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Life Is Strange: Welcome to Blackwell Academy
An atmospheric and characterful look at the world of the hugely successful video game Life is Strange, through the eyes of Max and Chloe.
Welcome to Blackwell Academy is an in-universe book from the Life is Strange video game franchise from Dontnod Entertainment and Square Enix. This detailed book takes the form of a student guide to Blackwell Academy and the town of Arcadia Bay. Overlaid onto the pages is notes, doodles, sketches and photographs from the Blackwell students themselves, including contributions from the beloved protagonists Max and Chloe.
Welcome to Blackwell Academy includes information on the staff and facilities of Blackwell Academy, the people and locations of Arcadia Bay, overlaid with funny, irreverent and poignant comments from the students.
Welcome to Blackwell Academy is an in-universe book from the Life is Strange video game franchise from Dontnod Entertainment and Square Enix. This detailed book takes the form of a student guide to Blackwell Academy and the town of Arcadia Bay. Overlaid onto the pages is notes, doodles, sketches and photographs from the Blackwell students themselves, including contributions from the beloved protagonists Max and Chloe.
Welcome to Blackwell Academy includes information on the staff and facilities of Blackwell Academy, the people and locations of Arcadia Bay, overlaid with funny, irreverent and poignant comments from the students.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published October 9, 2018
16 people are currently reading
561 people want to read
About the author
Matt Forbeck
211 books313 followersI'm an award-winning, New York Times-bestselling author and game designer and happily married father of five, including a set of quadruplets. For more on my work, see Forbeck.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
December 10, 2018
This book is a nice trip down memory lane for those of us who played (and loved) the original Life is Strange game as well as its prequel, Before the Storm. We all know the only reason to get this is to read the annotations by Max, Chloe, Rachel, and others, some of which probably stretch continuity more than they should, and others that are decidedly out of place for the time this guide is supposed to have been released (e.g.: Chuck Wendig's "Art harder" quote). Furthermore, I don't think the author got Max and Chloe quite right.
The guide includes character profiles on the usual suspects (Chloe, Rachel, Nathan, Warren, etc.) but notably absent were Kate Marsh and Max herself. It makes sense, considering both Kate and Max started attending Blackwell after 2010, but it's still a pity that Kate wasn't featured in any way, shape, or form (okay, I think there's maybe one drawing of Kate). After all, not only do we have Max's annotations but we also have some shots of her, a short art galley comprised mostly of shots/art from the games, and even art from the new LiS comics. Besides the Blackwell Academy guide, we also have a guide to Arcadia and its different attractions, also commented by our favourite pirates.
Overall, I got the sense that the book should've tried to set up more conversations in the annotations, as those were the more interesting of the bunch, particularly the exchanges between Max and Chloe.
Recommended to anyone who wants to revisit Arcadia Bay without replaying the games.
The guide includes character profiles on the usual suspects (Chloe, Rachel, Nathan, Warren, etc.) but notably absent were Kate Marsh and Max herself. It makes sense, considering both Kate and Max started attending Blackwell after 2010, but it's still a pity that Kate wasn't featured in any way, shape, or form (okay, I think there's maybe one drawing of Kate). After all, not only do we have Max's annotations but we also have some shots of her, a short art galley comprised mostly of shots/art from the games, and even art from the new LiS comics. Besides the Blackwell Academy guide, we also have a guide to Arcadia and its different attractions, also commented by our favourite pirates.
Overall, I got the sense that the book should've tried to set up more conversations in the annotations, as those were the more interesting of the bunch, particularly the exchanges between Max and Chloe.
Recommended to anyone who wants to revisit Arcadia Bay without replaying the games.
November 22, 2018
The perfect book to give any Life is Strange fan!!
May 2, 2019
Como amante de este precioso videojuego, el tenerlo en mis manos fue un deleite, por un lado tenemos la guia de "Bienvenida de la academia Blackwell" en donde encontraremos informacion complementaria de varios personajes, de la academia en si, y acotaciones escritas de Chloe, Max, Rachel y Victoria que te harán carcajearte por tantas ocurrencias, ademas de imagenes conceptuales de los personajes y escenarios.
Al invertir el libro, tenemos la "Bienvenida a Arcadia Bay" en donde conocemos más acerca del lugar donde se desarrolla la historia, esta parte es mas visual que escrita, sin embargo no deja de ser preciosa.
Indispensable para todos aquellos amantes de esta belleza!!
Al invertir el libro, tenemos la "Bienvenida a Arcadia Bay" en donde conocemos más acerca del lugar donde se desarrolla la historia, esta parte es mas visual que escrita, sin embargo no deja de ser preciosa.
Indispensable para todos aquellos amantes de esta belleza!!
December 26, 2018
Honestly, I rated this book 4 stars more for the artwork than for the content. I didn't feel the content offered a whole lot beyond what you already know if you've played the game, but it was a fun addition anyway, and the graphic aspect of the book is beautiful. If you're a fan of the game, this is definitely worth having in your collection.
June 28, 2023
As an obsessive Life is Strange fan (And I do mean obsessive) I get a huge kick out of this. It's such a fun idea.
P.S. Amberprice forever. Fight me.
P.S. Amberprice forever. Fight me.
June 3, 2019
I recently replayed Life is Strange, and it cemented itself as one of my favourite games of all time. I always feel like I shouldn't like it as much as I do, what with never really getting along with these interactive fiction games in general and all the teenage melodrama, but for some reason this one just clicked. I love the setting, I love the characters, I love the art style and while the gameplay is still a bit limited by the conventions of the genre it does do some really interesting stuff with how it ties its mechanics into the narrative which I could gush about at length, but this review isn't the place for that.
This is, at its core, an art book, but sets itself apart from your standard video game concept art collection by presenting everything as an in-universe book about the school and town in which the game takes place. Adding to the effect is graffiti and doodles from a few of the major characters which appear throughout. Basically if you're the sort of person who scraped every area to make sure you examined every single object in the game to hear Max and Chloe's thoughts on them, this is for you.
These scribbles are generally only mildly interesting, and unlike some of the other spin-off works (like the excellent comic continuation) they don't always capture the voices of the characters. Most of it feels a little closer to caricature, with everyone boiled down to a single character trait (Victoria is bitchy, Nathan is furious, Chloe is a rebel etc.) but I suppose you can't expect too much nuance from dirty jokes scrawled in a school book.
The art itself is stronger. The best pieces I suspect are concept art from the game's development, and a big chunk of it is flyers and posters from the game presented in full size so it's only going to be of interest to a die-hard fan, but if you were thinking about picking up the book in the first place you'll probably fall into that camp anyway.
Absolutely not essential reading, I can't see myself revisiting it any time soon, but definitely still worth flipping through once if you're desparate for more of that world.
This is, at its core, an art book, but sets itself apart from your standard video game concept art collection by presenting everything as an in-universe book about the school and town in which the game takes place. Adding to the effect is graffiti and doodles from a few of the major characters which appear throughout. Basically if you're the sort of person who scraped every area to make sure you examined every single object in the game to hear Max and Chloe's thoughts on them, this is for you.
These scribbles are generally only mildly interesting, and unlike some of the other spin-off works (like the excellent comic continuation) they don't always capture the voices of the characters. Most of it feels a little closer to caricature, with everyone boiled down to a single character trait (Victoria is bitchy, Nathan is furious, Chloe is a rebel etc.) but I suppose you can't expect too much nuance from dirty jokes scrawled in a school book.
The art itself is stronger. The best pieces I suspect are concept art from the game's development, and a big chunk of it is flyers and posters from the game presented in full size so it's only going to be of interest to a die-hard fan, but if you were thinking about picking up the book in the first place you'll probably fall into that camp anyway.
Absolutely not essential reading, I can't see myself revisiting it any time soon, but definitely still worth flipping through once if you're desparate for more of that world.
March 31, 2019
Me apreció muy bueno,soy fan de estos videojuegos y este libro es muy bueno,y bastante divertido.Le pongo solo 3 estrellas porque pensaba que iba a ser algo mejor pero en general un muy buen libro lo amé😍😍
October 18, 2025
As long as you're my partner in time.
September 7, 2023
Charming idea on how to combine a lore book and an art book, but I have two issues. Firstly, I wish the book leaned more into the concept art angle, because now it's just an unfocused mix of in-game screenshots and concept art. The environmental concept art was gorgeous, but some of it was unfortunately printed really small, and there was a painful lack of character designs. (Though the inclusion of posters was pretty cool.)
Secondly, it bothered me that the handwritten notes were obviously just various fonts—would've been worth it to go the extra mile and make these from actual scanned handwriting. I know, I know, that would probably be a nightmare to make and/or translate, but art books are supposed to be extra! (And they're expensive anyway :P) It would've been so cool! The dirt and tea/coffee traces were great, so it was a shame that the notes broke the immersion.
Other than that, this was a very enjoyable read and I loved learning more about the background lore of LIS. The characters' notes were definitely the highlight of this book!
Secondly, it bothered me that the handwritten notes were obviously just various fonts—would've been worth it to go the extra mile and make these from actual scanned handwriting. I know, I know, that would probably be a nightmare to make and/or translate, but art books are supposed to be extra! (And they're expensive anyway :P) It would've been so cool! The dirt and tea/coffee traces were great, so it was a shame that the notes broke the immersion.
Other than that, this was a very enjoyable read and I loved learning more about the background lore of LIS. The characters' notes were definitely the highlight of this book!
September 12, 2019
A aquellos que os guste esta saga de juegos de Square Enix, este es un imprescindible en vuestra biblioteca. Además aprenderéis cosas sobre el entorno de Arcadia Bay y recordaréis lo mucho que os gustó el juego, y en caso de no haberlo jugado o que no te haya convencido, despertará tu curiosidad. Es un trabajo, una vez más, muy bien cuidado, en el que cada comentario, cada tachón de bolígrafo o cada dibujo de los personajes te saca una sonrisa. ¡Amor a primera vista!
May 21, 2020
A fun little book to flip through, but it doesn't really add much to the universe. Happy to see more Life is Strange content out there, though!
April 18, 2019
It's a good addition for people collecting books about the games, including a great selection of concept artwork. In terms of the universe it is like the others say and doesn't add much to the storyline, in fact it's hugely inconsistent to the timeline with massive continuity issues, including misspelling main character's names (a HUGE shame). For myself it was incredibly overpriced. I enjoy the games a lot and especially the artistic style so having something physical with the beautiful artwork of the talented designers is worth it for me. I understand that it's a stand alone but the issue with getting characters and events wrong was a frustrating oversight of the editors.
October 21, 2018
A cute and fun way to put together art, information about Blackwell/Arcadia Bay, and the characters' perspectives! I wish it had more new art and character information, but it was still worth it to read all of Chloe and Max's interactions to me (with special appearances from Rachel, Victoria, and Nathan).
February 17, 2020
Life Is Strange is one of my favorite games, so it was nice to revisit the town and characters! I rated it 4/5 because of the artwork features and a few pages on the characters. I’m definitely happy to have this in my collection of LIS merch, but I wish there was a bit more about the characters and less about the town and school’s history. Overall I’m very happy I was given this book!
December 18, 2019
This book is like the insiders scoop for Arcadia Bat as well as Blackwell academy. The fellow citizens of Arcadia Bay show you around the whole town. This book is great if you want an insiders scoop of Life is Strange
February 1, 2020
Been after this book for a while after playing the games and loving them. I really enjoyed going back into Arcadia Bay plus this book gave me an opportunity to read about things I had probably missed while playing the game. Really like the characters and my Life is Strange collection keeps growing.
November 16, 2020
A wonderful art book, held back only by inconsistent character notes. Some of them are genuinely heartwearming or hilarious, but Victoria and Nathan are most affected by Flanderization in this book as others have said. A big shame.
October 1, 2021
Snark, so much of the snark in the margins of the these guides between Chole, Max & occasionally Rachel. Loved their interactions, and swipes at Victoria & Nathan - it made me think of Doug Dorst & J.J. Abrams' S. done up as an episode of MST3K.
April 19, 2022
This book is a fun read! It is basically an artbook formatted as a Blackwell Academy yearbook combined with Arcadia Bay guidebook, but with added comments and scribbles from the Life is Strange characters. This made me want to replay the game.
May 24, 2022
A pesar de que me han interrumpido mi sagrado momento de lectura nocturna, he logrado terminar esta joyita hecha exclusivamente para amantes de este videojuego.
La edición mitad guía de la ciudad, mitad guía de la academia según el lado por el que empieces esta muy chulo.
La edición mitad guía de la ciudad, mitad guía de la academia según el lado por el que empieces esta muy chulo.
October 21, 2018
I’ve missed these girls so much. Definitely a must read for fans of the series. So pumped for the comics in a few months!
December 26, 2018
A fun in-universe guid to parts of the Life is Strange world. Lots of stupid silly little fun bits.
January 14, 2019
As a fan of Life is Strange, I knew this was gonna be great and I was right! I love all the doodles and banter between the characters throughout.
July 26, 2021
Knew I had to have it after finishing the game. Any extra content featuring Chloe & Max, I’ll take!
December 2, 2021
If there had been more Kate (or any Kate- more than a single sketch) this would have been 5 stars for me. It makes me want to replay the games again…
January 7, 2023
Some of it was interesting…some of it was boring…the comments were nice though
April 15, 2023
Perfect to fill my Life is Strange void! Can’t get enough
January 4, 2024
nareszcie czuje spokój ducha wiedząc, że przeczytałam tą ksiażkę i że mam ją na własność:')
DODATKOWO to moja pierwsza przeczytana ksiązka w 2024 - czy mogło być bardziej cudownie?? (nie mogło)
DODATKOWO to moja pierwsza przeczytana ksiązka w 2024 - czy mogło być bardziej cudownie?? (nie mogło)
March 28, 2024
Buen complemento a la historia de los dos videojuegos, entre extensión de ellos y libro de arte.
February 6, 2025
yeah some fun
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews