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droar's review
4.0
Fun! I'm not super familiar with Swan Lake (by which I mean my knowledge comes exclusively from my The Swan Princess phase in middle school) but this felt like a fun twist on the base cursed transformation premise with lots of Friendship! (tm) instead of romance. While its a bit heavy handed at times I think this will totally work for middle schoolers.
angebrown's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
dahondealban12's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
ireadqueerbooks's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
pastelblvd's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
saber77's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
em_euphoria's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
emily_mh's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
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
4.25
The pacing of this graphic novel was immaculate. There was a clear structure to the story with each part getting its due weight. The plot also progressed at break-neck speed which was super engaging. This is a quest narrative at its heart and it contained all the things you’d want it to: curses, puzzles, fighting, discovery, and dancing. I loved how aside from the adventure aspect there was a focus on character development. Both Odette and Dillie had some big challenges they needed to face and experienced meaningful change by the end of the book. I liked the message their development sent, that some things that we take as fact are really just ideas that we don’t have to believe in.
There’s a lot of comedy and warmth in this book, too. Fred and Benno were excellent side characters, and by the end of the story the four adventurers had formed a sweet little found family.
Furthermore, the art was great, being clear and simple to follow with fab colours.
I think the reason I dropped the rating to 4.25 is that I wanted a little more originality in the world building.
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Death, Animal death, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Ableism, Confinement, War, Excrement, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: epidemic, earthquake, loss of a loved one, hunting, toxic masculinity, 1 HP reference in the About Author section