Gihef

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

So apparently this is the first volume of a new series! I thought this was going to be a stand alone novel, but it looks like it's going to be an anthology instead. The first story follows Annan, a fairy who leaves her forest to go to London to try and become a famous singer. Her dream is abruptly halted by experiencing the harsh and violent reality of the human world. This first plot was decent but felt way too rushed and a bit disjointed. It's only roughly 50 pages long and flies by at a breakneck pace. The one good thing is that this first story sets up the world pretty decently, and is needed for the second story to make sense. The art style is also good, though the way the fairy wings are drawn made me raise my eyebrows. (It's a personal nitpick, with no bearing on the story!) The second story follows Ailith, a new journalist who is tasked with the duty of investigating the story of several people who recently went missing in a fairy forest. The pacing of the second story, although also quick, feels much better paced than the first one. The world was already set up in the first story, so this second story can focus solely on the plot. I did like Ailith's backstory, which explains her current attitude towards fairy kind and her drive for finding the truth. I found her to be a more compelling character than Annan. Annan feels a bit too close to the "born yesterday" trope and it made me put off. I wish we could have more stories with Ailith but I think each vignette is a closed story for this series. Personally, I liked the art style of the second story more than the first, but that is just personal taste. Both art styles are pretty good, and both have good page flow. I did raise my eyebrows at how the wings and their physics were drawn in this story as well, but again, it's a personal nitpick. The first story is much more violent and gruesome than the second, even though it's mostly implied and only some is shown. The second story has some violence but nothing compared to the first story. I did also like the small queer rep in this volume! Both couples are technically queer couples and it was fun to see. Though, small trigger warning for some period-accurate homophobia in the first story. I am interested in what the potential second volume will be like!… (altro)