The Keeper of the Lost Cities: The Graphic Novel Volume 2

Keeper of the Lost Cities: The Graphic Novels #2

by Celina Frenn (Adaptor), Shannon Messenger, Valeria Tenaga Romanazzi (Illustrator)

The epic first book in the internationally bestselling Keeper of the Lost Cities series is being reimagined into stunning graphic novels, and the story continues now with Volume Two!

After learning she’s actually an elf, twelve-year-old Sophie Foster made the impossible decision to leave her human life—and family—behind and start over in the Lost Cities. And life with the elves has been unlike anything Sophie has ever known, filled with new friends, amazing creatures, and incredible powers. But it’s also had its share of challenges. Sophie had been an advanced student in the human world—but thanks to her struggles with alchemy, she’s not even sure if she will pass her Foxfire Academy midterms!

And then there are the bigger worries. Guardians who may or may not adopt her. Whispers of conspiracies. Mysterious fires. Memories in her brain that don’t feel like hers.

Could someone have hidden those secrets in Sophie’s head? Why would they do that? Is Sophie part of something much bigger than she imagined?

Something…deadly?

This stunning graphic novel retelling of the second half of the thrilling first novel comes to life with all the adventure and epic worldbuilding the Keeper of the Lost Cities series is known for, told in gorgeous full colour—plus special bonus features at the end!

Genres: Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Comics, Mystery, Fiction, Young Adult

Kindle Edition

First published December 2, 2025

Reviews

[lydia {67} ୨ৎ]

why does she do this to us 😭 all i wanted was book 10

[Arlin Treaty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this a couple of weeks ago but forgot to update it on goodreads haha. Anyways, this was an AMAZING adaptation. Going into it, I actually forgot it was part two of the first book still so I was expecting book two, but I’m really impressed that they did that! Not many graphic novel adaptations are this long and inclusive. I love it because you really start to get to know the characters on a deeper level, so I’m super excited for the next one!! Def recommend if you like Kotlc 🤭💕

[Abby (Reader of Clean Books) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The next Keeper comic? Yes please. It was good.

I really like the illustrations! Much better than the first one (those were good tho. Just not as good as these).

As much as I like these illustrations, they did my boy Keefe dirty. He would NOT approve of his hair. He looked better in the first one.

Edaline low-key looks like Ariel lol. She looks gorge (no I don't mean gorge-alicious or gorge-tastic. Iykyk). Biana was so pretty too!

The very first picture of Sandor was hilarious! he's perfect.

I enjoyed it.

[izzy of the hollow †]

i miss kotlc series :)
excited for pt 2 graphic novel <33!!!

[jaycee ann ✞ (in wonderland) · Rating 3 out of 5]

═══════ ∘◦ ✧ ◦∘ ═══════
This review contains a few random statistics, my personal thoughts, and a content review! ♡
═══════ ∘◦ ✧ ◦∘ ═══════
• Book - Keeper of the Lost Cities graphic novel volume two
• Author - Shannon Messenger 
• Pages - Ebook, 350
• Genre(s) - Middle grade fantasy 
• Published - 2025
• Trope(s) - Found family
• Recommended time to read - Winter
⇢─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───⇠
→ Setting - 4/5
→ Characters - 3/5
→ Writing - 3/5
→ Cover - 4/5
→ Vibes - 4/5
→ Plot - 3/5
→ Romance/Ship - 3/5
→ Overall - ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
═════════════════
╰┈➤ My thoughts (spoiler free)

I enjoyed this! I think I like the illustration in this one better than the first volume! I absolutely adored the way Dex, Edaline, and Biana were drawn. Keefe’s hair looked a little goofy though 😂 And Grady looked like a blonde version of Flynn Rider XD

A very quick and easy read, super fun and got me excited again for book ten to finally release soon! (It is soon right? No more delays I haven’t heard about?)

Overall a solid graphic novel and a must read for keeper fans!
═════════════════
╰┈➤ Content review

➸ Age Rating - 12+

➸ Language - None

➸ Romance/Sexual - Some crushing and teasing but that’s it, Alvar mentions he has three girlfriends and Keefe calls him his hero

➸ Violence - Sophie and Dex are kidnapped, Sophie’s arms are burned when she won’t tell the kidnappers what they want, she also accidentally burns herself a couple times, and she has an allergic reaction which causes her to pass out

➸ Religious/Spiritual - None

➸ Magic - None

➸ LGBTQ - None

[BookLoverLily]

The other one was okay, I HIGHLY recommend the ACTUCAL series! Also, WE NEED NUMBER 10, NOT A COMIC!!!!!!!! By the time this is finished, I'm gonna be SO OLD (well not that old, butt EXAGGERATION)!

[Hadley · Rating 5 out of 5]

────୨ৎ────⋆˚࿔ Keeper Of The Lost Cities Graphic Novel Volume 2 𝜗𝜚˚⋆────୨ৎ────
                        ★★★☆☆


Now Playing Stronger ▶︎ •၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌‌‌၊|• 0:10


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     ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧table of contents!✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

 જ⁀➴ Stats. 
 જ⁀➴ What To Expect.
 જ⁀➴ Characters.
 જ⁀➴ Plot/World building. 
 જ⁀➴ Unflilerted Thoughts-Non spoilers.
 જ⁀➴ My Thoughs-Spoilers. 
 જ⁀➴ Content review.


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                ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧stats✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧


Plot 5/5
Characters 5/5
Setting 5/5
Vibe 5/5
Rating 5/5
Writing 5/5
Cringe 0/5
Overall 5/5
Cover 4/5
Romance 5/5

Published. 12/2/2025
Pages. 321-PaperBack.
Author. Shannon Messenger
Genre. Middle grade fantasy.
Recommended. Age Rating  10+


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      ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧What to expect   ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
╰┈➤ Lovable characters.

╰┈➤ Chosen one.

╰┈➤ Powers.

╰┈➤ Academy’s

╰┈➤ Quests/ Missions
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       ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧Charecters✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

જ⁀➴ Sophie, I love this girl she’s so strong and gos through so much! I want to hug her and give her Ella while eating Mallow-melt!

જ⁀➴ Fitz, I have respect for him, after reading all of the physical books I lost my love for him along the way. but he’s such a good friend to Sophie. and honestly I think it’s his dad who’s the problem not him.

જ⁀➴Keefe WHERE DO I START I LOVE THIS MAN I WANT TO MARRY HIM! he’s so snarky and sweet, I feel so bad he can feel Sophie’s feelings go Fitz!

જ⁀➴ Dex, I want to be Dex’s friend so bad. He reminds me of a cinnamon roll. He’s AN AMAZING friend of Sophie’s she’s so lucky she has him.

જ⁀➴ Bianna, my girly loves her sparkles and I respect it! She doesn’t have much character development and or page time in book one but I love her!

જ⁀➴Grady, he’s the father figure Sophie needs in her life, I love how he calms down both Sophie and Edaline.

જ⁀➴ Edaline, I feel like I’m spelling her name wrong ngl. But she’s just an emotional little thing ain’t she. I love her despite it tho! My girly loves is traumatized for all the right reasons.

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     ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧Plot/ World Building ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ the world building in this is unmatched, the setting the way she describes things is literally amazing! I love this world and I wish it was real.


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     ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧Unfiltered Thoughts  ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧ Dex is a cinnamon roll and a marshmallow. My girly Sophie goes through so much even just from book one but she’s a strong cookie! The art in this book WOWWWW shout out to the artist who drew this because it was amazing and it really brought the story to life. I was reading this for my February reading goal but I ended up really liking it. I’m not a huge fan of graphic novels but this was VERY enjoyable and entertaining!





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          ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧Spoilers✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
THE FACT THAT THIS WAS A CHILDREN BOOK IS CRAZY! When Sophie was getting tortured by her kidnappers and I had to see it painted out in front of me (literally) almost brought me to tears. I love these characters so much they feel like real people. When Sophie threw up on Fitz I cringed I really did I felt so much second hand embarrassment…
I loved this and the art was so beautiful!


────୨ৎ────────୨ৎ────────୨ৎ────
     ✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧Content review✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧
 
Romance 0.5/5
Crushes, holding hands.

Violence 4/5
Abduction, Torture, and normal fighting stuff.

Good Rule Models 3/5
Grady and Edaline are good rules models, so was Aldien and Della.

Drugs/ substances 3/5
Sedatives were used to drug and knock out. Sophie takes a substance that caused an allergic response.

LGBTQ 0/5
None

Swearing 0/5
None

Spice 0/5
None

Other Torture, small mention of suicide.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
I’ve been so excited for this to come out since June *SPOILERS*
This was perfectly adapted from the book! I was reading it slowly cause I didn’t want it to end lol. The scene when the pyrokinetic interrogates Sophie was more intense than I thought they would show. A detail that was realistic was how she drew Sophie’s cape and sleeves being ripped the whole time they were in Paris, I never thought of though while reading the book. All the characters designs are perfect! except Sophie and Dex look a little older than Keefe and Fitz for some reason.

Other little critiques:
Sophie’s eyes look red instead of brown the whole book
Stina’s hair is red in the first chapter, then brown after that??
After sophie fades from the light leap, she’s supposed to be kinda transparent, I don’t know of they couldn’t do that with whatever art program they were using, or if they just decided against drawing and editing that. Also she’s supposed to be really pale when Fitz finds her, why are her cheeks red??


Also my friend pointed out how similarly Sophie and Oralie are drawn…😯

[lydia {67} ୨ৎ]

tell me porque the copy on amazon is almost $30 💀

[Book_Haven (KNICKS WIN) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shannon Messenger never manages to disappoint!

[charlotte ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love the idea of different art for each graphic novel (that might not be the plan but i still like it)

loved rereading it in a new way

could definitely tell the difference in the storyline (mostly bc ive read it like a million times)

elysian better come out tmr fr

[Deacon Haight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not again… I like the idea but well you know

[ainsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truly impressed by this woman’s dedication to milk this series for all it’s worth

[•✿ Mår¥ Låmß ✿• · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one way better then the first graphic novel

[Laurine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Qu’est-ce que j’aime cette série. Les dessins sont un peu trop simples mais l’essence de l’histoire reste la même.

[Saylor Sardine · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a decent adaptation of the book
That’s all I’ve got to say

[Abby]

Similar to my reviews of the original KOTLC books, I won't be fully giving my opinion on this book because I've read it so many times that it feels unfair to judge (especially considering this series has a special place in my heart, even if there are some parts I really struggle with now). Instead, I'll include a list of the notes I took while reading below, and I also just want to mention a few things that really stood out to me about this adaptation.

The first big thing I noticed has nothing to do with the story itself: my imagination has no windows? Having read KOTLC #1 upwards of a dozen times, I know these scenes and settings by heart, and seeing them drawn out for the graphic novel was an experience because I realized that my imagined version of the settings has no windows. I'm not sure why, it's just a fact, and it's too late to fix it now.

The other major thing I wanted to highlight was the way the abilities were rendered on the page. I haven't reread the first graphic novel since its release, so forgive me if it was a thing in that one, but most of the abilities were visible on the page. I know this is probably for the sake of adaptation (how else are you supposed to show empathy), but I've been in a glowy magic mood lately, so seeing it rendered in this way was super cool to me. I really like how Sophie's inflicting was drawn because it really reinforced how powerful the ability is and why it's something to be feared. The other abilities we see with glowing are empathy and telepathy, which I liked but didn't find as meaningful, but I just really like the idea of the glowing to visibly render the abilities, especially in a world that relies so heavily on light.

As far as adaptations go, I think it was very faithful to the original and captured Sophie's emotional turmoil from the second half of the book. I found the art to be great and less distracting than book 1 (fish-eyed Fitz, I'm sorry, but I cannot focus on the plot when you exist), and I'm glad I finally have a Sandor to picture that isn't just one of the goblins from The Rainbow Fairy books.

Anyway, here are my notes for the graphic novel. I don't have original page numbers or anything (I'm not that committed). They will contain SPOILERS for the graphic novel and for the rest of the KOTLC series because I'm a nerd and I've read it too many times. So, without further ado:

- they really captured Sophie being in denial every other sentence
- Marella’s hair is kind of giving Maysilee Donner vibes and I like it
- So I didn’t realize the Vacker dining room has windows … that’s on me y’all
- Alvar does not have a straight bone in his body
- Update: none of the rooms have windows in my imagination … I don’t know why
- Apparently one of Forkle’s alter ego is just Legolas
- Having Oralie’s empathy be visible is a choice … I kinda like it though
- The goblins standing beside the councilors is hilarious imagery to me for some reason
- Apparently Terik lives in Oz
- Not the Shannon Messenger star in Hollywood
- Imagine you take your student on a field trip and she just stays trauma dumping and then brings up your situationship from like 20 years ago
- I love the librarian’s design so much
- Yo the Offish is huge
- Guys it’s a mail person they’re real!!!!
- Also its interesting that elves build their cities out of light since they all have blue eyes and blue eyes are weaker to bright light
- I think I’ve said it before … but do elves have anti-depressants?
- Alvar now is not the time for a saucy door lean
- Seeing this illustrated makes the Neverseen look twice as overdramatic
- Forkle really be looking like the disguised king at the beginning of BotW
- Can the elves light leap at night? Am I stupid?
- I love the random shots of Fitz being emo eating breakfast while Sophie is fighting for her life
-I know she was in danger and dex was dying but like if Sophie took a moment to peek under those hoods this series would be 5 books shorter
- Honesty I love the design choice of making Sophie’s eyes glow when she inflicts
- Why is Keefe eating a burger in the middle of the tribunal?
- The way alter-ego Forkle and Tiergan could be twins
- This is the first time I’ve seen an elf with a mustache and it’s a jumpscare

[Samantha (matching w Tessie) · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️4 stars⭐️

I don’t really feel like writing a review so just check out my sister’s (Natalie) cause I agree with her on everything lol 🤪

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... (I have no idea if this link will work I suck with technology also hi Natalie)

[OneMadReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice: Mentions of crushes
Language: None
Drug/Alcohol Content: None

[Julia Benassi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marta tramitame la relectura de la saga

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I looooooooovvvvvveeeeeeddddd the art in the first one so this one took some getting used too, but I loved this style too!

Ok, don’t kill me…

But I honestly like this series more as a graphic novel?? 🤭 And this is coming from someone who LOVES this series.

The color really brings it alive!! And I love seeing all the characters’ expressions and mannerisms.

Anyway it’s just nice to see this world in multiple formats.

Keefe’s hair was a bit iffy but it’s ok, he’s still perfect🩵

I’m sooo excited for exile and seeing Silveny!!

(tho, shannon, my girl, could we maybe work on book ten-thousand and end. the. series? please? just a thought 🫠)

[the_reader]

peread

2026 I CANT WAIT THAT LONG!

[Nadine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of reading and re-reading this series. It holds so much nostalgia for me: once I read it aloud to my kids, now they read it themselves, and seeing these memories come to life in graphic novel form feels like magic all over again.

Watching Sophie’s kidnapping unfold visually pulled me right back to the first time I experienced it. The tension, and the wow of it all. I’m absolutely biased, but truly, Shannon Messenger can do no wrong in my eyes.

A beautiful adaptation of a story I love, and one I’ll keep on the shelf to revisit whenever I need a little hit of elvin nostalgia.

[⋆. &#x1065a;˚࿔ hanniah &#x1d717;&#x1d71a;˚⋆ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omg this book was soooooo good. I mean, I’ve already read the novel, but still, all these ideas coming to life in pictures is AmAzInG 🤩 The best bit was probably the kidnapping bit. Yes, it is a kidnapping, It’s not good for the characters, but some of the pictures were put together so beautifully. Especially in the bit where Sophie‘s trying to pull herself back together. LOVED IT!!!! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[claudz d · Rating 4 out of 5]

Late review but I really do love how the art portrays the characters and scenery, I do gotta say WHY DO THEY LOOK LIKE ANIME CHARACTERS I swear I saw ATLEAST one anime cutscene in this book

Anyway yay

[Sarah]

They straight up traced Laura’s art of the councilors LOL
Literally. Which like, I guess I can get tracing the chairs, they’re pretty complicated, but like really? Same poses, same outfits… even Laura’s handwriting on the thrones is preserved.

Also Della’s dress at the end is straight out of Laura’s Vacker family portrait. I KNEW I recognized it


The art is pretty cute but I kinda hate the colors. I hated them in the first book too. They’re not great, makes the whole thing feel cheap, honestly. I have trouble articulating why exactly I just dislike them.

It’s interesting that they hired another artist and got started on this before the first one was finished!

This series really does start out fun. Well kidnapping isn’t fun. Whatever

Why is Fitz so tan man

Councilor Emery looked like a girl. Literally kept thinking he was a girl but he’s a grown elf man. He didn’t look like a girl when Laura drew him just saying

Ok but the school was SO LAME. It’s magic elf school why does it look like a generic middle school. Booooring

Grady and Edaline’s house is also boooooring

It looks way way cooler in my head. It’s so generic and lame


Always wondering how the elves haven’t been spotted on Google Earth


WHERE IS BOOK TEN SHANNON

[Cassandra Hamm · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Grady and Edaline adoption bits made me tear up <3 they’ve always been one of my favorite parts of the series. A really great adaptation of one of my favorite series.

[Hikari ze Bookdragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,75/5

Aaaah so many emotions. If it wasn’t for two characters looking a bit too similar to my taste (Alvar and Alden), and a few other minor things, it would be perfect.
A very good, relatively faithful adaptation of the novel that I found more agreeable and prettier than part one because of the brighter colors and overall smoother and finer character design. The key elements were there and OMG some scenes still hit so hard and others hit even harder when you know some hidden truths (I read up until book four as I write this review) and I don’t think I'm mistaken when I say that I'll probably get hit by a few other truth-slaps as I keep reading further.

I'm usually not a Graphic novel fan, but this? Heck yeah. If the other books ever get adapted, count me in.

[hajar (free palestine) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before reading:
DEXY IS ON THE COVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR ............ but why does he look 15 ....... he's supposed to be 12 ?!!
I can't wait to see Alvar, Sandor, Terik, Sir Austin and the neverseen cloaks!! And Cassius too...even tho I hate him 😭
!!!!!!!!!!! SPOLIERS FOR THIS BOOK AND THE REST OF THE SERIES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I read it!
And it took 4 days 🤪 I didn't want it to end
This one is better then the 1st part
The art is also better for ALMOST all the characters
Expect Grady and Elwin
Something looked so off about Grady 😭 😭 And Elwin looked so old...in some pictures his hair looked gray....
But everyone else looked awesome. (Keefeeee 🫶)
And one thing I'm super confused on....WHY IS GENTHENS HAIR BROWN?????? It showed a flashback of him when Sophie looked at his scar and his hair was brown 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭
And when Sophie was looking at his scar his skin was SO pale, but not in the flashback
So...
I'm confused
Anyways
PLEASE SHANNON BOOK 10 PLEASE IM BEGGING YOU
Some of my thoughts while reading:
Everyone got HUGE glowups, the art is wayy better
Oh wow….Terigen…..wow……..(he’s so good looking, I’m dying 😭🙏)
Sophie asking about project moonlark 😭 😭 😭 😭 😭
Oh god, cassius looks freaky
Keefes hairrrrr 🫶🫶🫶
ALVARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Isn’t Alvars and Dellass hair supposed to be darker? *checks the official art* IT IS
Alvar telling Alden that the black swan isn’t real hits different 😔😔😔
Ooh the librarian is an ancient
Omg a a drawing of joile 3
Elwins pajamas 🤣
IM DYINGGG WHY DOES AUSTIN LOOK LIKE THAT? I THOUGHT HE WAS TERIGEN AT FIRST 😭😭😭 HELP. (Did mr forkle make Austin look like Terigen on purpose?? hmm) Ngl thats how I imagine Fintan
Erm why are there only male goblins protecting the council …? 🤔
I thought goblins had gray skin
Yess Bronte looks so much better than the 1st one.
If you told Sophie she was standing next to her bigocal mother 3333
I rlly want to know whats going on in the councils minds when they talk telepathically together, prob Bronte screaming EXILE HERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR and everyone else telling him to be quiet 💀💀
Aw Terigen and Sophie are so cute <333 WAIT what if he’s her biological father……
No way sophie cried this much in the chapter book
Bro why does Elwin look so old 😭😭😭
YA ALVAR CALL HER SIS THEN KIDNAP AND TORTURE HER LATER
Oh god, i didn’t think seeing Sophie getting burned would be so mentally painful 😔
GO DIE BRANT-oh wait U DID DIE MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Oh my-Genthen is SO pale 😭😭😭 bro is a corpse
WAIT HELP IM SO CONFUSED-WHY IS GENTHENS HAIR SO DARK??? ITS SUPPOSED TO BE BLONDE!!!! SOMEONE HELP
SANDORRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!
Alden used to be one of my faves 3
The only elf to ever have facil hair: One of Sophies teachers (i 4got his name 😭) I was NOT prepared for that
Oh god bronte looks SO mad
I did NOT ask for a close up of Brontes face 💀💀💀 ALSO he’s supposed to have blue gray eyes NOT blue purple eyes !!!
The ending is so corny 🫠

[Kaylee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very high three stars. It feels a little rude to give this only three stars, but I think I had just a few too many artsy nitpicks and little things that genuinely bothered me to let this slide with four, especially since I gave the first one four stars.

Let’s start with the writing before I get into my real nitpicks. I still seriously applaud the author and adapter for realizing this story works better split in two- the pacing felt so much more natural than many graphic novel adaptations I’ve read. Honestly, the story was just translated to this medium pretty well in general. Even the crazy, high-stakes ending felt like it had more than enough time to breathe, and I think the writers really took their time when they needed to. I’m pretty impressed they managed to do that, especially since KOTLC (the original book) has some occasionally strange pacing in itself.
My writing-related issues are pretty short, though no less annoying than my art-related ones. First off, the loredumps and exposition felt a little condescending and repetitive to read. A lot of times characters, especially Sophie, since she’s the lead, would say something or think something that required an explanation, and instead of letting the reader put two and two together based on the art, it would be unnaturally shoved into the thought or dialogue. A good example of this is when Sophie and Dex are being kidnapped, and Sophie thinks: “No! I think I smell a sedative, and I don’t know how much longer I can hold my breath!” Not only does it read clunky, but it’s completely unnecessary. The picture clearly shows the kidnappers holding a cloth to her nose, and her eyes watering. That is more than enough information for the reader to come to that conclusion without a single word of exposition- that’s the advantage to graphic novels rather than typical books, but it feels like this one doesn’t take that advantage.
The other thing seems even more nitpicky, but again I wouldn’t mention it if it didn’t occur enough times for me to notice and be bothered by it. Sophie’s thoughts tend toward over-dramatic sometimes, specifically when she says “Nooooo!” My issue with this is that it happens too often, and for things of completely different levels of worry. Being kidnapped? Completely warranted response, if a bit melodramatic. Her teacher failing her? Less warranted. It’s specifically the elongation of the word that bothers me, I think. ‘No!’ makes perfect sense in both instances, but making it longer implies a whininess rather than urgency or force, which would be ‘NO!’ So it kind of throws off the tone in both instances, on my opinion. There are a couple other little things like that that really just took me out of the story; I hope to see that improved in future graphic novel adaptations, should the author decide to make the rest of the series in this format.

Now, let’s talk about the art for a bit. This book has a different artist/colorist than book 1, which I don’t mind, though I really enjoyed the first book’s style. This artist did a pretty good job staying similar to the first books in character designs, and I do like this style, too. The cover also, thankfully, doesn’t drown out anyone’s features with too-bright light (looking at you, book 1 Fitz), so that’s always a bonus!
But I definitely have some critiques. The first one is kind of my personal preference, but I think it really attributes to my general preference for the first book’s style: there’s no lighting in this one. To be more specific, there’s no color harmony or environmental lighting. The first book had a very distinctive look due to its use of muted colors, giving each frame a filtered appearance the really added to the cohesiveness of each frame. Everything looked washed in a cool blue tone, and it really brought the whole book together. This book does not do that. The colors are vibrant and pretty, yes, but they don’t look distinctive. These frames could be from any graphic novel, and the book feels less cohesive because of it.
Ok, here are some actual issues that aren’t just my personal preference. The character designs, satisfying as they are, aren’t the most consistent. Stina’s hair is a completely different shade in her first scene than her later ones, to the point where she looks like a different character. Due in part to the lack of mood lighting, a lot of hair colors look the same on each person, too. Stina matches Biana in her later scenes, and Edaline in her first one. A lot of background props are given different levels of detail inconsistently. For example, the Pyrokinesis book has exactly nothing on the cover until one random frame, where it has the title and an image. That sort of inconsistency is very noticeable when you actually view the frames, and it’s really disappointing that it wasn’t caught. Similar to the “Noooo!” issue, the book cuts to single frames of Sophie’s eyes way too often, even if it doesn’t match the gravity of whatever revelation she has. And these frames are noticeably almost the exact same, with every so slightly shifted shading to make them not a 1-1 copy. It just feels like the artist cut corners because she didn’t know what panel to draw in that space. Similarly, the characters’ poses don’t always match the tone or gravity of the moment, either. Lots of characters take very melodramatic poses for scenes that could have been better conveyed with simple expression changes. And having telepaths always dramatically touch their own heads when, again, concentrated faces would be just (if not more) effective was just cringey to see.
Maybe that last one is also just my opinion, but I am pretty disappointed in the amount of small art issues in this book. The overall art style is very well-done, and you can tell the artist is talented. But it does feel like a step down from the first book’s quality.

Ok. I’ve critiqued this book a lot in this review, so let’s end on a good note. Here are a some things I really liked about this adaptation! The character designs, as I mentioned before, were all pretty distinct and recognizable compared with the first book’s interpretation. The artist’s style in general, specifically their way of drawing characters, was a very satisfying, unique style. I loved all the little bonus content at the end; those are always the most special pages of graphic novels for me.
And as a sidebar, I really loved the whole sequence of panels where Sophie is interrogated and tortured. The way it was handled had just the right emotional weight. Her expressions were heartbreaking, and I LOVE that the book didn’t shy away from showing burns. It really added to the realness of the scene. I honestly think that whole sequence is more visceral and painful to read in this book than in the original; the artist did a phenomenal job with it.

So overall, this book had some incredible scenes and was overall a very smart adaptation. But I don’t think it lived up to the first one.
I am curious if the rest of the series will be made into graphic novels, and if so, I hope they keep switching between these artists. I do like both their interpretations of the series, and I’d love to see improvement in both in the future. If this is it, though, I’m glad the book 1 was finished anyways- it was still an enjoyable read.


SERIES RATINGS:
KOTLC Part 1: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
KOTLC Part 2: ⭐️⭐️⭐️