chadstep's review against another edition
4.0
A mix of novella, series, and graphic novel, it looks promising though it could just as well be called an extended comic book.
happytoes10's review against another edition
4.0
A surprise considering Yolen's past as a purely verbal author. Her hand was evident as the story went along so fans will find familiar ground. Loved the swordplay and fantasy as well as the plot itself.
haia_929's review against another edition
3.0
This is a trimmed down version of my review, to view the full review visit The Book Ramble.
Aliera Carstairs is an expert fencer from NYC. She's avoided, until this point, letting her guard down and allowing someone into her heart. Unfortunately, that won't always be the case. When she gets a strange practice weapon from her mom and meets Avery everything changes. Her fantasies start to become realities and she's suddenly stopped being colour blind.
I enjoyed this comic quite a bit but there were a few things that held me back from loving it. The art was great and I loved the contrasting grey scale and vivid colour. I thought the plot was interesting especially using fencing as that main component as that's not really common. I found the fantasy elements came in a little too late which made the story feel a little lagging.
The storyline, a young girl who finds out she's not so ordinary, is not a new idea. But Yolen really incorporates some unique ideas into this version. Aliera has an unusual hobby, she's colour blind, and her prince charming, Avery, is kind of...creepy. I think these things made the story a lot more interesting.
I liked Aliera. She's very strong and fierce. And she kicks a lot of ass. I think Avery was creepy but that really makes sense the more you find out about him. Their relationship was a little confusing to me, because he was so weird it didn't suit her very well. I definitely want to see what this progresses into in the next book though because they have an interesting dynamic.
The art really drew me into this book because it's sort of unusual. I'd say its a bit like Aaron Becker's Quest series with the contrasting bland and colourful art. I like the style a lot, its basically the exact style I always love, cartoony, simple, with clean lines.
I'm definitely looking forward to another one of these books because this story has a lot of potential. Definitely recommend but not my favorite.
Aliera Carstairs is an expert fencer from NYC. She's avoided, until this point, letting her guard down and allowing someone into her heart. Unfortunately, that won't always be the case. When she gets a strange practice weapon from her mom and meets Avery everything changes. Her fantasies start to become realities and she's suddenly stopped being colour blind.
I enjoyed this comic quite a bit but there were a few things that held me back from loving it. The art was great and I loved the contrasting grey scale and vivid colour. I thought the plot was interesting especially using fencing as that main component as that's not really common. I found the fantasy elements came in a little too late which made the story feel a little lagging.
The storyline, a young girl who finds out she's not so ordinary, is not a new idea. But Yolen really incorporates some unique ideas into this version. Aliera has an unusual hobby, she's colour blind, and her prince charming, Avery, is kind of...creepy. I think these things made the story a lot more interesting.
I liked Aliera. She's very strong and fierce. And she kicks a lot of ass. I think Avery was creepy but that really makes sense the more you find out about him. Their relationship was a little confusing to me, because he was so weird it didn't suit her very well. I definitely want to see what this progresses into in the next book though because they have an interesting dynamic.
The art really drew me into this book because it's sort of unusual. I'd say its a bit like Aaron Becker's Quest series with the contrasting bland and colourful art. I like the style a lot, its basically the exact style I always love, cartoony, simple, with clean lines.
I'm definitely looking forward to another one of these books because this story has a lot of potential. Definitely recommend but not my favorite.
itabar's review against another edition
DNF. Did not work for me at all. Disappointed.
annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
the art reminded me of Phineas and Ferb and that era of cartoons. very angsty which i enjoyed. a fun story but doesn't wrap things up nicely so i'll have to look into the sequel
Content Warnings
Minor: Transphobia, Violence, War, Racism, and Animal cruelty
the gross trope of Chinese mysticism like in Freaky Friday (2003) slightly off-color comment about suspecting a character is trans; he is notcolleenaf's review against another edition
As a big dorky Jane Yolen fan I was pretty excited that I got to design her first graphic novel. I can't get over how gorgeous and perfectly teen angsty Mike Cavallaro's art is in this. It goes back and forth in colors like Dorothy in Oz. Colorful fantasy contrasting the drab grays of the horribleness of high school.
ferrisscottr's review against another edition
3.0
I know Jane Yolen from The Devil's Arithmetic so I was excited to find this on the graphic novel shelf of my library.
Probably a 3.5 star book but I'll round down because the ending wasn't as good as the rest of the book.
Probably a 3.5 star book but I'll round down because the ending wasn't as good as the rest of the book.
saguaros's review against another edition
3.0
It was a slow beginning, but a promising series. I will read the second one when it comes out and seewhere it leads.
apn01's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
fongolia's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this. The art is great, the protagonist was intriguing, but the story is pretty routine (though I liked the fencing angle). A third act genre switch and cliffhanger left me deeply unsatisfied.