I didn't really like this one. I really wanted to and I can't even explain why I didn't.

The artwork is bright and colorful. I loved that the characters were varied and interesting. I didn't like that most of them had complicated names - it disrupts the flow. A few are okay but almost every character becomes laborious.
Nothing wrong with the plot except that I didn't connect to it nor did I connect to the main characters. There's very little character development - I know nothing about them and wasn't given time to care about them.

I received this electronic arc in return for an honest review.

So this is a fantasy tale about a girl who travels to another dimension with her long lost sister.

I really enjoyed the art with the different creatures and the imagery it all evokes.

I couldn't to finish the book as it was a little too choppy for me to understand sometimes. There wasn't enough back story or present story before 'everything' happens, which I find made it hard to like the characters, which in turn means I had no connection and wasn't bothered about finishing.

I liked the artwork, but the story could use some help. Even though the title is called Mae it seems like the story centers more around her sister, Abbie, who has returned from a fantasy world. Abbie has been gone for seven years and when she comes back monsters come back with her causing trouble. This results in Mae following her sister into the other world and getting into hijinks.

The reader knows nothing about this world or how Abbie ended up there. I think it would be nice to have more information on this subject and what kind of world it is. It's not a fairy world or a place for giants, just a place filled with miscellaneous creatures. There was one instance where they mentioned Czech, but I didn't feel like that gave me anything to go off of. It also mentioned African Americans had found the city and it just seemed like a way to sneak in that they were diversified instead of adding to the story. I feel like there is a story forming, there is plot, but they didn't take the time to world build and instead rushed into things.

My first Graphic Novel of the summer.
Pretty good story so far. Mae's sister Abbie disappeared 7 years ago. Suddenly she shows up like nothing has happened except now Abbie calls herself Ani, carries around two mini axes, and is a champion fighter. Oh...and she is a queen? Ani has been on the adventure of a life-time leaving Mae to worry about her safety. Now she's back and the bad guys aren't letting her come home quietly. Great adventure. Can't wait to read Vol. 2
#MaeVol.1 #NetGalley

I read this because I remembered reading what I think was a different version/edition of this book (perhaps it was an initial printing, perhaps it was from the Kickstarter), and it had felt kind of disjointed, as if there had been some sort of printing error or other materials left out from the trade paperback that would have helped it make more sense. With a little research, I discovered that Mae went from Dark Horse to Lion Forge (under the Roar imprint), and it looks like Lion Forge is reissuing that first trade (with some extra back-up materials) and continuing the story with new issues. I'm not sure what the circumstances were that led to the switch, but I'm glad that there will be additional story to tell, since the first trade (both this edition and the previous one I read) ended on both a cliffhanger and a prequel story that had me puzzled -- I think I said to myself "Wait, *this* is how it ends?"

I liked the story well enough, even though (as some professional reviews noted) it's a pretty standard portal fantasy at this point. It's nice to see things flavored with a non-Tolkien perspective (the heavy use of Czech). I wasn't as big of a fan of the art style used most frequently in the main stories. The sort of computer-heavy, hyper-realistic art style edges a bit too close to the uncanny value for my tastes. The more traditional art-style seen in the sixth issue (the prequel) and in some of the side story/back-up material is more my speed, but I suspect the computer realism is going to be the main style going forward. I will give props to Lion Forge on swapping out the really bad cover from the Dark Horse trade for something that's much less awful.

I don't order for YA graphic novels, so I would have no say in our decision on whether or not to buy this, but if I did, I think it would be a good idea to swap the Lion Forge edition in for the Dark Horse one, if you already own the latter. If it's not something already in your collection, it's an optional purchase, depending on how popular fantasy comics are for your reading population.

I absolutely loved the color work for Mae. The shading and tones of the purples for some of the in-between cover pages were absolutely stunning. I wanted a little bit more from the narrative but I'm reminding myself that if it is coming out in comic issues and this is a trade collecting the first five issues that there's definitely more to come. I'm definitely interested in seeing how Mae develops as she enters Ani's world. Mae seems to be accepting all the magic a little too easily, but as an avid Potter fan, I think were I presented with the same circumstances I'd be running into the adventure (even as a Hufflepuff).

It's listed for teens but I'd be fine with what I read being shelved for some younger readers. There's a touch of violence from Ani battling beasties but it's on par with Amulet so really nothing concerning.

Thank you to Netgalley and Lion Forge for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a bit torn on this one.
I'm not sure if this is a collection of different issues set up to be a teaser of sorts or if these are the first 5 volumes of the series as they read and felt out of order after reading the first two chapters. There is no definite timeline or hint that anything from days to weeks may have passed in the later ones so the flow of the story feels off.

Mae, the main character, came across as smart, caring, and lovable and I can only hope that more of her characterization is shown in the later volumes as there is a lot Ha can do but as to Abbie, the wayward sister, she took a lot of the space early on as she's managed to crash back into Mae's life which is where the book starts. Abbie came across as the devil may care sister, shows little responsibilty and in some moments a bit dimwitted as to what her actions have actually created and that can play an interesting contrast against Mae but I'll admit I don't care for Abbie. She's not at all perturbed about the effect that her leaving created just as much by her reappearence and that created a disconnect for me.

Regardless of my feelings towards Abbie, the book itself made for a good read and it left me curious to want to know more about Mae I'm just unsure if I want to go further as it means more Abbie and by the looks of it a lot more of Abbie.

Mae's sister Abbie has been gone for 7 years when she unexpectedly returns from another dimension where she kicks ass and kind of a queen. The art work and story have a lot of potential to be part of a great series with a little more work on crafting out what the story will be about and sticking with a type of style in the art. The story is a bit choppy and felt like important parts of the story were missing. The artwork in the panels looks off at first, but the last part of the volume and the extra parts at the end look much better. This is not for all ages though as described on Goodreads since words like asshat are used.

Several years back I was at a convention and got the chance to listen to Gene Ha talk about an upcoming project of his and we were given some information and shown some artwork. This story has sat at the back of my head since then, wondering what came of it. I’m very happy to see this and get an answer to that question.
The story starts off with Mae after her sister, Abbie has gone missing. She shows up not long after but you definitely get the feeling this isn’t new. Fast forward several years later and Mae hasn’t seen her sister in almost a decade. Out of the blue Abbie shows up again, wielding axes and talking about things Mae can’t make sense of, and dragging Mae into the world/life she’s been living since she last saw Mae.
Abbie is an interesting character, smart, sassy and not ready to let anyone tell her what to do. She discovered a portal that lead her to another world, a world she’s been living in for the last several years as a queen until recent events had her removed. I’m not entirely sure I understood why she’s returned now but she goes back, dragging Mae with her when their father is taken by the people Mae fought against in this other world.
For all th series is called Mae it’s really largely Abbie that’s the focus, and most interesting. I’m curious to see how the story will keep developing.

Really nice crisp artwork in this one, some of the characters almost look computer-rendered, which I suppose they could be, not sure about that one.
The story starts out promising - Mae's sister Abbie who has been missing for almost a decade comes home suddenly one night telling stories about another dimension and claiming to be a queen there. Suddenly bad guys from that dimension attack and kidnap the girls' ailing father and drag him back to the other world, so the girls decide to go back there to get him back.
All that is fine except that the story constantly feels like it is skipping ahead in time with no explanation - and opening up back stories that are also never explained. For example, there are some rednecky guys in the very beginning who are mad at Mae, but it's never explained why. Once the girls make it back to the other realm the story seems to skip parts too - and then for no reason at all, the last chapter is a flashback, which SHOULD explain some stuff, but doesn't and instead just raises more questions. Overall, I found this very confusing, and will probably not be reading volume 2.

Mae's sister Abbie went missing and Mae has theories about what happened. When she finds her sister safe and...different, she can't quite wrap her mind around the story Abbie tells until she finds herself transported to a fantasy world to rescue her kidnapped father.
This story wasn't for me, but I'm sure it will have an audience. The Dr. Who, Harry Potter, and other fantasy/sci-fi references were a bit much, but like I said I'm certain specific audience will appreciate it.

Mae is a super entertaining little quest in which the titular character’s sister Abbie reappears after years of being missing, and in the span of a day, ropes Mae into a quest to save their father. They go into a wondrous alternate world, where Abbie proceeds to try to find their father mostly through blunt force, and Mae finds that her skills aren’t entirely useless here, either.

Vol 1 ends after a few failed attempts, so keep an eye out for volume 2, which won’t drop until January 2019.

Plot/Characters: 7/10
Although the general plots of finding a new world, or going on a quest to save a friend or family member, aren’t new in themselves, this story is incredibly entertaining. I think that’s because the world-building is so dazzling that we’re sort of tumbling down the rabbit hole along with Mae. I especially appreciate the concept that an alternate world might be populated with humans not Western European and American. I don’t know that the author has fully utilized that conceit yet, but I’m going to be patient. I will be reading the second volume, for certain.
When it comes to character, Mae is better fleshed out of the two sisters. She’s a fan of Anime, Dr. Who, Battlestar Galactica, and anything else. This nerdiness, combined with a stability that comes from having been the sister left behind, who had to look after their father, makes her relatable and very easy to grasp as a character. Ani/Abbie is… less developed. I’m sensing we might get more from her; in fact, I’m hoping that occurs in the next volume. We know that she’s a queen.. and she kicks ass. And at the end we’re teased regarding her relationship with Petra. But beyond that, it’s kind of superficial.
Maybe it has to be that way. So far the sisters’ conflicts with each other haven’t gone into much depth either. It all has to do with their mission, and not to do with their history. You’d think after disappearing for years, Abbie would be facing a little more anger from Mae, but not yet. It’s all in their approach to finding their father.

Art: 6/10
I’ll be honest: The art is a little shaky in the beginning chapters. Over the course of the comic, the style seems to settle into a more comfortable, blended presentation of the human and nonhuman characters. At first, though, a lot of the expressions and poses are stiff to the point of being unrealistic. Occasionally, I stop to stare at a face Mae is making and cringe. I even went back to the beginning to see if I hadn’t just gotten used to the style, and no, that’s not the case. Thankfully, after a little bit, it does get better. And once it does, the style highlights the feeling of fantasy very well.

I need to read the second volume before I can really get into themes, but for now, I’m going to go with “Sisterhood” because the relationship between Mae and Abbie is center stage.

Long story short: I’m definitely going to be looking into the second volume. I think the world-building hooked me more than anything else, and anything with a significant sister bond to explore is worth my time.

I received a review copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This graphic novel is about two sisters Mae and Abbie. One day Abbie suddenly appears out of the blue after her disappearance. She tells her sister what happened and informs her, she was in a different world and in fact, she is a queen of Mňouké. Their adventure begins when Mae and Abbie (or Ani, as she calls herself in the different world) time-travel to a different world where Ani used to live.

The art is beautiful. The characters were realistic and I could connect with Mae at some point. The story had a good pacing and was good overall. Not to mention, I found it very nice to see some Czech in this graphic novel. It really surprised me, in a good way.

I would definitely recommend this book to fantasy lovers!
4 stars.

Abbie comes home after many years missing to great surprise to her sister Mae. She talk about her adventures, but they are hard to believe. Mae is up for a big surprise when Abbie shows her a portal to whole another world filled with different creatures and monsters. They drop in the middle of action and Abbie is seriously amazing. :) She is definition of bad-ass.

Great story - I look forward to more adventures & amazing artwork.

I love the world-building in this book. The details are precise. The artwork outstanding. I felt a connection to the characters. I saw some really original concepts in here. I want to know more!

Mae is a graphic novel about two sisters, one of whom has been missing for seven years. I like the art style for the series, it’s bright and blunt and unafraid of itself, as odd as that may sound. It reminded me of a mash-up between Alice in Wonderland and Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series, though the former was definitely an intentional reference on the writer’s part.
However I had trouble getting into the plot, and I did find the dialogue to be more than a little bit jarring at times – it’s very blunt and to the point, leaving little room for nuances and softness. This is a little odd, as results with the family hardly reacting when their missing daughter/sister finally returns. That just didn’t feel realistic to me. But I could be in the minority here.
Because of this I never really ended up feeling attached to any of the characters, and thus never felt concerned for their safety or really even compelled to care about the circumstances they were dealing with. I feel bad saying that, because I really did want to care. I like the core of this story, and hated that I couldn’t get more into it. Maybe the next project I’ll like more?

This graphic novel left me feeling torn. On the one hand, I did like some things about it, but there’s one aspect of the story that didn’t work for me at all.

I’ve always liked portal fantasies, and the story here is typical of the genre. Mae’s older sister Abbie disappeared years ago, and now she’s returned, claiming to have been off having adventures in another world. Mae doesn’t believe her at first, but then some weird-looking beings show up and attack them both. Their father also goes missing, and the two of them travel to the other world to try to find and rescue him.

So, I liked the basics of the plot, and I liked Mae as a character. She’s caring and smart, the kind of person you’d want to have in your corner on a trip to a strange world. I also loved that she’s basically a geek. The Dr. Who references (including the striped scarf she wears on their trip) were an especially nice touch, in my opinion.

However, I didn’t like Mae’s sister Abbie (or Ani, as she’s called in the alternate world) very much at all. Characters who have a “ready, fire, aim” mentality get old for me fast, but what really irked me was that didn’t seem to see anything wrong with abandoning Mae and their father. Mae lets her off the hook way too easily in my opinion. (Also, what’s up with Abbie’s super strength? She’s drawn like a little twig, but she can arm wrestle guys into submission, even in the “real” world. With no explanation given, I just thought it was odd.) I found Abbie so annoying that I had a hard time enjoying the parts of the story where she’s center stage.

I don’t regret reading Mae, but I’m not sure whether I’m interested in reading more of Mae’s story if it means more Abbie, too.

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

Loved this! It was so quirky, the artwork was a bit rough looking but it kinda grew on me after awhile. The intro seems like a good start to this sci-fi world that I’m eager to read more of. It has a bad ass girl power vibe in a way since both characters are a duel leading lady role. They make it seem as though is Mae is the main character but I felt each had a tug line role of back and forth. It has lovely color themes throughout and lots of oddity characters for fantasy fans.

DNF'd after 13%. This is bad. Bad artwork. Bad story. Flashback to 90's art. Bad bad bad. How do I write more about how bad this is?

I enjoyed the premise of this book, if not the execution. Abbie goes missing as a child when she finds a secret door to another dimension. The story begins with her returning to our world and encountering her sister Mae after 7 years, and claiming that she has been ruling as a Queen in another realm. Quickly it becomes apparent to Mae that Abbie is telling the truth as they are attacked by creatures that certainly have no place in reality. I really appreciated the many references to pop culture, however, the art style was often disruptive and made it difficult for me to stay engaged in the story. Far away action scenes were incredibly well done, but close-ups of the girls face looked too computer generated. The art style and images at the back of the comic are stunning, and I almost would have preferred a black and white version of this comic.