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The Marble Queen
A sapphic YA graphic novel with sword fighting, political intrigue and magic where the princess needs a marriage alliance for the welfare of her kingdom, but she unknowingly accepts a proposal from a mysterious country, having come not from the prince, but his sister.
The Marble Queen is a YA fantasy graphic novel that’s the political drama of Nimona meets the heartfelt romance of The Princess and the Dressmaker, but this time in a sapphic romance surrounded by a mist of magic.
Princess Amelia’s kingdom, Marion, is in shambles after months of their trade routes being ravaged by pirates. Now, it seems the only option left for her is to save it through a marriage alliance. When she gets an exorbitant offer from the royalty of Iliad—a country shrouded in mystery—Amelia accepts without question and leaves her home to begin a new life.
But she lands on Iliad’s shores to find that her betrothed isn't the country’s prince, but the recently coronated Queen Salira.
Shocked, Amelia tries to make sense of her situation and her confused Salira has awakened strange new feelings inside her, but something dark hides behind the queen's sorrowful eyes. Amelia must fight the demons of her own anxiety disorder before she can tackle her wife's, all while war looms on the horizon.
The Marble Queen is a YA fantasy graphic novel that’s the political drama of Nimona meets the heartfelt romance of The Princess and the Dressmaker, but this time in a sapphic romance surrounded by a mist of magic.
Princess Amelia’s kingdom, Marion, is in shambles after months of their trade routes being ravaged by pirates. Now, it seems the only option left for her is to save it through a marriage alliance. When she gets an exorbitant offer from the royalty of Iliad—a country shrouded in mystery—Amelia accepts without question and leaves her home to begin a new life.
But she lands on Iliad’s shores to find that her betrothed isn't the country’s prince, but the recently coronated Queen Salira.
Shocked, Amelia tries to make sense of her situation and her confused Salira has awakened strange new feelings inside her, but something dark hides behind the queen's sorrowful eyes. Amelia must fight the demons of her own anxiety disorder before she can tackle her wife's, all while war looms on the horizon.
336 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 5, 2024
49 people are currently reading
11080 people want to read
About the author
Anna Kopp
42 books78 followersAnna Kopp is a children’s author who lives in Ohio with her husband, two boys, and two cats. She was born and raised in Russia, and immigrated to the United States when she was 11. She was an IT specialist in the US Army and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business, but her true passion is writing.
Anna loves creating fantastical stories for children of all ages, from picture books to young adult novels. When she’s not writing she’s playing video games or reading the latest books about lost princesses.
Anna loves creating fantastical stories for children of all ages, from picture books to young adult novels. When she’s not writing she’s playing video games or reading the latest books about lost princesses.
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June 18, 2024
With her kingdom in financial disarray, pirates on the assault and potential war on the horizon, Princess Amelia must give herself in marriage to a smart, political alliance to protect her family and homeland. But instead of a prince, Amelia finds herself betrothed to the recently coronated Queen of a mysterious nation, the very woman Amelia finds herself unable to look away from. Unfortunately, with the pacing and underwhelming but convoluted storyline, The Marble Queen is one from which you might find yourself too easily able to look away. A rather promising graphic novel from author Anna Kopp and illustrator Gabrielle Kari, there’s still a lot to enjoy with the sapphic tale filled with swordplay, swooning, and betrayal by the bucketload. While rather bland in terms of art and story, The Marble Queen is still a worthwhile read with a constantly twisting tale of palace intrigue and a rather adorable romance.
This may have been a better novel to give all the elements room to breathe and coalesce, though that said this reads as a bit overly long still. There’s a lot of moving pieces and players in this, and unfortunately the artwork often doesn’t quite uphold the narrative and occasionally some of the characters are difficult to distinguish from each other. There are several nations in the political mix and a lot of plotting, secrets and backstabbing which is rather fun however. Though the pacing just never finds a groove and it goes from being a bit of a slog to suddenly being action-packed but then rushing through those scenes into rather cumbersome info dumping. And the art, which is often flat background or low-detail, just never quite lives up to the cover and the rather gorgeous scenes are few and far between. Still, one can’t be too disappointed as it does feature some awesome women doing awesome swordplay, so don’t be too quick to dismiss it.
I rather enjoyed the love story here, which also came with many twists and turns. Amelia has feelings for Salira right away, but represses them and is uncomfortable with the concept of marrying a woman. But she knows it is what she wants. I liked how the kingdom of Iliad was shown as being a very accepting nation in terms of sexuality and there were many queer pairings amongst the people. An aspect of the artwork I really enjoyed was the representation of anxiety, with Amelia having anxiety attacks depicted as thorny roots reaching for her and mocking her. While Salira is also shown to be haunted by her anxiety, this plot line sort of fizzles out and is never actually addressed despite being rather important early on and leading to one of the major plot twists. It’s frustrating it just gets discarded after that.
Ultimately, this feels disjointed and trying to juggle too many elements. The part about the magic of Iliad was cool, but under utilized other than convenience to the narrative. It probably would have been better in prose honestly, which I usually find the combination of art to be a lovely added element but here it just didn’t do much. I still enjoyed it well enough though and I would recommend giving it a read if it interests you. The Marble Queen is flawed, but still good sapphic fun.
2.5/5
This may have been a better novel to give all the elements room to breathe and coalesce, though that said this reads as a bit overly long still. There’s a lot of moving pieces and players in this, and unfortunately the artwork often doesn’t quite uphold the narrative and occasionally some of the characters are difficult to distinguish from each other. There are several nations in the political mix and a lot of plotting, secrets and backstabbing which is rather fun however. Though the pacing just never finds a groove and it goes from being a bit of a slog to suddenly being action-packed but then rushing through those scenes into rather cumbersome info dumping. And the art, which is often flat background or low-detail, just never quite lives up to the cover and the rather gorgeous scenes are few and far between. Still, one can’t be too disappointed as it does feature some awesome women doing awesome swordplay, so don’t be too quick to dismiss it.
I rather enjoyed the love story here, which also came with many twists and turns. Amelia has feelings for Salira right away, but represses them and is uncomfortable with the concept of marrying a woman. But she knows it is what she wants. I liked how the kingdom of Iliad was shown as being a very accepting nation in terms of sexuality and there were many queer pairings amongst the people. An aspect of the artwork I really enjoyed was the representation of anxiety, with Amelia having anxiety attacks depicted as thorny roots reaching for her and mocking her. While Salira is also shown to be haunted by her anxiety, this plot line sort of fizzles out and is never actually addressed despite being rather important early on and leading to one of the major plot twists. It’s frustrating it just gets discarded after that.
Ultimately, this feels disjointed and trying to juggle too many elements. The part about the magic of Iliad was cool, but under utilized other than convenience to the narrative. It probably would have been better in prose honestly, which I usually find the combination of art to be a lovely added element but here it just didn’t do much. I still enjoyed it well enough though and I would recommend giving it a read if it interests you. The Marble Queen is flawed, but still good sapphic fun.
2.5/5
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July 24, 2024I love lesbians. I love swords. and I love lesbians with swords.
This book worked for me on a surface level. The story was fun, there were a substantial amount of twists, and I enjoyed the balance of romance and political intrigue, with a sprinkle of discussion on mental health. Seriously, if you really want to read about some sapphic queens in an anime-inspired romance with sword fighting and court politics and a little bit of fantasy, it's right here.
Critically, I had a few issues with it. Firstly, this book was delayed a year and a half (I hope everyone who worked on it is okay!) so I had higher hopes for the quality of a book that took so long to complete. The writing was... fine, but nothing to write home about, and the pacing was a little off at times. But I was honestly mostly disappointed by the art. This is by no means a dunk on the artist, in fact, directly the opposite. I was SO excited for the art in this book having just read No Holds Bard, also illustrated by Gabrielle Kari. The art in that book BLEW me away, with complex composition, expressive characters and body language, and overall just a really beautiful and detailed style. So it was disappointing to see that most of the panels in this book contained stiff composition, were weirdly simplistic, and lacked movement and dimension (this doesn't apply to the characters' hair, which was stunning always). The art was still good! Very cute! But not up to the caliber I've seen from this artist.
But this was a lovely story, even if the craft was somewhat lackluster for such a prolonged wait. And I'm truly never going to say no to a story about lesbians and swords.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
CW: anxiety attacks, mental illness, blood, violence, war, gun violence, death, imprisonment, character death, homophobia, poison, death of parents (past)
This book worked for me on a surface level. The story was fun, there were a substantial amount of twists, and I enjoyed the balance of romance and political intrigue, with a sprinkle of discussion on mental health. Seriously, if you really want to read about some sapphic queens in an anime-inspired romance with sword fighting and court politics and a little bit of fantasy, it's right here.
Critically, I had a few issues with it. Firstly, this book was delayed a year and a half (I hope everyone who worked on it is okay!) so I had higher hopes for the quality of a book that took so long to complete. The writing was... fine, but nothing to write home about, and the pacing was a little off at times. But I was honestly mostly disappointed by the art. This is by no means a dunk on the artist, in fact, directly the opposite. I was SO excited for the art in this book having just read No Holds Bard, also illustrated by Gabrielle Kari. The art in that book BLEW me away, with complex composition, expressive characters and body language, and overall just a really beautiful and detailed style. So it was disappointing to see that most of the panels in this book contained stiff composition, were weirdly simplistic, and lacked movement and dimension (this doesn't apply to the characters' hair, which was stunning always). The art was still good! Very cute! But not up to the caliber I've seen from this artist.
But this was a lovely story, even if the craft was somewhat lackluster for such a prolonged wait. And I'm truly never going to say no to a story about lesbians and swords.
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
CW: anxiety attacks, mental illness, blood, violence, war, gun violence, death, imprisonment, character death, homophobia, poison, death of parents (past)
May 24, 2024
Super disappointing, felt like sapphic romantasy in graphic novel form and if that concept works for you, you’ll probably enjoy this.
The focus in this overly long graphic novel is on the sapphic romance, which is nicely done, but everything else fell to the wayside. The side characters were nearly indistinguishable from one another - one example is how each queen’s brother was the same happy go lucky dude, only one was white and one was brown. It had the most generic political palace plot you can think of. The anxiety rep felt alright though it seemed like it fell away toward the end, rather than seeing it truly be worked on.
The art is the biggest let down here, and that cover is so misleading. The actual art in the book is like a rough sketch version of the polished cover. 90% of the art was a character set against a solid color background with no indication of space or setting. It felt very amateur.
I was really looking forward to this one, alas.
The focus in this overly long graphic novel is on the sapphic romance, which is nicely done, but everything else fell to the wayside. The side characters were nearly indistinguishable from one another - one example is how each queen’s brother was the same happy go lucky dude, only one was white and one was brown. It had the most generic political palace plot you can think of. The anxiety rep felt alright though it seemed like it fell away toward the end, rather than seeing it truly be worked on.
The art is the biggest let down here, and that cover is so misleading. The actual art in the book is like a rough sketch version of the polished cover. 90% of the art was a character set against a solid color background with no indication of space or setting. It felt very amateur.
I was really looking forward to this one, alas.
January 28, 2025
Literal lesbian queens. 👑👑
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March 26, 2024
When I saw this cover and that premise back in 2022 and I fainted and fell to the floor.
I waited. I watched. I anticipated. My library bought some copies and I immediately placed a hold—number 10! I watched and waited more and then screamed and damn-near ripped the copy out of a coworker's hands in my delight at seeing this book in the flesh.
The feral-ness I felt in wanting to read this.
So imagine how heartbroken I feel to rate this two stars.
Look.
It could have been great. The ingredients were all there.
But.
So much was crammed into one 336-page graphic novel that a lot was left to be desired, and many elements were rushed. I wish that as much time and consideration was spent developing the plotlines and characters as was spent on Amelia lying in bed, getting ready, and the depictions of thorns around her for anxiety. Show me her and Salira! Show me more! Instead, a good chunk is spent getting Amelia to Iliad, then getting her acclimated, and then all of a sudden there's a huge chunk of plot that's thrown out of nowhere (okay it's there but it's clunky) and there's a few weird plotlines that didn't really need to be there as undeveloped as they were.
And the artwork itself...as my coworker said and I agree, if just a little shading had been used it would have helped. But the illustrations were inconsistent and the printing of them looked real bad. Like the printer was using a low pixelation for the images. And the images themselves...I prefer something a little more polished.
It felt like a 7 book series that was compressed into one 90-minute movie.
Edit: I just saw on the author's profile that it was meant to be a standalone and I—no.
I waited. I watched. I anticipated. My library bought some copies and I immediately placed a hold—number 10! I watched and waited more and then screamed and damn-near ripped the copy out of a coworker's hands in my delight at seeing this book in the flesh.
The feral-ness I felt in wanting to read this.
So imagine how heartbroken I feel to rate this two stars.
Look.
It could have been great. The ingredients were all there.
But.
So much was crammed into one 336-page graphic novel that a lot was left to be desired, and many elements were rushed. I wish that as much time and consideration was spent developing the plotlines and characters as was spent on Amelia lying in bed, getting ready, and the depictions of thorns around her for anxiety. Show me her and Salira! Show me more! Instead, a good chunk is spent getting Amelia to Iliad, then getting her acclimated, and then all of a sudden there's a huge chunk of plot that's thrown out of nowhere (okay it's there but it's clunky) and there's a few weird plotlines that didn't really need to be there as undeveloped as they were.
And the artwork itself...as my coworker said and I agree, if just a little shading had been used it would have helped. But the illustrations were inconsistent and the printing of them looked real bad. Like the printer was using a low pixelation for the images. And the images themselves...I prefer something a little more polished.
It felt like a 7 book series that was compressed into one 90-minute movie.
Edit: I just saw on the author's profile that it was meant to be a standalone and I—no.
January 10, 2024
Is this romantasy? I keep seeing that term, and this is a mix of romance and fantasy.. I'll be honest, I'm not a huge fan of romance, but this seems fine on that front. The art sometimes reminds me of murals, which is nice, but then the faces are overly manga-esque, which I'm not a fan of. Too many panels with just characters and no backgrounds, a real no no to me.
I'm clearly not the audience for this, but it's fiiiine.
(Thanks to Dark Horse Books for providing me with a review copy through Edelweiss)
I'm clearly not the audience for this, but it's fiiiine.
(Thanks to Dark Horse Books for providing me with a review copy through Edelweiss)
August 13, 2024
Sword Lesbian x Math Lesbian
you're laughing! most of the men who set foot on this book are dead and you're laughing!
you're laughing! most of the men who set foot on this book are dead and you're laughing!
September 4, 2024
I am devastated that I didn't love this.
I have been excited for this release since I knew of it's existence. The concept = great; the cover = phenomenal! Sadly, this was just meh...
Although I adore the cover of this graphic novel, the art inside was just fine. Some panels were good, but others were kinda wonky and I wasn't a big fan... I wish the entire book could have been of the same quality (or at least the same style) as the cover.
As for the story, I wish we could have gotten more. The plot in and of itself was okay, but the pacing was a bit too fast for my liking and I didn't feel any connection to the characters. I would have liked to see the gradual progression of the MCs' relationship. We didn't get to see them get to know each other, and I honestly couldn't tell you a single thing about the love interest's personality.
I have been excited for this release since I knew of it's existence. The concept = great; the cover = phenomenal! Sadly, this was just meh...
Although I adore the cover of this graphic novel, the art inside was just fine. Some panels were good, but others were kinda wonky and I wasn't a big fan... I wish the entire book could have been of the same quality (or at least the same style) as the cover.
As for the story, I wish we could have gotten more. The plot in and of itself was okay, but the pacing was a bit too fast for my liking and I didn't feel any connection to the characters. I would have liked to see the gradual progression of the MCs' relationship. We didn't get to see them get to know each other, and I honestly couldn't tell you a single thing about the love interest's personality.
March 16, 2024
I know - I am also shocked that I read something that's not MM. But with a cover like that, I couldn't resist.
This was super cute! The story was sweet & the art was lovely.
This was super cute! The story was sweet & the art was lovely.
November 28, 2025
bro what do you mean the anxiety representation is just medication. How is this a plotline. I loved the characters and the art though!!!
March 8, 2024
(2.5) disappointed :( I liked it but it felt sort of half finished, never really connected with the characters or the plot. The way the MC’s anxiety was portrayed was sick asf tho, and obviously I would never one star lesbians
July 12, 2024
this cover... my heart can only handle so much!
October 25, 2024
3.8 ⭐️ Sapphics deserve fairytales too ✨
This was one of my most anticipated graphic novels last year and I really enjoyed it but did at times want more from the story.
I appreciated that this isn’t just a flowery romance story, there’s mystery and explorations around themes like mental health that give it depth. I did at times feel like the story was predictable / scattered however.
The artwork for me was 5 ⭐️. I absolutely adore the illustration style and the colour palette and will now be picking up a hard copy for that alone. It’s a beautiful read.
Rep// lesbian MC with depression/anxiety, sapphic mc. Central romance is sapphic / WLW.
TW’s listed below, please skip if you don’t want spoilers.
Tw// anxiety, depression, themes of drugging, poisoning, bodies/death.
This was one of my most anticipated graphic novels last year and I really enjoyed it but did at times want more from the story.
I appreciated that this isn’t just a flowery romance story, there’s mystery and explorations around themes like mental health that give it depth. I did at times feel like the story was predictable / scattered however.
The artwork for me was 5 ⭐️. I absolutely adore the illustration style and the colour palette and will now be picking up a hard copy for that alone. It’s a beautiful read.
Rep// lesbian MC with depression/anxiety, sapphic mc. Central romance is sapphic / WLW.
TW’s listed below, please skip if you don’t want spoilers.
Tw// anxiety, depression, themes of drugging, poisoning, bodies/death.
July 29, 2024
while i enjoyed the political intrigue and thought the romance was very sweet, i did feel there was room for improvement.
i wanted to see amelia use a sword or gun at one point after going through grueling training. there could have been a little more clarity with all the politics and schemes, and the panels could have been more detailed. i also felt like amelia's anxiety could have been more interesting to explore or have some sort of proper messaging, but it kind of just got dropped at a point.
the character art was gorgeous though and i was very intrigued by the pirate!
i wanted to see amelia use a sword or gun at one point after going through grueling training. there could have been a little more clarity with all the politics and schemes, and the panels could have been more detailed. i also felt like amelia's anxiety could have been more interesting to explore or have some sort of proper messaging, but it kind of just got dropped at a point.
the character art was gorgeous though and i was very intrigued by the pirate!
Want to read
May 20, 2021'A sapphic YA graphic novel with sword fighting, political intrigue and magic where the princess needs a marriage alliance for the welfare of her kingdom, but she unknowingly accepts a proposal from a mysterious kingdom, having come not from the prince, but the recently coronated queen'
July 21, 2024
if you were lured in by the gorgeous cover art, prepare to feel betrayed by the art inside because this is what you're getting from page 1 and on:
(click here for image)
some of the panels are better while others are worse. i can usually let this kind of art slide because i try to tolerate different skill levels, but this is a dark horse graphic novel and i expect better quality. when it's the same artist, i don't like when the cover art takes a huge leap in effort vs the panels inside the book. it sets unrealistic expectations that borders duplicitousness. both the cover art and panel art look like they were drawn by two different artists. the cover is shaded with varying vibrant colors and stunning symmetry while the art inside is flat with no shading, sometimes has odd perspectives and proportions, and the colors are often muted and the same throughout a chapter. there were styles that drew inspiration from manga while others seemed to be from american animation styles; there was no consistency. i've seen the artist's illustrations—she's capable of doing better but i think this was a project was beyond her scope because it looks like her first foray into comic book art professionally. i know that crunch and deadlines are nightmarish for artists in the comic industry (and any other industry artists enter like games and animation), especially as they become more and more devalued. veteran comic book artists are overwhelmed and i can't imagine being a newcomer. as an artist myself, we learn to simplify when creating comics because we waste time on details that readers won't notice (like shading and thickened lines) versus spending time meticulously filling in details for illustrations. drawing hundreds and hundreds of panels is exhausting and a lot of pieces don't make it past the thumbnail phase. dark horse should have chosen an artist who has more experience drawing comics. kari might not have been given enough time to do her best work. i would have liked to see what the marble queen would have looked like if she got to put as much effort into her panels as she did with her cover.
the font choice was not great and dark horse should have hired a professional typographer to create legible text. i couldn't read a lot of the graphic novel and didn't want to strain my eyes to try. what i was able to read was okay but it did feel like a sapphic, barnes & noble-promoted, booktok romantasy in comic form which isn't my thing. hopefully it's someone else's. dark horse can do better and should have nurtured talent instead of stressing them out.
(click here for image)
some of the panels are better while others are worse. i can usually let this kind of art slide because i try to tolerate different skill levels, but this is a dark horse graphic novel and i expect better quality. when it's the same artist, i don't like when the cover art takes a huge leap in effort vs the panels inside the book. it sets unrealistic expectations that borders duplicitousness. both the cover art and panel art look like they were drawn by two different artists. the cover is shaded with varying vibrant colors and stunning symmetry while the art inside is flat with no shading, sometimes has odd perspectives and proportions, and the colors are often muted and the same throughout a chapter. there were styles that drew inspiration from manga while others seemed to be from american animation styles; there was no consistency. i've seen the artist's illustrations—she's capable of doing better but i think this was a project was beyond her scope because it looks like her first foray into comic book art professionally. i know that crunch and deadlines are nightmarish for artists in the comic industry (and any other industry artists enter like games and animation), especially as they become more and more devalued. veteran comic book artists are overwhelmed and i can't imagine being a newcomer. as an artist myself, we learn to simplify when creating comics because we waste time on details that readers won't notice (like shading and thickened lines) versus spending time meticulously filling in details for illustrations. drawing hundreds and hundreds of panels is exhausting and a lot of pieces don't make it past the thumbnail phase. dark horse should have chosen an artist who has more experience drawing comics. kari might not have been given enough time to do her best work. i would have liked to see what the marble queen would have looked like if she got to put as much effort into her panels as she did with her cover.
the font choice was not great and dark horse should have hired a professional typographer to create legible text. i couldn't read a lot of the graphic novel and didn't want to strain my eyes to try. what i was able to read was okay but it did feel like a sapphic, barnes & noble-promoted, booktok romantasy in comic form which isn't my thing. hopefully it's someone else's. dark horse can do better and should have nurtured talent instead of stressing them out.
December 31, 2024
apparently i had this saved as a draft: i also would like to find out that ive been married off to a mysterious beautiful woman and hold her hands that hold a sword dangerously close to my throat
unfortunately the execution did not live up to that compelling premise, and the story tried to pack too much into too few pages. but thanks for the reading challenge help!
2.5 stars
unfortunately the execution did not live up to that compelling premise, and the story tried to pack too much into too few pages. but thanks for the reading challenge help!
2.5 stars
July 15, 2024
if u love lesbians and lesbians with swords then boy do i have the GN for u!!!!
May 2, 2025
I waited literally years for this graphic novel.
After having been delayed a hundred times, 'The Marble Queen' by Anna Kopp and Gabrielle Kari has finally been published in March 2024, at least in physical form, in paperback. I had lost and gained patience. I was assured, then I was frustrated, and then I was reassured again and again of its eventual existence. I was overhyped by the time I at last got my hands on this tome.
So after all that, what are my final thoughts? My conclusions? What did I think of 'The Marble Queen' in the end?
Ehhhhhh.
Okay. I am quite disappointed.
It's by no means terrible, nor especially bad. It's just kind of uneven and clunky.
The plot basically goes as follows: Amelia is a princess with anxiety, whose kingdom of Marion is at the mercy of pirates, and near-broke. A political marriage alliance is decided with another, more powerful yet mysterious kingdom, Iliad. It turns out Amelia is not marrying the prince (who is already married with a daughter), but his sister, the queen - the handsome and aloof Salira. Both women - both queens - are dealing with their own internal issues, and all the while there is political intrigue, espionage, attempted assassinations, frame-ups, riots, shady dealings, and attempted mutiny. And a tragic past coming back to haunt the two women, in their budding, blossomy romance. A royal pain, indeed.
An LBGTQ+ romance between two queens in a fantasy epic, with an obvious 'The Rose of the Versailles' and 'Revolutionary Girl Utena' influence, sounds absolutely marvellous, doesn't it?
Unfortunately, 'The Marble Queen' contains many flaws in its execution. I'll start with:
The pacing. It's all over the place. Really, nothing happens in the first half of the book, just slice-of-life stuff in Iliad and Amelia settling there, and being introduced to the assemble cast. Then a riot and deaths happen, and Amelia moves to another place for a bit, then she has a birthday, then she marries Salira, then a framing and imprisonment happens, and then corruption and betrayals are revealed, and then a sudden move to somewhere else before we rush to the battle climax, which ends too quickly, and then the comic ends too quickly and abruptly, teasing a sequel.
Nothing is built up properly; the plot begins by moving slowly like molasses, leaving behind a saccharine, syrupy trail that might be sweet and cute, but nonetheless doesn't stay with you on a deeper, meaningful or memorable level in your heart and soul. Then it rushes its action in the middle of its second half; the rapid, hasty pace only gets worse as it hurriedly battering-rams its way towards the end. It gets so bad that certain characters would be forgotten about, but then would suddenly appear in a panel in the subsequent scene later on, with no explanation. Characters keep disappearing and reappearing like ghosts of forgotten-notes past.
The beginning and middle of 'The Marble Queen' may give the reader time to breathe, relax and get to know the characters, but at the third act and denouement, we are awarded no such thing; no cathartic payoff.
The rushed elements and plot points are not given the emotional weight, impact and aftermath that is appropriate to the situation. Like, people die horribly and then it is forgotten about and followed up on with lighthearted, jokey moments. Main character deaths are not given any time to be grieved over by the other characters - they will be forgotten about too, or at least will not be mentioned again. It's rush rush rush!
This links to my problem with Amelia, our main heroine. Amelia is terrified throughout her story. She is supposed to be suffering from a serious anxiety disorder, and she is in a dire situation where she can't go back home to her own kingdom again, and she doesn't know who to trust, and there are attempts on her life. With these important and potent details in mind, there is the dissonance in that she moves on from traumatic events very quickly and easily. For example, moments where people die bloodily right in front of her, and when she is sentenced to death (I won't give context since I've decided to make this a spoiler-free review). Amelia forgets about people when they are not standing directly in her line of vision. It's fairly ridiculous.
It suits the rush-rush-rush pace of the book, though. Even when Amelia is eventually reunited with her family from Marion, she takes it in stride, no weight, no stakes, no big deal, no heartfelt scenes. Oh, did she have a birthday somewhere in here? Why was that included? What was the point? What an odd detail to include right after a traumatic plot point that won't come to fruition until the end!
Amelia does train with a sword and pistol at some point in the second half of the story, but - slight spoiler - she ends up not using any weapon in the climax. It's Salira who's the action queen with a sword. No other woman is allowed to fight alongside her, apparently. No other woman is allowed to be useful in a war.
To be honest, Amelia on the whole is a pretty useless protagonist, except when it comes to finances, reading, and emotional support. She doesn't have to be a physically tough, Xena-type action girl, of course, but just because she can run headfirst into battles, conflicts and clashes with no weapons, no plans (she doesn't even use her "intelligence" in these scenes, she's just... present), and have a gun pointed at her, and she miraculously survives all these ordeals unscathed, it doesn't mean her anxiety is magically cured! If anything it should be worse now! Her lack of PTSD is a result of the rushed pace, but is it also because she loves Salira? Love doesn't fix everything! Having a romantic partner doesn't fix everything! What is this 2000s-2010s YA romance tropes BS?
The magic element, which is exclusive to Iliad and only Iliad in this fantasy world, is a strange and somewhat pointless inclusion to 'The Marble Queen'. In one scene, Salira takes Amelia, who had thought magic the stuff of fairy tales beforehand, to Iliad's secret caves, where magical stones reside, and she explains her kingdom's history, but not what the magic is, what it does, and where it comes from. It's a vaguely defined life force of some kind. Like chi, or Mother Nature, but far more vague. Is it used for fertility and growth? I don't know. Is it a kind of love-bond connection magic, given to the people of Iliad - oh wait, never mind, that's forgotten about as soon as it's suggested. It's not clear if the stones are actually worth anything; are worth the other lands stealing for themselves. The magic is there as a power symbol, as far as I can tell.
The magic stones (or life force? Which is it, exactly?) also cause outsiders of Iliad to lose their memories of their time in the kingdom once they leave it, hence why no one outside of Iliad knows about the magic, and how Iliad has managed to keep its secrets. And why Amelia can't go back home, or else she'll forget about Salira. But don't worry, this isn't important. It's only bought up once later, and isn't a huge issue.
The pirates issue ends up being no big deal, too. They're barely a part of anything. They're dealt with off-page and explained away in a single line of dialogue, with no details given, it seems, when they were such a threat at the beginning and were the reason why the plot happened in the first place. WTF?
If you are coming into this graphic novel expecting pirate action and adventure, yeah, no, you will not find it here. What a letdown.
I will mention that Salira is a cool character. Complex, multilayered and with a deep, dark, distressing secret past. Gorgeous, refined, regal and badass on the outside, and kind and 100% respectful to Amelia and her boundaries. This shouldn't be such a high bar to reach in terms of decency, but unfortunately, it is, so there you go.
Salira's face also literally cracks a few times in the comic, whenever she is stressed, or at her lowest point, which I think is meant to be symbolic of her cracking under pressure. It's an understated detail to her character. And I think it is the reason why the book is called 'The Marble Queen'. Marble symbolism, in many ways! Or it could be just a very odd, random artistic choice. It even looks comical in places - in dramatic, tragic scenes, where it absolutely should not look stupid and laughable.
Speaking of: the artwork. Let's talk about the artwork.
I'm going to come right out and say it - the cover art is much better than what is inside the book. For the actual art in 'The Marble Queen' is... not very good. It's not horrible, and some panels on their own are fine, and it is colourful enough, but there is a haphazard, slapdash mixing of different styles. There's a pastel, childish look and tone to the whole thing; not clean and polished. It's mostly cartoony and manga-esque, which I did not expect. I expected art that is more richly detailed, and smooth and flows effortlessly from one panel to the next, based on the cover, and the historical-lite, regency setting with a fantastical touch (another thing not found in the real story; again, the "magic" element is a small and completely superfluous addition).
I swear, 80% of the panels have no backgrounds, with the characters drawn to look simple, silly and manga-like in the forefront, and it feels less like a stylistic choice and more like laziness, which is shocking for a comic like this. Movement arrows, with descriptions, and descriptions of sounds and facial expressions, are included, which is helpful, given the lacklustre art that doesn't convey action properly a lot of the time.
Heck, in the scene where Amelia is at a ballroom for her engagement party, there is one particular error where a big front strand of her hair, which is down when the rest of her hair is up, disappears in one panel! It's impossible not to notice. How did that get past the editing stage? In a book that has been delayed numerous times!
Plus, nearly all the male characters look the same. I could hardly tell them apart, and I had to go back and doublecheck who was who several times. I like most of the character designs, however, and some of the facial expressions are well drawn and convey emotion well.
How Amelia's anxiety is depicted and expressed, through symbolic purple thorns growing around her, is a good, effective choice.
*sigh* And we have yet another regency/historical fiction story where the queen - in this case I mean the queen of Marion, Amelia's mother - is a horrible, uptight, one-note, conservative shrew who is borderline abusive towards her daughter, while the king is kind and more openminded. Amelia's mother is a haughty, controlling, homophobic, bourgeoisie narcissist. As little as she appears in the book, it is clear she is responsible for a lot of Amelia's anxiety issues. 'The Marble Queen' wants to make it clear to the reader, more than once, that the marriage of the king and queen of Marion was arranged, neither of them had a choice in the matter - because why else would anyone marry such a bitch, amirite?!
I'd thought that pop culture, mainstream media would be careful and thoughtful in this modern era. By now we should be aware enough to subvert harmful stereotypes, not perpetuate them. Like, say, depict queens who are good and not evil; who can handle power without going mad.
But I guess since Salira technically counts as a good queen (debatable, given the decisions she made in her dark, complex past, and how we scarcely see her actually perform any queenly duties), we have licence to throw other queens under the bus to make her look better in comparison!
Amelia doesn't have much in the way of positive, non-romantic female influences and companionship. Most of the other female "characters" don't appear much in the book, and are fundamentally useless. If I was being generous, I would say that maybe Amelia's maid from Marion, Mina, and her sister-in-law Anita, are nice, supportive friends to her. Iris, Amelia's bodyguard and guide, is cool like Salira, although the potential of her character is utterly wasted. I can't elaborate due to spoilers, but I am miffed by how she's treated and what ends up happening to her.
It is also made clear near the beginning that same-sex couples are common and normalised in Iliad, unlike everywhere else, apparently. But we only see evidence of this in the engagement party scene - after that, apart from Amelia and Salira's courtship and relationship, there is otherwise a bubble of heteronormality. Anita's, and then Amelia's, three court lady "friends" all have husbands, and are man-crazy (BTW, they vanish without a trace after appearing in a few scenes, they don't amount to anything vital to the plot). Salira's brother and Amelia's brother both have wives and children. Amelia and Salira's relationship is nice, if a little rushed and insta-lovey, typically, but they can't be the only queer couple in 'The Marble Queen', surely? One sapphic queen pair is cool and awesome, but give us other queer couples, too, especially if they're supposed to be normalised in the world you created and the story you're telling! It's part of the show don't tell rule of writing.
I think that does it for this review.
I should have loved 'The Marble Queen'. It contains nearly everything I love, and I waited years to acquire it, so I desperately wanted it to be worth it. Sadly, it was not to be.
It is not a bad graphic novel, and there is stuff to like about it, certainly. But after finally reading it, and after a few days of distancing myself from it, finding what exactly it is I remember about it, and how much I actually enjoyed it, if I did enjoy it at all, I'm afraid I'm going to have to come to the conclusion that, to my eyes, it is mediocre.
Maybe my standards are too high, but I've been reading graphic novels for over a decade now, and my seasoned, jaded self sees no problems with having high standards nowadays. I know what is good, I know what I enjoy. I know what I like, and what is worth keeping and remembering. 'The Marble Queen' falls just short of this Artemis Crescent moon estimation.
In the end, I am glad I read it, if that's any consolation.
Keep on drawing and writing, and telling stories, everyone. Keep being creative and artistic. Keep demanding your voice, your work, your heart, your soul, be heard.
Take care and be kind. Look out for one another always.
Final Score: 3/5
EDIT: I just noticed another thing: Since 'The Marble Queen' hasn't met a negative older woman stereotype it didn't like, we have the nagging, fussing, disapproving mother-in-law in Lady Rhea, Anita's mother and lady of one of Iliad's provinces. She is only in a few pages, but like with Amelia's mother, we get the full picture of her one-dimensional prop-ness (to call her a character would be inaccurate) right away. After Rhea unabashedly finds flaws in Anita and Amelia upon seeing them, Salira's brother Mateo says to Amelia that his mother-in-law is hard to impress, and he's accepted long ago that he'll never be good enough for Anita in Rhea's view. HE'S THE FUCKING PRINCE OF HER COUNTRY! HIS SISTER IS THE QUEEN! HIS DAUGHTER - HER GRANDDAUGHTER - IS THE OFFICIAL HEIR TO THE THRONE! IS THAT SERIOUSLY NOT ENOUGH TO IMPRESS HER! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE!
After having been delayed a hundred times, 'The Marble Queen' by Anna Kopp and Gabrielle Kari has finally been published in March 2024, at least in physical form, in paperback. I had lost and gained patience. I was assured, then I was frustrated, and then I was reassured again and again of its eventual existence. I was overhyped by the time I at last got my hands on this tome.
So after all that, what are my final thoughts? My conclusions? What did I think of 'The Marble Queen' in the end?
Ehhhhhh.
Okay. I am quite disappointed.
It's by no means terrible, nor especially bad. It's just kind of uneven and clunky.
The plot basically goes as follows: Amelia is a princess with anxiety, whose kingdom of Marion is at the mercy of pirates, and near-broke. A political marriage alliance is decided with another, more powerful yet mysterious kingdom, Iliad. It turns out Amelia is not marrying the prince (who is already married with a daughter), but his sister, the queen - the handsome and aloof Salira. Both women - both queens - are dealing with their own internal issues, and all the while there is political intrigue, espionage, attempted assassinations, frame-ups, riots, shady dealings, and attempted mutiny. And a tragic past coming back to haunt the two women, in their budding, blossomy romance. A royal pain, indeed.
An LBGTQ+ romance between two queens in a fantasy epic, with an obvious 'The Rose of the Versailles' and 'Revolutionary Girl Utena' influence, sounds absolutely marvellous, doesn't it?
Unfortunately, 'The Marble Queen' contains many flaws in its execution. I'll start with:
The pacing. It's all over the place. Really, nothing happens in the first half of the book, just slice-of-life stuff in Iliad and Amelia settling there, and being introduced to the assemble cast. Then a riot and deaths happen, and Amelia moves to another place for a bit, then she has a birthday, then she marries Salira, then a framing and imprisonment happens, and then corruption and betrayals are revealed, and then a sudden move to somewhere else before we rush to the battle climax, which ends too quickly, and then the comic ends too quickly and abruptly, teasing a sequel.
Nothing is built up properly; the plot begins by moving slowly like molasses, leaving behind a saccharine, syrupy trail that might be sweet and cute, but nonetheless doesn't stay with you on a deeper, meaningful or memorable level in your heart and soul. Then it rushes its action in the middle of its second half; the rapid, hasty pace only gets worse as it hurriedly battering-rams its way towards the end. It gets so bad that certain characters would be forgotten about, but then would suddenly appear in a panel in the subsequent scene later on, with no explanation. Characters keep disappearing and reappearing like ghosts of forgotten-notes past.
The beginning and middle of 'The Marble Queen' may give the reader time to breathe, relax and get to know the characters, but at the third act and denouement, we are awarded no such thing; no cathartic payoff.
The rushed elements and plot points are not given the emotional weight, impact and aftermath that is appropriate to the situation. Like, people die horribly and then it is forgotten about and followed up on with lighthearted, jokey moments. Main character deaths are not given any time to be grieved over by the other characters - they will be forgotten about too, or at least will not be mentioned again. It's rush rush rush!
This links to my problem with Amelia, our main heroine. Amelia is terrified throughout her story. She is supposed to be suffering from a serious anxiety disorder, and she is in a dire situation where she can't go back home to her own kingdom again, and she doesn't know who to trust, and there are attempts on her life. With these important and potent details in mind, there is the dissonance in that she moves on from traumatic events very quickly and easily. For example, moments where people die bloodily right in front of her, and when she is sentenced to death (I won't give context since I've decided to make this a spoiler-free review). Amelia forgets about people when they are not standing directly in her line of vision. It's fairly ridiculous.
It suits the rush-rush-rush pace of the book, though. Even when Amelia is eventually reunited with her family from Marion, she takes it in stride, no weight, no stakes, no big deal, no heartfelt scenes. Oh, did she have a birthday somewhere in here? Why was that included? What was the point? What an odd detail to include right after a traumatic plot point that won't come to fruition until the end!
Amelia does train with a sword and pistol at some point in the second half of the story, but - slight spoiler - she ends up not using any weapon in the climax. It's Salira who's the action queen with a sword. No other woman is allowed to fight alongside her, apparently. No other woman is allowed to be useful in a war.
To be honest, Amelia on the whole is a pretty useless protagonist, except when it comes to finances, reading, and emotional support. She doesn't have to be a physically tough, Xena-type action girl, of course, but just because she can run headfirst into battles, conflicts and clashes with no weapons, no plans (she doesn't even use her "intelligence" in these scenes, she's just... present), and have a gun pointed at her, and she miraculously survives all these ordeals unscathed, it doesn't mean her anxiety is magically cured! If anything it should be worse now! Her lack of PTSD is a result of the rushed pace, but is it also because she loves Salira? Love doesn't fix everything! Having a romantic partner doesn't fix everything! What is this 2000s-2010s YA romance tropes BS?
The magic element, which is exclusive to Iliad and only Iliad in this fantasy world, is a strange and somewhat pointless inclusion to 'The Marble Queen'. In one scene, Salira takes Amelia, who had thought magic the stuff of fairy tales beforehand, to Iliad's secret caves, where magical stones reside, and she explains her kingdom's history, but not what the magic is, what it does, and where it comes from. It's a vaguely defined life force of some kind. Like chi, or Mother Nature, but far more vague. Is it used for fertility and growth? I don't know. Is it a kind of love-bond connection magic, given to the people of Iliad - oh wait, never mind, that's forgotten about as soon as it's suggested. It's not clear if the stones are actually worth anything; are worth the other lands stealing for themselves. The magic is there as a power symbol, as far as I can tell.
The magic stones (or life force? Which is it, exactly?) also cause outsiders of Iliad to lose their memories of their time in the kingdom once they leave it, hence why no one outside of Iliad knows about the magic, and how Iliad has managed to keep its secrets. And why Amelia can't go back home, or else she'll forget about Salira. But don't worry, this isn't important. It's only bought up once later, and isn't a huge issue.
The pirates issue ends up being no big deal, too. They're barely a part of anything. They're dealt with off-page and explained away in a single line of dialogue, with no details given, it seems, when they were such a threat at the beginning and were the reason why the plot happened in the first place. WTF?
If you are coming into this graphic novel expecting pirate action and adventure, yeah, no, you will not find it here. What a letdown.
I will mention that Salira is a cool character. Complex, multilayered and with a deep, dark, distressing secret past. Gorgeous, refined, regal and badass on the outside, and kind and 100% respectful to Amelia and her boundaries. This shouldn't be such a high bar to reach in terms of decency, but unfortunately, it is, so there you go.
Salira's face also literally cracks a few times in the comic, whenever she is stressed, or at her lowest point, which I think is meant to be symbolic of her cracking under pressure. It's an understated detail to her character. And I think it is the reason why the book is called 'The Marble Queen'. Marble symbolism, in many ways! Or it could be just a very odd, random artistic choice. It even looks comical in places - in dramatic, tragic scenes, where it absolutely should not look stupid and laughable.
Speaking of: the artwork. Let's talk about the artwork.
I'm going to come right out and say it - the cover art is much better than what is inside the book. For the actual art in 'The Marble Queen' is... not very good. It's not horrible, and some panels on their own are fine, and it is colourful enough, but there is a haphazard, slapdash mixing of different styles. There's a pastel, childish look and tone to the whole thing; not clean and polished. It's mostly cartoony and manga-esque, which I did not expect. I expected art that is more richly detailed, and smooth and flows effortlessly from one panel to the next, based on the cover, and the historical-lite, regency setting with a fantastical touch (another thing not found in the real story; again, the "magic" element is a small and completely superfluous addition).
I swear, 80% of the panels have no backgrounds, with the characters drawn to look simple, silly and manga-like in the forefront, and it feels less like a stylistic choice and more like laziness, which is shocking for a comic like this. Movement arrows, with descriptions, and descriptions of sounds and facial expressions, are included, which is helpful, given the lacklustre art that doesn't convey action properly a lot of the time.
Heck, in the scene where Amelia is at a ballroom for her engagement party, there is one particular error where a big front strand of her hair, which is down when the rest of her hair is up, disappears in one panel! It's impossible not to notice. How did that get past the editing stage? In a book that has been delayed numerous times!
Plus, nearly all the male characters look the same. I could hardly tell them apart, and I had to go back and doublecheck who was who several times. I like most of the character designs, however, and some of the facial expressions are well drawn and convey emotion well.
How Amelia's anxiety is depicted and expressed, through symbolic purple thorns growing around her, is a good, effective choice.
*sigh* And we have yet another regency/historical fiction story where the queen - in this case I mean the queen of Marion, Amelia's mother - is a horrible, uptight, one-note, conservative shrew who is borderline abusive towards her daughter, while the king is kind and more openminded. Amelia's mother is a haughty, controlling, homophobic, bourgeoisie narcissist. As little as she appears in the book, it is clear she is responsible for a lot of Amelia's anxiety issues. 'The Marble Queen' wants to make it clear to the reader, more than once, that the marriage of the king and queen of Marion was arranged, neither of them had a choice in the matter - because why else would anyone marry such a bitch, amirite?!
I'd thought that pop culture, mainstream media would be careful and thoughtful in this modern era. By now we should be aware enough to subvert harmful stereotypes, not perpetuate them. Like, say, depict queens who are good and not evil; who can handle power without going mad.
But I guess since Salira technically counts as a good queen (debatable, given the decisions she made in her dark, complex past, and how we scarcely see her actually perform any queenly duties), we have licence to throw other queens under the bus to make her look better in comparison!
Amelia doesn't have much in the way of positive, non-romantic female influences and companionship. Most of the other female "characters" don't appear much in the book, and are fundamentally useless. If I was being generous, I would say that maybe Amelia's maid from Marion, Mina, and her sister-in-law Anita, are nice, supportive friends to her. Iris, Amelia's bodyguard and guide, is cool like Salira, although the potential of her character is utterly wasted. I can't elaborate due to spoilers, but I am miffed by how she's treated and what ends up happening to her.
It is also made clear near the beginning that same-sex couples are common and normalised in Iliad, unlike everywhere else, apparently. But we only see evidence of this in the engagement party scene - after that, apart from Amelia and Salira's courtship and relationship, there is otherwise a bubble of heteronormality. Anita's, and then Amelia's, three court lady "friends" all have husbands, and are man-crazy (BTW, they vanish without a trace after appearing in a few scenes, they don't amount to anything vital to the plot). Salira's brother and Amelia's brother both have wives and children. Amelia and Salira's relationship is nice, if a little rushed and insta-lovey, typically, but they can't be the only queer couple in 'The Marble Queen', surely? One sapphic queen pair is cool and awesome, but give us other queer couples, too, especially if they're supposed to be normalised in the world you created and the story you're telling! It's part of the show don't tell rule of writing.
I think that does it for this review.
I should have loved 'The Marble Queen'. It contains nearly everything I love, and I waited years to acquire it, so I desperately wanted it to be worth it. Sadly, it was not to be.
It is not a bad graphic novel, and there is stuff to like about it, certainly. But after finally reading it, and after a few days of distancing myself from it, finding what exactly it is I remember about it, and how much I actually enjoyed it, if I did enjoy it at all, I'm afraid I'm going to have to come to the conclusion that, to my eyes, it is mediocre.
Maybe my standards are too high, but I've been reading graphic novels for over a decade now, and my seasoned, jaded self sees no problems with having high standards nowadays. I know what is good, I know what I enjoy. I know what I like, and what is worth keeping and remembering. 'The Marble Queen' falls just short of this Artemis Crescent moon estimation.
In the end, I am glad I read it, if that's any consolation.
Keep on drawing and writing, and telling stories, everyone. Keep being creative and artistic. Keep demanding your voice, your work, your heart, your soul, be heard.
Take care and be kind. Look out for one another always.
Final Score: 3/5
EDIT: I just noticed another thing: Since 'The Marble Queen' hasn't met a negative older woman stereotype it didn't like, we have the nagging, fussing, disapproving mother-in-law in Lady Rhea, Anita's mother and lady of one of Iliad's provinces. She is only in a few pages, but like with Amelia's mother, we get the full picture of her one-dimensional prop-ness (to call her a character would be inaccurate) right away. After Rhea unabashedly finds flaws in Anita and Amelia upon seeing them, Salira's brother Mateo says to Amelia that his mother-in-law is hard to impress, and he's accepted long ago that he'll never be good enough for Anita in Rhea's view. HE'S THE FUCKING PRINCE OF HER COUNTRY! HIS SISTER IS THE QUEEN! HIS DAUGHTER - HER GRANDDAUGHTER - IS THE OFFICIAL HEIR TO THE THRONE! IS THAT SERIOUSLY NOT ENOUGH TO IMPRESS HER! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE!
August 30, 2024
This could have been great, but it fell too short on multiple aspects. From a storytelling pov, I think it got confusing from time to time as so much was crammed into so few pages. I felt like the ending was a bit rushed too. The side characters weren't complex at all.
Although I'm not an artist, even I noticed that some of the panels were rushed/looked wonky. Also for some reason it really bothered me when Amelia was shown sweating because it was the same colour as her skin but it looked so weird, like her face was melting.
I liked the romance, so it's disappointing that other elements didn't work out. Should have probably been a series tbh
Although I'm not an artist, even I noticed that some of the panels were rushed/looked wonky. Also for some reason it really bothered me when Amelia was shown sweating because it was the same colour as her skin but it looked so weird, like her face was melting.
I liked the romance, so it's disappointing that other elements didn't work out. Should have probably been a series tbh
June 1, 2024
Trying to do too much in one graphic novel. If this had just been about an arranged marriage turning to love, I think I would have loved it. The problem is that it's mostly that, and then very suddenly turns to murderous political intrigue. Which means that the slow burn romance gets accelerated suddenly and the political intrigue just falls basically out of nowhere. Neither are very satisfying.
December 4, 2023
Oh I just loved this! Fast paced but also with enough story to keep me on the edge of my seat! The art style was absolutely stunning as well
March 7, 2025
Sword fighting sapphics and court politics sign me up
March 3, 2024
This is a cute, quick read. My favorite part was the portrayal of anxiety as growing vines; it was an effective way to externalize an internal experience. Plot-wise, it was admittedly thin, I couldn't tell you who did what and why, but that was not really the point of the story, was it? It's a sweet romance with vague intrigue in the background. (Not usually my thing, admittedly, but in a fast-paced graphic novel with cool dresses, I'll take it.)
May 19, 2022
the cover and description!! so excited for this ♥️
August 25, 2024
This was so cute!
November 26, 2024
Queens, magic, pirates, royal weddings, battling nations. WHATS NOT TO LOVE.
April 12, 2025
Loved the basic concept, but the poor artwork and sloppy writing kept this story from rising above average.
Amelia and Saliva are a cute couple. Forced into an arranged, same-sex marriage to prevent a war, they are destined to rule as queens over a magical kingdom, and to find love and passion amidst the glamorous intrigue of the court. Freckle-faced Amelia is a cute and cuddly redhead while Saliva is a tall, exotic, Cleopatra type with bronzed skin and midnight black hair.
All this sounds great, and there are some dreamy encounters between them. Lots of cute shots of Amelia having a bath or lounging around in the royal bed. But the artwork is so poor! Half the scenes make Amelia look like a six year old girl, or a midget. And Saliva towers over her to a ridiculous event, looking like she must be a giant over ten feet tall! On top of that, Amelia is always either sweating profusely or bursting into tears, and somehow her face ends up looking like she's got loathsome sores or is coming down with leprosy. Not cute! And don't get me started on the endless nightmare scenes. Every time Amelia feels anxiety she sees twisting thorn bushes crawling across the page to ensnare her. It happens about fifty times! And there are redundant "sound effects" on every page. We see Amelia putting down her wine goblet and the idiotic artist writes "Place" across the page. Someone gets stabbed and falls down and the artist writes "dead" at the bottom of the panel.
The sex scenes can be awkward. Is this book aimed at 12 year olds or 18 year olds? It's hard to tell, because the adult emotions in the bedchamber clash with the childishness of the overall plot. The political stuff starts out simple and gets more and more complicated as the story goes on, distracting the reader from the cute teen girls in love. There's a lot magic that doesn't make sense, huge invading fleets of pirates that get "dealt with" without any explanation, and a dozen minor characters who scheme and lie and switch sides with no motivation at all.
More of Amelia and Saliva! And yes, make up another name for the queen. I think it was "Salira," but I kept calling her "Saliva" because of the way Amelia kept drooling over her. Now write the word "drool" at the bottom of the panel in case I can't figure out why Amelia is slobbering like a dog!
Amelia and Saliva are a cute couple. Forced into an arranged, same-sex marriage to prevent a war, they are destined to rule as queens over a magical kingdom, and to find love and passion amidst the glamorous intrigue of the court. Freckle-faced Amelia is a cute and cuddly redhead while Saliva is a tall, exotic, Cleopatra type with bronzed skin and midnight black hair.
All this sounds great, and there are some dreamy encounters between them. Lots of cute shots of Amelia having a bath or lounging around in the royal bed. But the artwork is so poor! Half the scenes make Amelia look like a six year old girl, or a midget. And Saliva towers over her to a ridiculous event, looking like she must be a giant over ten feet tall! On top of that, Amelia is always either sweating profusely or bursting into tears, and somehow her face ends up looking like she's got loathsome sores or is coming down with leprosy. Not cute! And don't get me started on the endless nightmare scenes. Every time Amelia feels anxiety she sees twisting thorn bushes crawling across the page to ensnare her. It happens about fifty times! And there are redundant "sound effects" on every page. We see Amelia putting down her wine goblet and the idiotic artist writes "Place" across the page. Someone gets stabbed and falls down and the artist writes "dead" at the bottom of the panel.
The sex scenes can be awkward. Is this book aimed at 12 year olds or 18 year olds? It's hard to tell, because the adult emotions in the bedchamber clash with the childishness of the overall plot. The political stuff starts out simple and gets more and more complicated as the story goes on, distracting the reader from the cute teen girls in love. There's a lot magic that doesn't make sense, huge invading fleets of pirates that get "dealt with" without any explanation, and a dozen minor characters who scheme and lie and switch sides with no motivation at all.
More of Amelia and Saliva! And yes, make up another name for the queen. I think it was "Salira," but I kept calling her "Saliva" because of the way Amelia kept drooling over her. Now write the word "drool" at the bottom of the panel in case I can't figure out why Amelia is slobbering like a dog!
March 9, 2024
Lesbian arranged marriage fantasy romance??!?! Yes please!!
I loved this book so much. The art was lovely and the story was engaging, yes, but the romance. The ROMANCE. Amazing, lovely, chef’s kiss, no notes, perfection. Rarely, and I mean rarely, do I find a sapphic romance that has me kicking my feet and getting butterflies, but I was doing that THIS WHOLE BOOK. It probably has something to do with Salira’s gender-play, because I really prefer butch/femme romances (which are few and far between)and this was close enough for me. But I’d say it also has to do with the physical intimacy the characters share. It’s got the hurt/comfort cuddling in bed because neither can sleep alone trope like CRAZY and I absolutely love that.
All in all, fantastic book. I need more yesterday
I loved this book so much. The art was lovely and the story was engaging, yes, but the romance. The ROMANCE. Amazing, lovely, chef’s kiss, no notes, perfection. Rarely, and I mean rarely, do I find a sapphic romance that has me kicking my feet and getting butterflies, but I was doing that THIS WHOLE BOOK. It probably has something to do with Salira’s gender-play, because I really prefer butch/femme romances (which are few and far between)and this was close enough for me. But I’d say it also has to do with the physical intimacy the characters share. It’s got the hurt/comfort cuddling in bed because neither can sleep alone trope like CRAZY and I absolutely love that.
All in all, fantastic book. I need more yesterday
January 31, 2025
4.4
This was fun! I love the little moments of court drama and seeing the responsibilities there, and I especially loved watching Amelia come into her own, and trust herself to know that she's in love. I honestly hope this gets the sequel it clearly is planning for, and I'd love to get to see more development of the world and cultures as well! The only things that disappointed me were that the Carmilla sideline felt underdeveloped and generally pretty flat, and that Amelia never got the chance to do much herself. I was hoping her training, or her alleged skills at diplomacy & figures would save the day.
This was fun! I love the little moments of court drama and seeing the responsibilities there, and I especially loved watching Amelia come into her own, and trust herself to know that she's in love. I honestly hope this gets the sequel it clearly is planning for, and I'd love to get to see more development of the world and cultures as well! The only things that disappointed me were that the Carmilla sideline felt underdeveloped and generally pretty flat, and that Amelia never got the chance to do much herself. I was hoping her training, or her alleged skills at diplomacy & figures would save the day.
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