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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this!!!! this was so good and fun and intriguing! i'm excited to read volume 2!
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
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:
Yes
This is such a cool web comic. Check it out. I'll link it down below:
http://witchycomic.com/comic/page-1/
http://witchycomic.com/comic/page-1/
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
A great start to a fantasy graphic novel. I'm kinda getting an Avatar vibe from it? I dunno why. Maybe it's the setting.
I liked this first volume, but I'm not in a rush to read volume 2. I hope to someday, but with my current reading list, I might not get to it right away, and that's okay!
I liked this first volume, but I'm not in a rush to read volume 2. I hope to someday, but with my current reading list, I might not get to it right away, and that's okay!
The art style was not my favorite by far as it had a tendency to make the story confusing at some parts. The pacing was all over the place, some parts I felt needed more time and some not so much. This could have been a beautiful story about individuality, trauma, and independence, with wonderful representation, however, it really needed to be more fleshed out. The world building and characters came and went when I feel like this would be a really interesting world and I would have loved some of these characters, but nothing is really shown for either. The plot was also pretty predictable at times which was unfortunate. I appreciate what it was trying to do, it just glossed over the important foundation and didn't make it there for me.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It was late.
I figured I would just look at this book, because the cover looked so interesting.
And here I am, at 1:17am, writing the review, because, although it was late, I had to finish this first installment of this amazing fantasy world.
In this world, hair gives your magic the little bit extra push. The more hair you have, the stronger the magic.
Nyneve's father was killed because of his hair.
She does not want the same fate, and she doesn't want to work for the guards who killed him. So, when she is conscripted, she cuts off her hair, and runs away.
The drawings are amazing. The characters are fully formed. The world is well built.
My only complaint is that there isn't more of it.
A great book for children of all ages, including those who are adults.
Highly recommend this story of a girl who doesn't fit in and doesn't want to fit in.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
I figured I would just look at this book, because the cover looked so interesting.
And here I am, at 1:17am, writing the review, because, although it was late, I had to finish this first installment of this amazing fantasy world.
In this world, hair gives your magic the little bit extra push. The more hair you have, the stronger the magic.
Nyneve's father was killed because of his hair.
She does not want the same fate, and she doesn't want to work for the guards who killed him. So, when she is conscripted, she cuts off her hair, and runs away.
The drawings are amazing. The characters are fully formed. The world is well built.
My only complaint is that there isn't more of it.
A great book for children of all ages, including those who are adults.
Highly recommend this story of a girl who doesn't fit in and doesn't want to fit in.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
3.5. Not amazing but definitely good enough that I'll read the next volume when it comes out.
Closer to 3.5 stars.
I picked this book up on a whim at an independent bookstore. I was looking for something fun, and the premise intrigued me - a magic system that is tied to hair? The promise of LGBT+ characters? Sign me up! While I did like this graphic novel, I didn’t love it - some of the worldbuilding left me with some questions, I didn’t quite feel connected to some of the side characters, and the art style (while fun) isn’t usually the kind I go for. Still, other readers may adore this book; there’s plenty to love, and most of my criticism is based on personal taste more than anything.
Writing: I’m going to include art in this section because in graphic novels, art is a storytelling element as much as (or even more than) dialogue. The art style for this graphic novel is very simple but with very dynamic motion. Ries is very good at portraying emotions on her characters’ faces, and at creating exaggerated poses to convey movement. It almost reminded me a bit of animation, which I enjoyed. The art in this book is also very colorful with a lot of purples, greens, pinks, and yellows making the pages feel bright and lively. Some of the layouts, too, are quite interesting, and it’s easy to figure out which panel flows into the next.
Personally, however, I wasn’t blown away by the art, so while I liked the colors and the motion, there wasn’t a lot visually that stuck with me after I finished the story.
Plot: The plot of this book follows Nyneve, a young witch whose father was killed by the Witch Guard for having too long of hair (and thus, too much magic power which could threaten the ruling government). Nyneve doesn’t quite fit in with her peers at the school and is nervous about the upcoming Conscription trial - a test which will determine which witches essentially get drafted into the Witch Guard and which ones will go their own way. She desperately wants to avoid getting conscripted though some of her closest friends see it as an honor.
Part of what I liked about this plot was the setting. Whenever I read political plots about magic users, it always seems like the magic users are the oppressed ones (which always felt weird because they have so much extra power). In this world, powerful magic users are the ones upholding a corrupt government, so it felt more realistic to have people born with an advantage (or privilege, if you will) to perpetuate an oppressive system.
However, I do think Ries bit off a little more than they could chew. While the political messaging is very good, I ultimately don’t think Ries adequately explored the intricacies of how power works. Of course, this is only volume one, so subsequent volumes could go into more detail, but as it stands, I felt like Ries introduced way too many themes: queer people in the military, queer discrimination in medical fields, closeting, book banning, education systems formed by the government, using religion as a tool to manipulate others, etc.
I also think Ries didn’t fully give enough context to understand some things about the worldbuilding or gave context way too late. For one, it wasn’t clear how hair and magic were connected; while I don’t need a breakdown of how the magic is embedded in the hair or something, I did have questions such as “what makes hair length vary and why is the ability to grow longer hair a struggle for some? Couldn’t they just wait and get more powerful over time?” and “Is there a law against cutting hair? Why? And how do they know if you do it?” Also, it seemed like the spiritual/religious aspect to magic didn’t come up until halfway through the book; I didn’t even get the sense that characters were profoundly religious/spiritual until much later, and I wish it had been part of the worldbuilding earlier to make it feel like a huge part of daily life.
Characters: Nyneve, our protagonist, is your typical character with an extraordinary secret which makes it hard for her to fit in with their peers. While I liked that Nyneve could be vulnerable and part of her arc involved learning to be more confident with her choices, I was also a bit frustrated because it didn’t feel like she wanted anything. To put it another way, I didn’t feel like Nyneve had any strong convictions or goals; despite professing to want to resist the government, she also questions a real resistance when she encounters it, and it was a little frustrating to see her walk something of a middle road. Of course, Nyneve still has a lot of growing to do - this is only volume one, after all. So maybe her arc will be more satisfying in the long run.
Supporting characters were somewhat interesting, depending on how complex they were. Nyneve’s closest friend is a male witch named Batu, and while I liked how kind he was to Nyneve, he also didn’t have any strong convictions that made him an interesting character. Much more compelling were characters like Prill - a transgender woman who is dying to join the Witch Guard to escape her oppressive family. Prill had some understandable motivations and is the character I’m perhaps most interested in following - I want to know if her attitude towards the Witch Guard changes or if she struggles with wanting to belong to an oppressive system.
But as much as my attitudes towards individual characters varies, I really loved the way some of them interacted with Nyneve. Nyneve’s mother, for example, was wonderfully supportive and fiercely protective of her daughter, and seeing that mother-daughter bond was one of the most touching parts of this book. I also enjoyed the rapport between Nyneve and Banana, the talking raven. While Nyneve could be rather unkind to Banana, I ultimately enjoyed how loyal the latter was, and the banter was fairly entertaining.
TL:DR: Despite some stumbles, Witchy is a delightful graphic novel with charming art and a fascinating fantastical world. While I wish the protagonist had more definitive convictions and the plot was a little more focused, I ultimately enjoyed the story and am curious to see how the characters will develop in volume 2.
I picked this book up on a whim at an independent bookstore. I was looking for something fun, and the premise intrigued me - a magic system that is tied to hair? The promise of LGBT+ characters? Sign me up! While I did like this graphic novel, I didn’t love it - some of the worldbuilding left me with some questions, I didn’t quite feel connected to some of the side characters, and the art style (while fun) isn’t usually the kind I go for. Still, other readers may adore this book; there’s plenty to love, and most of my criticism is based on personal taste more than anything.
Writing: I’m going to include art in this section because in graphic novels, art is a storytelling element as much as (or even more than) dialogue. The art style for this graphic novel is very simple but with very dynamic motion. Ries is very good at portraying emotions on her characters’ faces, and at creating exaggerated poses to convey movement. It almost reminded me a bit of animation, which I enjoyed. The art in this book is also very colorful with a lot of purples, greens, pinks, and yellows making the pages feel bright and lively. Some of the layouts, too, are quite interesting, and it’s easy to figure out which panel flows into the next.
Personally, however, I wasn’t blown away by the art, so while I liked the colors and the motion, there wasn’t a lot visually that stuck with me after I finished the story.
Plot: The plot of this book follows Nyneve, a young witch whose father was killed by the Witch Guard for having too long of hair (and thus, too much magic power which could threaten the ruling government). Nyneve doesn’t quite fit in with her peers at the school and is nervous about the upcoming Conscription trial - a test which will determine which witches essentially get drafted into the Witch Guard and which ones will go their own way. She desperately wants to avoid getting conscripted though some of her closest friends see it as an honor.
Part of what I liked about this plot was the setting. Whenever I read political plots about magic users, it always seems like the magic users are the oppressed ones (which always felt weird because they have so much extra power). In this world, powerful magic users are the ones upholding a corrupt government, so it felt more realistic to have people born with an advantage (or privilege, if you will) to perpetuate an oppressive system.
However, I do think Ries bit off a little more than they could chew. While the political messaging is very good, I ultimately don’t think Ries adequately explored the intricacies of how power works. Of course, this is only volume one, so subsequent volumes could go into more detail, but as it stands, I felt like Ries introduced way too many themes: queer people in the military, queer discrimination in medical fields, closeting, book banning, education systems formed by the government, using religion as a tool to manipulate others, etc.
I also think Ries didn’t fully give enough context to understand some things about the worldbuilding or gave context way too late. For one, it wasn’t clear how hair and magic were connected; while I don’t need a breakdown of how the magic is embedded in the hair or something, I did have questions such as “what makes hair length vary and why is the ability to grow longer hair a struggle for some? Couldn’t they just wait and get more powerful over time?” and “Is there a law against cutting hair? Why? And how do they know if you do it?” Also, it seemed like the spiritual/religious aspect to magic didn’t come up until halfway through the book; I didn’t even get the sense that characters were profoundly religious/spiritual until much later, and I wish it had been part of the worldbuilding earlier to make it feel like a huge part of daily life.
Characters: Nyneve, our protagonist, is your typical character with an extraordinary secret which makes it hard for her to fit in with their peers. While I liked that Nyneve could be vulnerable and part of her arc involved learning to be more confident with her choices, I was also a bit frustrated because it didn’t feel like she wanted anything. To put it another way, I didn’t feel like Nyneve had any strong convictions or goals; despite professing to want to resist the government, she also questions a real resistance when she encounters it, and it was a little frustrating to see her walk something of a middle road. Of course, Nyneve still has a lot of growing to do - this is only volume one, after all. So maybe her arc will be more satisfying in the long run.
Supporting characters were somewhat interesting, depending on how complex they were. Nyneve’s closest friend is a male witch named Batu, and while I liked how kind he was to Nyneve, he also didn’t have any strong convictions that made him an interesting character. Much more compelling were characters like Prill - a transgender woman who is dying to join the Witch Guard to escape her oppressive family. Prill had some understandable motivations and is the character I’m perhaps most interested in following - I want to know if her attitude towards the Witch Guard changes or if she struggles with wanting to belong to an oppressive system.
But as much as my attitudes towards individual characters varies, I really loved the way some of them interacted with Nyneve. Nyneve’s mother, for example, was wonderfully supportive and fiercely protective of her daughter, and seeing that mother-daughter bond was one of the most touching parts of this book. I also enjoyed the rapport between Nyneve and Banana, the talking raven. While Nyneve could be rather unkind to Banana, I ultimately enjoyed how loyal the latter was, and the banter was fairly entertaining.
TL:DR: Despite some stumbles, Witchy is a delightful graphic novel with charming art and a fascinating fantastical world. While I wish the protagonist had more definitive convictions and the plot was a little more focused, I ultimately enjoyed the story and am curious to see how the characters will develop in volume 2.