Catherine de' Medici, The Flying Squadron - Volume 1 - The Good Girl

by Manon Textoris

In mid-16th century France, at the royal court, the queen's spies use their charms and talents to disarm her enemies and learn their secrets, often in the bedchamber. Among them is the young and naive Gabrielle, who's trying to find her place in the so-called "flying squadron" of Catherine de' Medici. Author Manon Textoris offers an exquisite and charming account of courtly life.

Genres: Graphic Novels, History

115 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 28, 2023

Reviews

[Tawfek · Rating 2 out of 5]

The feeling of freedom, It's an incredible feeling.
It's not really freedom of course, It's hope of the unexpected, the unknown, not knowing what's ahead.
It's like a little Knot in your stomach, Light, But a just noticeable weight.
A knot that says anything is possible.
I think that's why it weighs you down just a little, when anything is possible, It's a bit frightening too.

I have got a copy of this Graphic Novel ARC, in exchange for an honest review, It's read now on Netgalley for anyone willing to give it a chance, Thanks To Manon Textoris and Europe Comics for the opportunity.
This was a journey through the history of France in the 16th century, the time of the queen mother Catherine De Medici, But in fact she isn't really the protagonist of this story, The Protagonist instead is a girl in the Queen's famous/infamous Squadron, The Novel explores Religious Tolerance (Nobody was tolerant in this novel) And it also explores Feminism at that time, What did the women think about, how did they view themselves, how did they deal with a world ruled by men and their prejudices and their wars?

If you knew anything of the life of women, you would know that we are only beautiful accessories, and it is vain to believe that we can become something Else.

Reading this it hurt, and it hit home, not for women now, but women back then, Imagine to this day many are still fighting for equal pay, or women's right to their own bodies, and many other things, and that's in countries who are supposed to be the peak of civilization right now!
Imagine what it's like for countries in the third world.
It's ridiculous that we still have ways to go on so many of these rights, to the point of not feeling safe for just being a woman, or a black person, or a gay person, or a trans person, and so on.
Three weeks ago, I was talking to a friend about underlying Misogyny aspect of a Graphic novel we both read, and she threw in a name of Incel, Now this part is just ugly, so don't read it, i wish i didn't know about these idiots, It's a group of guys and it seems they are a big group, who identify as Involuntary Celibate, It's fucking ridiculous honestly, a group of whiny assholes who are sad and bitter they are not having sex because women are playing hard to get or something, i didn't dive deep into the topic, i don't want to, and i hope asshole youtube never recommends me any stuff about them, like they are annoying me with anti trans and anti atheist videos, i am atheist why would you send me hate videos is beyond me...
Here comes a scary part, one of these guys becomes a serial killer, and they are putting him on a pedestal as a hero? This is 2023, This shit is recent, i am not sure how recent, my friend was telling me that stuff, I am slowly losing hope in humanity, I know there is a lot of great people, I know nobody is perfect, But it seems, it's way too easy to descend to hate, I quit religion, and held ideals as the light i want to follow, But it seems those ideals can get trampled by large groups of people, with no consequences, I thought the west world was what i wanted to thrive to achieve, just get there be rid of all the religious intolerance of my region, and be free!
They have fucking Incel which we never heard of, they have racism which we are not really suffering from, And they have such a hardon for trans people, fearing that everything they ever knew is collapsing around them (okay we have that here too but you get the idea)
And i am thinking, Where is the path? Where should i go? Which country isn't suffering from all of these issues? that i can thrive to be there? because after a few months of me seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, i am stuck in a bleak place again, my faith is shaken.

You are wrong, I'm just a bit more cunning than you, i realized ages ago that if we want to have the slightest bit of freedom one day, we have to do what is expected of us for the time being.

You know i don't have that cunning?!
I don't have the cunning to act like a Muslim in a Muslim country.
I don't have the cunning to be something that i am not.
I don't have the cunning to not speak my mind, for fear of backlash.
My Heart is in the right place, and i talk, i take a stance, and fuck all if i ever yield to anyone.
That's Justine, she wasn't the noble girl type who wanted to join the court, and find her a noble husband, she was talking about voluntary servitude, The first thing that came to my mind seeing these two words was Marriage!
They are willing giving themselves to these men, and ending up feeling bitter like Gabrielle's mother on the previous quotes, At the beginning i thought the path the novel was going to take was make an example out of Gabrielle the not so feminist girl, but i was deadly wrong!

Thanks to you I'm languishing in a convent, you were right, you were better off in the castle.
Find yourself a good husband, Gabrielle, don't end up in a convent.
Because you may be sure of one thing, Gabrielle, You will find no forgiveness here.

They screwed up Justine the feminist instead, i thought with the narrative at hand, it would be the other way around, Also this totally just earned this entire review spoiler tag!

How can we countenance the coexistence of two religions in the same country?
Two different ways of living?
It's impossible!

Religious intolerance for days, here is the short version of it.
This is all about the Huguenots who were a protestant religious group in france in the 16th century, who were persecuted by the people and the government, even going as far as one of France's kings forcibly converting them to catholic.
They used to be 10% of the population and they were nearly extinct before finally gaining equal rights.
I doubt they are still around.
A big part perhaps of the oppression of the reformed Huguenots was out of fear of the most powerful country in Europe at the time in The Fanatical Spain (Back then), who was conquering other European countries on the pretext of fighting the reformed religion.
So France had to protect it's own ass by depriving the Huguenots of their rights, to show Spain that they hold no favor with in the royal court.
It's ugly business...

Frivolity for the few is bought with the suffering of the many.

All the Animals are brought there, They wait, They understand, They shit themselves with Terror, You have to get used to it, Gabrielle, That's the smell of Paris, Paris smells of fear and Death.

I combined these two quotes, As a last second decision, Obviously the first quote was meant as the suffering of Poor People for the frivolity of nobles and kings.
But then i realized, About the Animal Quote, That the frivolity for humans in general, Is bought with the suffering of the many animals being slaughter for our pleasure.
And No saying that i am not even a Vegan, I am also not saying this to suck up to Vegans, i would love to try it and embrace it one day, but i can't at this current spot i am in for economical reasons that i will not dive into, and don't presume to know my situation.
Suffering and Misery, It's why when i was religious i said the weirdest thing ever, That the world we live in is Hell, and if you fuck up you get sent back here again (Not that i stopped saying Weird things, it's kind of my thing)

It is foolish to believe that the division of minds can be settled with sword and the glint of weapons, You may slaughter some, But the earth fertilized by disasters and soaked in their blood, will beget many more.
- Michael De L'hospital

Does it matter since when do we say the exact same thing? 16th century, or much earlier?
War still go on, and war never changes.

I hate them for forcing me to fight this war...
Everything that is being done, on both sides, is done out of a hunger to rule, and to take whatever power i have, using the excuse of religion.
There's no holiness or belief, only passion, vengeance, and hatred for each other.

The Most feminist thing in this novel, wasn't the quotes, or the way Justine Acted, Or the words of their mother.
It is painting a new picture to the queen mother Catherine, who has been demonized throughout history, probably just because she was a woman in power, and they wanted to throw the blame of that civil war on her, instead of the real culprits the fanatics on both side catholic and protestant at the time.
At the beginning one of the girls said this, while watching a portrait of the queen.

- With crueller eyes! How can you hide such a dark soul?
- Maybe she's not hiding.

I kept waiting to see her bad acts through out the novel, But she wasn't, she was actually against the war, she was trying to protect the country from Spain, she was trying to convince all parties that war will weaken the country and make them easy prey for countries around them, and nobody was bloody listening!

I ll lastly talk about the art, it was good, it was bad, it was actually better than the writing, Because this is the closest thing to no plot novel i ever saw, it's historical events pieced together, and scenes of the life of Gabrielle, the fiction protagonist of this novel, who is based on that age and era.
The close up art was good, and great style actually that i would have enjoyed so much, even through it's simple but real features and expression, and intricate clothing designs, The far panels though, were over simplified, that i saw no beauty at all in them.

Farewell, my faithless friend, i have no doubt that you will be happy, you are a creature made for joy, and i was made for rebellion.
Perhaps we never had a choice in the matter.

[Yamini · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of a young girl, recruited to the French courts. Set in the timelines of the 16th century, the book focuses on politics, social life and the role of women amongst all this.
The story was quite different from what we usually read in graphic books. This one came with a historical fiction flavour. The book also had a few adult scenes which to me felt a little irrelevant to the main plotline. The initial storyline was engaging but things changed too fast in the last chapters that brought an abrupt end. I hope there is another part coming to complete the story.

Thankyou @netgallet @europecomics for the eARC

Genre: #graphicnovel #manga #historicalfiction #adult
Rating: 3/5 ⭐️

[Nicole Ackman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this delightful graphic novel about a young woman in Catherine de Medici's famed "Flying Squadron" in one sitting today. I recently read Leah Redmond Chang's Young Queens, which details the life of Catherine, her daughter Claude, and Mary Stuart, which provided a perfect background for this book. I could see someone with less knowledge of France in this time period being a bit confused by the events depicted in the book, but I loved seeing the religious conflict between the Catholics and the Huguenots, the visit with Catherine's royal Spanish daughter, and Catherine's love of astrology. I was very impressed by the clear research that Manon Textoris had done. All of this paled to the beauty of the illustrations in the graphic novel, which clearly drew inspiration from embroidery, tapestries, and paintings of the time period in which it's set. I highly recommend this quick read to those with an interest in French Medieval history and Queen Catherine de Medici's court.

Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for the review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

How I love comic books.

Here, quite dry history, is brought to life with skill, insight and art. A heavy text is replaced by characters, speech bubbles and pictures to propel a story and get you immersed into a strange and alien world.

While the average reader might still fell confused and unable to stifle the odd yawn, for me, it succeeds in bringing an unfamiliar time, a foreign country, closer to home and more accessible. Not only that, by using historical context and documented events, it brings enlightenment as well as entertainment to the reader. An enjoyment that not only takes you into a new world, a sense of escapism, but also educates and challenges, since fact has become part of fiction.

For me the afterword shows this intent and fulfils that historical value this story seeks to leave with the audience.

I subsequently have a wider appreciation. The struggles for power, survival against a backdrop of intolerance and religious dogma has enough strands into our own lives to make any historical story like this worthwhile and thought provoking.

The characters can be a little confusing. The story is a vast one with many different players sometimes, even with pictures, you can get a little lost regarding where it is going.

However, it is an introduction and has places beyond these pages you might wish to follow-up. Whatever brings to this book, enjoy and lose yourself. With Catherine de Medici you’ll be royally entertained.

[Curious Madra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read this graphic novel automatically.

Unfortunately I didn’t seem to have any luck with reading decent graphic novels at this time and this was one of them. The art is nice but the storyline is just bland and boring like I just didn’t get the medieval royal feel to it..

[Irene ➰ · Rating 1 out of 5]

1/5 ~ DNF

- Thank you to the author and the publisher for putting this title as a "read now" on NetGalley. -

Yooo what was this.
This was so confusing and the drawings really didn't help.
I didn't like the art, I definitely didn't like the story even if there wasn't one and didn't like the characters. At around 50 pages I dropped it because I couldn't take it anymore.
I was reading without a purpose, because I didn't get anything I was reading.
I already lost all memory of it and not regretting it.

[sylwia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was incredibly confused all throughout the book. Even though the art style was very pleasant, I learned nothing from the plot and it just didn’t do anything for me.

[chiara 🖤 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley and Europe Comics for sending me a copy.

“Catherine de’ Medici. The Flying Squadron” by Manon Textoris turned out to be a an unexpected surprise. I am new to the world of graphic novels and this one was such an intriguing and well-written ride.
De’ Medici’s history is a major point of interest. I love Florence and how this family still seem to rule it after all those years. Catherine de’ Medici is such a peculiar and compelling historical figure and reading about her, both in a fictional and non-fictional way, is always riveting and I end up discovering new curiosities.
This graphic novel narrates an important part of France’s history: the Wars of Religion and how it affected our main character, Gabrielle. She is a fictional character, but it isn’t easy to imagine that something similar might have happened to some other young girl.
Gabrielle is sent to join Catherine de’ Medici’s “squadron” and be one of the Queen Mother’s lady in waiting. But nothing is as Gabrielle thought it would be: it’s a life full of lies and deception, a life of danger and she quickly learns it.
Even though Gabrielle is our main character, the reader’s focus is drawn to the historical part, overshadowing the protagonist’s journey and the relationships she tightens over the story. I would have preferred the opposite: reading more about Gabrielle’s life at court, how she fell in love with Monsieur de Villeroy, and if she missed her family and her friend Justine. But despite this, I appreciated the work the author did with regard to the historical context and how Catherine de’ Medici was portrayed.
The boards gave to the story the perfect atmosphere, the colours weren’t too bright and respected the topics covered. I loved the setting and the characters and how they were depicted, the style of the drawings met my expectations and let me dive into the tale.
I also appreciated how the story started and ended, how there was no character or landscape in these particular boards but a static background. It helped to set a precise mood since the beginning, connecting with the ending.
In conclusion, I don’t usually read graphic novel but I could start now. It was a breath of fresh air and the perfect read when you’re in a bad reading slump. I highly recommend it if you’re searching for an easy to read historical tale with fantastic drawings.

[Geno · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ★
---
Esta novela gráfica está protagonizada por Gabrielle, una joven que es invitada a unirse a la corte de Catalina de Medici durante las guerras religiosas en Francia.

Personalmente, me gustó cómo combina una historia real y con un personaje ficticio. El argumento está muy bien armado para que funcione.
Pero puede que no todo el mundo lo disfrute, especialmente aquellos que prefieran los hechos reales, porque el autor se toma algunas licencias.

En general, disfruté la historia y cómo retrata la vida de las mujeres en la corte. Gabrielle es ingenua e idealiza la realeza, pero tiene en claro qué necesita llevar a cabo para conseguir un poco más de libertad, Me gusta el contraste con Justine, quien tiene más rebeldía y menos sutileza.

En cuanto al arte, los fondos y el vestuario son hermosos y detallados, tanto que a veces se “comen” a los personajes. Otro punto es que algunos diseños de personaje se terminan pareciendo entre sí, en especial si hay varias mujeres o caballeros en un mismo grupo.

En general, es un comic que disfruté mucho, tiene intriga política, historia y un poco de romance. Algunos detalles los aprecié luego de la lectura cuando investigué sobre Catalina de Medici.

Al final del día, me dejó con ganas de leer la segunda parte, y creo que eso dice bastante.

Gracias a Netgalley y al editor por proporcionar una copia gratuita del libro a cambio de una reseña honesta.
---

This graphic novel is about Gabrielle, a fictional young girl who is invited to join Catherine de Medici's court during the religious wars in France.

I personally liked how the story blends fictional plot lines and a true story but it not might be everyone's cup of tea.

I enjoyed the story, and how it portrays the lives of women in court. Gabrielle is innocent but knows how to survive. I liked how her personality clashed with her cousin Justine. I'm curious to see how the relationship between them will continue.

Regarding the art, the backgrounds and costume designs are beautiful and detailed. The characters felt a little bland in comparison. Some character designs are very similar to each other, making it difficult to differentiate them.

Overall, it is a comic that I really enjoyed, it has political intrigue, history, and a bit of romance. I appreciated some details after reading when I investigated more about the real story. Also, it kept my interest throughout and left me wanting to read the next volume.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

[Weronine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Europe Comics for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.


I wanted to enjoy it so much but 'Catherine de'Medici. The Flying Squadron' was so hard to fall in love with. I eventually gave up because the storyline and art weren't what I expected.


-what is it about-
France, 16th century. Many enemies want to see the Queen fail. But her loyal spies always save the situation and try to overcome any issues they have. The young Gabrielle arrives and desperately wants to fit in the ''flying squadron'' group that belongs to Catherine de'Medici. Will she find her place when surrounded by danger and revenge plans?


-what I loved?-

→ I adore how beautiful the feminist aspect was in this graphic novel. Manon Textoris shows how hard it was to overcome issues, to find the way to free women - SO BEAUTIFUL.
→Historical fiction vibe that made me excited to finish this graphic novel. I adore stories set in the past - this one had a complex background I enjoyed reading about.



-what did I not love?-

→ I could not get into this storyline. I believe that Manon Textoris tried so hard to make everything described in a complex and accurate way that the graphic novel eventually lacked dynamic action and some unexpected twists.
→ The political, social and religious issues were bland in this novel. I hoped for more development in terms of diverse points of view on these matters. However, the characters also were one-dimensional.

rating: 2/5 ✮✮
genre: adult graphic novel, historical fiction
themes: feminism, life at court, political and religious issues

[Katharine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Honestly struggled to finish reading this. Something about the way it is written just didn't hold my attention, so I had to force myself to finish. First off, I think this might be more enjoyable to people who already know about the historical events this story is set in. I know practically nothing about French history, aside from the French Revolution and some random facts about Marie-Antoinette. Of course, I vaguely know of the Medici family (thanks Assassin's Creed) but know nothing about Catherine Medici, let alone she was Queen. Beyond that, nada. So for most of this graphic novel, I was a bit lost on why events were happening in the order they were. It just seemed to jump from event to event, and the segways were a bit bluntly done. Also, the tone seemed off with Gabrielle's mannerisms. She acts like she's a younger teenager for the majority of the time, but then she's watching other people have sex or having sexual relations herself. Also, the few sex scenes or scenes that include nudity that popped off threw me off as well. It completely changed the tone of what I thought the graphic novel would be like. The art style is decent, I liked it well enough.

[Opal Edgar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations for this slice of history graphic novel.
The flying squadron is the group of ladies in waiting that spied for Catherine of Medicis... and this comic features them, not in the exciting romanticised adventures we could imagine, but in its historical context - how they were used to solidify the queen's desire to avoid war, and highlighted women's power in a world where women didn't have any.
The comic isn't exactly the light reading it could be, it is more on the educational scale and sadly its efforts to be more relatable with the invented main character come out as clumsy. If we're going to go for the real historical story, and stick to the dry facts, might as well do that to the end, instead of inventing a bland character with a disappointing insta-love arc. That was particularly gratuitous and annoying.
I loved the aspect that Catherine de Medici was working hard at doing everything she could to avoid war, and I wished they'd focused more on that, but I feel like they got lost in a lot of the details of the conflicts at the time.

[Evee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Europe Comics for the ARC!

Catherine De' Medici, The Flying Squadron is a graphic novels about a fictional teenage girl, who soon joins the Queen Mother's entourage at the behest of her godmother, as she is exposed to the great horrors of battle and betrayal that come with being in royalty's inner circle and learns how, despite the glamour, there is still little agency for a young woman in a world like that.

The artistry in the backgrounds and costume designs is incredibly detailed and lovingly executed, but such attention is not paid to the characters populating the novella. The character designs come off bland and same-face'd for a majority of the characters which made it hard to determine who was who during moments of tension in the story.

The story itself was a little dry compared to Starz' The Serpent Queen but such is the differences between the mediums and the content, I think.

I think that lovers of history and YA fiction would find this appealing.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intricate artwork relays the story of Catherine de’Medici’s ‘Flying Squadron”, a group of 15,000 (!) subjects who traveled with her on her occasional trips around the country to get the zeitgeist of her countrymen via friendship, gossip, romance, spying, or other nefarious means. (Incidentally, this was before social media.)

Gabrielle is a new young recruit due to her good looks and connections through her Godmother, also a member of the squad.

I enjoyed this story-glad to see it’s just the start of a series. There’s some interesting romantic threads to chase and Gabi is just beginning to make waves. Lots of story space to explore.

One reader pro tip: It helped for me to quickly read about Catherine’s reign via her Wikipedia page before reading this book so as to clarify much of her volatile lineage, civil holy wars (or were they holy civil wars?), and other Huguenonsense I’ve forgotten since high school. 😉

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks, netgalley and europe comics for this ARC!

Gabrielle is stifled by the confines of 16th century france-she has an education she can't use, and a luxurious life that is only preparing her for marriage. All is upended when she is choosen to join the ladies of waiting of infamous Catherine de Medici and is swept into the intrigues of a court on the brink of war. Spying, falling in love, betraying a friend, Gabrielle learns about what really matters.

On one hand, I appreciate that this graphic novel was trying to show catherine as a sensible ruler in the midst of a frought religious/political boil, but i wish there was a smidge of sensationalism in there- i know the story was in translation but some of it was a little dry for me. Gabrielle is constantly told by justine she's a silly fool, and i dont think she is-she is just trying to survive and find joy in a life that is the definition of confining. Alas, it was good, but i want more.

[Babo Buca · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much as I liked the colours and the art style at the beginning, the story got lost on me because of the convolutedness of the story. Also, it wasn't until the end that I realized that this was the first part of a series, and so I understood why the story wasn't progressing. We follow a religious confrontation in France that causes an internal war. A summary of this would have been nice as an introduction, because it was hard to follow the plot, which was already jumping around. The romance is only a side line, as young girls are not meant for daydreams. But I was quite surprised to see a sex book and then a bed scene, so this is clearly a comic intended for a more mature readership. It could have been very good, but it needed more explanation. As it was, it was a rather mediocre experience.

[Despina · Rating 2 out of 5]

A historically-based tale in the 1500s following a main character, Gabrielle, and her friend Justine during the War of Religions.

The art style was lovely but I found the story itself lacked direction and substance. I couldn't work out if this was meant to be a war story, a story about a girl joining a particular group of women (the Queen's Squadron) or something entirely different. As a result, I must admit I found myself confused throughout. I wasn't expecting sexual scenes to be present, but be aware that there are (in case reading with younger people around).

All in all, it was okay, but not something I found myself interested in continuing past volume 1.

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this graphic novel via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, which I leave voluntarily.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Catherine de' Medici, also known as “the Black Queen,” reigned over France after the death of her first son, Francis II, and before the ascension of her second son, Charles IX. In order to maintain her grip, she had a group of beautiful spies loyal to her known as "the flying squadron." Catherine de' Medici, The Flying Squadron 1. The Good Girl by Manon Textoris begins when the idealistic Gabrielle joins the ranks of the squadron. Along the way, Gabrielle will wrestle with loyalties, desire, politics, religion, and her own reputation. Although fictionalized, this tale brings to life very real circumstances, histories, and aspirations.

Delicate, graceful, and stylish artwork perfectly complement this well-woven tale.

[Andreea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel is semi-historically-accurate, as it follows Gabrielle - a fictional character - through the very real war and intrigue at Catherine de Medici's French court.

Most of all I loved the art of this book - the floral illustrations used as backgrounds and costume design are exquisite. The characters however aren't very developed - I would've appreciated more background and context aside from meeting them once or twice. There's also room for more badassery - this is a women-only spy squadron we're reading about! Hoping volume 2 does them justice.

✨Disclaimer ✨
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Theediscerning · Rating 2 out of 5]

Historical French comic book, part one of a two-part series that is yet to show completion, even in the original French. Our heroine is taken to be a member of the royal court in the sixteenth century, the King is but a teenager and few people like his mother who is reigning on his behalf, and – well, that's about all I could tell you. You really need to know a lot more of the context and characters before starting than I did, as there's very little help with any of that on these pages. Instead it just turns into a tract for feminism and empowered women, and women to have a sex life, and women to read swashbucklers, and so on and so on. Not my thing – the book, not the sentiment.

[Leah Shafik · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was really good - and unexpected. I am not well versed in French history so I don't know the true story but I enjoyed the way this has been constructed with a fictional character at the heart of a true story.
The graphics were good and the flow was really good - a graphic novel that really told a story. I really appreciated that. This is just the first in a series and I have to admit I am keen to read on.
Thanks to Netgalley and Europa Comics for the ARC.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a graphic novel about a fictional character placed among the ladies in waiting of Catherine de Medici during the religious wars of France.

I really enjoyed the art style and how much I learned about a topic I didn’t know much about. I wish there would have been a bit more explanation of the various characters during the story because I didn’t know their backstory or what role they played in history. A lot of it was inferred for me but overall a quick and interesting read!

[Živa · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really didn't like this book. To start with the illustrations - everybody looked the same and it was hard to know who are you seeing in any scene. There were too many charachters too follow and the scenes between were switching too fast. If you don't know the history beforehand this book will be even more confusing. I also hated the cliffhanger as an ending. Overall - I will not be picking up the nect part nor will I reccomend this book to anyone.

[Matilda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd heard a little about Catherine de´Medici before picking up this graphic novel, and I was excited to learn more about her and read a work of fiction based on her life. I've never read a history book in the form of a graphic novel and I absolutely loved it! This is how history should be taught! Well, actual history that is, not just historical fiction. The beautiful art made the story come alive, and it was a pleasant read all around.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you for the team at Netgalley for allowing me access to this comic.

This short and sweet historical comic explores the life of a young woman in the royal court amongst war and a fierce battle for power. The illustrations in this are beautiful and the story is simple yet engaging enough to make you want to read more.

I highly recommend giving this a read if you have a spare hour.

[bookwormnici · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am grateful to have received an arc through NetGalley.
When I got approved for this arc, I was very excited. When I started reading the book, it unfortunately felt very boring. My expectations were not met and I was hoping to find out more about their lives. This was just a very long graphic novel. Nontheless, the novel had amazing drawings.

[Afra Binte Azad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book were absolutely stunning. Each page was a visual feast, and I found myself lingering on the artwork, soaking in the intricate details and colours. The storyline itself had quite an engaging flow.



Thank you to Europe Comics and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Casey Halvorsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Europe Comics for this arc!

2.5/5 stars rounded up

The art is beautiful, but the story is just confusing and honestly really boring 😭 I find myself zoning out while reading it, and where I do love graphic novels that teach me things, this is just too dry

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story started off promising, but it never really progressed past that. There were a lot of words and images but it didn't convey much. It was boring and I didn't really even enjoy the art style.

[Bengali Bookworm · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well written book infused with history. I enjoyed the illustrations that is on par with the era.



Thank you Europe Comics and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this!