There was absolutely nothing I liked about this book. There were way too many gross looking bugs, worms, etc., there was random violence against animals, and the plot was a complete mess. I had no idea what was going on.
I would not recommend this novel to anyone.

First off, the art in this is delightfully detailed and beautiful, a true visual feast! The story can be a little confusing, but it was confusing in a way that worked for me. Did I fully understand all that was happening? No. Did this bother me? Also no. Sometimes it's nice to get dropped into a world different from your own and learn as you go along, y'know? I was being told a story more than I read a story, and I do like that sort of storytelling, picking up bits of knowledge along the way and piecing them together. But I'm getting repetitive, so moving on - the story revolves around an accidental bridge being built connecting a young woman (my guess is early teens) named Lemuelle from our realm to a Tridipidean ranger (basically a fungus dude) named Gowlitrot from Glöd, a magical realm adjacent to ours. When Lem finds a very important magical artifact that was stolen from Gowli's village, the connection is created, a deal is struck, and now Gowli must find his way back to her world. The ending is (of course) a cliffhanger, but not an annoying one, if you feel me. This is definitely worth buying for the art; I enjoyed the story too, but I can see how it wouldn't jive with some. Read this when you want a dreamy story that let's you experience it with nudges and hints rather than holding your hand and walking you through it.

Many thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for lending me a copy for review, all opinions are very much my own.

#TheMushroomKnightVol1GN #NetGalley

THE ART!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot get over the art!! It is absolutely STUNNING!!!!! The art alone gets 5 stars, but unfortunately the story was a little flat for me. I think in some panels there was just too much text on the page and it lost some of the whimsy and magic of the story. It also felt like there needed to be a prequel to this volume because some of the relationships and plot points didn't entirely make sense and it felt like I was missing something.
BUT THE ART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Honestly, just read this for the art alone and it will tell an amazing story!

This wasn’t for me. The artwork and colouring are vivid and engage the reader but the story is rather chaotic. I think the story needs more world building and a better introduction to the main characters. I did notice that this is a first volume so hopefully that will come in a later volume.

Copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

What I saw here, in this drama of a mushroom-hatted (and -sized – and -headed) kind-of-hero, and his frog ride, trying to recover a stolen magic gizmo, is something trying just too hard to be earlier Neil Gaiman. And failing. There's a right failure at making some oddball characters interesting, when they're just oddball for the sake of it, a ridiculous manner of swearing, new curse words, and greetings, and the like, and a tavern where the new brew is most definitively not made of butterflies, despite being named after them. A child in our world loses the family pet dog, and nobody cares, and seems to have a problem with their knee when the two universes cross over.

And you can be assured Gaiman didn't ever write anything remotely like this – and yet that was the feeling I got. A smidge pastiche, a touch homage, and a lot of deja vu. It seems that further volumes will have more interaction between our non-fun-guy and the kid, through the world of books, and long before I had the chance to type "Unwritten" I decided I would not be back for said future episodes. Aspiring to Vertigo heights is no bad thing, normally, but I just felt this was trying too hard throughout.

‘The Mushroom Knight Vol. 1’ with story and art by Oliver Bly is an imaginative graphic novel about a world that exists at our feet.

A chivalrous Mushroom Knight named Gowlitrot the Gardener finds unusual things happening on his patrol of the woods that leaves him wounded. A young girl searching for her missing dog is enlisted unwittingly to aid the knight. The story follows their separate stories, but now somewhat linked lives.

This is a pretty weird story and world and I wasn’t sure where it was going or even if it got there, but I liked it anyway. The art is detailed and kind of amazing. The worldbuilding is unique and imaginative and I would like to read move in this world.

While the artwork in this book is rather stunning, the story failed to capture me. It's sort of an eco-fantasy, with the titular Mushroom Knight seeking to protect the forest, encountering and becoming indebted to a human child on the way.

While I love worldbuilding, the idea is BUILDING, not DUMPING. There's so little context of explanation, here. There needed to be better planning and pacing for this to tie together.

Also, TW for on-page death of a cat, and in a fairly brutal manner.

While book 2 of this is set to come out at the end of this year, I won't be returning. Might have made a better coloring book than graphic novel. :/

The artwork is truly wonderful in this title. There is an American spin with the main character being from northwest Philadelphia, but I don't think that will be an issue for my Australian library service as it is still a fantasy. I will be purchasing for my library

The artwork itself is very pretty, but not my style. The story is quite confusing, giving too much information at times or moving too slow. It also feels like the middle of a series more than the first volume.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy in exchange for my honest review

Thanks NetGalley and Mad Cave Studios for this arc

2/5 stars

The art? Stunning, beautiful, vibrant, so detailed! I wish some of that had transferred to the plot. I'm so confused as to what I read, a lot feels like it was just added in the middle of a story or thought and then disappeared. This had interesting potential, but poor execution.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the Publisher for providing me with an arc.
The art is BEAUTIFUL and lush in this graphic novel. However, I found myself confused and bored a few times because of the slow plot. Nevertheless, a positive experience.

The art in this is absolutely gorgeous. I can tell the author is very knowledgable about nature and what makes up nature. The colouring is also very well done.

Unfortunately, the problem with this graphic novel is that the storyline is very confusing and I think it's taking on too much for the format that it is. The mushroom man's connection with the girl is confusing, and we seem to have been dropped into the middle of a kind of theft from another character who has betrayed someone? It definitely needed more explanation, which often can't be done in graphic form.

Tl;dr: I absolutely ADORED Mushroom Knight! I can't wait to pick up a copy for myself, and I'm loving the quality of graphic novels that Mad Cave has been putting out.

Debut author Oliver Bly has successfully pulled off one of the greatest feats in all mankind - a killer debut. This graphic novel features one of the most unique storylines that I've read in quite some time - and a beautiful art style to support that. Beneath this fluffy, bright facade lurks a carefully crafted element of horror that compliments the story wonderfully. In this story, we follow a young girl from Philadelphia looking for her pet dog, a sentient and chivalrous mushroom that acts as her knight, and a colossal frog. We encounter creatures that are magical and whimsical, creatures that make us shudder, and a wildly imaginative tale of what happens when a young girl goes on the adventure of a lifetime.

All in all, I truly cannot recommend this graphic novel enough! All my thanks to Netgalley and Mad Cave for allowing me the opportunity to review this ARC.

The Mushroom Knight is such a beautiful graphic novel! The art in this one speaks for itself, but if I had to use a word, it would be 'lush.' The character designs are equally stunning and truly unique. I found the mushrooms absolutely darling. Overall, the aesthetic of this graphic novel is superb. The author clearly thought out the world inside this novel, but I feel that readers don't have a lot of insight into world-building. Occasionally, I found myself lost or as if I missed a prequel. The plot meanders a bit, but I enjoyed spending time in this unique, colorful world.

3/5 Stars

Thank you to Mad Cave Studios and Netgalley for providing me with an arc.

I picked this up kind of randomly because it looked cute and it was but I also found I had issues with it keeping my attention. I am insanely picky about art style for graphic novels and this one wasn’t for me. It was more classic comic book style art and that isn’t my thing which contributed to me being able to stay focused on it. I do this a lot of people will enjoy this as it was a cool concept and what I do remember was decent but it just wasn’t for me.

This was such an interesting read!! I was not expecting this to be as fun as it was! I definitely struggled at times following what was going on but I think this is just because of the big words they used! I thoroughly enjoyed this otherwise! The coloring and drawing was amazing! It was so vibrant and stunning! I would definitely check out vol 2!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own!

Beautiful, colourful art style that unfortunately can't make up for the complete incoherence of the plot. I feel like I started in the middle of the series and could not catch up.

2 stars out of 5

This was honestly a pretty quick DNF from me, I got almost halfway through but just couldn't read anymore. I actually really enjoyed the first 10-15 pages (they were very very heavy with information though) but then it just had a completely different atmosphere afterwards and was overall just very confusing. I feel like in even just the half I read, four or five comic books worth of information were stuffed into it. If it weren't for the synopsis I also wouldn't have had really any idea what was going on and what I did read of the story was definitely not for me.

Disclaimer: I received a digital arc copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oliver Bly for the ARC.
This comic is a combination of Arthur and the Minimoys and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. It felt like reading either a fever dream or someones D&D campaign. It was not really for me, but I am sure that there are people who will enjoy it very much.

The artwork of this comic is amazing! So detailed and vibrant. I loved it!
It was a good comic, though I found myself confused at times and I didn't know what was happening.