Reviews

Canto: If I Only Had a Heart by David M. Booher

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hwilliams's review

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adventurous hopeful inspiring

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

bookwomble's review

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adventurous hopeful mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

iffer's review

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3.0

I like the retro fantasy art, with it's thick inking and color palette. This is a solid contemporary dark fairy tale adventure that manages a dark-but-hopeful tone.

Canto is a knight who lives in a world where members of his race are slaves to another race. Their hearts are taken and replaced with clocks. Names, caring about others and love are all forbidden, but Canto feels love. When the woman he loves is injured, Canto embarks on a forbidden quest away from his village to seek out her stolen heart. The world that develops is beautiful, with unique creatures and beautiful landscapes. I thoroughly enjoyed the choice of color palette, focusing on daker tones, reds and purples.

This graphic novel is fantasy, with doses of steampunk and fairy tale. The elements of the author’s inspiration from the in the Wizard of Oz are apparent. Oz is which is one of my favorite books/series/movie of all time so I very much enjoyed the nods to that universe.. Overall, this was a fun read!

Thank you to Netgalley and IDW for a PDF of this graphic novel for review.

theverbalthing's review

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5.0

Canto absolutely knocked me off my feet this year. This heart-pounding, evocative series about a small, courageous robot who goes on an epic quest to save his beloved before her time runs out — literally — reduced me to tears with nearly every issue. I did not expect this series to be so good, but I’m so glad that it is; it’s all-ages appropriate, packed with adventure, irresistibly charming, and so utterly adored by its creative team that their affection for the characters and their world shines through on every single page.