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A review by svjak
Squire by Sara Alfageeh, Nadia Shammas
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
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
4.75
Squire was an amazing graphic novel about a young girl named Aiza who left home to go train as a squire and learns the meaning of friendship and belonging along the way.
Aiza is one of the Ornu, a group of people ostracized in the Bayt-Sajji Empire, but she wants nothing more than to be a Knight. So she hides the tattoos on her wrist that identify her as Ornu, forges her enlistment paperwork to hide her identity, and signs up to train as a squire.
Throughout Aiza's time in training, her secret weighs down on her. She meets new people and makes friends, fails training exercises, excels at others, and even meets a former Knight who takes her on as a student.
Squire was a story about love and friendship, overcoming expectations placed on you by others, misunderstanding people who are different, standing up for what is right, and learning to persevere even when it seems that all odds are against you.
I fell in love with Aiza. She was so full of life and optimism and she always seemed to look for the best in people. She was earnest and honest and just wanted to do right by her family and her Empire.
The only reason this wasn't a 5 star for me was because toward the end of the book it felt like events were moving a little too fast. I know that's a tactic to make it seem more suspenseful and make the action feel like it's happening quickly (in real time) rather than being a slower moment, but I would have loved to have more time with Aiza and more pages as the main action is unfolding. It felt like it was a lot faster paced than the rest of the novel.
But aside from that I really loved this graphic novel. It was very heartwarming and full of hope. I would love to see some additional volumes come out maybe expanding on Aiza's story or what happened after the end of Squire.We leave off with Aiza having to leave with her friends after taking down General Hende and I'm very curious about where Aiza's adventures take her.
Aiza is one of the Ornu, a group of people ostracized in the Bayt-Sajji Empire, but she wants nothing more than to be a Knight. So she hides the tattoos on her wrist that identify her as Ornu, forges her enlistment paperwork to hide her identity, and signs up to train as a squire.
Throughout Aiza's time in training, her secret weighs down on her. She meets new people and makes friends, fails training exercises, excels at others, and even meets a former Knight who takes her on as a student.
Squire was a story about love and friendship, overcoming expectations placed on you by others, misunderstanding people who are different, standing up for what is right, and learning to persevere even when it seems that all odds are against you.
I fell in love with Aiza. She was so full of life and optimism and she always seemed to look for the best in people. She was earnest and honest and just wanted to do right by her family and her Empire.
The only reason this wasn't a 5 star for me was because toward the end of the book it felt like events were moving a little too fast. I know that's a tactic to make it seem more suspenseful and make the action feel like it's happening quickly (in real time) rather than being a slower moment, but I would have loved to have more time with Aiza and more pages as the main action is unfolding. It felt like it was a lot faster paced than the rest of the novel.
But aside from that I really loved this graphic novel. It was very heartwarming and full of hope. I would love to see some additional volumes come out maybe expanding on Aiza's story or what happened after the end of Squire.