On Starlit Shores by Bex Glendining is a YA urban fantasy graphic novel where Alex, a teen, heads back to her seaside hometown of Indigo Harbor to sort through her late grandmother’s cottage. Her memories of the place are weirdly hazy, like the town’s hiding something magical. As she digs into her past, she uncovers a selkie connection to her grandma, a witch with healing tea, a magical cat, plus some queer friendships and a sweet sapphic romance. The art’s stunning and the coastal vibe is super cozy, but the magical elements can feel a bit scattered, leaving some questions unanswered.

This book is a total vibe—think cozy seaside town with a sprinkle of magic and a big heart. The art pops off the page, and Alex’s journey through grief and love hits hard, especially if you’re into queer stories. That said, the magical stuff, like the selkie lore, feels a bit underdeveloped and doesn’t always mesh. If you love emotional graphic novels like The Girl from the Sea, you’ll probably dig this, even if it’s not perfect. I’d give it a solid 4/5 for the feels and visuals!

On Starlit Shores is a tender, heartfelt story about navigating grief, honoring a loved one’s memory, and cherishing the time we have with those closest to us. It’s a gentle reminder to create memories while we can and to give ourselves space to truly feel our loss. The art is gorgeous, awash in soft pastel tones that perfectly match the story’s mood. I only wish the magical elements had been explored a bit more. Overall i found it to be a great read.

On Starlit Shores can only be described as luminous. There’s a sense of gorgeous completeness to this story that left me fully immersed in it from beginning to end. I loved the threads of magic and belonging that weave through this story. The worldbuilding is fantastic - there’s such a strong sense of place from the very first page, and the thin line between what’s real and what’s remembered caught my attention and refused to let it go. Alex is a strong protagonist, with the right blend of drive and grief, and I was more than glad to follow her through the beats of On Starlit Shores. The way her grandmother and Elizabeth are characterized is also more than worth a shout-out; Glendining does a fantastic job of giving characters depth and rendering them relatable even without their physical presence on the page, which helped give this book the feel of something between a mystery, a coming-of-age novel, a fantasy story, and a story of grief. I love the illustrations, which are the perfect blend of vibrant and otherworldly, grounding the reader while having the fanciful edge that perfectly captures the tone and arc of the story. I highly recommend On Starlit Shores to readers who want to immerse themself in a layered, vibrant town where memory is not an easily categorized thing.

I have been delving into a lot of young adult graphic novels lately and was very pleased when I first heard about this one. The premise of a young girl going on a journey of self-discovery in a mystical setting completely had me hook, line, and sinker. After reading the story, my heart felt both uplifted and bittersweet. There are important lessons on identity and grief that the author touches upon with such a careful and inspiring hand. I cannot give enough praise for this graphic novel and very much recommend it to anyone, regardless of your preferred genre. You will not regret picking up this read!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for me to review!

The art in this is so lovely and it is a very poignant narrative about dealing with grief. It did seem a bit rushed on the magical elements, but they were indeed fun!

What a beautifully queer and magical story! This graphic novel is about love, grief, family, friendship, and memories. It truly moved me as the stunning art was paired with gorgeous prose. I loved how the magical and whimsical elements just felt natural in this story. It also made me miss my own Grandma. I could read this one over and over again. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

4/5
Thank you to NetGalley and Abrams Fanfare for an arc, all opinions are my own.

This was such a lovely, refreshing story about grief. I think the fantasy elements were very fun and added to the themes/vibes though I personally wish we learned a bit more about the fallen stars (mostly because I LOVED the way they were drawn and wanted to see more of them). Also, overall the art was so breathtaking.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Abrams Kids for early copy for review*

This was such a beautiful journey in grief. I loved the art style in this. It worked so well and felt so magical. This would be perfect to give a child going through a loved one's death for the first time. To be able to talk about the grieving process and what happens after.

4/5⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Abrams Kids for the ARC of On Starlit Shores! My 10 year old read this book with me and has reviewed it in their words:

“I thought this book was really, really, really good. I loved that it had Selkies in it—I had read about them in another book before, so it was super cool to see them again here in a different way. I really like magical creatures, and this story made them feel real and special.

The book is also about a girl named Alex who is really sad because someone she loves is gone. It made me think about how hard it can be when you miss someone, and how sometimes you feel like you’re carrying a big, heavy feeling inside. But even though it was sad sometimes, it also made me feel hopeful—like things can get better when you talk to people or go on adventures, or even just when you remember the people you miss in a special way.

The setting was really magical too. I could picture the ocean and the stars and the quiet little town so clearly, especially because the illustrations were amazing. They were full of color and emotion, and they made the story come to life even more.

I think this book is perfect if you like stories with adventure, feelings, magic, and creatures like Selkies. It made me feel a lot of things, and I didn’t want to stop reading. I think a lot of kids would really like it—even if it makes you a little sad sometimes, it also makes you feel warm and brave by the end.”

Beautiful graphic novel and beautiful story covering grief, hope, and a bit of magic all mixed up into one. The ending of this story, although bittersweet, leaves you feeling cozy and hopeful. I would love more stories set in the little town of Indigo Harbor!

This was a magical realism graphic novel about grief. Alex’s grandmother has died so she has to go pack up her house. This takes her in a journey of discovery dnd exploring her young life and also who her grandmother really was. This was moving and beautiful and the illustrions were fantastic.

I always appreciate books that can honestly depict the many aspects of grief and mourning. The addition of magic in this story makes for a more unique twist on how it feels to leave where you grew up, move away from loved ones, and have regrets about time not spent together. Though the art is very pretty and the color palette suits the story well, I thought the illustrations felt a bit stiff at times.

Books that explore grief usually hit me hard!! but unfortunately this one fell a bit flat for me. I think there was just too much going on for such a short story That the emotional beats didn’t have enough room to fully land. That said, the artwork was absolutely gorgeous!!

This was a beautiful graphic novel - the art itself was beautiful, but the story as well. I enjoyed reading through the processing of grief as well as the taste of magic throughout the book. I felt like it was lacking a little with how the magic fully ties into the grandmother as it feels like some details were missing, but overall it was a good novel. Again, the graphics were SO beautiful.

3.5 stars for me - rounded down to 3 as it wasn't quite a 4 for me.

I loved the way magic trickled in at the seams and started out subtly. There are scenes where the reader is given the opportunity to notice things that the characters haven't processed yet, which I thought was very cool---that's hard to pull off in another medium, but it worked well here. The exploration of grief moving, and there are places where the art is SPECTACULAR.

However, I would have liked this more if the magic and the story aligned just a little bit more. The magic of the Indigo Harbor all happened around Alex's grandmother, but I felt like magic as a metaphor could be used in a more compelling way? As it stands, those two elements (magic and grief) felt like two distinct parts of the story, whereas I felt that the magic could have, and perhaps should have, worked as more of a metaphor about forgetting someone after a loss. This was teed up as a concept, but I don't feel like it ever fully paid off in the story.

Art-wise, I will say that I found the backgrounds weirdly distracting. There's a lot of mathematical perspective work, but that made any errors in perspective stick out quite a lot, and it felt like the characters--who are drawn in a much more stylized way--feel superimposed on the setting. This probably heightened my overall feeling of things not quite coming together.

I would more or less categorize this as cozy fantasy, and I think I wanted just a little bit more of a nudge toward how the fantasy and Alex's expectations about the 'real world' fit together. That said, the imaginative vision is beautiful, with some striking use of white space and color. I mean this as a compliment when I say that there were panels that reminded me of Miyazaki by way of Bakshi.

Also, spoiler: there is a VERY attractive witch in here. *sweating*

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

A heartbreaking yet uplifting story about grief. Alex searches through the stories her grandmother left behind in order to reclaim lost memories of her childhood hometown, and in doing so, she learns more about the woman she loved so much. Set in a quiet seaside town filled to the brim with quiet, hidden magic, this story is both poignant and heartfelt. Bring tissues--you'll need them.

A stunning narrative of coping with grief and loss, "On Starlit Shores" delivers a magical tale set in a whimsical seaside town. The artwork is visually very appealing, and I enjoyed the color palette that Glendining used for the story. I liked the idea of the star storyline, and I liked the selkie storyline too. I thought this book had a lot of potential, but unfortunately it fell a bit flat for me. I wanted so much more from the star storyline, but it never ended up going anywhere. I also wasn't sure why Alex would lose her memories of her grandmother once she left the town, and I wish that had been explained more. Some of the side characters also felt a bit flat for me, and I found myself not being super invested in some of their stories.
Overall, this is a good book to read if you are looking for stories about young adults coping with grief and the loss of a close family member. Other readers hoping for a cozy fantasy might find themselves lost with this story.

This was lovely! At first, based on the many seals that were appearing (like keychains and memorabilia, not living seals) I thought the reveal would be that the protagonist was a seal, or the town was made up of all seal people. I won't spoil the book beyond saying that was not the plot, thankfully. This graphic novel navigates aspects of grief and regret in a positive way, and features a protagonist who has a support system and who is willing to ask for and accept support from others. I would recommend this for teens and adults alike, and would stock it in a school library as well.

💫 NetGalley ARC Review 💫

Absolutely captivating! "On Starlit Shores" is a magical journey that flawlessly blends grief, self-discovery, and enchanting mystery into a truly unforgettable graphic novel. From the moment Alex steps foot back into her enigmatic hometown, I was utterly hooked.

The art style is simply breathtaking, perfectly capturing the whimsical yet melancholic atmosphere of Indigo Harbor. Each panel is a treat, bringing the peculiar charm of falling stars and witch-run tea shops to life. Alex and Grim are a delightful duo, and their friendship provides a much-needed anchor as Alex navigates the increasingly strange occurrences.

The central mystery surrounding Elizabeth is incredibly compelling, keeping you turning pages late into the night. I found myself invested in Alex's quest to uncover her grandmother's secrets and unravel the truth about this mysterious woman. While the themes of grief and acceptance are handled with a sensitive and heartfelt touch, I found myself wishing the mythology of Indigo Harbor was explored even deeper. I longed to understand more about how the city's mystique influences its inhabitants and the intriguing origins of its magic.

Despite this, "On Starlit Shores" is a triumph. It’s a beautifully crafted story that will resonate with anyone who has grappled with loss or sought to understand their past. Highly recommended for fans of heartwarming mysteries with a touch of magic!

I loved this graphic story! From animation to the plot it had me fully submerged as a reader. I actually read it twice, because I was so engrossed in it and can’t wait to see what next!!