Oh my gosh what a gorgeous book. The art was mesmerizing, so unique and captivating. The storyline was great too, the serious and funny tones.

I loved this story of a girl who must hide her universally rejected ethnicity in order to become what she views as a hero. Along the way, she and her fellow applicants learn lessons about prejudice, resentment, and friendship. I think this would be a great series and hope to see more of the adventures of Aiza and her friends.

Squire is so beautifully illustrated with a fantastic story. Since war is coming for her hometown, Alza joins the Squire Program to train as a solder. However, she must hide her roots as she is one of the Ornu people who are not allowed to join the program. This is an incredible graphic novel with amazing characters around the main character that feel so real that they jump off the page.

‘Squire’ by Sara Alfageeh with art by Nadia Shammas is a graphic novel about a young woman who pursues citizenship through combat.

As a conquered people, Aiza and her family struggle to live and work amongst the Bayt-Sajji Empire. She sees becoming a Knight as a way to gain citizenship and respect for her family, so she hides her identity and signs up for training as a Squire. She makes friends along the way, including a one armed mentor. She also learns hard truths about history and deception.

This was a surprisingly great read. The art is fantastic. I can’t recommend this one enough.

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins Children's Books, and Quill Tree Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book and I also really loved the art style.

I highly recommend it!

I thoroughly enjoyed <i>Squire</i> by Sara Alageeh and Nadia Shammas!
The world-building and politics were so smoothly incorporated into the story that it always felt natural. The story kept moving at a good pace and never felt like it dragged.
<i>Squire</i> has a lot of meat to it. It’s a book about war and nation-building, and the stories that are at the heart of creating both. Aiza, our main character, is so easy to root for and the friends she makes as she’s training to become a squire are splendid as well. (It was very easy to draw parallels to the training aspects of <i>Mulan</i>, which I did very happily)
I loved the illustrations – they were very expressive and a great match for the story.
<i>Squire</i> is definitely a recommended read, and I’ll be rereading it in the future for sure!
<i>Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Stunning illustrations, and an innovative storyline, I couldn't put it down. Definitely a strong recommendation for graphic collections in school and public libraries.

What an absolutely amazing book!
The pacing is excellently done, the world beautifully crafted, and the art is uniquely mesmerizing.
Would recommend to any graphic novel fans, fans of fantasy worlds, and just any person in general.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book in return for an unbiased review!

I know this is officially labeled as fantasy, but I'm struggling to remember any magical elements - it's pretty straightforward action with a military setting. I appreciate the story for what it tries to do, but it's something that's been done a million times, and better. The characters are pretty flat and I wish that they didn't fall into the kingdom/hierarchical stereotypes that we see over and over again.

I wanted to like this much more than I did, unfortunately. I love the ideas behind all of this but I found the writing really lacked subtlety. I generally enjoyed the art but was really distracted when the protagonist's arm wrap (an important plot point) was missing or on the wrong arm in some panels of the finished book.

I would love to see more graphic novels like this! A stubborn, talented girl making her way — with sword play — in a beautifully rendered fantasy world based on Middle Eastern cultures and traditions. Great art and warm colors, easy to follow lettering, important thoughts and timely themes (patriotism, colonization, imperialism, militarism, war, friendship, loyalty, empathy), a great cast of characters with interesting relationships. Aiza, our main character was just a bit grating for me, and I wanted a little more from the ending (or a sequel?!) but this is a great story to get into the hands of mature middle graders. (It's categorized as YA, but it really felt middle grade to me.)

Please read this graphic novel. The art work is beautiful. The story was engaging and our heroine was one you wanted to follow.

All her life, Azia has dreamed of being a knight of the Bayt-Sajji Empire. Never mind the empire is not as great as it once was, or that she is a member of the Ornu people, who have been turned into scapegoats for the Empire's woes. Azia is going to do be a hero.

But when she joins the other recruits, she discovers that being a hero is not necessarily what she had thought...and that there are many layers of complicity within an empire.

No more orcs. No Chosen One. Just people learning how to unlearn the justifications of colonialism and finding their way.


Ooooooh I really like this one.

The artwork was fantastic. The storyline was tight (although I wanted more), and I liked the cast of characters. I did want more background on the empire and the world and the rest of the peoples making up the world, but I understand why the authors didn't go into as much detail—there was a lot to get through and what they portrayed was enough to get the point across.

There is so much joy here, even amid the suffering and hardship, and I had so much fun following Azia as she bounced and leapt and fought her way through training—and beyond.

And the commentary on colonialism, empire and complicity was also very well done.

Overall, a solid graphic novel, and I'm not just saying it because there were girls with swords trying to be knights!

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review

I really enjoyed it for the girl power aspect and wanted to show that you don’t have to be the biggest or meanest person or whatever to be the best out there, but that sometimes you just have to be the kindest and the one who is most just. But this dragged for me. I don’t know why? Maybe I just didn’t like Hende and didn’t like that I knew she couldn’t be trusted and that threw me off. I’m not sure. Or maybe I just also don’t like war. That’s also possible. Can’t rule that out. But I did like a lot about it.

Another thing I really love is when authors and illustrators will take the time at the end of a graphic to explain the process. I think it adds another layer to it that readers, especially young readers, really gravitate towards. I know I do!

An intriguing world with fresh characters--I loved getting to see females getting to try for knighthood alongside males like it wasn't a big deal. The illustrations really brought the setting and personalities to life and the story unfolded in a compelling way. Can't wait to read the next one!

Love it! This is such a classic kind of fun. Those who loved YA fantasy before it was huge will adore this. It feels like the old quality of YA that so many of us grew up with a may lead younger YA readers to classics.

Inspired by Arab countries’ culture and history, this upper middle-grade graphic novel features lots of knights and women with swords, while tackling important issues of colonialism, imperialism and oppression, with gorgeous illustrations. Loved it!

This historical inspired graphic novel is so full of heart! I loved the worldbuilding and headstrong, courageous Aiza. The storyline about learning to accept and be true to yourself and finding friends who do the same was excellent, as was Aiza's journey to becoming a warrior. Definitely looking forward to seeing what this incredible creative team does next!

A very well thought out and well written exploration of propaganda, the military industrial complex, and heroism. The characters are fantastically developed and compelling, and the world of this story is both fascinating and detailed in a way that made me want to know more and find out more. My students would really connect with Aiza and I'll be recommending this to them.

This was cute! Some of the images were chopped slightly on my device, but I was still able to appreciate the artwork and the story was very cute. I would buy it for my younger cousins.