[ARC REVIEW] Another Castle: Grimoire by Andrew Wheeler

Title:  Another Castle: Grimoire


Author: Andrew Wheeler


Artist:  Paulina Ganucheau

Genre:  Adventure / Feminism / Drama / Fantasy / Comedy

Year Published:  2017

Year Read: 12/24/2016

Series:   Another Castle #1

Publisher:  Oni Press


Source: eARC (NetGalley)


Content Rating:  Ages 15+ (Violence and Some Suggestive Themes)

I would like to thank NetGalley and Oni Press for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Introduction:

Now, even though I had read many graphic novels that featured a strong female protagonist, I had never read a graphic novel about a kick butt princess quite like this one!  “Another Castle: Grimoire” is a cute and exciting graphic novel that is written by Andrew Wheeler along with artwork by Paulina Ganucheau that will certainly be a memorable and exciting read for many readers!

What is this story about?

Princess Misty of Beldora is not your average princess as she is able to defend herself easily with her trusty sword and refuses to bow down to the conformities of being a princess.  One tragic day however, Princess Misty is kidnapped by Lord Badlug, the ruler of the kingdom Grimoire and Lord Badlug tries to force Misty to marry him or else he will destroy her kingdom and even the citizens of Grimoire to get the power he desires.  As Misty remains in Grimoire, she ends up befriending Lord Badlug’s two servants Gorga, a beautiful female medusa monster and Fogmoth, a homosexual gargoyle and together, they try to take down Lord Badlug himself by trying to save the Prince who is not only coming to rescue Misty, but also possesses Misty’s precious sword, the one weapon that could destroy Lord Badlug!

What I loved about this story:

Andrew Wheeler’s writing: Wow! I was quite impressed with Andrew Wheeler’s writing of this story as it was truly unique and fresh for the audience!  I loved the fact that Andrew Wheeler made Princess Misty into such a strong female protagonist as it was rare of me to read a princess story that dealt with the princess actually trying to defend her kingdom through wit and courage while swinging around a sword like it is nobody’s business!  I also liked the fact that Andrew Wheeler was able to explore Misty’s insecurities about not being who she wants to be because since she is a princess, she is expected to do activities that princesses should do, which she does not agree with and I loved the fact that she rebelled against the stereotypical activities of a princess and be her own person.  I really enjoyed the diversity among the characters as it brings a sense of creativity to the story as we see monsters and humans get into relationships with each other, which I thought was really cute and I enjoyed seeing the character interactions between all these characters as you can see that the main characters try to defy the rules they are forced into by their societies and they become closer to each other as a result!

Paulina Ganucheau’s artwork:   Paulina Ganucheau’s artwork is extremely cute and gorgeous to look at as all the characters look similar to the characters from “Avatar: The Last Airbender.”  I really loved the design of Gorga herself as she is a blue skinned cute monster woman who has a pair of adorable snakes that stand in as her hair, which makes her the cutest character in the entire story!  I also enjoyed seeing the images of monsters and humans coexisting with each other as it creates an exciting fantasy world that I would love to live in!                                     

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

For anyone who does not like violence in a story, this graphic novel does have some violence that involves many characters getting beaten up and bruised by the antagonists and that might be a bit unsettling for some readers to handle; although the violence in this story is not as graphic as some of the more mature graphic novels like “Saga” and “American Vampire.”

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Another Castle: Grimoire” is a fantastic volume about the importance of standing up for what you believe in and a great story to read if you are looking for a strong female protagonist!