Nothing Special, Vol 1 - Review

Author: Katie Cook

Genre: Fantasy / Graphic Novel

Format: Hardback

Pages: 416

Listen by now you know I judge books by their covers. It's why I picked up half the books I read, and Nothing Special: Through the Elder Woods was another one of those books. The bright colors, the fun title, and the terrified human falling from the sky all came together to promise me a fun and adorable read. Which this was! I also jumped into this with limited knowledge of what would happen. I don't think I even read the back of the book before snagging it from the library. 

So floating dead radish ghost, was not expecting that. He's the best part of the whole book though. I wouldn't mind having him as a pet.

All of the characters in this were cool and mostly well-rounded. I say mostly because we didn't see much of Callie's father, he pops up at the end of the book. So while we know what he is, we didn't get to see much of him. Other than how much he loves his daughter. As for our three companions, they were great! Callie is fun main character who has some flaws but is strong and determined to save her father. Declan is a lot of fun, I love his little pink wings and how much he cares for Callie. I was so rooting for them to get together. And, so thankful we didn't drag that over several volumes of will they, won't they. 

Seriously, Katie Cook gets top points for making her characters communicate to each other. I mean the dad kept secrets, but that's just like fantasy genre code at this point. Parents lie, I'd be confused if a parent wasn't keeping a secret from their child. In this case, I don't know how you explain your mother is a tree. So, there's that!

But! before I spoil too much. I liked the plot of this as well. The introduction of Lasser our moral grey little demon who was upfront about his ill intent, but fell for Callie with fantasy level weakness. But was a fun little side character with his sharp tongue and quick wit. Lasser and Raddish had me giggling more than anything. Despite the heft of this book, it's well over four hundred pages, and the plot does move quickly. And you learn a little about the fantasy world as you go. 

Cook's art is amazing from start to finish. It's super bright, colorful, and full of so much detail. Each panel helps propel the story along, adding to the plot here and there. Giving it a little more drama, a little more romance, and a little more comedy. Each panel is full to the brim of details so you don't just blow through each page. You sit and look at each panel and try to pull in all the details.

I absolutely enjoyed this and I cannot wait for the second volume to come out. Which hits shelves this October. So there's a wait.

HAPPY READING!!