This book is really good for middle-grade readers, but just not for young adults. Firstly, the illustrations in it are just gorgeous. The storyline isn't too in-depth, a great introduction to graphic novels!

Firstly, the illustrations in The City on the Other Side are just gorgeous. The storyline isn't too in-depth, but it's just right for middle primary. A great introduction to graphic novels!

I love that there are many graphic novels coming out aimed at middle grade readers. The City on the Other Side is fine for young readers, it’s not terribly complex and it has positive characters. While the illustrations are nice, especially the detailed city views, the plot isn’t well developed and ends up quite rushed. The characters jump to conclusions to keep the story moving, often having emotional outbursts that just don’t mesh with the very light character development that occurs. I would have liked this better if there had been a deeper exploration of the two main characters and their fascinating backgrounds, upbringing, and sadness. Instead the narrative moves very quickly through the plot without enough time to explore characters, settings, and worldbuilding. Young readers typically aren’t picky about plot depth and character development, but as an adult suggesting books to kids (most often my own) I want to recommend well developed stories. I might recommend The City on the Other Side to readers who love fantastic illustrations.

Picture it: It's the year 1906 and living in a post earthquake ridden San Francisco. More than half the city is destroyed. Cool, right!?

Enter Isabel a young girl who stumbles upon a dying fairy in the woods and suddenly steps through the veil separating the human world from the world of the Fae. Fairies man! Full of trickery! This leads to Isbal being caught in the middle of a big war and having to return a magical necklace before the war destroys THE WORLD! Dun dun dunnnnn....

So this was super fun but let's talk about that artwork first because it's a stunner! Full of bright pastelly colors like Easter exploded within its pages. The characters come to life with animated expressions and the artist truly knows their stuff when it came to drawing this world.

I loved how fast the plot came in. No waiting for boring dialogue and history. You're immediately thrust into this story and I was thrilled the entire way through. Isabel herself was an awesome character. I felt her sadness and her curiosity for the world she delves into. ALSO THE DIVERSITY! Not just in the human characters but the fae to. I looooooved it!!

This book wasn't great for me, but it's not anything the book did wrong. It's just not something I often read as I'm not a big fairy person.

As a main character, Isabel is fun and likeable, and I was rooting for her. The colors were bold and vibrant in both the real world and the fairy world. The plot was a little predictable, but I'm okay with that since that art was so great. I really adore the idea of San Francisco during this time and the parallels between the human world and the fairy tale, like the San Francisco 1906 earthquake. It was just missing a little something to make it extra-special for me. Other readers won't feel the same way and adore it.

Other people will absolutely enjoy this, especially kids who have haven't read much about fairies and it will all be new to them. Overall, this is a delightful all-ages graphic novel.

Isabel is a young girl with estranged parents living in San Francisco. When she goes to visit her father for the summer, she unexpectedly crosses the veil into the land of faeries. This land's peoples, the Seelie and Unseelie, are currently at war, causing terrible geological events in the human world. Given an amulet in trust, Isabel must travel through the land searching for the missing leader of the Seelie's before the Unseelies capture and kill her. She is accompanied by a mushroom man named Button and a young human thief with connections to the Seelie leader.

This graphic novel was okay. I would be interested in seeing the final publication to see how the art compares, as the pdf I received was really low quality. The story was decent, but definitely missing something. I never really felt connected to Isabel and she was the most fleshed out character. Everything else was slightly predictable. 3/5 stars

The Seelie princess is missing, the Unseelie leader is looking for her magical amulet. Isabel is sent to her father’s to spend the summer and stumbles over the veil into the Seelie/Unseelie lands and into the middle of a chase that leads to the death of the Seelie agent charged with finding the princess and delivering her necklace to her. Isabel takes on the responsibility of finding the princess and giving her back her magic amulet. Finding her way to the princess Isabel meets the thief Benjie can they find the princess, give her back her magical amulet and stay out of the way of the Unseelie seeking the amulet? I loved this story Isabel is a girl finding her way in a place where she doesn’t know the rules with magic she doesn’t know how to use. Isabel is a girl whose life seems to be perfect, Benjie is a boy orphaned, they work together to save the world and maybe find out about themselves in the process.

I was a bit bored by this story, but I can see the appeal for fans of fantasy and the fae. I am assuming the art was incomplete because of the galley version. If not, the illustrations look incomplete and the style distracts from the story. Hopefully the published art will lend atmosphere to the tale being told.

The City On The Other Side is a fairly standard urban fantasy set in an alternative version of San Francisco. It is is a cute story about a young girl, Isabel, who is on a quest to help restore balance to the world of the Fey by delivering a magical necklace to a person in the Seelie court,

Graphic novel fairy tale around freeing a trapped fairy leader. Set in a post earthquake 1906 San Francisco. Scenes alternate between reality and fairy reality. Would have been helpful to have a character list with images of main characters at start of book as it became somewhat confusing as to who was who.
Enjoyed the blurb on the inspiration for the fairies at the end.
Likely to appeal to both boys and girls as long as marketed more as spirits or sprites rather than “fairies” with the negative gender connotations.
ARC provided by Netgalley

could not complete reading book due to glitchy art style (possibly resolution of digital copy?). it hurt my eyes.

While the story was predictable and nothing really ground-breaking, the artwork is colorful and cute enough to interest young readers. I think this would be a good recommendation for middle school readers interested in fantasy stories.

Interesting magical story. Younger readers will enjoy this.

Isabel isn't having the greatest time at either of her homes -- her mother doesn't seem interested in her and her father appears to be more comfortable working with his sculptures than interacting with her. When Isabel stumbles upon a dying fairy who bequeaths her a necklace and a mission, she doesn't hesitate to enter the world of fairies, where a battle between the Seelie and Unseelie is raging. The Unseelie wish to destroy the human world, while the Seelie understand that the human world provides a counterbalance to their own. Isabel, with the help of an adorable mushroom-like imp, Button, and an unlikely interloper, sets out to fulfill her found fairy's dying wish . . . and learns many valuable lessons along the way. Gorgeous art and a delightful story.

Amazing artwork and storytelling! This book would be great for anyone looking for a new graphic novel to dive into. Highly recommended!

A fantasy laden alt-history of turn of the century San Francisco. Engaging, delightful, and hopefully part of an ongoing series.

An interesting story about a young girl, Isabel, who gets dragged into the conflict between the seelie and unseelie court. When the seelie princess goes missing her unseelie counterpart takes a stab at taking the throne, and isn’t a nice guy about it. Isabel finds herself the guardian of a magic necklace that must be brought back to the princess, but where is she?. It’s a fast paced story with a fun cast of characters and a young girl who works to find her voice.

It's early 20th-century San Francisco, and Isabel is bored. Her high-society mother expects her to be quiet, well-behaved, and flawless - clean, pressed, clothes in perfect repair. She's shuttled off to her artist father for the summer, but he's too wrapped up in his work to pay much attention to her, either. Taking matters into her own hands, Isabel explores the woods by her father's home and stumbles into a fairy world: a world where two kingdoms are at war! She receives a magical necklace to keep safe, and, with the help of some new companions, sets off to end the war before it destroys the fairy world and our own world.

The City on the Other Side is high fantasy mixed with historical fiction, making for an exciting adventure for middle grade fantasy fans. The heroine is a girl of color, of Spanish origin; she's smart, determined, and sick and tired of being treated like she's an object for someone's mantelpiece. She's a good role model for readers who enjoy Zita, Avani from Star Scouts, and Maddy from Jewell Parker Rhodes' Bayou Magic.

The city on the other side is the land of the Seelie, and the Unseelie. Types of Fae. A magic messenger accidentally crosses over to the human world, leaving a necklace that must get to the Seelie Queen to defeat the Unseelie and bring peace to their world. The story is nice, but it has holes. It moves too quickly. Plus, as a galley copy, my view was blurred. I know it’s done on purpose, but from the cover you can tell the illustrations will be beautiful and vibrant. I just wish as an early reviewer, we got to see more of it. With a graphic novel the story is as much about the art as the words, and in this copy, they are both lacking.

Isabel a very wealthy and sheltered girl get stuck in the middle of the biggest fairy war. I enjoyed this graphic novel.