A review by kitsuneheart
SubZero Vol. 1 by Junepurrr

adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Do you like Zutara? Oh, you looked at the cover of this book and got interested, you KNOW you like Zutara! And this book scratches that itch so go. The princess of a small and war-torn country goes up against the prince of the highly militarized country which has been their rival for ages? In an arranged marriage? Oooooh yeah, this was good.

This isn’t a world of bending, though. Instead, members of the royal bloodline can transform into dragons. Clove of the water tr…I mean…Cerulean Dragon clan is the last of her line. And she saw her mother die in front of her! And has a special keepsake from her dead mother! And she has problems controlling her power, because no one was around to teach her!

Her love interest, Kyro, breaks from Zuko script by having a good relationship with his family, but retains his personal arc of fighting not for honor, but to regain power for his family, after years of military usurpation.

Now, this is not a ripoff of Avatar. This comic takes several well-established tropes, such as red/blue romance, arranged marriage, palace intrigue, and so on, and makes a delightful romance. There’s an obvious endgame, but plenty of room for a satisfying slowburn. And slow the burn must be, because this book only covers up to episode 25 on Webtoons, or about 1/10th of the current run. And I’m certainly intrigued enough to continue!

ARC provided by the publisher.