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A review by crookedtreehouse
Norroway Book 1: The Black Bull of Norroway by Cat Seaton
3.0
The beginning of this fable is spectacular. The Seatons' marriage of art and myth drew me right into the story in a way few young adult graphic novels are able to accomplish. And the art continues to be five stars all the way through.
Unfortunately, the protagonist in the story is kept in the dark about her husband's backstory, and each time she asks about it, we, the readers, are mired more and more in a convoluded tale that is never properly explained. In this way, we feel the same frustration she does. Unfortunately, I don't read books to feel frustrated, so I found the conceit annoying.
The ending of this book is disappointing and confusing. During her husband's "fight within himself" (siiiiiiiiiiiiigh), our hero ends up in a completely different place, and we are left with a "What Will Happen Next?" page.
If the book had been able to maintain the promise of its first thirty or so pages, I would be recommending this book to everyone. It's a cool premise with great art, but the longer the book went, the more disjointed and unnecessarily convoluted it became, and now I would only really recommend it to kids who devour fantasy books, and who don't mind when things aren't explained.
I might give the second book a shot when it comes out, but I'm not eagerly awaiting it.
Unfortunately, the protagonist in the story is kept in the dark about her husband's backstory, and each time she asks about it, we, the readers, are mired more and more in a convoluded tale that is never properly explained. In this way, we feel the same frustration she does. Unfortunately, I don't read books to feel frustrated, so I found the conceit annoying.
The ending of this book is disappointing and confusing. During her husband's "fight within himself" (siiiiiiiiiiiiigh), our hero ends up in a completely different place, and we are left with a "What Will Happen Next?" page.
If the book had been able to maintain the promise of its first thirty or so pages, I would be recommending this book to everyone. It's a cool premise with great art, but the longer the book went, the more disjointed and unnecessarily convoluted it became, and now I would only really recommend it to kids who devour fantasy books, and who don't mind when things aren't explained.
I might give the second book a shot when it comes out, but I'm not eagerly awaiting it.