Never Satisfied: Volume One

by Taylor Robin

The full-color, critically acclaimed graphic novel series that started as a webcomic! In a competition for apprentice magicians and their animal familiars, non-binary Lucy is chasing the reward...and learning the cost.

The competition to become the new city Representative—a magician who serves the magistration and protects the people from monstrous husks—is fierce. Eight young apprentices and their animal familiars are vying for the role, while behind the scenes, corrupt officials work to ensure their favored contestants make it to the next round. Lucy Marlowe wants the job more than anything. A win would show their master that they aren’t a worthless waste of effort. But being Representative isn’t all it’s cracked up to be!

Championed as Best New Webcomic of 2015 on Comics Alliance, this first graphic novel of the acclaimed full-color webcomic by American artist Taylor Robin is bringing its rich magic and character drama to bookstores across the globe. (Collects the first five chapters of the comic originally published online, alongside print-exclusive bonus illustrations.)

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Comics, Young Adult, LGBT, Queer, Magic

255 pages, Paperback

Published February 21, 2023

Reviews

[Can Richards · Rating 5 out of 5]

STELLAR art!! Been meaning to continue reading the webcomic, but since reading the first few chapters I’ve *always* wanted it in print due to Taylor Robin’s stunning colours, beautiful panel layouts, and creative lettering!

I will say that the first 5 chapters (as collected in this book) don’t really have the kind of tight streamlined structure that’d necessarily satisfy a reader of the individual book who’s unfamiliar with webcomic structures, but they set up future stakes really well, and chapter 5 really was a perfect stopping-point to keep readers waiting for the next one. 💛

Best of luck to Taylor for when volume 2 gets published! :D

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, a lot going on and nothing wrapped up since it's a first volume. Some plot points were muddied, but will hopefully be made clear in subsequent volumes.

[Abigail Sewall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great art work, cute little story! I really like all the little familiar characters

[Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled to get into this one, since I couldn't find a clear point to it. A bunch of magical youths are competing in a series of periodic magical challenges to be chosen for some kind of important office, but the main character (who is, incidentally, nonbinary) seems to have a teenage emo assumption that everybody hates them and is excluding them for some reason (I didn't get a sense that they were, so is this supposed to be social anxiety? or did the author just not show the problem clearly enough?), and a lot of these kids just seem to have lots of rich-kid dumb petty bullcrap going on with each other: unrequited crushes, jealousies, rivalries, etc, all dressed up with cute outfits and posturing. A few of the kids' issues might have caught my interest more if it was written a bit differently, but as it is it just struck me as fancy-pants kids being petty at each other and/or wringing their angsty hands about various worries like, honest to God, "my dad loves me too much" ?!? (not in a creepy way). Which, again, maybe there were just too many main characters to get into things to a degree that would catch my interest, but as is I just found myself sighing heavily while forcing myself to read on for a conflict I could get interested in.
Which, we ALMOST got one, but then the focus went back to the angstiness.
I went in expecting to like this more, but it just didn't do anything for me.

[Flare TheGunCalamity · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taylor Robin gets one point removed for ending this story before finishing it. This was (ouch) my all time favorite webcomic, and for those who read the physical copy and are wanting more, they should absolutely read what else is available online at neversatisfiedcomic.com. I can respect that Taylor ended the series because they were unhappy with working on it and had no real plans for where to go next, but that doesn't mean I can't be just a little butthurt that I'll never know what happens to this specific Lucy Marlowe, who I've followed on their adventures since I was like, 14-15 years old!! I wish the best to Taylor in their new endeavors and all my love for creating such a wonderful comic.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. I really liked the art style and colors. This had a lot of colors compared to a lot of others that I have seen. I like seeing the trend that more graphic novels are being made in full color. I am really glad that I saw this at my library. The story intrigued me, and I cannot wait for volume 2; however, I can see myself needing to reread this first volume because of how many characters there are. That is one downside: I really wish that the beginning of the graphic novel had a much more comprehensive list of characters that were going to appear in this volume. There are so freaking many.

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
This volume is very much setting up for the larger story, which makes sense considering Webcomics often have a slower pace. The characters are already multilayered and it’s interesting that they are all neither good or bad (except for 1 obvious villain set up). Though I still like the MC the best. The art is fun and colorful. Looking forward to the next volume to see where the story goes.

[Dam-ae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the webcomic, love it in paper form. Lovely artstyle.

Delightful story about queer teenagers competing in a magic tournament to win some sort of position. Isn't it a little weird that that's how political positions are given out in this city? Well, you've just got to stick it out and see what the author's got planned. And besides, it's free to read online anyway so why are there complaints in the reviews lmao

[Jude Cope · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really sad to know that this story will never be finished, and also sad that we'll (probably) never get a volume two at the very least. It's a lovely story with great world building, and Taylor Robin has a fantastic way of writing characters and dialogue to be believable and compelling. The graphic novel leaves off right about where chapter 6 starts, and the rest of the webcomic can be read online. Highly recommend.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the story, the art was beautiful, there was good queer representation, and the characters are fun to read. The only reason I didn’t rate it five stars was because it was a bit difficult to understand the world building at the start, but I caught on by the end. I plan to read the second volume when I see that it’s available.

[Kayla Zabcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

77%

very cute art and nice colors. the story's goal/purpose is a little hard to guess at, but WebComics tend to jump into the middle of stories like that, revealing tiny bits of information along the way. it's not generally my favorite way to go about following a plot, but this one pulled it off nicely since its purpose mostly seems to be interrelationships anyways.

[De Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

They

I really loved the use of “They” as the pronoun being used rather than simply “he” and “she;” it allowed for a level of inclusivity rarely seen to this day.


The story was good too.

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Volume 1 so no ending but thought for the amount of pages we would get a bit more from this...
still I liked the art style and depth to some of the characters

Will probably read Volume 2 at some point

[Danielle Lum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Promising premise and world-building (and gorgeous art), but I feel like I would need to read more of the series to really appreciate the characterization and bump up my rating. I'm sad to see that it's on indefinite hiatus.

[Paleowin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been one of my favorite web comics, but having so many cliffhangers and no resolution kinda sucks. I would happily take a “it’s never getting finished but here’s a brief epilogue for the characters”.

[Aimee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this novel! I loved all the characters and the use of LGBTQA+. It’s refreshing to have a book with all walks of life. I just need to figure out how to find the end of this book! I must know who won!

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Erin Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful art and a rich world to go along with it! Can't wait to read more.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5)

[Aurora · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s a lot going on in this one, but I liked it a bunch. The character sheet in the beginning helped a lot, haha.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25

[Helen Pugsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interested to see where this series goes. Very entertaining.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful art, interesting story, but honestly I have zero clue what was going on in the story.

[Liv Balsitis · Rating 5 out of 5]

10 OUT OF 10! This book was very funny and I read too fast and are about to DIE if I can't get the second volume♡♡♡☆☆☆

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really cool! A lot going on but I really enjoyed it and I'm eager to see where the story goes in future volumes.

[Dee VanClief · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little boring at times but i am excited to read volume two!!

[Raven Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

Webcomic style of art and story. Some bumps/missing information could be filled-in in later issues, but does make it a little hard to follow sometimes. Heavy on the GLBTQ story arcs, magical elements, and familiar themes of heroes and villains. Heavy on the action and humor and has elements of such things as Golden Compass and other classic fantasy tales. Aged 12 and up, younger (so far) can do, but with knowing your reader/how sensitive they are.

[Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

I got this as a gift for the holidays, finally got to it, and absolutely loved it! I was hooked instantly and if it wasn't for being in the middle of a readathon I would have binged the rest on the website.

The art was great. The storytelling was intriguing and left me wanting to actually figure out what was happening and why. And I love the character dynamics, which you're slowly figuring out as the story progresses.

I highly recommend you check this series out!

[Avery · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been following this as a webcomic for several years and am thrilled to see it in print! It's so fun and charming with expressive art that emphasizes both the comedic and dramatic parts which the author manages to balance so well. I highly recommend this comic to anyone looking for some magic, adventure, casual queer rep, and a deep and unfurling mystery that keeps managing to surprise and intrigue me. Can't wait for volume 2!

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous, touching, delightful, and hilarious. The Prince and the Dressmaker meets Miyazaki.