Thanks to NetGalley for this. I was not to sure about the story line in the book as the characters seem to be a bit over the top and confusing to me but the artwork was well done. I am not sure if another volume was written after this but I would consider reading that as well.

Um livro muito interessante e me fez virar as páginas com uma grande velocidade; Me entreteve e foi um ótimo passatempo, além de uma leitura agradável.

This is a look at a future where the machines have become so powerful, that they try to take over the world. But magic and mage still exist. They are the saviors. They had to save the people from the machine. But now, years later things are going wonky. New illnesses that can not be treated and someone wanting to raise the machines. So much of book 1 was the mages squabbling in girl fights that it was annoying. I think the “learn team work” vibe was hit way to hard. But I find the concept interesting enough to read the next volume.

'The Castoffs, Volume 1' by MK Reed and Brian Smith with art by Molly Ostertag was a bit confusing to me, but since my review copy had 25 missing pages, I'll assume maybe that's where some of the missing narrative went.

25 years have passed since the mages fought the giant robots and the mages have won. Now the remains of the giant hulking machines can still be found lying around. Into this world, we are introduced to a trio of young mages who are sent on a mission to a town named Clifton where people are forgetting things. The three are very different and they need to learn to get along.

It's a good enough young reader story. There is a cover blurb comparing it to Lumberjanes, and I guess I can see that comparison as far as audience goes. The art is good and the coloring works very well. It's a big world that seems barely tapped even though this is a complete story.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Lion Forge/Roar, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

The Castoffs started interesting enough where it did get me interested enough to keep reading but at about the half way I just really lost interest the characters aren't that interesting and one of them I found pretty annoying. After struggling a bit through it I finally finished and I was left very uninterested in reading more.

As for the art, I dug it, it was a little rough around the edges but still good.

The premise for this book was so interesting, but it kind of fell flat for me. It was a little messy, the characters a little confusing, but the art was wonderful and I really do appreciate getting the chance to read a review copy of this!

The first several pages of this graphic novel are totally confusing and disorienting. And I’m not only talking about the fact that when I read the galley proof the coloring had not yet been done, so it was just a hideous YELLOW and black. Blech! But the story begins in the midst of a great battle with a bunch of protagonists that we don’t know. Maybe due to the coloring issues, they are almost indistinguishable from one another; and there are far too many of them to keep track of. Also, I didn’t have a clue what was going on or who was doing what.

After this initial blip, the story seemingly reverts to an earlier time, the coloring is complete for the remainder of the book, and you can actually tell who is who and what is going on. The three main individuals of the tale - Charris, Trinh and Ursa – all have very different appearances, personalities and abilities. All of which help make them distinguishable characters. But none of them is exactly what they seem when the story begins. They are definitely a mismatched group, assigned by their leader Leda to work together and journey to a distant town to deliver some supplies. However, they end up falling into a lot more intrigue than just the simple task they are supposedly assigned. Along the way, they slowly get to know each other, accept one another, and eventually work fairly well together.

The ending is rather confusing, and is definitely a cliff-hanger. However, I am sure that more will be revealed in later editions of the series, and I can’t wait to read them to see how the characters and their story unfold.

I truly enjoyed this story of magic and mystery. Three magic school classmates are set off into the wilds to find information about an intriguing mystery. The three girls have different strengths and must find a way to work together to solve the mystery and save themselves in this unique tale of magical mystery.

This is a good first start for a graphic novel, but not much happens in over 100 pages.

The Castoffs is set in the future of a world where magic exists. In the past there was a war between the "surrogates" and the "mages". This war ended in a stalemate with great losses on both sides . . . I think? Volume 1 of this graphic novel follows the mission of three magic apprentices. One is a warrior, one can "phase" out and has the unfortunate luck of breaking everything she touches, and the the other is a "charmer" masquerading as a healer. Together they travel together to a village where peoples' memories are disappearing, but what seems to be a simple mission turns out to be much more complicated.

After reading this, I can't really say that I like or disliked it. The plot was evil tech versus good magic, which is slightly overdone these days. The character connection is just not there. I don't really believe that the three of them could be fighting the entire story, but then suddenly work great together in a single spread.

I want to see the next volume before I make any final judgements though. 3 out of 5.

An excellent book that I hope to share with my class.

Not my favorite of graphic novels. I was relatively confused through the start of it (and I know the color isn't final as it's stated as much...but the bright yellow color in the prologue hurt my eyes).

I liked the part of the story where the three learned to see each others strengths...but it was sort of lost in the confusion of the story.

I was a little bit thrown by the beginning of this because the panels weren't colored yet and everything was a weird shade of yellow, but I understand that I'm reading an unfinished copy and the rest of the art/coloring was great so I'm sure those pages will also be good in the finished product. The only bad thing was that some of the characters in the beginning flashback section look very similar and it was hard for me to tell them apart without cues like clothing/hair/skin color.

But that was just the 'prologue' section. Then we get to the actual story, which I absolutely loved. I am really enjoying all the recent comic titles with diverse female casts. This story features three very different mage apprentices who are sent to deliver medicine to a nearby village but get a little more than they bargained for. This was a really great opening volume and I felt that it did a good job introducing the setting and the characters. I liked how different the main three characters were and that they all had their own specific strengths and weaknesses. I also thought their interactions were very realistic. They don't get along very well at first but through their adventures they get to know each other better and value each other for their unique strengths and learn to work together.

Also I like how they continue to call their new pet lynx-thing 'Evil' because as a fellow cat owner I can definitely relate ;) [I know they said they would tell people it was a dog, but to me it looks distinctly cat-like]

Overall a fun book once you get past the prologue and into the meat of the book. Reminds me of a fantasy version of Lumberjanes. Takes place after a battle between magic and machines has crippled the world. I was very confused by the prologue. It starts with a group of people with what I thought were super powers running through a post-apocalyptic landscape. Then you turn the next page and everything is completely different. It was a jarring opening which left me wondering, "WTF is happening?"

While I appreciate that the main cast was all female without making a big deal about it, I don't know that it did enough to distinguish itself from the pack. Magic, dystopia, killer robots, none of these things are new in graphic novels, nor even this particular combination. Not only is the plot fairly standard, the world is indistinct. We don't learn enough about its inner workings its history, ore the relationships between characters to make it a truly compelling read.

Well, I got to the end, but it was a struggle. Three badly drawn girl mage apprentices get sent on a mission that just involves them fighting and double-crossing and arguing with each other. There's so much random about this book, from the unexplained prologue to the weird cat thing, to the pastel colour of the background that changes with each and every panel like only the worst comics tend to do… Seriously underwhelming.

I received the digital copy from NetGalley as an exchange for honest review.

The first few pages are as promising as the shape of dragon fruit, but when you peel the skin and eat it, it's tasteless. Actually, that's what I think about the taste of every dragon fruit.

Ew.

Complex diversity and badass females against the machine? Mage? Sign me the hell up!

Actually, "High Expectation" would be written under the RIP of my grave. Seriously, what the heck?

How is this book supposed to be pro feminist when they cannot even cooperate? The characters keep arguing over dumb stuffs and I swear to God the three of them are equally ignorant.

I'm going to tell it in a simple way: Three females of apprentice (their names are Trish, Cherise--or Cherry?--and the other one I completely forgot) are sent by a woman named Lada who holds the authority of where they live at to a mission. They're going to a village which the villagers are suddenly disappear.

After the engrossing opening which the character are straight fighting with the machine, this graphic novel is no enticing. We'll be served with annoying protagonists (How the hell someone is being labeled as protagonist meanwhile their action is the total opposite? Is it because they defeat the real enemy? Sigh.) and good graphic but not so pleasing.

I like the simplicity of the animation but it almost makes me confused because at some panels, the villagers who are being hypnotized animated with both white eyes, but when the main characters who are fully aware and drawn from far also portrayed with white eyes. I got a little confused because the character suddenly went all super-powering and I thought she was unconscious????

From the pdf I received, the first few pages are not colored. NOT COLORED. I'm just.,.,.,okay.......

So, I think that's my reason of why I took longer time to finish this one.

Clever subtitle.
All black and yellow to start as a group of semi-super fighters take on killer bots destroying what looks to be a European town. Soon enough it switches to a full color fantasy where a healer in a far-off land asks for help when people are losing their memories. She sends three students to help, with the warrior always bickering, the scout too insecure to say anything, and the healer surreptitiously controlling the warrior with her inside voice. When they’ve figured out why they were chosen for this mission they quit their bickering and go all Wonder Twins—or Triplets, in this case—powers, activate!
There’s some good stuff, like the history lesson around the campfire, and more importantly some sly humor; “Why am I getting licked?” Wrong potion, happens all the time. My favorite part was “You have your dad’s eyes.” Talk about an easy distraction, like “Luke, I am your father.” But I’m not a fan of all that squabbling, so that even when they got it through their heads to work together I was already disliking them too much.

The Castoffs reminded me a lot of Rat Queens, which I really like. The three protagonists are students at a academy for Mages (kind of like the X-Men academy) who belong to different groups and don't get along before they're put together for a mission outside. People have been losing memory after an odd woman is sighted in town. The group is sent to deliver memory potions but when they reach the town there is no one left but an injured man. Something is off with the man, and although not everyone in the group agrees, they follow him after curing him with a healing potion.

This was definitely my favourite graphic novel from Netgalley so far. It was fun and exciting. I'd highly recommend it to people who love fantasy and graphic novels.

This story begins by focusing on apprentice mages, showing us a brief introductory section to their skills and personalities within a basic plot setting. This isn't the most captivating of beginnings, yet it is possible to see the promise and potential this series will have. From here things do get more interesting, so I highly recommend sticking with it.

The characters in this series are diverse and feature strong female characters, two things that many readers are seeking in books, so this makes this first volume stand out against other graphic novels. While you get the beginnings of character development in this first volume, I'm really excited to see where the story goes from here on out and I will definitely be continuing on with the series. The plot was gripping, tense and intriguing, whilst also being a quick and easy read.

The artwork was colourful, making good use of a strong and bright colour palette, which is what I like the most from graphic novels.

All in all, I think this is a strong start to the series and is definitely one to watch out for.