Forgive Me Not by Mari Costa
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was my first graphic novel and wow, I LOVED it! The story pulled me in right away. Aisling is a changeling raised as a princess, and then Forget Me Not (the actual heir) shows up and kidnaps her to take her back to the Faerie realm... and that’s when everything gets so good. The fantasy world was super dreamy and magical, and the art? STUNNING. Every page was just so pretty to look at, especially the scenes in Faerie.

The sapphic enemies-to-lovers tension between Aisling and Not was everything!!! Slow burn, emotional, and done so well. Their relationship had layers, and I loved seeing it shift over time.

This book gave me all the queer fairytale vibes I didn’t know I needed. Gorgeous art, great characters, a touch of angst, and a magical world I would 100% visit.

Highly recommend if you’re into fantasy + slow burn + queer romance. 💕🧚‍♀️

This was a fun and slightly silly graphic novel! I've been reading Kay O'Neil's Tea Dragon series, and while this is slightly higher stakes, it was really fun! On top of that, I really enjoyed the illustration style!

I'm not a huge graphic novel reader, but the cover art for this was so gorgeous I knew I needed the whole thing immediately. And I absolutely loved it!! Aisling and Not's story had me grinning, giggling, and wiping away tears as they traversed through a beautifully illustrated faerie world. Theirs is story of belonging, acceptance, life taking a different path than you had perhaps planned, and coming to terms with all that it brings. Altogether it was a heart-warming escape into a magical fairy tale that I desperately needed and sorely miss.

Absolutely lovely. A cute queer fairy tale that takes the trope of a knight saving a princess and turns it on its head. The story itself was lovely and inventive. It sticks to the traditional fairy tale ideas that everyone knows but manages to change the story in ways that made it feel fresh and interesting. Forget-me-not in particular is wonderfully done. A butch former princess by birth turned fae slayer is so fun, and watching her fall for changeling double was marvelous. I personally LOVE when a character tells a fantasy story in world and then we watch that story come true, and this was a hit as well. I love the idea of the tears bringing the princess back to life after she saves her knight. It's such a lovely little twist on the story and I think it worked incredibly well.

What gorgeous illustrations, and what a gorgeous story to go along with them! Forgive-Me-Not made for such a creative and cute addition to the fairy tale cannon, both playing into tropes and flipping them around at the same time. I relished the slow and steady way Not and Aisling's trust developed, the way they challenged each other to think beyond what they knew and comforted each other through the confusing bits. I also very much appreciated the brevity of the 'scary' climax which allowed the story to stay cozy, quirky, and quippy.

I AM ABSOLUTELY SQUEALING

This story is one for the fairytale romantics that never stopped believing true love is the realest form of magic out there. Every part of this story from the plot and premise to the characters and illustrations was a complete delight for my soul. Yes it had its cheesy and predictable moments but I am not even mad because it was just such a beautiful story and it really touched my little gay heart.

I do have to say I was truly blown away by the art of this graphic novel. The colors were gorgeous and the illustrations were just so perfect and really did an amazing job at aiding in helping tell the story through facial expressions, gestures and the like. The characters were also just so superb, the banter between them was excellent and the enemies to lovers was done well. The perfect amount of tension giving way to fondness.

I am so excited for this book to be released.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced reading copy. Release date for this publication is April 14, 2026

This book was absolutely adorable and the art is AMAZING! I couldn’t put it down. When they figured out they loved each other and that true love conquers all I teared up a bit. ESPECIALLY when they told the King and Queen the truth. I love that it’s a HEA!!!

This is a cute graphic novel about a princess who discovers that she is a faerie changeling and about the girl whose place she took, who instead grew up as a servant to the cruel and unpredictable inhabitants of the faerie world.

The story has only a few twists and turns, as dictated by the graphic format, which requires more concise storytelling, but we still get to learn valuable details about the world inhabited by the heroines. I liked the dynamics between the two, but that's somewhat of a given that such a story will have a lovely dynamics between the protagonists as they cease to see just adversaries in one another. So I should rather mention that it’s also remarkable how the royal family’s relationships are depicted.

Publication date: April 14, 2026.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an eARC through NetGalley. The impressions above are my own.

First of all thank you First Second Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC. I enjoyed every second of Aisling and Not's journey. I finished reading this in one sitting and was not able to put it down. From the magic of the illustrations to the world itself, it's safe to say I genuinely loved getting to know this world and its characters.

This is super cute and I really enjoyed it. The characters and storyline are great and a lot of fun. It's a unique twist on changelings and princesses that is very satisfying to read.

The art style is cute and fun, with very expressive characters. I really like the unusual color palette, with a lot of browns in the backgrounds of the panels. It adds to the whimsical fairy forest feel.

*Thanks to First Second for providing an early copy for review.

Stop this was so cute. This was my first graphic novel per se. And all I can say is I loved it. The story. The illustrations. Just everything.

This was my first graphic novel and ARE WE JOKING?? THAT WAS THE CUTEST THING EVER.

It was a clear storyline. The drawings. The characters. The FEELINGS.

Certainly my first graphic novel but not my last.

*thank you to Netgalley and First Second Books for the eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.*

this was such a lovely and magical story! i'm always drawn to narratives involving fae, and the way that this author, Mari Costa, crafted characters and a world around the legends of changlings, the trickery and cruelty of unseelie fae, and the power of someone's true name is so so good. the illustrations are beautiful and stunning, i couldn't stop reading. i loved how the main characters' personalities developed throughout the story, from being quite set on their own paths, to slowly understanding each other's stories. 5/5 stars!

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for the arc copy of “Forgive Me Not” for review. This beautifully illustrated graphic novel focuses on our main characters Aisling, a fae changeling who has only known life as a princess, and Forget Me Not, the true princess who kidnaps Aisling to bring her back to faerie realm.

Firstly I loved the illustration style of this graphic novel. The details and color choices really added to the overall story and especially created depth to the setting. When Aisling and Not are making their way through Faerie the panels were beautiful.

Secondly I thought that the sapphic enemies to lovers storyline was done well and I liked how their relationship developed. The original circumstances may have had them against each other but I liked how they grew to be kinder towards each other over time.

I also appreciated the addition of Fairweather as a character and thought that their time spent with her was a cute moment in the story. She balanced out the crueler aspect of other Fae characters.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and will definitely recommend it.

Princess Aisling has the perfect royal life, about to celebrate her 18th birthday. She's excited to pick a suitor, and live her adult life. Until she's awoken by an intruder, who reveals her true Fae form and whisks her away back to the land of Faerie. She wants to go back to being human and going home to the kingdom she was raised in and has to figure out a way back.

This was so cute and wonderful, it made me tear up, especially at the end. Such a perfect sapphic read for teens & up!

I’ve unintentionally ended up reading so many ff queer novels while going through arcs but it’s been the vibe. I don’t normally read fantasy graphic novels, in fact this is my first. I was pleasantly surprised - this entire plot was so cute and I love the tropes of switched at birth, enemies to lovers, and cursed 𝓟𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓼𝓼 vibes. I really don’t have complaints about this book, I was engaged from start to finish. Thank you first second books and NetGalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review!

What happens when the changeling has to go back to the fairies? That is sort of what this book’s premise is, but it is also more. What if the human that was exchanged is the one that takes the changeling back?


Aisling is almost 18 years old, and has only known being anything but a human. She is also a princess. And a week before her birthday, a young woman, Forget-me-not, comes to her, and takes away her glamor so that she sees her true form, and takes her to the fairy realm to be with her true father.


Or rather that is the plan. But Aisling is not stupid, just a bit neive, and once she gets the hang of the fairy realm and realizes that Not (Forget-me-not’s nick name) is doing, she comes up with a different plan.


And like all good romantacies, there are instances where there is only one bed, and they have to be together for warmth, all those fun tropes we have grown to know and love.


The drawings are lovely. The humor and story is cute and quick. I very much enjoyed the romance, once it came together, between these two young women. A thoroughly delightful romp. All the stars.


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book is being published on the 14th of April 2026.

I have been a HUGE fan of Mari Costa for years (like, I was reading Peritale when it was releasing new pages and have a copy of Life of Melody from the kickstarter campaign before it was traditionally published), so I was so extremely excited to read her upcoming graphic novel! I was especially excited because I've seen her posting about these characters for so long now I absolutely couldn't wait to read their story!

In the author's note, Mari says how the story is incredibly self indulgent for them and I would have to say it ticks all the boxes for me as well. I love stories about the fae, magic, and romance, even better making it gay! Overall this was such a sweet. lovely read and I would highly recommend it, especially if you liked Mari's other works, or other graphic novels like The Princess and The Grilled Cheese Sandwich or Estranged!

Mari Costa books will forever have my heart. I haven’t read a single one that didn’t melt my heart and make me believe in love again.

A young princess wakes up one night to a knife at her throat and a girl telling her to wake up, that she was being kidnapped. This is how she found out that she’s a channeling and the girl who is kidnapping her is the true princess that was kidnapped at birth.

Not only is this knife-to-throat, but there was only one bed (or rather only one spot next to a camp fire where they had to cuddle for warmth) and enemies-to-lovers. This is definitely a graphic novel for Romantasy and faerie lovers!!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my eARC.

Thank you First Second Books for a digital arc edition from NetGalley. This story contained great lore, exceptional art, and a comfy cozy creepy sapphic adventure that, while predictable, was lovely. Folkslayer Forget-Me-Not “Not” and Aisling the hobgoblin were both annoying and endearing in the way teens are. The author-artist is fond of double page spreads and full page illustrations that also blew me away! I’ll adjust this review with my full thoughts plus a video review shortly, but for now I highly recommend!