Growing up is hard – drama at school, fights with parents, resisting conformity, and even lost loves. Now, imagine how hard it would be in a world where all manner of monster, from Draugr to werewolves, all go to the same school and try to stay out of trouble with the added magic of the occult sprinkled in. This is the world where Hematite, perhaps the most unorthodox vampire, lives in. Hematite has eschewed the social norms of her people to go to an integrated all-monster sort of school. this drives her parents insane just as much as her forays into some sort of vampiric version of veganism does. Why can’t she go to the stuffy Academy school all the other vampires attend? Hematite isn’t just another vampire, and is tired of how society perceives her people, but is sometimes haunted by her own nature.

“Hematite is a young vampire who is trying to find her way. As a member of the illustrious Blackwood family, she faces pressure to conform to high society standards, but such grandstanding isn’t for her. And neither is drinking blood—she’d rather have vegetable soup! So it is that she opts for the more diverse Wolven School, rather than joining the ranks of her fellow vampires at the Diaemus Academy. Being different can be hard, though, and doesn’t always help to make friends. Luckily for Hematite, she has her poetry, as well as Drunela—a draugr who won’t let their differences keep them apart—and Emile, a human boy fascinated by the occult who would just love to take a peek at the Blackwoods’ private library. Unfortunately, bridging societal divides isn’t always easy, and can lead to terrible consequences…”


This is a fun little fantasy book that has it’s darker moments, but isn’t a “horror story” per se. Aside from a few slashes of claws, and a probably reversible death at one point, there are not very many real scares for any of you gore-hounds out there. In many ways, this is the perfect sort of book for October, especially the lead up to Halloween, and reminds me a lot of things like Hotel Transylvania or even Hocus Pocus tone-wise. It’s not necessarily a kids book or anything, but it would be suitable for most kids. I liked the more gothic elements of the story, and definitely appreciate the script, as its not really your typical fantasy comic you see around here. I can only assume it’s because it’s a Spanish comic, and most European comics have a different flair than ones over here.


I like the character of Hematite because she isn’t shoehorned in as a preachy character in any way. In a story like this, where the main allegory is in many ways racism and perhaps classism, most writers have a tendency to use characters like her to talk down to others and it comes across ham-fisted and stilted. Hematite’s not like like that, because her motivation for going to an integrated school is more because she hates vampire society and is adverse to most social situations. She is largely down on herself, and doesn’t want to exist, but her friends see the good in her and what she selflessly does for people and want her to be happy. In many ways, this books speaks to me as a book about depression, and how being alone all the time is not always the best thing to strive for.

While this is the first part in a series, and ends on a hell of a cliffhanger, I would definitely recommend this for the upcoming spooky season. For me, there’s no better thing than fun Halloween stories to get me in the mood for binging on candy and planning a costume party. Rather than breaking out the classics, I’d recommend a new spooky book to add to your library, I guarantee you’ll enjoy it!

A very well illustrated story about embracing oneself and dealing with consequences.
I personally loved the setting, worldbuilding and aesthetic it has and think this could be a bit longer.
The illustration style Is beautiful and the pieces of poetry are lovely

The story brings together many interesting and unique characters, some of them being quite well known. These creatures are exactly like us and they face the same difficulties like any human being and teenager just adding some extra obstacles due to the different superpowers they have: transformation, immortality, ability to fly.
In addition to the warm family story, the author also gives the story a unique, fun touch. The comic present in the dialogues is a very modern one, but also generally valid, which makes it feel like something very contemporary. The final result is that the characters have the same legendary look, but are more modern, and their personality has been endowed with an extra comic facet.

I am confused about that one. I felt like I was reading the second book in a series, and when I felt comfortable with the characters.... the story ended abruptly on a cliffhanger. I'm all about cliffhangers to make you want to read the next book but... I don't know. I feel meh.

Many thanks to the Europe Comics for the complimentary e-copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Firstly, I cannot get over that cliffhanger. So that's something. I can't believe it would just END like that. but otherwise, this was a fun romp of magical creatures and a "rebellious" vampire and I loved it, but honestly that ending!! It wasn't just a cliffhanger, it was abrupt!!

Oh this story is an absolute delight! The illustrations are beautiful, adding such detail to the story. I loved Hematite as a character; she is rebelling against her parents, taking risks and trying to keep her anger under control. Sounds like a typical teenager, right? But Hematite is no ordinary teen, she is a vampire with a crush on a human boy called Emile. She is too shy to even speak to him, then regrets it when she does. It’s a bitter-sweet romance that leaves you desperate to find out what decision Hematite makes next as it’s left on a great cliffhanger.

This was provided to me by Netgalley for an open and honest review.

This was a cute little story about a vampire girl trying to find her place in the world. First let me say the artwork is gorgeous, I am dying to read more stuff illustrated by them because man it was cute and quirky. I found all the characters likeable and found it to be a quick read, I just wish there was a little more in the first volume, as it felt a little short, however I will gladly be reading more when they become available as this was excellent.

I enjoyed the art and the story concept but I felt like the story finally started at the end of the book. If this is a series I would definitely recommend this to my graphic novel loving friends.

Funny, dark, insightful and imaginative: I loved Hematite, her weird little family, her best friends and her crushes. This is first and foremost a coming of age story and one I thoroughly enjoy! I'll be ordering several copies for my shop - the illustrations are also unique and perfectly reflect the character of this graphic novel. An absolute gem!

I loved the art style of this book so much! It was so atmospheric and really made you feel invested in the world.

Hematite was a good, complex main character to follow and I really like getting to know her in the book. I do wish that the world and different creatures were a bit more explained but I enjoyed reading about them nonetheless

However I found myself pretty confused reading this. I struggled to really understand the point of the book and what the story was, it felt very patchy and jumpy. I really wanted to get invested in the story and connected to the characters but I just didn’t understand what the main strife was or what I should be worried about.

Hematite is a graphic novel focused on the young vampire Hematite, her difficulty in integrating and search of love and friendship.

The strength of the work is the drawings, highly defined and capable of creating the right atmosphere for the readers: the colours, the lines, the general scenography is catchy for the eye and help following the story. The end is open and gives the reader a taste of what could happen without reveling too much: a normal and predictable cliffhanger, not so unexpected.

A weakness of the story is probably the effort of including many different situation and topics in such a short story, giving the reader a lot to focus on without sharing too much about the characters, their opinions and their social and cultural situation.
Generally, I would buy a similar graphic novel only if it joined to other chapters, or at least with the continuation of the story. Like that, I would be a bit disappointed by the ending.

Hematite is a young vampire who doesn't fit into one of the highest ranked vampire family in the society. She doesn't feel like joining a very prestigious school just because everyone in her family does and she doesn't enjoy blood. The graphic novel is a story of Hematite as she writes poems and falls in love and dangerous adventures.

The Victorian gothic art style of the illustrations goes very well with the book.The artworks are detailed and beautiful.

The book is the first volume and ends at a cliffhanger. It also features other supernatural characters. Various themes like loneliness, self importance and bullying are discussed in the book. I enjoyed it.

Hematite is a young vampire who doesn't fit into the high expectations her family places on her. She is a member of the Blackwood family who ranks among high society. Hematite, much to her family's puzzlement, would rather go to school among a diverse student body than go to school with just vampires. She also prefers soup to blood for dinner. Thus follows Hematite as she lives her teenage vampire life writing poems, getting to know the guy she likes, and getting into trouble with her friend Drunela.

Hematite is an enjoyable and atmospheric graphic novel. The art was exquisite. It gives off such a dark, gothic vibe and that really adds to the overall story. I found Hematite’s journey to perfectly encapsulate the feelings and emotions of being a teenager, with the added magic of a fantasy world filled with mythical creatures. This story is perfect for anyone who loves coming of age stories, or anyone like me, who enjoys any story that includes vampires. I’m eagerly anticipating volume 2!

Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for the eArc copy of Hematite, given in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this so much, it was so lovely and the illustrations are so fitting to the story which is so intriguing. I loved the Victorian aesthetic in the art, it was perfectly matched to the story. This graphic novel contains vampires and a plethora of other mythical and supernatural creatures, I loved the issues covered such as being yourself, loneliness, bullying and even racism. This is the first volume in the series and there is a cliffhanger. I really enjoyed this but think the world should have been built up a bit more , but I still can’t wait to read more.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Hematite is a young vampire attending a school full of monsters, but she is crushing hard on a human boy. She's dealing with her parent's high expectations and being bullied by her peers for writing poetry. A coming of age story, Hematite gets into the usual hijinks with her friend and attempts to get close to her crush. In a world where humans and monsters live together, she struggles to control her vampire powers. Already a bit of a dark storyline, the story takes an even darker path and ends on a cliffhanger, which sets up nicely for the next book in the series.

While set in dark tones, the art was enjoyable and had a soft palette. I loved the transformation of each of the characters and the facial expressions were amusing.

I love this comic! It’s so cute and the illustrations are amazing, the storyline to go with it was also so intriguing and I can’t wait to buy this comic for my brother since I know he’s gonna love it. This book contains vampires and other supernatural creatures and honestly what more could you want? I really enjoyed the main character and the struggles she went through because if I was a new vampire I think I would feel the same way. The way the world was shown to the reader was also quite amazing since it was easy for the reader to understand, If your looking for a light, cute but also suspenseful comic then this should definetly be your next read!

Recommended: not really?

Thoughts:
You know, at first I was quite enjoying it. Learning about the powers each character has and how they all interact with each other in this world was fun and full of promise. Now that I've finished it, though, I'm left feeling confused about why I just read that.

While it topically addresses themes like loneliness, morality, being true to yourself, and even racism (if vampires and wolves and jelly monsters are races), nothing really sunk in. Most importantly, nothing was resolved by the end. Or even left hanging. It was grim and dark, and felt like it was a really abrupt switch. Yes, there's a suggested followup action to come next, but I actually had to stop reading this at one point because it was depressing me in an already low mood. My main takeaway is that the events went in a direction that didn't seem at all necessary (or even fully explained -- who is the aunt? why is the gathering forbidden?).

The world is interesting as a premise, but not built up much in this volume. It sounds like it will be a series based on the plot, but the details of the book don't seem to confirm that. If it is a series, I probably wouldn't continue it. The mood is way darker than I expected so prep for that if you're diving in.

Thanks to NetGalley for a free copy. This is my honest review.

A wonderful and surprising graphic novel for children. The world felt well rounded out in a short pagespan and the main characters Hematite and Drunella were well fleshed out, without resorting to stereotypes. The art definitely added to the gothic/horror charm of the story. The cliffhanger kept me curious for more, I would definitely handsell this, it is also a great title to recommend to Dutch children learning English.

"Hematite" is a very unusual, but interesting comic.
An angsty vampire teen is struggling between conflicts with her peers, fighting with her family about not wanting to follow vampire tradition, her crush on a human boy and the anger that keeps getting the best of her.

The art style is very fitting to the story and I like the Victorian aesthetic a lot.
I enjoyed the way the different supernatural being are done in this verse and how they all work together in this society next to the humans.
The ending came as a surprise to me and I can already picture all the drama the teen monsters will get into in the continuation of the series.

Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me. I had some trouble reading some of the dialogue because of the font choice, it didn't feel very optimized for dyslexic readers. As for the story, I thought it was cute but maybe slightly derivative, sorry to say. I DNF about a third of the way through due to difficulty with reading.