Thanks, Netgalley for providing me with this lovely book. I have read “Princess, Princess Ever After” and “The Tea Dragon Society” by this author, so I was excited that her most recent work has not disappointed. I loved the beach color scheme throughout the artwork and the author does a fantastic job at “showing, not telling” what the characters are feeling. The book, as a whole, left me with the feeling you get from watching a Studio Ghibli movie- the vague sense of nostalgia and love for the earth (or the ocean in this case). A beautiful book that I am excited to recommend to my patrons.

Not only does this book feature mind-bending gorgeous works of art, it holds so much meaning in its pages. Usually, books that evoke such truly beautiful pieces tend to not have an exciting storyline to tag along, but this is where Aquicorn Cove shakes up the status quo.

Have you guys read Katie O'Neill's work? No?! You should. I first heard about her through various Instagram accounts with the release of her book Princess Princess Ever After which throws fairy tale tropes out the window and it's absolutely fantastic. The graphics are so enchanting and you'll absolutely fall in love with it. 

Sarah turned me on to a recent graphic novel of hers, The Tea Dragon Society and if you love dragons (like I do), by the end of it you'll wish tea dragons were 100% real. 

So now she has a new book coming October 16th - Aquicorn Cove! Lana and her father return to their seaside hometown to help clean up and fix things after a big storm. She realizes how much she missed the town and the ocean and discovers a mysterious creature while visiting the beach one day. It seems her aunt knows more about these creatures than she is letting on and when a second large storm threatens the town, Lana helps her aunt realize that decisions they've made in order to live and thrive have affected the coral reef that surrounds them which offered them a natural protection in the past. 

It's environmental fiction and a coming-of-age story all wrapped up in one. Lana struggles with grief, homesickness and believing in herself and standing up for what she believes is right. Once again, the graphics are stunning and the colors are so vibrant and this book will leave you wanting to go clean up a beach and enjoy the sunshine. 

Thanks Netgalley for the egalley!

Lana has gone with her father to visit her aunt Mae in Abalone Cove, a small village by the sea, recently ravaged by a storm. Lana, still coping with the loss of her mother, helps Mae and her father clean up the town. While walking on the beach, Lana discovers an injured seahorse/unicorn hybrid, so she brings it home to nurse it back to health. Soon after, she meets a full-grown Aquicorn, who brings her a necklace that once belonged to Mae... Aquicorn Cove is such a cute story - I love the pastel color scheme and the strong conservationist bent to the plot. Also, there's a seahorse unicorn hybrid. Called an Aquicorn. Highly recommend for anyone looking for an adorable middle grade graphic novel with an emphasis what people can do to combat damage caused by climate change.

This is a wonderful story with beautiful illustrations about how we are doing damage to the coral reefs and other sea life. If you love the ocean, you will love this sweet book. Don't pass this book up, it is a must read!! Thank you Oni Press via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. This is my honest opinion.

Katie O'Neill has a way of luring you in with her colorful, soft illustrations and then hitting your emotions with a touching, poignant story. In Aquicorn Cove, Lana has come to visit her aunt. The island where her aunt lives has just been hit by a big storm and Lana and her dad are there to help clean up. This is the same place Lana lived as a child, but when her mother died at sea, her dad moved her to the city.

Being back is special for Lana. She loves it on the island. Soon, she starts interacting his fantasical, almost mythical creatures who live in the ocean. They are called aquicorns and are cute unicorn/dragon-esque creatures. As the aquicorns bring items to Lana they find, Lana discovers her own aunt's special connection with them.

Without giving too much away, this is a story about grief, family, environmentalism, and community. It's a short, quick read, but it really packs a lot in. I love O'Neill's storytelling and art and I think this will be a big hit with middle grade readers.

*I received an ARC from netgalley*

Aquicorn Cove is a beautifully written story about a girl returning to her home and helping rebuild the village after a terrible storm. With beautiful drawings and narration, this story about environmental awareness has so much more than what meets the eye. In less than 80 pages, it talks about the importance of the sea and how the relationship between it and the villagers affects everyone around them. With the element of magic and adorable creatures, it's the perfect graphic for middle school students.

Finally, the diversity of the characters is truly admirable. In addition to raising environmental awareness, it also demonstrates strong female leads and LGBTQ characters. This is a wonderful story and a must read.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc!

4.5 stars

It was a short, but beautiful story. The art was amazing, the story was cute and I loved the setting.

Katie O'Niell does not disappoint with her latest graphic novel. The art and story come leaping off the page fro the first. I was so entrenched in the setting and characters that I read it in one very quick sitting. The only thing I would have liked is MORE, more Lana, more of the island, more everything, but hopefully we will have sequels. I can't wait to start recommending this title!

Aquicorn Cove is a beautifully crafted story that encompasses themes such as collaboration and being helpful, as well as caring for the environment and only taking what is needed. The art is a lovely combination of soft colours and strokes, combining the middle grade novel with the introduction of important topics.

I didn’t even read the synopsis when I grabbed Aquicorn Cove from Netgalley so I went in with zero knowledge of the story. It turned out to be super sweet and all the stuff about protecting the coral reef was actually pretty important because that’s becoming a serious issue in the real world too.

Lana was a really cute yet sad character. She felt very alone after the death of her mother since her dad didn’t deal with that very well, but still managed to be this sweet and brave girl. Her taking care of the little baby aquinorn was the cutest thing. I also really liked her aunt Mae because she’s also a really tough lady who despite her flaws just wants to help her village. Her relationship with Aure (who is beautiful by the way) was also a really nice surprise!

Even though the story was good, my absolute favorite thing about the graphic novel was still all the art though. Especially all the ocean scenes were beautiful with the corals and fish and the aquinorns. Just all the sea life!

I feel like this was just really fangirly but… If you’re in the mood for a sweet graphic novel with beautiful art I definitely recommend trying this one!

After reading The Tea Dragon Society, which I absolutely loved to bits I knew I had to read more of O'Neills graphic novels and when I saw this one on NetGalley I got extremely excited.

The art style is just as beautiful and adorable and I'm absolutely obsessed with it. While I did enjoy Tea Dragon Society more, probably cause I love dragons and tea and it was perfect for me, this one was so amazing and featured such important lessons about our environment and how to treat it.
I think this is an amazing graphic novel for kids to explain to them, how climate change and the fishing industry influence the oceans and what that means for us.

It's just an overall feel good story with quite some deep themes, but it never gets dark. It deal with the loss of a parent as well and I think it does that very well.

Really enjoyable, I would recommend this to anyone who likes a cute art style and a little bit of magic in their stories. I also think you can enjoy this story no matter how old you are. There is something for everybody in there.

Katie O'Neill is an amazing storyteller. Not only is her art adorable, but her characters and story are beautifully woven. This story has grief at the heart of it, but there are also adorable mythical animals and a connection to the sea. A sibling relationship is shown between sisters. A grieving father and his young daughter help an island recover. There are big world issues involved such as over-fishing and global climate change, but the story itself is very personal.

I give this comic a 5/5. It's a beautifully adorable story about modern environmental issues and grieving. This is another wonderful work of art from Katie O'Neill.

I have no words to express what I felt when I read Aquicorn Cove!

I knew about the book and the illustrator from a friend’s review on Goodreads. Because of that, I looked for a way to be able to read the graphic novel. So I discovered NetGalley and an opportunity to meet authors and stories before they are published.

Let's talk about Aquicorn Cove! It's just fantastic!
I really liked the story, the illustrations and sensitive Katie O'Neill’s work.

It’s a book for children and young readers, but I think it will catch readers of all ages. The story is delicate and full of meanings. To live in harmony with the environment is the key point of the story. We can notice the author’s concerning about sea life and the damages that humans can cause through the reading and the illustrations.

I love the graphic novel. The illustrations are cute and the artist’s lines are so delicated and original. The story is so good that can have a sequence (more books with Lana an Aunt Mae) because of the adorable characters.The details of the illustrations are so rich and we can notice O’Neill’s hand in every page.

After I read Aquicorn Cove, I’m very curious to know more about the others author's books and look forward to some publishers can publish Katie O'Neill's books here in Brazil.

Seriously, you will love it!!!

Now I want an Aquicorn for me.

This is a very gentle graphic novel aimed (I think) at the lower end of the middle-grade range that includes some fantasy elements but mainly deals with contemporary themes. It has a strong environmental message and a solid core narrative about a young girl learning to cope with the grief of losing her mother. As always, Katie O'Neill's art is charmingly stylized, with a pleasing pastel palette. Much like her previous Tea Dragon Society, Aquicorn Cove features a background LGBTQ+ romance between adults (in this case, the protagonist's aunt and her mysterious green sea-witch girlfriend) while the protagonist, as appropriate for their age, has no romantic arc. A wide range of skin color is featured; the protagonist appears to be biracial but race is not commented on. Strongly recommend to fans of Tea Dragon Society, Steven Universe, and anyone looking for a G-rated book with LGBTQ+ elements; if you are coming straight from Princess Princess Ever After, keep in mind that the romance is not foregrounded in this book the way it is in O'Neill's debut.

The artwork is gorgeous! It really is the best thing about this book.

I liked the story but struggled with how heavy-handed and obvious the environmental message was. It felt predictable.

This book was not what i was expecting based on title and cover. It is a lovely graphic story about why you need to be kind to the ocean and any creature that might live there. The story is simple, but has meaning. The illustration spot on, and reminds me of a soft Studio Ghibli piece. The only thing I didn’t like was that Aunt was a smoker, and it seemed to be constant. It’s a small thing, but it irks me, which makes that book not as good.

Lana and her father go to their hometown to help Aunt Mae rebuilding her house near the coast, which is badly damaged after a storm, the hometown brings nice and bad memories to Lana's family,. Her trip becomes more fantastic when she remembers her love for the sea and the beach, and discovers the existence of the Aquacorns (they are so lovely that I need a Aquacorn push).

The colors are fantastic, I was already falling in love with the sceneries of Aquicorn Cove and they show me the under the sea's sight all fancy. As a person accompanying the illustration market from the window, there are many frames in this graphic novel that would be fantastic prints to have on my wall.

Stories for the little ones always have a fantastic message, right? Here is the care with marine life and also that each one must do their part to preserve nature, even if they feel a needle in the haystack, that is our world.

Aquicorn Cove is a beautifully illustrated and poignant book - perfect for addressing or introducing sensitive and timely subjects with young ones. It elegantly and simply tells a story of grief and renewal, depression and triumph, denial and acceptance, as well as a few pertinent social issues. It gently encourages personal accountability and responsibility for the world around us. I will definitely be getting a hard copy of this beautiful book and will share it with my children. 4 out 5 wine glasses.

Aquicorn Cove is such a CUTE and heart-warming story! The artwork is delicate and it's just the art style I love. Lana is a sweetheart and I could relate to her love for the ocean and its creatures. Her aunt Mae is probably the COOLEST character I've seen in a long time - and I kind of freaked out when I realized how little we see big and (literally) strong women in comics! She's so beautiful and I'd love to read a short story focused on her growing up and learning how to fish and carry on the family's business.

The environmental issues discussed here are great and I'd love to see more comics and novels about that. Also, I AM HERE for the LGBTQ+ vibes in this story! After reading this I immediately looked for Katie O'Neil's other works - so far, loving them all :)