‘Giantess: The Story of the Girl Who Traveled the World in Search of Freedom’ by Jean-Christophe Deveney with illustrations by Nuria Tanarit is a graphic novel about an unusual girl trying to make her way in the world.

Celeste was found as a baby. As a giant, she is different from everyone around her. As the only girl in her family, she watches all of her brothers leave home and she is left behind. When she gets a chance to leave, things don’t go well and she is accused of a crime. She breaks away to find her way in the wide world and explores different ways people live. She goes from living in a community and like royalty to a strict religious order,

I liked this tale of finding the freedom to be yourself. Celeste was a good guide in this tale that reminded me a bit of Gulliver’s Travels. The art was pretty good and Celeste was a sympathetic outsider.

I received this book through a Kickstarter campaign, and unfortunately, the formatting issues made it challenging to read. The inconsistent formatting and abrupt color changes from page to page disrupted the reading experience.

Regarding the story itself, I had high hopes but found it challenging to connect with. The character arc felt disjointed, and the plot took turns that seemed illogical and didn’t quite resonate with me.

However, amidst these challenges, the art style within the book was appealing and was the initial reason I was drawn to requesting the book

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

Mots Clés : roman graphique, féministe, fantasy
Vu plusieurs fois en libraire et sur les réseaux sociaux, c’est avec plaisir et quelques attentes que je me suis plongé dans ce récit.
On suit Céleste, de sa naissance jusqu’à un âge adulte plus avancé. Céleste est une géante, qui a été trouvé bébé dans une foret par un couple ayant déjà six garçons. La vie était plutôt facile pour Céleste, jusqu’à ce que ses frères parent explorer le monde et qu’elle en face de-même. Notre personnage principal va vivre plein d’aventures, parfois bonnes, parfois non. J’ai adoré Céleste, sa façon de penser et de voir le monde était très intéressante. C’est une jolie métaphore, plus ou moins subtile, de ce qu’est de grandir en tant que femme, notre relation avec notre corps et avec le monde extérieur.
Je recommande à tout le monde.
5/5

Pretty and an easy read. This feels like movies we had in the 90's and is truly very lovely. DnD vibes as well

The formatting that was provided was terrible and the colour kept changing from one page to the next. I had to wait until the kickstarter campaign that I participated in sent me a copy, and even then it was hard to read because of the formatting.

I was not a fan of this story. I wanted to like it, but the character's arc seemed strange, and the plot went in directions that didn't make any logical sense.

I did like the art style though. That's why I requested the book in the first place.

Not what I was expecting but that's a good thing. The creators constantly challenged their own narrative, constantly changed the protagonist's view of herself and of the world based on experience. Her opinions are not quickly formed. She spends the entire book figuring out what it is that she wants. THere's a fair amount of sexual politics and some of the messaging is a bit heavy handed. Still, there's a definite audience for this one.

WOW, what a book. One the best books I've read in 2022. It's an epic fable about finding your place in a world where you don't fit in.

We follow Celeste's life from her parents discovering here in a forest, and the early sections of the book are some of my favourites. The struggles her parents face in trying to keep her safe from the outside world means she grows up sheltered and somewhat naive. I loved the way she took different lessons from each of her 8 older brothers.

Deveney and Tanarit have created a world rich in lore full of compelling characters, of which Celeste is just one. They have created a story that explores religion, family ties, the forms feminism can take, and the sacrifices it takes to create a future that you want to live in.

The art is utterly beautiful. Núria Tamarit's character designs are bright and make expert use if colour. It perfectly suits the fairy tale nature of the story.

Very highly recommended.

A wonderful delight. Giantess is a beautiful and compelling adventure tale of a giant woman growing into herself. Lovely illustrations soften the blows of some very real tragedies, but eventually Celeste and her family do get their happily ever after.

Thank you for the opportunity to review this graphic novel.

The premise interested me with this one and I was very keen to see how it would be handled.

The artistic style of the artwork is absolutely gorgeous and reminds me of this really old collection of fairytales I had as a child, loved it.

I did feel like the pacing was a little all over the place at times, but I still enjoyed it.

Wow, this was such a beautiful and interesting story, I am glad I could read something like this and the illustrations were amazing!

An interesting, folktale-inspired, philosophical fantasy story with allegorical relevance, and really beautiful art. Just gorgeous!

The file expired before I could read it which was a pity because I would have liked to have read it.

Honestly, this story just wasn't for me. I got a little lost halfway through and it just never came back around fully for me. The premise was promising and much of the story was tender and what you crave from a coming-of-age. But ultimately it just fell flat for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital arc!

Thank you again, NetGalley, for providing me with an ARC of this graphic novel!

The Giantess is a coming of age tale that, at times, is not for the faint of heart. Throughout its gorgeous artwork, each chapter told the tales of Celeste, the only giantess left, as she grows up in this world that seemingly feels not her own. But one of the truths that she will learn is that you do not have to fit into the world to be yourself. The story makes note of this quickly as she grows large, the world around shrinks, and she adjusts with everyone’s own views of the giantess, or even things that are not familiar to them.

The story had some trouble pacing in the middle, and some of the messages were repeated again and again, as if to hammer the point that everyone has their own views, but it’s the view you choose that is the right one in the end.

It is a story that I enjoyed reading, as it took me time to appreciate each panel, with it’s realistic dialogue, good characterization, and lovely colors and style.

An enjoyable time: 4/5

DNF at page 115.

It took me a long time to get to page 115 out of 200. The art is fine, but the story is a bit confusing. It's very episodic and I'm not sure how it all ties together. The passage of time is unclear and makes for a confusing story when Celeste is just getting her first period and, a few chapters later, is in a relationship with a grown man.

The cover is incredible and I'm so disappointed that the illustrations inside were subpar in comparison.

I'm disappointed I didn't enjoy this story more. I wanted a story about a girl coming to terms with her differences, and while she does grow in confidence and becomes more sure of herself, it has little to do with her size difference.

This story had a very interesting concept and beautiful artwork. I enjoyed most of the story but found myself a little confused and lost between the transitions of chapters. It didn't feel completely clear how she got from one aspect of her life to the next. I felt I struggled to keep up with the timeline of the story as well and didn't personally find myself too attached to the characters or into the story line. I think this just may not be the book for me but i do know others who have enjoyed it. I think I would overall give this 3.5 stars based on my personal rating system. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this through NetGalley!

The cover of this graphic novel made me really curious to pick it up, so I was so happy to have read an ARC through NetGalley.

This follows the life and adventures of Celeste, and her growing up as a giantess and a woman.
I was not expecting this graphic novel to deal with some deep topics, since from the premise and the cover it looked more like a children's book.
The authors talk about feminism, birth control, depression, feeling different from others and growing old.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel and the overall plot. I was also a fan of the drawings, despite them being slightly different from the stunning artwork on the cover.

Giantess is the coming-of-age story of Celeste, who we don’t learn much about, other than that she is female and a giant—though her being a giant plays little into the story told. The narrative itself focuses on Celeste’s femininity and her struggles with an overtly patriarchal society, but doesn’t ever really seem to develop or become a cumulative experience that integrates preceding chapters, events, and characters. The artwork is absolutely beautiful and the dialogue itself works well with the illustrations, but there doesn’t seem to be a strong enough narrative thread or character motivations to make Giantess the classic it might have been.

This beautifully-illustrated graphic novels follows the journey of a Giantess named Celeste as she strives to find her place in the world. Her journey is clearly told through a feminist lens, with Celeste struggling with many aspects of patriarchal societies. I enjoyed that this take was nuanced enough to present more toxic versions of so-called feminism as well, exemplifying that two wrongs do not make a right. This story was more emotional than I anticipated from the cover, but this only added to my enjoyment. Celeste's story was full of ups and downs, much like all of our lives are. Our main character was not infallible and strove to learn from her own mistakes while taking accountability. There was a lot of emphasis placed on embracing personal freedom for all and accepting that this freedom can mean very different things for everyone. There was even a bit of (delightfully) unexpected polyamory!

In short, this graphic novel has a lot to offer when read as a commentary on feminist ideals. It's focus is on the journey of life, it's ups and downs, and what we learn along the way.