Betrothed Volume 1 by Sean Lewis was an ok start to the series but it lacked that hook that really gripped me which sci-fi comics and novels really need. I will check out volume 2 but I am unsure as to whether I will continue with this series.

Read this way back and it wasn’t bad. It was full of angst and typical but the graphic novelness of it made it all the much better. I am semi okay about this btw. Like read at own risk.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Publishers for this review copy.

This is a terrible slapped together, quickly drawn sad excuse of a sci-fi story. There could be potential if the plot was expanded, contained more background information and had a grade A illustrator.

I loved it. I did not know what to expect reading Something like this because I Don't usually read graphic novels… but i liked the expeience and will definitly be picking more of those in the future, thanks to this one.

Sean Lewis wrote this as something his kids could read even though it's filled with cursing and sexual innuendo. (I'm not adverse to either. I just found it weird he specifically mentioned he wrote this for kids in his foreword.) It's the story of two kids from other worlds that are fated to be together. Neither know their heritage. The girl is very passive aggressive, alternating between beating up her betrothed and kissing him. The book did feel very YA in that characters do a bunch of illogical things and the plot outpaces the story. It all happens too fast and feels unnatural. This would have worked better drawn out over double the issues. Steve Uy's art and coloring are kind of fugly.

Visually attractive comic for teens, where bland boy and young-Jodie Whittaker-girl get told they're part of some space war MacGuffin that means they're going to have get their rocks off together to keep a world alive. It wants to show the angst of teenage years as well as the drama of a space opera, but devolves into such a sheer mess of who's who, who's on what side, who's on what planet and where and with who and why, that some inappropriate rock-getting-off would actually improve things. And the way the narrative thought bubbles are shared equally between both protagonists is just hellannoying. A bodged job.

'Betrothed' by Sean Lewis with art by Steve Uy has an interesting premise, about two people fated to be together and fighting a cosmic battle.

Kieron and Tamara are both seniors and orphans. Kieron is new to school and when he bumps in to Tamara, sparks fly. Then Tamara knocks his tooth out. Then they are kissing because unbeknownst to them, they are from another planet/dimension and are fated to be together, and to bring peace to their people through their union. It's hard to get a moments peace when all kinds of monsters keep attacking and Kieron and Tamara are still trying to understand everything.

In a forward to the volume, the writer states that he wanted to write a book aimed at his younger relatives. The story seems to throw every awkward teen trope at the story. From being the fat kid to the awkwardness of sex to popularity and being new. And like the rest of the book, it feels like it was all thrown together too fast. There is so little character development, especially among the bad guys that relentlessly attack, that I just felt myself not caring.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Aftershock Comics, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

Fun little graphic novel, if a bit predictable at times. Enjoyed the story and definitely would continue with the next volume if I had the chance to see where it goes.

As I said while I was reading.. no. Can't. Too bad. Everything. This was hurting me. I remember reading the first issue some time ago and I somehow liked at least the idea of that story, art was horrible though, but this whole... no.

This graphic novel is a story of a boy and girl, destined to marry and save a world from continual conflict. It is full of action, some violence, more than average profanity and ends on a promise of more to come.
I thought the artwork was masterful, the dialogue lacking and the consummation a joke. So let me expound.

The artwork is obviously created by a professional, with all the colors and details you'd expect in a Marvel comic. So no problems there.

So about the dialogue: in the intense action and drama scenes, when every other word coming out of teens' mouth is swear words and profanity it devalues the language itself. There are numerous opportunities for creative intelligent comebacks to reveal the smarts in these kids, but we get: Gonna kill you (from the monsters) and swears and cussing that is the reaction of the teens who have no idea what is going on. Or when they're not cussing it's like "Let's run, let's get out of here, or let's kill them back." There is nothing remarkable about it, which is what you want. You want this comic to be remarkable that kids will love and want to buy the next one. It takes some work and thought, but it can be done.

Learn from about Marvel comics, where there is a value placed on the language that goes beyond the dregs of profanity, and it works. Plus it's less offensive to the parents who often buy it for the kids. So just for future note, it just took away from the story, making them look weak.

Okay, and last of all this "consummation". In the middle of a battle scene, we are supposed to believe these kids have sex? She goes from "don't touch me"--which is, by the way, he lost his tooth, to--"Let's do this now on the science lab table even though the enemy is coming and the kids in this school are going to get fried." Totally unbelievable. The buildup was good, but the end was anticlimactic.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and illustrator, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

The description was my kind of thing, and the art is pretty decent. The concept itself doesn't feel very original though (warring space tribes and lovers who come from those tribes, destined to be together, yet torn apart by the tribal rivalry). It reminded me of Veronica Roth's "Carve the Mark" duology (which is far superior to this).

That being said, I did like the romance aspect of the graphic novel but with it was a bit more involved. Give me a bit more romantic visual other than a lady saying "they have consummated." Let down...

Overall, a decent read, but the overarching story and concept aren't quite enough to keep me going. The romance, maaaaybe, but all the other characters involved in the conflict (aside from the two main characters and the two supporting characters) just absolutely bore me.

Easily my favorite book so far this year, and of the better graphic novels for teens I've seen in a while. Absolutely gorgeous artwork, and an interesting story with an unusual premise, which is basically: bang or die. Haha!
Definitely want to know what happens next.

Betrothed: Volume 1 is an epic coming-of-age story that finds two teens bound to each other through a magically enforced betrothal. It’s a pretty wild concept and the action starts on page one. The volume is filled with epic fight scenes, all important as the fate of multiple worlds rests in their hands.

From the beginning, it’s painted as a Romeo and Juliet story, as ill-fated lovers who feel bound to each other by a greater force. In this instance, they have a love-hate relationship until the end, which adds an interesting aspect to the series. We see them forced to grow up against their will and, after a number of precarious battles, they discover that being together is the only way they’ll survive.

The two worlds concept makes for a smart tie between the fantasy and science fiction genres. On one hand, you have a race of people with magical abilities whose fighting styles and weapon choices are in the line of old-school barbarians. On the other hand, you have a race of scientists who have mastered technology and harnessed the power of quartz to create epic laser-based weapons. They balance each other out which results in a never-ending war. Every situation is high stakes and set on a grandiose scale, giving the story an overall epicness.

The art style is filled with explosive fighting panels and magic-filled sequences. It’s an especially bloody at times, which lends itself well to the overarching theme of war and the fight to survive.

Overall, Betrothed promises to be an epic series with love and the struggles of growing into adulthood at its center.

Review will be published on 2/26: https://reviewsandrobots.com/2019/02/26/betrothed-volume-1-book-review

Saga's an astonishingly good comic and an extremely successful one, so it's hardly surprising that other titles should start turning up with a 'Romeo & Juliet in space' riff. Once again, he's from a magic planet, she's from a science planet, the two are at war. Except here, the youngsters have both been hidden on Earth, at the same school, and when they turn 18 they're meant to wed and end it. Which is different enough to maybe work, except the series bottles it, and before the first issue is done they're being forced to fight to the death on one of the homeworlds because, wouldn't you know, some elements don't want the war to end. I say 'some'; it becomes increasingly easy to forget that anyone ever wanted peace, as wave after wave of uninteresting attackers come for them, with their equally flat Earth chums generally caught up in it (the closest one to memorable is the prissy fat kid, and even that's mainly because he tends to be the butt of the jokes). There's none of Saga's inventiveness, or indeed of its understanding of Romeo & Juliet's dynamics (though Lewis tries to compensate for that by referencing the play every five minutes, generally serving only to confirm he didn't really get it). Between the art style and dialogue which often reads like awkward translation ("Choke on your opinions, Doom Dog! We're only a few hours in but we can all say - being a grown-up is a bitch!"), the abiding impression is of an also-ran manga. The main interest lies in the magic lad being called Kieron, which means you can if so minded interpret him as a fanon version of Kieron Gillen. But even that really isn't enough to justify reading this dud.

(Netgalley ARC)

This graphic novel was definitely easy on the eyes. The colorful graphics superseded and outshone the plot on several levels, while the continuation of the series was set in the first volume of Love or Die.

Tamara could care less about another high school loser like Kieron. Hiding and protecting her own insecurities as an orphan, she actually has more in common with this new boy at school then she thinks. Both of them are destined to lead an army against each other in another dimension, as it has been decided long ago. So, on their 18th birthday, they are to either fight to the death or consummate in love to bring peace to the two worlds.

There is definitely some romance in the air, as the two of them are beamed into other dimensions and are forced to fight. It seems as though it is bringing them closer to one another and the points go to love. But will they actually consummate and bring peace to their worlds? That remains to be read!

Adventurous, fun and very dynamic!

I received a digital copy of this title from netgalley in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you!

Science fiction text and story meets cinematic image in Betrothed. This is my first encounter with this creative team, but I was very pleased with what they put together. I would gladly recommend Betrothed to other comics and graphic novel enthusiasts.

A part of me wanted to laugh a lot while reading <i>Betrothed</i> by Sean Lewis, Steve Uly, and Simon Bowland and I'm not entirely sure if that was their intention. To a certain extent, I did really enjoy reading the story. It was entertaining, had decent characters, and definitely left me intrigued on occasion. However, I would never say that this was a well-thought-out graphic novel, at least as far as the plot goes. The basic premise of the tale lies in the fact that the two main characters are the king (Kieron) and queen (Tamara) of warring tribes who have, for some reason that is never made clear, been promised to each other in order to make peace. But, apparently, the only way to make peace is for them to "consummate," which will apparently create some sort of magic that resolves all the fighting? Yeah, that bit confused me, too. And, admittedly, made me slightly uncomfortable at times. This notion of teenagers girl being forced to decide whether they would prefer to sleep with someone or die instead is just...not okay. And while the novel did not go in that particular direction, <i>Betrothed</i> did hint it at times and I had a hard time with that. Anyway, Keiron and Tamara were sent to Earth and either they have their memories erased or they're reincarnated or they were promised to each other at birth and then sent to Earth to stay safe until they can be together. They go to the same school and yet, for some reason I can't fathom, they're never introduced to each other at all.

So, as you can see, the plot has a lot of holes and none of them ever really get explained in any concrete way that makes sense. In fact, for the most part, a lot seemed to get left out in the interest of quick pacing which I really feel hurt the novel as a whole. To an extent though, I was alright with this because I did enjoy the story and the characters. I recognize that it can be a little harder to explain everything in a graphic novel. However, <i>Betrothed</i> seems purposefully vague on a lot of important details which was frustrating at times. The reader is left with far too many questions by the end of the book with no reason to expect that any of them will be answered in further volumes to come. <i>Betrothed </i>basically relies on this vagueness and I have little belief that it will cease to do so in the future.

I think the piece that was most frustrating to me, however, was the absolutely ridiculous and unrealistic reactions that Tamara has to Kieron on a nearly constant basis. The first time we even meet our heroes, she's punching him in the face because he tapped her on the shoulder. Overreaction much? Not to mention the fact that literally everyone seems shocked by this behavior from her, as though it doesn't match her personality at all. And this makes me wonder if that personality she's said to have even existed at all because she acts <i>nothing</i> like it for the entirety of the book. While I appreciated the internal struggle she had once she learned of the expectations their tribes had for them, never once did the novel actually show her work through that struggle. Instead, she does a 180 regarding her thoughts on the matter for the most ludicrous of reasons. And I'm sorry, but I just don't buy it.

This doesn't mean, of course, that I didn't enjoy the novel. I had a lot of fun reading it. There were several moments throughout where I found myself giggling (though admittedly some of that was at the ridiculousness of the apparently necessary act of the main characters getting laid). The artwork was pretty phenomenal. And I definitely would be willing to pick up the next volume in the series. But I do think that it could have been a <i>lot</i> better than it was. <i>Betrothed</i> had quite a large opportunity to be amazing and just didn't quite live up to that potential.

<i>I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. </i>

I loved this, great new series. Full of action and a bit of romance. I love the banter and chemistry between the two main characters. The art is amazing but then it is Steve Uy so no less than I’d expect. I look forward to more.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion