Reviews

Nicnevin and the Bloody Queen by Helen Mullane, Dominic Reardon, Matthew Dow Smith

directorpurry's review against another edition

5.0

CW: Death of an animal

I adored this.
If anyone wants to get me a Hannukah present, a copy of this would be lovely.

bluehairedlibrarian's review against another edition

3.0

A fairly simple story. Some of the lettering choices were odd, though they might be better in the hard copy versus an e-arc. I wish this was longer, so the plot could breathe a little more. More could have been done with the journals and the village girl.

magicalmartha's review against another edition

5.0

I received a promotional PDF of this graphic novel for purchasing consideration, and I adored it. The art and tone are reminiscent of Mike Mignola's Hellboy, and the story is engaging, creepy, and ultimately satisfying. Nissy, our protagonist, is easy to root for although sometimes hard to like (like most 15 year olds, honestly!), and I really enjoyed the way that Mullane spins out the mystery that's at the heart of the story. It's more of a "why" than a "who," as it was pretty clear to me early on who the culprit is for the murders happening in the book - but unravelling the motive and the secrets of Nicneven's family was very rewarding. I could wish there was more at the end of the book, but mostly I hope we get a sequel.

mlindner's review

3.0

DPL hoopla

Got a little unclear towards the end.

jkenna's review against another edition

4.0

This book is about a teenage girl named Nicnevin who goes by Nissy. She is sent to spend the summer in a cottage house in the middle of nowhere with her mom and little brother. She meets and falls in love with a mysterious man who seems ok on the surface but you find out pretty quickly is not a good guy. As Nissy explores the town and surrounding woods, she keeps having weird visions. They intensify after her brother finds a body while playing soccer with his friends. This go quickly downhill from there as we find out that the mystery man has been killing local woman to try and summon the fae queen and her minions. No spoilers on the ending but I really enjoyed it.

This book's art style really reminded me of reading Hellboy a few years ago. I very much enjoyed that aspect of it. The story was pretty good as well. I only wish it had been a bit longer. Parts of the story felt rushed and we never found out why Nissy was banished to the cottage in the first place. Not knowing her motivation for being so angry at her mom made a certain aspect of the book sad because we know there will never be any reconciliation there. Overall, I enjoyed this book. The colors and art style are fantastic and the story was great too. I would recommend this if you are a fan of comics such as Hellboy or any of the Constantine comics.

tora76's review against another edition

3.0

Felt like it needed to be longer.

lucysgoodfellow's review against another edition

4.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 Stars

Folk horror through the eyes of a modern teen in this atmospheric tale of obsession, tension and black magic

eyelit's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

onyxpages's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

2.0

Frankly, the only thing Black about the main character was the pigment used to colour her skin.

The characters were flat, the plot predictable and the magic system thin as ice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

shotsky's review

2.0

Review for Monster Librarian forthcoming.