Fairest of All: The Graphic Novel

Whatever After Graphic Novels #1

by Anu Chouhan (Illustrator), Sarah Mlynowski

The magic of the New York Times and PW bestselling Whatever After series comes to life in this brand-new graphic novel adaptation that will appeal to fans of Raina and Wings of Fire alike! Fractured fairy tales have never been this fun. Once upon a time, Abby and her little brother, Jonah, were ordinary kids. The next minute? The mirror in their basement slurped them up and magically transported them into the fairy tale of Snow White . Yes, really! When Abby and Jonah stop Snow from eating the poison apple, they think they're heroes. But wait! If Snow doesn't die, she won't meet her prince and get her happy ending. Oops. Now it's up to Abby and Jonah-- with some help from Snow and the seven dwarfs--to outwit the witch and save the famous fairy tale in time. But what if Snow's REAL happy ending is something else entirely? Bestselling author Sarah Mlynowski and award-winning illustrator Anu Chouhan join forces to bring us this vibrant, action-packed, enchanting graphic novel adventure that will appeal to fans of fairy tales, Raina Telgemeier, The Land of Stories, and all magical, empowering adventures.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Fairy Tales, Childrens, Retellings, Magic

160 pages, Hardcover

Published April 2, 2024

Reviews

[sarah سارة ꫂ᭪ · Rating 4 out of 5]

❝Here's the thing about adventures. I prefer reading about them. Not having them.❞

⊹₊♡⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

this honestly wasn't bad. it was pretty accurate to the original book (except abby's pajamas were supposed to be lime green and her jewelry box didn't include the other fairy tale characters) but that was all i noticed that differed from the original. i LOVED the art style and how the story line didn't really leave anything out (except a little background at the beginning). this was a really good remake!!

4/5 🌟

⊹₊♡⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

pre-read

not my favorite children's book series making a graphic novel 🤭
guess who snatched up got the e-book

⊹₊♡⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

[Arisha (Free Palestine 🇵🇸) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would love to see this as an animated tv show

This is actually a really good adaptation. The art was adorable and it suited the story really well. I can’t wait to read the next one!

[mia :) · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was so cute!! i LOVED the whatever after series as a kid and i was so excited to receive an advance copy of the graphic novel. the illustrations were so cute and the story flowed well. definite recommend!!i received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was adorable! Loved the art and story, and we’re already excited for the next one.

[adri♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

read ARC :)

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and fun and fast moving. Modernizing but not preachy about it.

[Kat Kunz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book! It’s been awhile since I read the original books but I think I like the graphic novels better!

[Law · Rating 3 out of 5]

Representation: Black and Asian characters
Trigger warnings: Near-death experience
Score: Six out of ten.

The illustrated adaptation of Fairest of All, part of the illustrated version of the Whatever After series, written by Sarah Mlynowski and illustrated by Any Chouhan, was disappointing.

It starts with Abby and Jonah in the world of Snow White. Their goal is to fix the storyline so that it makes sense but they change it in the end.

The art has only one full-colour palette when more would have helped. The eyes are wide and consistent but lack detail because a black circle represents both the iris and pupil when two colours would have made them more effective. Additionally, the tone feels bright and oversaturated but toning that down would make a better read.

The pacing is overwhelmingly swift at 160 pages but leaves little room for a plot, yet adding more pages to slow and expand it always helps.

While the characters are likable, all lack general relatability value, depth and development when more would help.

The worldbuilding is vague and does not answer some questions such as who ruined Snow White and why and how would they do that. However, more thought-out worldbuilding would improve Fairest of All.

There are racially diverse dwarves in the illustrated adaptation of Fairest of All and the prince is a person of colour. However, this choice is a sign of tokenism because the diversity is there to tick a box rather than add anything meaningful to the story. Still, not letting the dwarves fade away into the background would help.

The conclusion is okay.

[Rubi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as Good as the original! 😄

Loved this retelling of Snow White!
And love rereading Abby and Jonah'd adventures in this new medium with fun artwork 😍
Snow decides to fight back after her initial fear and her price is the one that needs saving 🤭 hehe
Such a fun story! MUST READ for any old and new fans of the Whatever After series!

[Nicole Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abby and her brother, Jonah, have fallen through a mirror in their basement and accidentally messed up Snow White's fairy tale. Can they get things back on track before it is too late? I was pleasantly surprised by this book, although I have not read the original chapter-book version. I found Abby and her brother to be realistic siblings, I loved that Abby often referred to the "real/original" Grim fairy tale versions, and I enjoyed the added diversity of characters within the fairy tale. The illustrations were cute and bubbly but still able to not distract from the difficulties the characters faced in the story. But most of all, I loved that Snow White was not only given agency in this novel but becomes the hero in many ways (an issue I have always had with the original princess stories). So overall, a great way to get a Princess kids into books and perhaps start thinking of Princesses with power.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a blast! This makes me want to read the entire middle grade series, even as an adult!

This is incredibly exciting to see this as a graphic novel, and I loved the way it was laid out, illustrated, and told. :-)

[Roxxi Wiggles · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series I lived growing up gets a new adaptation?!?! Yes queen

[Stephanie]

I would have LOVED these books as a little girl! Super cute!

[Hayden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was so good!!

[Michelle Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a fun read with my 1st grader. He has listened to the audiobooks of all the original books and was excited to see that a graphic novel was out on book 1.

[theutterchaosthatismylife · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

In this graphic novel adaptation of the first book in the long running Whatever After series (which started in 2012), we meet Abby, who has just moved from Chicago to Smithville with her lawyer parents and younger brother, Jonah. When Jonah wakes Abby up in the middle of the night, claiming that a mirror in the basement is hissing at him. Not wanting to wake her parents, Abby goes with him to find out that the mirror actually IS hissing if they knock on it twice. When Jonah knocks on it three times, the mirror sucks the children in, and the land in a fantasy world. They see a woman knocking on a door, trying to sell apples. Since Jonah is always hungry, he wants the apple, but the children find out that it is the evil queen who is trying to get to Snow White! Abby quickly realizes that since she is in the story and has saved Snow White from being poisoned, she won't be found by the prince. She decides to make things right, which involves, at different points, sitting with Snow at the top of a hill waiting for the prince, breaking into the castle, and eventually saving Snow White AND introducing her to the prince. Since this is a modern tale, Snow is leery of marrying the prince right away, and they decide to slow things down and just go to dinner first. The mirror sends Abby and Jonah back home, where they are very glad to see their parents but curious about how Gabrielle and MaryRose are stuck in the mirror. As we know, there are many more adventures for the siblings as this series continues.
Strengths: This graphic novel is nicely illustrated in a colorful style in keeping with the Helen Huang covers of the originals. As far as I can remember, this stays close to the original, but adds a little diversity in the depiction of the dwarves which may or may not be in the other version. Jonah's little brother quirks, like eating cheese puffs dipped in ketchup, are preserved, and we get a glimpse of Abby's difficulties with her new home that are more developed in later volumes. Snow White has a nice balance of the traditional princess tropes and more modern, feministic characteristics. The evil queen doesn't really have any redeeming qualities, but she does have a great castle. This will fly off the shelves.
Weaknesses: I've always been a little confused about the genesis of the mirror, but so is Abby. This bothers me in the way that Osborne's Magic Tree House series bothers me; can we just have a volume explaining how the time traveling is occurring? Young readers won't be so picky.
What I really think: The publishers won't like this, but I will probably only buy the first volume of what I imagine will be a graphic novel series. Why? I've already bought fifteen of the regular books, which take up a whole shelf. Some of my sixth grade girls love them, but the books struggle to find other readers. A graphic novel might entice readers to pick up other titles, but since the story is the same, buying all of the graphic novels feels like duplicating a series that doesn't get that much use. There's only so much space in my library and money to spend. I imagine elementary schools or public libraries will buy all of the books.

[Aiko (Temiko) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating perspective comes from a person whose read the novel more than once:

I love the original novel and rated it a 5 star. Here I will list why I did not give the graphic novel the same rating.

1. Jonah was overshadowed by Abby.
Look, it's obvious that Abby is the main character and Jonah is her brother, the side-kick. The original novel is written from Abby's point of view, and the cover usually only showcases Abby. However, what the novel does that this graphic novel did not, was show why Abby and Jonah make a good team. In the novel, we know that Abby is the responsible big sister, and Jonah is the little brother that often messes up because he's simply just a kid (Abby is a kid too but we see her as more mature... the tale is told from her perspective and Abby wants us to see it that way). If you actually pay attention to the novel, we often see Abby's weaknesses such as her overconfidence and tendency to be narrow-minded and Jonah's strength to pull through and aid Abby in these moments. Unfortunately, a lot of the actions and dialogue that Jonah has that shows this partnership is cut out and Jonah's smarter dialogue is given to Abby. Therefore, those who only read the graphic novel and do not read the original series may has a more negative bias opinion of Jonah as the annoying brother of Abby, and Abby will be showing more obvious characteristics of being a know-it-all and lacking character growth.

These decisions were likely made to cut some panels but I think giving back some of Jonah's dialogue is still possible with those panel constraints.

2. Art style.
Simply not a fan. But I am also not the target audience.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abby and Jonah get sucked into a mirror in the basement of their new house that drops them into the Snow White fairy tale. When they accidentally stop Snow White from getting her happily ever after, can they get the story back on track and find their way home?

This is the graphic novel adaptation of the novel, and from what I remember, it is quite close to the original in content. It's a fun fairy tale/portal adventure, and Abby learns an important lesson about change not always being a bad thing (something she was struggling with because of their recent move). I also like that they added depth to the story by having the prince and Snow decide they'll get to know each other before deciding anything as serious as marriage. I have a devoted fan of the series who gasped in delight when I told her this was coming soon to our shelves.

Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: A kind of kiss (actually mouth to mouth resuscitation).
Violence: The evil queen tries repeatedly to kill Snow but isn't successful.
Ethnic diversity: Abby, her brother, and Snow appear to be white. The dwarves have a variety of skin tones.
LGBTQ+ content: None specified
Other: Abby and Jonah want to tell their parents about their adventure but the mirror tells them bad things will happen if they do.

[Melanie Dulaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent graphic adaptation of Sarah Mlynowski’s traditional format series opener! Light-hearted spin on the classic Snow White fairy tale with present day Abby and Jonah being sent back in time to the point in the story when the evil stepmother tries to get Snow to eat a poisoned apple. When Jonah causes that to awry, the brother-sister duo have to figure out a way to get the fairy tale princess back on track to be rescued by a prince and have her happily ever after and then get back home. Modern day twists on the careers for the seven dwarves and on who does the rescuing and how with the promise of more adaptations of the popular Whatever After series to come! The graphic panels, courtesy of Anu Chouhan (graphic adaptation of the Aru Shah series) are outstanding in their ARC black and white form so I’m sure the final copies will be even better. An absolute must have for graphic novels collections for those in grade 2-5. Text is free of profanity and sexual content and the evil intentions of the step-mother against Snow White are scantily described and pictured.

Thanks for the print arc, Scholastic Graphix!

[Alix · Rating 5 out of 5]

A refreshing read that reminds me a lot of the Magic Tree House series, except it’s about fairytale adventures! Abby and Jonah gets sucked into Snow White’s story and things did not turn out the way the original stories were told. Instead, the story inputted modern societal changes, i.e. you don’t need to wait for a man to save you when you’re in distress or that you need to follow what is destined for you.

I find that interesting that the author could find a way to relate these traits into the reading for young readers who are still learning how to live in society; it is an indirect yet quite obvious to pick up for readers. I look forward to reading the rest of the series! I also find the illustrations to be quite nice to look at, as it reminds me of the new Babysitter’s Club graphic novels; cleanly drawn and color palette is soft.

[Jessica Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded to 4

Author Sarah Mlynowski’s text is paired down in this adaptation to fit with award-winning illustrator Anu Chouhan’s expressive illustrations. In fact, while Mlynowski’s story and pacing provides a strong framework, it’s Chouhan’s artwork does most of the heavy lifting here. And it’s because of that artwork that this series is likely to gain an entirely new group of fans.

Fairest of All is a sort of feminist retelling where Snow White takes matters into her own hands — including taking time to get to know her prince before deciding to marry him.

Young readers will speed through this graphic novel that pairs modern sensibilities with fairy tale magic. It’s not the “deepest” graphic novel I’ve read, but it’s certainly entertaining.

[Mandi with Red Quill Editorial · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book after my daughter read it for our mom/daughter book club. We've read several of the Whatever After novel series, but my daughter really enjoys graphic novels, so she was excited to see they are converting the novels into graphic novels. This was my first graphic novel. Fairest of All was cute and followed the storyline of the original novel pretty well, with the pretty illustrations depicting the parts that would normally be written as exposition/narrative. I liked when Abby was telling Snow about the fairy tale she stars in and it would show a cloth backdrop behind them. It's also fun to see how Abby and Jonah (brother and sister) will fix the stories they accidentally mess up.

[Wunderdrugged · Rating 4 out of 5]

This title is nominated for the 2026 Hackmatack Award in the English Fiction category. I was not familiar with the series that this graphic adaptation was based on, so I can't say how true it stays to the original story. However, I will say that the story was a lot of fun! The illustrations were eye catching and the panels were easy to follow. I really like the idea of Abby & Jonah getting sucked into fairy tales through an enchanted mirror. My favourite thing about the story is how Snow White takes charge of her story, and decides that getting married is not necessarily the key to 'happily ever after'....especially to some guy you don't really know. I would recommend this graphic novel fans who are into fairy tales.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this fast-paced graphic novel adaptation of the fractured fairy tale, sister and brother Abby and Jonah find themselves sucked into a magic mirror in their new home and transported into the story of Snow White. They keep Snow White from eating the poisoned apple from her evil stepmother, but will that change her fate forever and keep her from marrying her prince and having her happily ever after? The problem solving strategies used by Abby, Jonah, and Snow White to get the fairy tale back on track combined with the modern day twists on the story and great illustrations will make this a hit with readers.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty clever fairy tale deconstruction for kids. I've heard of the chapter book series this graphic novel is adapting, and I think this adaptation will pull in some new readers. Main character Abby is smart and good at planning, something that makes her stand out from a lot of kidlit protagonists. The actual fairy tale adaptation brings in elements from the darker versions and goes in a few unexpected directions, including adding what I think is a novel but also totally logical motivation for the evil queen. Not sure if I'd continue with this series, but I do see that there's an Oz adaptation later on. I'd be interested in that one, at least.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across this graphic novel at my daughter’s elementary school book fair. This delightful, colorful read is perfect for young readers who love a twist on a classic fairy tale. In this story, two young kids travel through a magical mirror to the land of Snow White. When they inadvertently compromise her happily ever after, they set off on an adventure to set the story straight and find a way home. This is cute, clever and a lot of fun. I loved the illustrations! This book is quite simple in the scheme of things, but I’ll definitely read more of the series (or perhaps try the chapter books upon which it is based).

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Would be better without the feminist jargon. I think people forget that there is nothing wrong with the uplifting of men. Women should not be empowered at the expense of men! The lack of real men in literature, especially for young ones, and the propagation of soft docile men is absolutely disgusting. This book also falls in line with the many others that think they need to cater to the lgbtq+ minority by briefly including them. Yikes.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way too fast paced to really get into it, but as a novel to graphic adaptation, that makes sense. Interesting story of siblings falling through a magic mirror into Snow White's story and "messing" it up and then trying to "fix" it. I liked the kids but this felt very, very juvenile to me; like good for 2nd or 3rd graders. Probably great for fans of the original series!

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great addition for graphic novels. I have read the original novel, which I also really enjoyed. I like how these fairytales get twisted around and how characters are developed. I think this graphic novel will help others to get into the series.
2024 pop sugar reading challenge- a book that takes place over 24 hours.