3.5/5 Stars

In the Shadow of the Throne starts off with our main character, Jordan, expected to take care of his siblings on a family vacation while they walk through a museum. Jordan is in desperate need of an adventure and time to himself, which is exactly what happens when he decides to take a "bathroom break". While walking through the fantasy branch of the museum, Jordan notices a painting of a royal family, sad by a beheaded dragon. As he continues, he's thrust into that very world - finding himself very up close and personal with some monsters and a very handsome prince.

This was a solid 3.5 stars for me. As someone that has read a decent amount of graphic novels/manga/mangwa, illustrated stories can sometimes appear rushed. I think that is the case with this graphic novel in particular. The artwork is beautiful and the story premise is great, but i would have preferred to have more time getting to know Jordan and the cast. Overall it was charming and I would pick up another graphic novel by this author and artist in the future, hopefully with a longer page count and more character building!

Likes:
- art
- premise
- interactions between Jordan and Astel
- bittersweet ending

Dislikes:
- we didn't learn enough about why the queen hates magic
- not enough time with characters to attach to them

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I will be posting a review to my Instagram on Thursday, 3/10. A mini review will be posted tonight (3/6) on my Instagram story and then saved permanently on my mini review highlights (Link: https://www.instagram.com/funwithalibrarycard ).

The story is simple and short but it is very passionate.
Jordan is a boy who while at the museum with his parents ends up in another world full of magic (and hot princes too). In this fantastic world he meets and saves the life of the prince of the kingdom, and thus begins his adventure and also his romantic story between swords, fantastic beasts and court intrigues.
I loved the two main characters and the artstyle was great too.
Thank you to NetGalley, Kate Sheridan and Diamond Book Distributors for providing me this arc in exchange for an honest review !

Thanks, Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors for this free digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

In the Shadow of the Throne is a portal fantasy graphic novel with nice inking and colors and pretty character design. The story is cute and easy to read. I wouldn't have minded a longer story or series and deeper characterization, but I enjoyed what we got. There is a brief romantic moment that didn't have the best buildup. I actually thought Jordan (main character) had better chemistry with a different character.

Recommended for those who like YA fantasy, queer rep, POC rep.

The art was beautiful, but the story left a little to be desired. I found the pacing to be too quick, and everything wrapped up very neatly. This is defintely a plot driven story, but events happened so quickly that it was difficult to suspend my sense of disbelief.

When his younger siblings and parents become too much to bear while on vacation, Jordan tries to get some space. But instead of wandering around the local museum, Jason finds himself dropped

into a fantasy world where he can finally have fun! Except in this Elven Kingdom, there's a sinister secret kept hidden by the queen that'll thrust Jordan, the rebellious Prince Astel, and the brave knight Sir Griffith in the middle of a magical battle they never could have anticipated.

This was such a wonderful graphic novel! The art is fantastic and the story was captivating from start to finish. As a lover of fantasy it had the usual builds and conflicts you would find- misunderstandings, learning to be who you are, growing to care for what you have taken for granted, and more. I would love to see another installment in this where we get to see more of Jordan and Astel (I'm not sure how that would work but I wish it could/would!).

If youre a fan of fantasy stories with magic, other worlds, etc this graphic novel is perfect for you.

A forward-leaning 3.5 stars for this one.
A quick and entertaining fantasy story about a young man tired of dealing with his family ends up in a fantasy kingdom where he finds himself helping the prince find the evil that's corrupting and endangering the land. Jordan is an interesting character, but everything in the story seems incredibly rushed to the point where you can't really form any kind of engagement with the characters and the world. I see the potential for a great story and some fun story points, but this feels like a story that would have benefited from at least another 100 pages to flesh out the potential.
The art is pretty good, though Cardinaly sometimes has trouble with faces. At times they're just sketches of the idea of one or the same four expressions despite them not being appropriate to what's going on in the panel.
Happy thanks to NetGalley, Diamond Book Distributors, and Mad Cave for the early read!

To be fair, it is a very short graphic novel, so many things happen really fast. There is no room for gradual development and it, therefore, makes the story feel rushed. It is in no way near a unique concept, but it still held my interest and the illustrations were really cool. I could definitely see this as a longer graphic novel or even a novel--the story really has a lot of potential.

Like some other reviewers, I also cannot access this anywhere (the app, tablet, computer, etc). The plot seems very interesting and I love the art of the cover, so hopefully when the error is fixed I can return to it.

This was an interesting comic book but i thought that some things could be improved.

What I liked: The Filipino representation (however little that was, it's good), the fantasy world and it's magic system, the art.style.

What I think could be improved: The pacing as it felt rushed, the character development (because again, it felt rushed), and i think it could do good if it had a more solid theme as i felt a lot of things were happening at the same time without a clear destination.

It's an okay graphic novel to fill your in-between reads.

It was my first time reading a graphic novel and it was a fun experience. The artstyle is very pretty. The story, however, felt a little too rushed (although to be fair, it IS a short novel). I liked the set up of the story, I found the introduction into the fantasy world very unique, but as for the rest it fell short for me.

In the Shadow of the Throne is an interesting comic! Jordan has to look after his siblings and it annoys him. His family is on a vacation and they visit a museum, where suddenly Jordan walks through a painting into this magical land where everyone has pointy ears. In the Elven Kingdom he meets Prince Astel and together these two try to understand why magic is forbidden. Dark forces are scheming and soon Jordan and Astel learn that Astel's family history is much darker than it originally seemed. The plot is great and Jordan and Astel are cute together. The comic is well constructed, but the story would've deserved more pages. It would've been great to know more about the family history and all.

The art looks nice and works well being quite simple, but still somehow fitting. The cover is surely wonderful! I really liked the boys' love aspect, since it was quite subtle and worked well in the context. I just wish the boys could've had a better ending than just "don't let me stop you from getting a happy end". It felt kind of stupid. The kissing was surely nice though. Fantasy comics with LGBTQ+ content are awesome!

4.5/5 stars

Jordan just wanted a moment of peace from his parents and especially his younger siblings, but instead of slipping away into a different part of the museum they are visiting, he ends up slipping away into a fantasy world instead.

In the Shadow of the Throne is a fantastical graphic novel that takes widely loved tropes from fantasy novels and puts a little bit of a spin on them. However, some parts of the story were pretty predictable due to this.

If you are searching for a story that will shock you and completely surprise you, this isn’t the one, but if you’re a fantasy fan that just wants a classic fantasy story but in graphic novel format, then this is definitely for you.

On top of that, the art style is absolutely gorgeous, and the characters are absolutely loveable and found their way into my heart within the first few pages.

I love me a good graphic novel! this was a really cute story about a boy who gets transported to another world and helps saving it.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.

This graphic novel was okay but not great. It was a straightforward fantasy that is definitely more focused on plot than on characters. A regular teen slips into another world where magic is possible but has been banned and he has to save the day. Of course, he falls for the handsome prince but the romance still comes across as surprising since they just haven't spent enough time bonding after starting off as enemies and there wasn't enough chemistry to pull it off. I almost was hoping for a romance with the prince's best friend instead. I was surprised Jordan dives into the adventure so easily but it works for plot, just not character. I'd recommend it to someone who was voraciously looking for fantasy graphic novels and wouldn't mind the tropes, but it isn't something I'd offer to someone who didn't already love this genre.

❤️ I first want to say that I love the art, may it be with the lines, characters, background and colors, everything was really well done (and I'm particularly picky even if I'm getting used to different styles). As for the story, I really loved how Jordan came into the world of Lymeira, it was really original! I would have loved Ysengrim's story to be more developed, but the one we got was really interesting already. It's a pretty simple story and there's nothing bad with this, I enjoyed it in a time I just wanted to dive into a beautiful world and a story of a prince, wolf, and knights!

💔 As it's a graphic novels, it goes fast, but a little too fast in my opinion. I'd have prefered to see a "Few days later" instead of "The next day" when it comes to the knight's training, or perhaps a little story about Jordan's blood/genes that makes him powerful. I also didn't feel a chemistry between Astel and Jordan, I wish we could have seen it during the whole story.

Overall it was a very short graphic novel perfect for those who want to escape to a beautiful world and a quick and easy story about a gay knight and prince, and an evil creature to fight !

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced electronic review copy of this book. I really enjoyed the art in the book. Really beautiful. The plot, on the other hand was weak, the characters not very well developed, and it was hard to make an emotional connection to the story. I really wanted to like this book, but the text let me down.

Would like to review but unable to access approved pdf. Since this seems like an issue with other reviewers it’s not just me. Will come back to give proper review if and when this issue is fixed.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

When Jordan is visiting a museum with his family (and not enjoying himself, as his parents expect him to watch his younger brothers), he sees a cool painting and steps into a magical world. He saves the prince and decides to become a knight, meanwhile discovering some buried secrets of the kingdom.

This sounds amazing, right? But alas, this graphic novel is a prime example of a good idea, good potential but poor execution. This story is absolutely way too short to be able to achieve what it is trying to. This feels more like a draft, or just simply a rundown of what happens in a much longer story. The pacing is really fast, but we don't actually learn anything throughout the story.

This novel is only about 16o pages long, and because it's trying to cram a whole fantasy world in those 160 pages, many things are left to the imagination. There is simply not enough time to either form a connection with the characters - as we don't really get to know them; or even get engrossed in the world - as we don't get to see a lot of it. There are too many things happening, and too fast. There is simply no time to connect to the story. There are too many action scenes, and too few explanations and world-building. After finishing this book you are left with more questions than answers.

Even Jordan, who is the main character, doesn't feel fleshed out. He seems to think of this as a fun little adventure, but his reactions just strike me as unrealistic. There is violence and assassins, but he never seems to realize the gravity of the situations he finds himself in. All of his decisions are spur of the moment, impulsive ones, and he doesn't seem to consider them at all. I do not think this was intentional, I think this is due to the shortness of the novel.
His relationships with other characters are also underdeveloped. Things are implied, and we are able to guess what the book intended to do, but I wish we had gotten more. Especially Jordan's relationship with the prince - I thought it was cute, but I didn't really grow attached to it. It seemed simply like a beginning to something and not like an already developed relationship.

However, I do think the story had potential, and I liked the idea of it. Had the story been longer I would've enjoyed it much more. I love the art style, it's absolutely beautiful. The color palette is also amazing, and I did very much enjoy that aspect of this novel.

Unfortunately, this book was simply too rushed and therefore quite underwhelming for me. I wish I could say I enjoyed it more, but sadly I didn't. Reading it felt more like reading a work in progress, a draft rather than a finished graphic novel.

Jordan Rivera is a 16 y.o. teen on vacation with his family , he is frustrated with his parents for made him take care of his younger twin brothers, when a painting in a museum attracts his attention , pullng him into another world.
2.5 stars

This is a kind of typical portal fantasy with a D&D flavor, in fact some nonchalant aspects of Jordan's behaviour in that situation give thought to him thinking somehow similar, no of a moment of 'wait - i'm-going-to-die, no more phones , internet or friends' instead is more like 'yay -no more babysitting , i'm going to be a knight'.

The drawing is not much to my liking in general, but the colors are okay.

-Stand-alone.

-Some others reviewers find the ending rushed <spoiler>but , to me, the kiss of goodbye is atone with the teen behaviour, is not an endless love, but more 'I like you and wish it will become more'. Although the truth is that I saw Jordan more chemistry with Gryff.</spoiler>

-POC protagonist. Gay.