I think the concept of the story is really interesting and cool. The world that our main character gets thrown in is colorful and lively and the stakes are high, making the pacing feel urgent.
Overall I wasn't a fan of the art style, it felt very rough and forceful and it felt like it didn't really match the story all that much. I preferred the art on the covers throughout the book rather than the consistent art. Which was an entirely different style and varied, but it felt more impactful and meaningful than the rest of it.
It was a bit go a struggle to get through this one, even though it's a rather short graphic novel.
I was rather disappointed by the storyline and wished I cared for the characters and the outline more than I did.
I really did like the concept and the whole "victorian faerie fight club" idea sounded really cool, it was just in its execution that I was disappointed.

I liked that the story took a 'Alice In Wonderland' turn on the land of Faerie.
Main character and POC, Artemisia gets dropped in the land of Faerie and makes a trade with an 'abomination': a single memory for the information and assistance in getting out of Faerie.
Art journeys through the land, meets new 'allies?', and learns how values change as you yourself do.

I enjoyed the twist at the end, and would like to see a continuation of the series.

The art in this graphic novel is dark and very much matches the story. I didn't love the art, but it has its own beauty. The story is extremely dark and graphic. It made me think, but mostly it just made me sad. I want to be more descriptive, but it's a pretty short book and I don't want to spoil anyone for this read. Basically this story explores the deadly and very dark side to the land of faerie.

I finished this book literally now. I give him 3.5 stars because at the beginning it is very confusing in my opinion, it took me 5 minutes to understand what was happening. But I also give 5 stars for the setting seelie that I LOVE. it mirrors how I've always imagined it, cruel, ruthless and "wild hunt" made me relive certain memories with Seelie and Unseelie. the protagonist we say in the media but the final blow was an atomic bomb. BRAVA!

A great graphic novel with fantastic illustrations and a dark story to go with it. I really enjoyed the style of the illustrations and the plot was well thought out. Sparrowhawk had the feel of a real dark fairytale and I loved the tiny details in each panel, especially with each change she went through and her new appearance.

I received a copy from NetGalley for review.

This is an interesting take on mixing fairy lore and a sort of Alice in Wonderland - down the rabbit hole kind of feel.

Artemesia is sort of unladylike and doesn't fit in with her family, but she loves her younger sister. When tragedy strikes, Artemesia is told it's up to her to marry well and is to be presented at a ball to find a wealthy husband or her sister Caroline will be offered up next, in her stead.
Before she can be presented, the Unseelie Queen pulls her into her world and takes her place as a changeling, wearing her skin. Trapping Artemesia in Faerie. Where she must become strong enough to get out and defeat the Queen she must kill, and as she goes about she loses her humanity in the process. Becoming less like the sister she wants to save, and more like the world she is trapped in.
It was a quick fun, but kind of sad cyclical cycle of gore.

Sniff* oh poor Warren. I wish he had played a bigger part.

Set in the Victorian era, this portal fantasy has Artemesia - an illegitimate child of a colonist and a slave living with her step family - travel to a dark fairyland where she must defeat monsters and conquer obstacles in order to return to her own world. The story is engaging right from the start and never loses pacing on its way to a twist conclusion. The artwork is good and I especially loved the different fonts used for each character which made following the comic a breeze. I had previously read the author’s other graphic novel Ladycastle and wasn’t as impressed by the execution as I was by the synopsis so this was a very pleasant surprise. Definitely recommend this to fantasy fans.

This dark tale of a young woman being stuck in Faerie and surviving through it has a circular and chilling storyline. Artemisia has no allies when she lands in Faerie, save for the first one who promises her guidance in exchange for a memory. As she goes through this new brutal world she is in, she initially has to kill to survive and later for strength. With the rules of the realm favoring killers, she soon gets to swinging her sword around, despite the various appeals of her other faerie companion, a prince of Faerie. The story takes it cue from the colonial world that Artemisia comes from, and applies it to her journey through the new land. She questions the violence, the need to protect, the need for strength until it pulls at her in different directions.

As dark and macabre as the story is, the artwork is quite colorful in comparison, but the presentations of Faerie's colorful beauty has the same kind of sharpness like a predator in the wild. The character design is also quite imaginative, making characters appear fae-like yet monstrous. Artemisia's transformation through Faerie is reflected through a recurring dream, as well as physical changes. The ending is quite open-ended, but it also feels complete as a standalone, so I found it satisfactory.

3.5/5 stars

Artemisia is the biracial daughter if a British naval captain and a slave. Asan infant, she was brought back to England, and raised with her father, stepmother, and 2 half-sisters. However, she was never fully accepted by society and certainly not be her stepmother. To cope, she adopted a thick skin and a penchant for following her own path, consequences be damned. When that path pulls her into the land of Faerie, she must kill others in order to gain her wings and the strength to go back to her own world a defeat the Unseelie Queen. On her journey, she is “aided” by a Cheshire-Cat-like jackelope and the pacifist Unseelie heir, Warren. Will she complete her journey? Will she get back to England and save everyone from the evil queen? Or will she be so transformed that her true self, her desire to Save the World is compromised?

Still plugging along, trying to learn to appreciate the graphic novel medium. Sparrow hawk was better in regards to the strong female protagonist and her journey from human to faerie and how her morals change over the course of the story. However, there are still some aspects of the graphic format that scream out at me as plot holes that we wouldn’t have if this were written as a narrative instead. For instance, Artemesia’s molting journey is too quick. It seems to happen in one day. Unlikely. Also: her instantaneous success with weapons? Like, I get that she could have had some training back in jolly old England, but not enough to make her successful in defeating hordes and monsters, but also great evil in the face of The Hunt. And, she and Warren fell in love??? When did that happen? The story, overall, was too rushed and doesn’t make sense time-wise.

It’s an exaggerated shoulder shrug from me…

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through NetGalley.)

Artemisia – “Art” for short – is the illegitimate daughter of a British Naval Captain and one of the indigenous women he colonized and enslaved. After her birth, Captain Grey kidnapped Artemisia and brought her back to his home in Victorian England, where she was begrudgingly “accepted” into the family. (As a servant, natch.) When Art’s half-sister Elizabeth is killed just before she’s to be wed to a Duke, thus snatching the Greys from the jaws of poverty, Mrs. Grey insists that Artemisia be auctioned off in Elizabeth’s place. It’s either agree to her stepmom’s demands, or see her younger sister Caroline given to a seventy-year-old Baronet. It’s kind of like Cinderella, except mom doesn’t give a shit about her biological daughters, either.

And then Artemisia’s problems go from bad to worse when she’s pulled into another realm by none other than the Faerie Queen herself. In turn, the Queen assumes Artemisia’s visage, with the intent of conquering earth. The only way that Art can get back to her world is by killing Faerie creatures to grow her own power and glamor. Can she slay the beast by becoming one herself? Does she even want to save earth, when her one good memory of it has been stripped away?

The “teen Victorian fairy fight club” descriptor is what really piqued my interest, but the actual story falls way short of this. Some of the finer plot points, like Warren’s relationship to Art, the significance of the flower, and just which memory Crispin traded Art for, are hecka confusing. I’m still not 100% sure I know what was going on there. The action only half kept my interest, at best. While there are quite a few fight scenes, the match-ups are uneven and so the battles are over before they even begin. (FIGHT CLUB? More like RAMBO.)

Honestly, the only redeeming things are a) the artwork, which is moody and gorgeous and b) the ending, which is just deliciously perfect in a TWILIGHT ZONE kind of way.

Artemisia belongs nowhere. As the bastard daughter of a naval officer and an enslaved woman, she grew up in England under her hateful stepmother's wing...neglected, disliked, mistreated. Until her older sister dies and Artemisia finds herself needed again—the only chance to save her father's reputation. That is, until she reaches out towards a mirror—and is pulled into faerie. Now Artemisia must kill to survive, and to save her world from the Unseelie Queen's destruction.

This is Alice in Wonderland meets Fight Club, with a biracial Victorian heroine who must kill to survive in fairy, all while trusting a rather untrustworthy guide.

The illustrations are excellent, and I liked the story. It was fast and clean and never super easy for Artemisia, and there were enough twists and turns that it felt predictable but not too predictable.

The world of faerie was weird and bloody, and I liked the correlation between killing in faerie and killing in the real world. Colonization is a theme that is explored to an extent in this book, with white Europeans coming to the Americas without understanding and murdering those they didn't understand without trying to know their supposed enemy—and also bringing along slaves to do their bidding for them. There is a power imbalance, which is mirrored in faeries as Artemisia gains power and is corrupted by that same power.

I wonder if there's an issue 6 or not, and where that will go. Will it be a cycle of violence and revenge? Or will mercy somehow win?

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

3.5✨
such an enjoyable read! it was really quick, it had some good quotes, it had twists and turns... i really liked this one! i was a little hesitant to start this because the art style wasnt my favorite but it grew on me and i felt like it really fit the story!

This was a refreshing twisty tale that had all the charm and whimsy of Alice in Wonderland but all the raw brutal consequences of traditional fairytales. I particularly loved the snarky and very sneaky Wolpertinger!

This is beautiful. And so sad, I desperately wanted a happy ending!!! I love the art style, it became more erratic as the story progressed into further madness. So many of the elements from this book were inspired by the likes of Alice In Wonderland, The Snow Queen and Labyrinth! Omgosh! It was just awesome! And so dark! The story is simple but executed brilliantly. Really really enjoyed it! My only issue was some of the story elements were a bit rushed but doesn't take too much away from the book!

This is a great graphic novel! I appreciate the art work, and the story-telling. The cast of characters is unique, intriguing and fantastic to follow!

Artemisia is a mixed race girl living in Victorian England with her wicked step-mother and family. She gets pulled into a very dark version of faerie where she must kill to gain enough power to return home. I dug this macabre version of faerie. I find the best version of faerie are the ones where there's a bunch of ulterior motives and sly trickiness. There's also a lot about learning to accept one's self, faults and all. I loved the character designs but found the art itself to be too sloppy for my tastes.

Artemisia has never fit in her family since her father brought her back to England to be part of his English family. The only one who accepted her was her half-sister. Then she got dragged into Fairyland by the Queen who wanted to take and shape the World to her benefit. Artemisia got help from a fairy monster to develop into a creature who could in return to the World. And it only cost her a memory! The question has to be asked,what will that lost memory cost her in the end. Journey with Artemisia and find out!

Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read this title.

This was the second wish granted to me from NetGalley and I was so happy to get it. The artwork might have been better, though you eventually get used to it, but the story was awesome. I am a sucker for dark stories, and this story is very dark. It gives the feeling of a darker and creepier Alice in Wonderland for sure. It touches on many important topics like femenism and racism. The ending was so crazy but great! Wow it left me speechless. The characters are fun to read and even if the main character was annoying at times, overall I didn’t have a problem with her.

If you love twisted, dark stories, you are going to enjoy this graphic novel!

I had previously read the Ladycastle graphic novel by this author and found it to be cute but pretty lacking in both character development and subtlety, but I think this title shows a lot of growth in her as an author. I think it helped that this was five issues instead of just 4 [I always find 4 issue graphic novels to be so rushed], but the storyline about trying to find your place in the world and whether the ends truly justify the means was great and although it was very dark I loved it [especially the end]. The art is great as well and I really love all the character designs of the different faeries and how they change depending on their actions. Definitely worth a read for people who like faerie stories.

Ehhhh. This story fills half formed. A girl is pulled through a mirror into the fae world, where in order to return to her world she must gain power by killing. But she becomes a killing machine. Killing for the sake of power instead of seeing the beauty of the world she is in, or listening to the right people. She listens to a creature who can not lie to her, but can also trick her with the truth. She kills indiscriminately. As to the artwork, I like the cover and alternate cover illustrations much more than the illustrations in the panels. Overall this is a blah for this reader who will not be picking up any sequels.