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A review by bookishmillennial
Squire by Nadia Shammas
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
disclaimer if you’ve read other reviews by me and are noticing a pattern: You’re correct that I don’t really give starred reviews, I feel like a peasant and don’t like leaving them and most often, I will only leave them if I vehemently despised a book. Thus, no stars doesn’t indicate that the book wasn’t worthy of any starred system. It just means I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Happy reading! Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial
This is an excellent graphic novel about a scrappy, plucky young female main character Aiza, in Bayt-Sajji (which is influenced by Arabic nations/history), who comes from the conquered Ornu people, & partly because she seeks adventure & glory as a future sword-wielding knight, she enlists to become a Squire. The more important driving factor for her to do this is to gain full citizenship in this Empire. Sounds hard enough, right? On top of all that, she has to to hide her ethnicity! 💔🤯
Aiza makes friends and I appreciate the way they represent different perspectives of the empire and government. She trains under a disgraced squire and begins to unpack so much about the way that patriotic propaganda from the government should not be taken lightly, & it should also be questioned and challenged. This story interrogates imperialism, heroism & glory, oppression of ethnic identities, militarism & biased history/storytelling. The ending did feel a bit rushed but it didn’t ruin the reading experience for me.
The colors and art are inspired by the authors’ lived experiences and travels, which makes this beautiful story that much more meaningful and impactful! I read this via e-book & I really want my own copy now!
This is an excellent graphic novel about a scrappy, plucky young female main character Aiza, in Bayt-Sajji (which is influenced by Arabic nations/history), who comes from the conquered Ornu people, & partly because she seeks adventure & glory as a future sword-wielding knight, she enlists to become a Squire. The more important driving factor for her to do this is to gain full citizenship in this Empire. Sounds hard enough, right? On top of all that, she has to to hide her ethnicity! 💔🤯
Aiza makes friends and I appreciate the way they represent different perspectives of the empire and government. She trains under a disgraced squire and begins to unpack so much about the way that patriotic propaganda from the government should not be taken lightly, & it should also be questioned and challenged. This story interrogates imperialism, heroism & glory, oppression of ethnic identities, militarism & biased history/storytelling. The ending did feel a bit rushed but it didn’t ruin the reading experience for me.
The colors and art are inspired by the authors’ lived experiences and travels, which makes this beautiful story that much more meaningful and impactful! I read this via e-book & I really want my own copy now!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Colonisation, and War