Let me just start by saying that this graphic novel was just beautiful inside and out. The art was so interesting and the story was really wholesome even though it dealt with some dark things, and it was something that kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I read it in a couple hours, and I really couldn’t get enough of it. I also loved that this is another book that the main character had almost my exact old haircut, as I’ve been seeing a lot lately in comics. Makes me feel good, and makes me want to shave the back of my head again. But this isn’t about my hair.
Published: September 17th 2019 by Lion Forge
I knew when I started this, that it would be something that I would remember. Following a girl named Nyneve, we first meet her as a child. The burners, cloaked figures, have showed up at her door, and her mom tells her to go to her room. That’s not going to happen, though, and she hides at the bottom of the stairs. Her father comes down and gives her a dagger, and says she’ll need it to remember him by when he’s gone. Later that day, he’s executed in what’s called a witch burning.
See, the world they live in is called the kingdom of Hyalin. A full witch kingdom, the strength of their powers are determined by the length of their hair. That, and their young must compete to join the guard and protect their kingdom when they’re at a certain age. If you have too long of hair, you’re deemed an enemy, and killed. That’s exactly what happened to Nyneve’s father, and that’s why she keeps her hair short.
What I really enjoyed about this, was how even though the world was so out there, the characters still had seemingly normal problems. School bullies, broken families, confusion within themselves, feelings of despair and depression, and everything like that. They faced very real problems in a very unreal world, and they also battled problems that we don’t have to deal with everyday, like magic powers, unruly kingdoms, and armed guards attacking and chasing them down with magic.
Growing up in this world has been hard, and nothing like our own world outside of the book. Easy to sink right into, I think this is one of those stories that I would recommend to everyone and anyone, doesn’t matter what kind of books they like. The characters are easy to get to know, and though we didn’t get to know much, there weren’t many people I didn’t like. I could probably count them on one hand. If this isn’t one of my new favourite books, I don’t know what is. I absolutely need this book on my shelf, and even though I’m not one to read things over and over again, I want to with this one.
If you’d like to snag a copy, you can do so here.
Here is a link to the creator’s Twitter account, if you’d like to keep up with them.
Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments.
Hope you have a good day!
radioactive book reviews 