the twins Olympia and Chelsea Brook, are hanging out with some people they just met around a campfire. It’s just a relaxing moment—when one of the group suddenly starts trying to eat them all. Olympia tries a magic whammy on him, which doesn’t help too much, but the others are able to capitalize on this and subdue him.
Over the next couple of days, others in the group suddenly start acting strangely—an actor quits his current project, dresses up like a frog, and starts to make nature documentaries; another takes a bite of an apple and goes to sleep like Snow White.
The sisters try to get some help from the Folly, but they’re too busy. Abigail gives a quick consultation but isn’t that helpful. So the sisters have to figure out what’s afoot on their own and try to set things right.
What About Peter, Nightengale, etc.?
They’re pretty deeply involved in some strange case and we see them briefly here and there—I’m curious about what they’re up to, but I really don’t want either a comic or a novel/novella to tell us—I just want to live with the random and odd images.
How’s the Art?
The art for the Rivers of London has never been the strongest—it’s good, it’s dynamic, it moves the story along, and helps tell the story. But by and large, it’s not the greatest comic art in the world—I’ve never disliked it (I don’t think), but I’ve rarely been wowed by it either. It’s good, not great.
That’s what we have here—capable art that tells the story, conveys the emotions, and occasionally elicits a grin.
(all of this reads to me like the most sinistral left-handed compliment—I’m not trying to be that way, I’m apparently just having one of those days)
So, what did I think about Deadly Ever After?
I love the idea of getting stories in this world that only have a tangential connection to Peter and the rest. We all know that the entire Demi-monde/Supernatural world doesn’t revolve around the Folly. Things like this have to happen, before Peter was recruited, we know that Nightingale didn’t have time to handle everything—people cleaned up after themselves. And that’s what the twins try to do here—and mostly succeed.
I guess I really don’t have much to say beyond that—not only do I love the idea of this kind of story, I appreciated this example of them. We get a great magic story, meet some new people, and spend some time in this world that readers love. Can’t ask for more than that.
Sure, I hope to see more of the ol’ gang next time, but regular doses of the world outside like this one would be a good thing.
justgeekingby's review
3.0
Originally posted on Just Geeking by.
Content warnings:
Deadly Ever After by Ben Aaronovitch is the tenth Rivers of London graphic novel and this one features two secondary characters from the novels. Olympia and Chelsea are the twin daughters of a river goddess and the sister of one of the main characters in the series. We’ve seen them pop in and out throughout the series, and I have to admit that the twins are not some of my favourite characters. They’re usually too busy partying to take anything seriously and in Deadly Ever After that’s something they’re forced to face front on when they get in over their head.
When Olympia and Chelsea come across a group of human campers it’s all fun and games until they use their magic to uncover a tree that was hidden with magic, releasing something that was locked away for centuries. Peter and Nightingale, the police who deal with this normally deal with magic when things go wrong are busy on another case leaving the twins on their own. While I enjoyed the overall story of Deadly Ever After I just wasn’t invested in the main characters and for most of the graphic novel the twins continued to be their obnoxious teenage selves. When they started to get involved with what was happening and started to care then things became more interesting.
This was an interesting development in Olympia and Chelsea’s story and a graphic novel was a good medium for it. Unlike other graphic novels in the Rivers of London series I felt like the artwork wasn’t as good especially the faces of the characters. The artist has been different for this graphic novel and the previous one, and while I can’t remember what my thoughts were on the art of the last one (Monday Monday), it was very noticeable in this one for me.
Deadly Ever After is worth a read for an interesting story and continuity, but overall it’s my least favourite graphic novel so far. I appreciate Aaronovitch branching out to tell a different type of story with secondary characters which shows us their personal development, it just wasn’t of much interest to me. A personal highlight for me was Abigail and the foxes who are always a bright spot in any Rivers of London story.
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Content warnings:
Spoiler
This graphic novel contains scenes of blood, gore, kidnapping, strangulation and death, including a scene where two children almost stab their parents to death while under the influence of magic. There is also a scene in a hospital depicting an unconscious patient. Grief is an ongoing theme throughout this graphic novel.Deadly Ever After by Ben Aaronovitch is the tenth Rivers of London graphic novel and this one features two secondary characters from the novels. Olympia and Chelsea are the twin daughters of a river goddess and the sister of one of the main characters in the series. We’ve seen them pop in and out throughout the series, and I have to admit that the twins are not some of my favourite characters. They’re usually too busy partying to take anything seriously and in Deadly Ever After that’s something they’re forced to face front on when they get in over their head.
When Olympia and Chelsea come across a group of human campers it’s all fun and games until they use their magic to uncover a tree that was hidden with magic, releasing something that was locked away for centuries. Peter and Nightingale, the police who deal with this normally deal with magic when things go wrong are busy on another case leaving the twins on their own. While I enjoyed the overall story of Deadly Ever After I just wasn’t invested in the main characters and for most of the graphic novel the twins continued to be their obnoxious teenage selves. When they started to get involved with what was happening and started to care then things became more interesting.
This was an interesting development in Olympia and Chelsea’s story and a graphic novel was a good medium for it. Unlike other graphic novels in the Rivers of London series I felt like the artwork wasn’t as good especially the faces of the characters. The artist has been different for this graphic novel and the previous one, and while I can’t remember what my thoughts were on the art of the last one (Monday Monday), it was very noticeable in this one for me.
Deadly Ever After is worth a read for an interesting story and continuity, but overall it’s my least favourite graphic novel so far. I appreciate Aaronovitch branching out to tell a different type of story with secondary characters which shows us their personal development, it just wasn’t of much interest to me. A personal highlight for me was Abigail and the foxes who are always a bright spot in any Rivers of London story.
readwithmeemz's review
3.0
I received an advanced digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley.
I did not realize this was book 10 in the series when I first requested it and picked it up. I thought it was book 1 - as such my rating and review are affected by not having experienced the character development & plot other readers of the series have experienced. I will talk specifically about this book, and try not to let the lack of context colour my review.
The concept was pretty fun, I loved the twists on all the fairy tales coming to life. The villain’s motivations felt very forced, & unrealistic, which was a bit distracting. Overall, this was a fun mix of fantasy, mystery, & humour.
I did not realize this was book 10 in the series when I first requested it and picked it up. I thought it was book 1 - as such my rating and review are affected by not having experienced the character development & plot other readers of the series have experienced. I will talk specifically about this book, and try not to let the lack of context colour my review.
The concept was pretty fun, I loved the twists on all the fairy tales coming to life. The villain’s motivations felt very forced, & unrealistic, which was a bit distracting. Overall, this was a fun mix of fantasy, mystery, & humour.