Reviews

The Forest of Time by Tristan Roulot

sophiasunlitreads's review

adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted relaxing fast-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? No

4.0

nessas_lair's review

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

3.5

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC! Wow this book was so fast paced. I literally finished this is 20 minutes 😅 It was still a pretty interesting graphic novel though, and I definitely want to check out the next volume! I thought the concept of the plot was unique and I like how time works in their little bubble. The part where the crystal breaks gave me so many questions about Marie and the mystery lady. I was very curious what would happen next and need to read more to get all the answers. The worldbuilding was fascinating and left me wanting more. I loved the artwork and would recommend reading the physical copy of this book because the eBook black-and-white version does not do the art justice. Overall, it’s a fun and quick read! 

bladelikesbooks's review

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.5

Set in the enchanted forest. All white characters. 5 children set out on an adventure to find a thief to take back a Crystal they need for their village to withstand the price of time. 

Different parts of the Forest are affected by time differently. In one village, time doesn’t pass and all village members are children except the village leader - “the worshipful one” - who is an adult. They have a crystal that protects them from time so they never age. 

One day, a thief breaks the crystal and steals one of the shards to prevent them from fixing the crystal. Time starts to move again so 5 kids from the village set out to get the shard back before time catches up with them and kills them. 

I quite liked this, it was interesting and fun. However, I don’t like the lack of diversity in the characters and not a lot happened for it to be a full book on its own. I’d say this is appropriate for children and up and I probably wouldn’t buy this for myself or recommend it. 

melissathereadingnerd's review

adventurous fast-paced

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

3.0

Let me start off with I am new to the graphic novels / comic book world. This book starts off with a lot of plot-laying and not too much into the characters personalities. I enjoyed the concept of time standing still in the village and how the children will age if they leave the town to search for the thief of the time stone. Adventures is where it's at! It felt short but I guess with this genre that's how they normally are. I do like where the story is going and I hope to read the next in the series.

Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. I was not paid to write a review. All opinions expressed here are my own. 

dorothysbookshelf's review

lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

thanks to the publisher & netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review! this is the first comic book in a planned series, following a group of children trying to find the stolen time crystal shard to allow their village to return to its timeless state. 

genres: historical fantasy, comic book, middle-grade

the world-building and magic system in this book was generally very well-crafted, but i did notice some inconsistencies which broke the story’s immersion

(eg. how did they immediately work out what exactly their powers were straight after gaining them? if one of the children can restore things to the way they originally were, why can’t he use the power on the time crystal , to restore it to it’s not shattered, while state?)

i may just be nit-picking but i thought it was worth a mention. i loved the incorporation of greek mythological references and elements into the story. on top of that, i adored the art style - very reminiscent of Roy Lichtenstein’s work.  

canny, funny and overall an intriguing read - this was a great start to a series i can see blowing up one day :)

apageoutofmybook's review

3.0

arc provided on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This graphic novel follows a group of kids that are from a village frozen in time, but then something happens to the stone that keeps their village frozen and they must go on an adventure outside of their village, 

I found this to be a bit confusing - it was lacking in exposition, and there was a lot going on that was hard to understand, though I imagine some things will become more clear in future volumes. There was also a bit of sort of juvenile humor that I wasn’t the biggest fan of. 

This is a fast paced read that has a lot of mythology in it - though I wish more of that had been explained. Young readers new to graphic novels would likely enjoy this.