Heartwarming, and utterly engaging.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy of this title.

Beryl is a Neon Knight in the fantasy land of Chasma, where toys "catalyze" with a touch and come to life, merging with their owners and imbued with special abilities. But the thing is, in Chasma, being a Neon Knight isn't that great - it's kind of a joke. Neon Knights can't catalyze; Oxygen Knights do. But Beryl has a talent all her own: she's an inventor that can repurpose broken toys into new creations. Coro, an Oxygen Knight, meets Beryl at the Toy Market, and the two strike up an initially cautious friendship.

I'll be honest, this one left me scratching my head - I didn't always quite get what was going on, but I did appreciate the kid-friendly artwork and storyline: who wouldn't want to read about toys coming to life? I booktalked this to a few of my library kids - all big manga fans - and they seemed to have a better grasp on the concept than I did, so go them! My best advice? It's a fun, bright, kid-friendly graphic novel. Let your audience be your guide.

Chasma Knights by Boya Sun and Kate Reed Petty is a wonderfully illustrated fantasy graphic novel for kids ages 8-11. There's a lot of good stuff going on here, from the color scheme to the cute toy packs to the independent female protagonists inventing and fixing machines. But there's also a lot going on in Chasma Knights that will confuse most young readers. While Sun and Petty do provide a short guide of what exactly chasma knights are, readers still may not get a good sense of what they are reading about - creatures? aliens? humans? And why are the Neon Knights so ostracized by their society? There's also a fair amount of bullying that goes on throughout this short work, but the characters are able to work together in the end.

Recommend to: graphic novel readers ages 8-11, fans of fantasy graphic novels and cartoons like Steven Universe

Fun story about a girl that can't "catalyze" with toys as everyone else can, so she sets out to invent them instead. Light introduction to chemistry and the elements.

Chasma Knights is a wonderful graphic novel for young readers. The main characters are great models for kids, they are inventive, kind, independent, and brilliant. I enjoyed Beryl and Coro’s developing friendship. It was awesome to read a story with positive female relationship at its core, plus these two characters are hardworking, determined makers. My only qualm is that the world building and toy system are a little confusing, I can imagine a lot of it going over the heads of young readers- emphasizing early on that to catalyze a toy simply means to use it or turn it on would help a lot. The illustrations are cute!!! I loved the adorable toys, I hope the toys get a lot more screen time if there are sequels in the works (MEOWPACK needs a storyline!).

This graphic novel is cute and adorable. I would recommend it.

A short but very cute and sweet comic! The art style reminds me a bit of Astro Boy meets Adventure Time. The story is not very complex, thus easy to follow and has a nice message (repair and reuse instead of throwing away and buying / everyone has different talents) and I enjoyed that the protagonist was a girl and an inventer and engineer.

The illustrations were not my favorite, a little too washed out and round-cartoony, it reminded me a bit of a softer Pokemon. I liked that the main character is a girl, and the layout of the graphic novel panes. I thought the story was a bit confusing.

I felt overall that it might be appealing to younger readers, but the story would probably be something that children age out of and do not remember well.