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seraphjewel 's review for:
Little Witches: Magic in Concord
by Leigh Dragoon
Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My opinion was not affected by the free copy.
I have a special fondness for Little Women. The movie was one of my favorites growing up. I haven't read the book in a long time, though, so some details are hard for me to remember. But I think this graphic novel captured the basic premise: four young girls living with their Marmie while their father is off as a medic in the war. A boy named Laurie moves in next door and they bond, going through usual coming-of-age things.
Again, I haven't read the book in a long time, but I feel like all the characters were basically cardboard in this. I know it's a graphic novel, but sometimes I had trouble telling the girls apart, and that just shouldn't be with such memorable characters. The relationships didn't feel as strong, either. The relationship between the girls and their mother, for example, or what they had with each other. The story is about them and really should focus on their relationships more and the struggles they go through being without their father and later without their mother. As for Laurie, he's basically just there when he plays a much more important role in the book.
The magic was an interesting addition but I'm not sure what its addition did for the story. If anything, it made things way more complicated than they needed to be. The magic itself is interesting and colorful, and I would certainly read a book featuring its use, but it adds conflict that doesn't really need to be there. The villain was out of nowhere, and honestly, this story does not need a villain. Laurie and his grandfather being witch-finders was basically pointless since it didn't add any conflict between them and the Marches.
The art style is nice, but as I said I sometimes had difficulty telling the March sisters apart. I do honestly hope this artist goes on to do more things, because the line work and colors were all very pleasant. It fit in with Little Women even if the story wasn't as strong as it could've been. The person doing the lettering, however, has their work cut out for them. I know this is an ARC but nearly every piece of dialogue had at least one word that was missing a letter, if not several letters.
If it wasn't based on Little Women, I might have a better opinion. The concept isn't too bad and the art style is nice. I just think the added villain was completely unnecessary and there was a lot of lacking development.
I have a special fondness for Little Women. The movie was one of my favorites growing up. I haven't read the book in a long time, though, so some details are hard for me to remember. But I think this graphic novel captured the basic premise: four young girls living with their Marmie while their father is off as a medic in the war. A boy named Laurie moves in next door and they bond, going through usual coming-of-age things.
Again, I haven't read the book in a long time, but I feel like all the characters were basically cardboard in this. I know it's a graphic novel, but sometimes I had trouble telling the girls apart, and that just shouldn't be with such memorable characters. The relationships didn't feel as strong, either. The relationship between the girls and their mother, for example, or what they had with each other. The story is about them and really should focus on their relationships more and the struggles they go through being without their father and later without their mother. As for Laurie, he's basically just there when he plays a much more important role in the book.
The magic was an interesting addition but I'm not sure what its addition did for the story. If anything, it made things way more complicated than they needed to be. The magic itself is interesting and colorful, and I would certainly read a book featuring its use, but it adds conflict that doesn't really need to be there. The villain was out of nowhere, and honestly, this story does not need a villain. Laurie and his grandfather being witch-finders was basically pointless since it didn't add any conflict between them and the Marches.
The art style is nice, but as I said I sometimes had difficulty telling the March sisters apart. I do honestly hope this artist goes on to do more things, because the line work and colors were all very pleasant. It fit in with Little Women even if the story wasn't as strong as it could've been. The person doing the lettering, however, has their work cut out for them. I know this is an ARC but nearly every piece of dialogue had at least one word that was missing a letter, if not several letters.
If it wasn't based on Little Women, I might have a better opinion. The concept isn't too bad and the art style is nice. I just think the added villain was completely unnecessary and there was a lot of lacking development.