*2.5 Stars*

Pardalita is a hybrid book, part graphic novel, part novel in verse, part letters... Which could have been awesome but I felt the execution lacking. I didn't feel anything for the characters, if anything, the main character kind of annoyed me at times. It also didn't help that the format was broken and none of it showed the way it's meant to. I don't know what else to say, it was very short, took me an hour to read but it's still felt a bit long, I kept checking the time left and I just wanted it to end. I also wasn't really a fan of the illustrations and overall, that's just not what I expected. Definitely a bit of a miss for me.

Pardalita is a sweet and innocent slice-of-life self-discovery story. The story is common but it is told in a creative, funny way - mostly through the main characters’s inner thoughts - focused in details and subtleties that give it depth and make it relatable.

It seems that some subjects were included maybe with the intention to better develop the main character and give her more depth but some of these subjects don’t have any development and fell short.

Despite that I liked it. It a well constructed piece that ends making you wish it was longer.

This book portrays perfectly what it's like to be a 16 year-old, exploring herself and the world around her. I loved the tones used in this book and the way the book used all the available space instead of what is the norm, clearly in tune with the story being told.

This was interesting because it used a range of different formats: written prose, verse and graphic novel. However i dont really think it hit the mark for me.

Raquel lives in a small village in Portugal and navigates her teen, relationships, friendship, her sexuality and first love.

Publishers should stop targeting everything as a romance because it's trending because this was a contemporary coming of age where nothing went further than a crush. It seemed that the story was unfinished.

The change in format made it super easy to read but there was not much of a plot. It's like they focused too much in the different formats but not in the content. It was groundbreaking but maybe they should have stuck to just one thing. The little poems kept a structure, while it was brave, i dont think they succeeded. It was cute but it left you a bit underwhelmed because it maybe tried to cover too much.

I love Portugal and it kinda transported me there near the Tagus and have me peace, so points for that.

This was really beautiful and expressive. The combination of forms (prose, sequential art, others) really worked here. A really lovely coming of age story, really set in a very specific time and place. I loved this story.

4 stars. 

This was a solid graphic novel with an engaging art style. 

The story was sweet and the theme of discovering yourself and your sexuality as a teenager resonated with me. I could relate to the main character and the troubles in her life, both mundane and otherwise. The mix of prose and poetry also captured my attention. 

I highly recommend this book to those looking for a sweet story of discovery that feels real and tangible.

This was a really gorgeous graphic novel and one I'm sure to recommend. I loved the art style and the way it used both flashbacks and current timelines.

A mix of coming of age and a teenage dilemma well potrayed. Surely a modern perspective of schools and feelings but it still doesn't modernize the events to the readers, it lets us see the intentions well.

In a Nutshell: I don’t know who fell short of requirements: the book or me. But this definitely didn’t go the way it was supposed to. A slice-of-life story as per the blurb, but I guess the slice was too flavourless for my liking.

Story Synopsis:
Sixteen-year-old Raquel lives in a small town in Portugal, Her parents are divorced and she spends time with them alternatively. Raquel has also just been suspended from school for back-answering a school monitor. Her mother is more popular than her on Facebook, and has newly turned vegetarian.
In short, Raquel’s life is a mess. Even her best friends, Luisa and Fred, can offer only so much comfort. All this changes when Raquel sees Pardalita, whom she gets to know while working together on a play. Raquel’s feelings for Pardalita now provide her with something to look forward to. 
The story is written in Raquel’s first person perspective, and addressed to Pardalita. 

On the pro side:
🔥 The content is presented in a blend of prose poems, illustrations, and graphic novel format. The constant shift between the three presentations is interesting. (I am not sure if this will work with everyone though. People do expect the text to be incorporated within the panels when they pick up a graphic novel.)
🔥 Key moments from Raquel’s earlier years are presented in the ‘prose poems’. (I read them only as prose, but obviously.) These vignettes were interesting, and easily the best sections of this book. 
🔥 Raquel’s friend Luisa is the strongest character of the story, with her firm opinions and humorous nature. Without her, the story would have had zero life.


On the other hand: 
💢 Though the blurb seems to suggest a sapphic romance, most of the story is neither sapphic nor romance. There is nothing to indicate Raquel’s confusion over or struggle with her sexuality. 
💢 The bond between the two girls is unconvincing and the final scene comes out of nowhere. 
💢 There are plenty of important topics raises through Raquel’s conversations with those around her – the refugee crisis, parental separation, the addition to social media, going vegetarian,… but all of these stay on focus only for 1-2 pages and then get thrown by the wayside. Nothing is explored in deep.
💢 The B&W illustrations weren’t to my liking. I wouldn’t have minded monochromatic artwork like that on the cover, but the artistic style was too simplistic to create any impact. 
💢 The writing becomes somewhat philosophical in a few sections. The illustrations too follow the same pattern at times, with pages upon pages of nothing but abstract artwork. 

I got nothing memorable from the story. There’s neither great plot development nor intricate character development. I am not sure if this flat feeling is due to something going haywire during translation. However, I honestly can’t recommend this English version as it was too ad hoc a story for me. 

Then again, this does have an average GR rating of 4+ right now, so maybe it is just me. Do feel free to give it a go as it is a quick read. The book might work better for the YA age group, with the ‘misunderstood teen having a secret crush on a friend’ theme.

1.5 stars, rounding up as I didn't waste much time on this quick read.

My thanks to Levine Querido and NetGalley for the DRC of “Pardalita”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Sorry this didn’t work out better.

i’m a lover of graphic novels or really just anything with pictures so expectedly i did enjoy this one. the drawings where captivating and simple which really complimented the story, i’d definitely suggest this one

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for letting me read this ahead of publication.
Pardalita was a quiet story about a 16-year old girl discovering her sexuality. It was a slice of life that flowed easily and immersed you into the story. 
The black and white illustrations really suited the tone and writing style, and I really enjoyed the mix of graphic novel with the snippets prose poetry inbetween.
Some parts of it I found moving in their simplicity and depth.
Overall beautiful.

I want to start by saying that the art is beautiful.  I loved the black and white pictures.  The cover art was very different than what was inside.  I wasn't expecting how simple, yet beautiful it was.  The story was about Raquel, a 16 year old.  She lives in a very small town in Portugal where everyone knows everyone's business.  She falls in love with Pardalita.  I was really looking forward to reading the story after reading the synopsis.  The story was good.  I could see it being one of those books that I come across on a shelf and say, Oh yeah I remember reading that book,  The kind where you remember what is in the synopsis but nothing more.  Still, I think that high school students may like this book.  I think especially those that are really into reading books from Europe and other countries.  Books that hit different than books by American writers.

This was a really sweet read. It felt like reading an A24 coming-of-age movie in graphic novel form. I enjoyed the mix of prose and graphic novel panels, I think that worked well for the story. I wish the story lasted a little longer, because I wanted to see whether/to what extent Pardalita reciprocated the romantic feelings and a relationship began, but that is a personal preference.

This is the tale of Raquel, a 16-year-old Portuguese girl who lives in a small town. She falls in love with Pardalita as she struggles to deal with the challenges life has for her.

Raquel's ideas are presented in the text together with a quick summary of significant occasions in her life. The story has anecdotes of how the refugee issue has changed in Portugal added to it as well.

When it comes to the narrative, the author raises concerns like refugee issues, coming of age, discovering sexuality, and distant parents that demand deeper analysis than what was done here. The topics discussed are not effectively connected to one another. In certain places, the writing style seems clichéd, but that could be a lost-in-translation issue.

The distinctive aesthetic of this graphic novel is what most impresses. The publisher describes it as a hybrid. The author/illustrator uses strong brushstrokes in white and black, and the language and drawing are both well-balanced. Three stars were mostly given for the artwork.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Levine Querido, Em Querido for offering reviewers an advanced reading copy of this graphic novel.

Thank you to netgalley for a free e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This eBook is just not for me. I may try to pick it up again later but I am not a fan of the illustrations and that is a big piece of a graphic novel. I wish there was color illustrations. I had no real problems with the book I just have other things I want to read more.

I'm not always the hugest fan of simplistic, black and white art styles in a graphic novel. It's just hard to show emotion through that, so it doesn't always come across to me. But here it really did, which I'm very impressed by.

The story is very understated and a lot is left unsaid, but I really enjoyed that. You just follow the MC through her daily life, and I thought it was really well done. I also thought the translation was great!

This graphic novel is beautifully done. A quiet and introspective story about a girl discovering her sexuality. The translator did an excellent job capturing the story Estrela was telling.

The art style in this is very simple. So simple that sometimes I couldn’t tell characters apart. The story was interesting enough but again, basic. Maybe my opinion would change if I read a physical copy instead of digital. 

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the mix of comics and prose. It works well with the story and gave more insight into the thoughts of Raquel.

Raquel, 16, living in Portugal, becomes interested in older student Pardalita, leaving her boyfriend and old life behind.