Illustrated Girl

4.5 stars

This was absolutely unique and charming. Such a clever, cozy fantasy.
It did take me a short minute to get into the story as the author/reader/MC found her voice.
A short, quick read.

Definitely recommend.

I loved this funny, cozy feel good, angsty no spice, fairy tale. Devoured this book in less than 2 days and could not put it down. It’s been a while since a book has gripped me like this one. The character banter, sarcasm, and hilarious characters not to mention the handsome chivalrous knight. I can’t wait to read the next books in this series and read this author’s backlist.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced readers copy!!

This was a good book. I really love the world building and the characters. The pacing was really good and it was an interesting story to read

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
I really liked Illustrated Girl. It was short and cute. A perfect cozy fairy tale. I liked the characters and the story was simple but interesting.

4.75 stars

Reminds me of A Spindle Splintered & A Nameless Witch - both of which are some of my favourite books.

The beginning expostion was a bit lengthy, but once the plot started moving the pacing was great.
I personally would have preferred the protganist to be 17/18 rather than 16 but that may be because I am not a teen.
The witches/book magic was a touch confusing but I don't think it needs to be thoroughly explained to enjoy the book.
I must admit I am curious as to who Asphodel was really.
But otherwise it was a fun, sweet and modern take on a classic quest story - also gave The Princess Bride vibes.

Thank you Netgalley and Sungrazer Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

"Illustrated Girl" by Josephine Angelini is a delightful and unique fantasy adventure that delivers on both wit and charm, making it a perfect escape for readers in search of a lighthearted and entertaining story. This is the kind of book to read when you are stuck in a reading slump or if you’re literally stuck in bed. It’s so much fun, and I absolutely loved reading this book. It’s also pretty short, so you can easily knock this out in an afternoon. Whenever I have a read who says they can’t find anything “good” to read, I will definitely be recommending this book.

From the moment you dive into the pages of this book, you're immediately drawn into the world of Lucitopia, where Princess Pleasant finds herself with only 15 days to escape before being trapped forever. Filled with romance, humor, and an epic final battle against an evil sorcerer, the story unfolds with a perfect blend of excitement and whimsy.

One of the standout features of "Illustrated Girl" is its self-aware humor and relatable protagonist, which adds depth and charm. I absolutely loved the humor of Holly as she made quick jokes, like when she mocks the fantasy world she finds herself in while also providing social commentary on princess stories, like how it’s very rare for there to be a woman in the fantasy world who can actually read. Holly was extremely relatable with her sarcasm as well as her thoughts/perspectives of the fantasy world. She is also a flawed character, which made me relate to her even more, but you are able to see her grow as a character as she discovers her own strength and courage.

While the story is relatively short and quick-paced, it doesn't skimp on entertainment value. I did want some more lore and world building, but the promise of future books in the Chronicles of Lucitopia series leaves room for further exploration and discovery. There were also a lot of different characters introduced in this book, and I did find it difficult to keep track of them also, especially because of the fast pace and the shortness of the book.

Overall, "Illustrated Girl" is a charming and enjoyable read that offers a refreshing break from darker and heavier stories. With its light-hearted humor, endearing characters, and engaging plot, I definitely can’t wait to read more about the world of Lucitopia.

This clever, humorous romantasy begins with the narrator telling us that she has only 15 days to break the spell she's under. The spell? She's been turned into an illustration in a book, but alas, she has only come into the book near the end, AFTER the evil mage has taken over the world. She's spent the past 350 days hiding out at the top of a tower, because as a beautiful princess, she's just so much fodder for the bandits, ruffians, and villains of the world.

Her only way out is to have a reader fall in love with her -- she'd take a pity kiss, but sadly, nobody has even finished the book. She can't blame them, she hates books where the main character (a heroic blockhead named Torvold) gets killed off. She knows she'll die here, because, "People shoot each other in the <I>face</I> with <I>arrows</I> here. On a regular basis." The narrator needs to get out, not only because of the arrow thing, but because of the "dumbfoundinly mysogynistic" attitude of women as commodities.

So with that sassy voice established, the narrator decides to go in search of a redemption arc. Did she mention her name? Princess Pleasant, natch. After tracking down the Mother Maybe, the magic-worker who answered her wish to live in the book, the narrator slides earlier into the story, where she has the chance to save Torvold and defeat the evil mage.

I was not a fan of the author (<I>Starcrossed</I> was not to my taste), but am very glad to have picked up this novel. A rollicking self-aware story, this feels like a bit of a love-letter to all fantasy, but with a clear understanding of the genre's shortcomings (commodification of women, shallow characterizations, et cetera), as well as its charms. A pleasure from start to finish, the novel is part of a trilogy; I look forward to diving into the rest of the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sungrazer for the eARC in exchange for my unfettered opinion.

I adore this book. Our main character wanted to be whisked into a magical fairy tale world … only she neglected to read the book she picked out for herself and ends up having to be a passive witness, as Princess Pleasant, and start being an active character in her own story. It’s a book very aware of fairy tale tropes and makes use of them and deconstructs them with gleeful abandon. And it has an adorable unicorn — who ends up being my favorite character.

There’s a lot of banter and some really funny moments as well as excellent chemistry between the two main characters. Torvold the Brave, the hero of the book, is an excellent leading man, and the supporting cast of colorful characters were entertaining without being intrusive. As someone who grew up reading anything and everything with knights, this book was almost made for me, and the humor — gentle snark and self-aware jokes and characters meant to be laughed with rather than at — worked so well. One of my favorite moments was the Berating of Good Phillips the Beige.

This is an excellent YA book (and the first book in the series!), and one I really hope people give a try.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sungrazer Publishing for letting me read the advanced reader copy.

(Note for the publisher/author - two small errors: cantor instead of canter; knicker instead of nicker)

“Illustrated Girl” starts off rather slow. It does pick up, but it felt like stream-of-consciousness writing that needs revision and more editing. There are some funny scenes, but the story had trouble deciding what it wanted to riff and where it wanted to go. I don’t know. I think it got in its own way.

However, the cover is absolutely gorgeous, and I loved, loved, loved the ending. The latter bumped up my rating to a 3.5 instead of a 3.

Fair warning, there are a couple of not PG sexual references sprinkled in here, which I mention because the blurb might attract elementary school kids and middle schoolers, and the book is decidedly YA. Those references jarred me right out of the story, even though the romance itself is pretty tame. We already got that Princess Pleasant is attracted to the hottie! My two cents.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sungrazer Publishing for providing me with an eARC. I am writing this review voluntarily.

This was such a fun read! fast paced, easy to understand, but extremely; enjoyable. I finished it in a day! If you love fairytale retellings, becoming the main character, a tad a voyeurism by living through the main characters eyes, you'll love this story. It's perfect if yo want a quick light pick me up, or are in a reading slump and want to be stimulated.

As the kind of girl who always has dreamt of living in a fantasy book whilst being enough of a realist to know I'd not last five minutes, this book just brought me utter joy.

Illustrated Girl is a heartwarming, fast-paced, silly and joyful tale about Holly, a girl transported into a magical world. Holly quickly realises that whilst she might be in a fairytale and a princess, not everything is exactly as she imagined.

I really enjoyed this unique twist on a fairy tale! It was funny, recognized the inherent silliness of a modern person being stuck in a fantasy world (like pooping in the forest), and had a lot of heart.

The ebook edition that I read had a lot of errors, which really took me out of the story a lot. One example is the very beginning of Chapter 16 which says "Circe de Soleil" instead of "Cirque de Soleil". I'm not sure how thoroughly this advance copy has been edited, but I hope it will go through another round before publication!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book.

It’s such a charming and fun read! Our main character, Princess Pleasant (or actually Holly from Fresno), spent almost a year locked in her tower, but mostly stuck in a book. Lucitopia, the land she’s stuck in, is a place where tales and stories lead when the virtues die (literally) and the evil wins. Holly has had enough of hiding, especially considering she has only two weeks or so to find a real boy (or a girl) to kiss her and release her from the book universe or else she’s stuck there forever, so fuelled by her fear, armed in some small illusion spells, salt bag and multiple daggers in various locations on her person (that she learned how to use exceptionally well during her time in the tower), goes to find Mother Maybe, a person she considers responsible for her current situation, to ask for some change. And the change she gets.

I loved Princess Pleasant and her adventures. The character was written perfectly - she was not a Mary Sue like in many YA novels, but a relatable person with flaws and quirks, as well as amazing dagger throwing skills and sense of humour. Other side characters were also interesting, it was easy to care for them, to root for them, to pay attention. The story was also great. Creative, surprising but reasonable considering the characters and their choices.
My only issue was the beginning of the book, it felt a bit chaotic and it only seemed to start making sense 2-3 chapters in.

4,5/5 rounded up

This book completely blew me away. It was like a mashup of T Kingfisher, Inkheart, and a D&D campaign. It was so genuinely funny, adventurous, and heartwarming. The worldbuilding was amazingly shown and the story was completely immersive. I read it in one sitting because I just couldn’t stop.

The beautiful cover drew me in and the amazing storytelling kept me reading, I loved the characters which made it so easy to read.

"Illustrated Girl" is like a sunny stroll through a whimsical world, perfect for those who love light-hearted adventures. Its carefree spirit and playful twists make it a fun read, though sometimes it feels like it's trying to do too much at once.

There's no denying the charm of the story, with its amusing moments and playful twists, but it does occasionally trip over itself, unsure of where exactly it's headed. One thing that threw me off guard was the inclusion of some not-so-kid-friendly content, which felt out of place given the book's target audience of young adults.

The main character's self-awareness reminded me of an old favorite, "Babes in Toyland," which added a nostalgic touch. The ending, very much reminiscent of "Babes in Toyland," left lingering questions about the blurred lines between fiction and reality.

With its stunning cover and cozy ending, reminiscent of a classic fairy tale, "Illustrated Girl" has its allure. While I'm uncertain about delving into the rest of the series yet, there's a simplicity to the narrative that may draw me back in.

I love the premise of the story and the feminist undertone in the book. The book has a witty tone which will make it fun for teenagers to read this. I am just not sure about some of the words used in the book which are marginally inappropriate for teenagers.

This book was a quick read aimed at a middle school or young ya audience but I still enjoyed the unique spin to a fairytale story the character were likeable and the plot fast paced enough to make it a fun read

This book was such an interesting concept and I ate it up! Absolutely full of fun, adventure, awesome characters, love, and full of heart. I had a great time reading it! And the cover is absolutely stunning! Can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy for my shelf!

This was a quirky, funny and enjoyable read for the most part. I found this book more aimed at Middle school aged young people, not so much for adults, however I did find myself chuckling along. The writer for sure has a sense of humour. Thank you again for allowing me to read and review this book.

Oh Em Gee!!! I loved this sooo much! Even after finishing it I felt like I was having withdrawals because I wanted more! Such a fun quick cute quirky cozy fantasy with a touch of a cutesy romance!

In this book, we are following Holly who is transported into a book. Like an actual book she was reading. The book she was transported into is called The Chronicles of Lucitopia. However she gets transported into the near end of the book where readers typically stop reading because of something that happens to the main character, Holly can get out of the book, on only one condition. She has to be kissed by a real person! Not a person from the book, but more so a reader possibly?

Holly manages to get herself reinserted earlier into the book. She is the character Princess Pleasant and she embarks on a quest with the virtuous Sir Knight Torvold and his Squire. We follow them on their adventures and their ever-growing troop.

Illustrated Girl is full of funny, quirky little jokes and scenes, really good character growth, cute romance and a plot twist that will really get you.

Side note: I was on a date last night and for the entire duration, told my date the entire plot of this book and even he was ultimately intrigued!

I can’t wait to read the next 3 books that are rumored to be released later this year.

Thank you to NetGalley for the Arc in exchange for an honest review.

This YA romance (younger end of YA or at least lighter end of romance) has a sassy sense of humour! The premise of a real world teen trapped inside a fairy tale book was interesting, and the author included many sly mentions of various well known fairy tales in a world that is itself well detailed and descriptive, reminiscent of those tales we know so well. The pace was satisfying and I was compelled to read on to find out if our heroine is freed to join the real world once more. I did think the characters were a bit flat and one dimensional, but the fantastical setting balanced them out. I also thought that while the sassy tone added much humour and irreverence to the story, occasional flippant wording didn’t always live up to my inclusive standards.

I’m not the target audience, and did not completely connect with the voice, which at times was too angsty, deprecating, or wordy - but also at times quite clever. Teenager me would’ve loved this and devoured the rest of the series, but adult me prefers prose that is a bit more polished. Overall though this is a fun fairy tale!

Thank you to Netgalley and Sungrazer Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, I really enjoyed this book. It was so much fun to read and I really enjoyed the FMC, she's so funny. I loved the ending and I just in general love the story and the idea of someone getting trapped inside of a book, because let's face it we all have wished it would happen to us.

I did find one typo, End of chapter 9 where it says" "What the matter" Torvold asks" it's missing the s for "what's".

Thank you to NetGalley, Josephine Angelini, and the publishers for allowing me access to the e-Arc.

4.25 stars

I have found this book to be a lot of fun. It is definitely a cozy fantasy but with some great adventure to it. I love the quirky characters. Our main character is hilarious. I enjoyed the fact that she references things in the real world where she came from. I will say that the middle part lost me a little but then it picked back up again. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this series. I’m curious to see where it goes.

I highly recommend it, if you love cozy fantasy.

Thank you very much for providing me with an ARC copy of this book.

This was an excellent and light-hearted read to jump into after reading more dense and serious fantasy books. This book is a great fantasy palette cleanser and is such a fun read. It is on the more YA side (barring a few not so YA references). It definitely has some funny moments and jokes throughout which helps solidify the books as a ‘cozy adventure’. However, there are still plenty of traditional fantasy elements and it reminded me quite a bit of Inkheart which I used to enjoy when I was younger. You still get the world building, twists and turns, and character development but without being overly serious. I would recommend reading this after a heavy/long/serious book to get the most benefit from it. I would say it is on the lighter side of a romantasy and is more of a sweet story than one with lots of romantic details which is in line with it being more of a YA read. The universe it is set in has lots of fun ideas and there are definitely some great opportunities for future developments. The only thing I would say the beginning is a little less polished but this definitely picks up throughout and didn’t take away from the overall book for me 😊

I loved it! A girl is stuck inside the book and needs a kiss from a real boy to escape. Simple concept but great execution. Funny, colourful and sweet. Beautiful YA read.

First of all, thank you to NetGalley, Sungrazer Publishing and Josephine Angelini for allowing me to read the ARC to "Illustrated Girl" in exchange for an honest review.

Something right off the bat, the cover is absolutely stunning, which is the first reason how I got interested in the book, I will not lie.

Luckily, I did not get disappointed by the content either.

The main character, Holly, does get her wish granted and is thrown into the fictional world of a book where she does play the role of Princess Pleasant, however, she discovers very quickly that to live in said fictional, fantasy world is not as pleasant as she imagined it to be. Holly has 15 days to leave the world of Lucitopia before she is trapped there forever and ever but to achieve that, a kiss is required and of course, this exposes itself to be not as easy as one think. Along the way, there is a lot of adventure, banter and danger, and a knight.

I did overall enjoy the book very much, the self aware humour of the main character did lure more than one chuckle from me. I loved the character development you were able to witness first hand, since the book is written from the POV of the main character.

It was a funny, romantic read, even though I admit it did took a while for me to get captured, but it was absolutely worth it.

The Chronicles of Lucitopia. Becoming the Main Character of Your Favorite Book.


This is what happened to Holly, or more accurately now, Princess Pleasant. A spell transports her into the fairytale "The Chronicles of Lucitopia", except she became her favorite character too late in the story. Instead of becoming the hero and stopping the evil sorcerer, she transports into the book world after it becomes a land of the malevolent and the nefarious.

Now, Holly has to fix this mess of a world she has magically transported to.

We then meet a heroic knight, who is righteous, honorable, and noble. The clock is ticking, though! This is the part that brought me memories of Labyrinth by A.C.H Smith, based on the movie directed by the puppet movie featuring David Bowie. So much time does she have before her brother is turned to a goblin! She must get past the riddles, the traps, and reach the castle before she can get her brother back.

In this story, Holly has but fifteen days or she is stuck in this odd world forever, never to return to her life outside of a little novel. I will say, the story dragged on in some parts. I wanted to be enthralled like I had been with The Labyrinth, but it was hard to get through at times.

How does Holly successfully leave this land of ink and pages? She must kiss a human boy.

This was a funny spin on a good storyline, inserting many hilarious scenes. The ending was well worth getting to the end. This story is sweet and fantastical, and so ridiculous at times. There is excitement and whimsy, and the final boss fight is magnificent.

I would add this novel to my list of cozy fantasy books. There are more and more every year. I hope this trend does not stop its momentum. They are of full of cinnamon-roll type characters. Slowing down, falling in love, often in a sweet and charming way; with a dash of mundanity. Such a tame, heartwarming side quest. Readers, enjoy the sweetness of this bookish cozy love story 🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 Stars!

Imagine this: you've always daydreamed about diving headfirst into your favorite story and becoming the hero, right? Well, that's exactly what happens to Holly, but let me tell ya, timing is everything in this gig.

So, Holly accidentally finds herself smack dab in the middle of "The Chronicles of Lucitopia," a fairy tale land that's gone seriously sideways. We're talking grifter grandmas, breath that could knock out a dragon, and no working toilets in sight. Yeah, it's a hot mess. Holly lands the role of Princess Pleasant, but guess what? She's fashionably late, showing up just as some evil sorcerer turns Lucitopia into a rusty old nightmare.

But fear not! With her trusty (and dreamy) knight sidekick, Holly's off to fix this mess before it's too late. She's got a tight deadline, though – just fifteen days to save the day, or she's stuck in this chaos forever. And considering she's overdue for her shots, that's not exactly a picnic.

"Illustrated Girl" is like a rollercoaster you can't get enough of – fast-paced, hilarious, and totally addictive. Seriously, I tore through it in a day flat! The characters are pure gold. . Our dear Holly, with her infectious humor and relatable quirks, serves as a beacon of light amidst the chaos of Lucitopia. And oh, the nods to our own world! Angelini masterfully infuses the story with playful references and clever deconstructions of fairy tale tropes, inviting readers to revel in the joy of literary self-awareness.

Sure, the writing's a bit chatty, but that's part of the charm. It's like your BFF telling you a crazy story, complete with laugh-out-loud moments and heart-pounding action. And let me tell you, that final showdown? Epic doesn't even begin to cover it.

"Illustrated Girl" is an adventure like no other. It's sweet, it's fantastical, and yeah, it's downright ridiculous at times – but isn't that what makes a story unforgettable?

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book hooked me from start to finish, and I read it in one evening. I can't wait to have it on my shelf when it comes out! The only criticisms I really had was that I wish I knew what was going on with the villain because the information we were given wasn't fully explained and confusing. Maybe I missed something, maybe the villain will be better explained in the second book, I don't know. But other than that, I adored this cozy adventure and am eagerly anticipating the next book!