I really liked this book but it was really rushed. Now I will say that Dawson did a good job of telling a story that doesn't leave anything related to said plot out leaving a short and well- rounded story. reading I got what Dawson was trying to do and what they were trying to make me feel. I understood that Artemesia was scared but hiding it, had very few people she could trust, and above al also was desperate to get back home. The only problem was that it was I didn't have time to get attached to anything or anyone in the story.

The art was pretty good. Saying it's is not well versed in the art. I can't really ever draw a stick figure. However, the backgrounds did a good job of staying familiar but still unworldly and you can easily understand what actions are going on in each frame. I think the only thing about Basla's art in this is that the character's expressions sometimes seemed wonky or just derpy. but I also think that this might just be a problem a lot of illustrators may have. Again not well versed in the art

Sparrowhawk holds the ticket to an expertly drawn fantasy world complete with fantastic creatures, terrifying beasts, and an alternate reality with whiffs of Wonderland. The art style is a perfect match with the surreal storytelling, giving us a colorful, somewhat blurred look at the beauty and peril of this strange world. With every panel, our protagonist finds herself descending deeper and deeper into this action-packed story, never backing down from the challenges that arise. She’s powerful beyond measure, and a fitting hero for this epic tale.

Review to be published 8/20: http://reviewsandrobots.com/2019/08/20/quick-review-sparrowhawk

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I've been thinking about this for awhile as I am very unsure how to rate this.

The bright art style does contradict the very dark tones to this story. This is the lengths that someone will go to for what they want even if it's wrong. This also shows how our own personality and beliefs can be hinged on the people in our lives and how the loss of someone can create ripples throughout you.

This was good, the art style was good. It was all just good and nothing really jumped out at me throughout. I think if the synopsis intrigues you give it a go.

This was a whimsical and dark fairy story. It was an enjoyable read. I liked the color scheme and the ending was really good.

This horror-tinged read is great for teens and up who little a taste of the macabre in their fantasy.

No happy ending here, the question of what you will do to get what you want (and what you may lose when you get it) is an eternal question that subtly resonates in this beautifully drawn story. There is plenty of fantastical beast killing, but it is light on the extreme gore.

I'd feel comfortable recommending this to grade 6+ with a taste for suspenseful fantasy horror.

This has the added bonus of being by a black author and centering a black and female and fabulously flawed protagonist.

brief summary
A misfit because she is not only illegitimate but biracial, Artemesia cannot resist the urge to seek greatness when she is drawn through a portal into the world of faerie, no matter the cost.

full review
Sparrowhawk begins with an interesting main character whose lot in life has, through no fault of her own, been pretty awful. Being the mixed-race natural daughter of a captain in the British Navy when he already has a wife is certainly an unenviable position, and although Artemesia is clearly a good person and loves her half-sisters, her father's husband sees her as an affront whose only value lies in the work she can do or, unexpectedly, the connections she might forge for the family by her marriage. Nevertheless, when the faerie queen steals her body to begin a conquest of the world, trapping Artemesia in the world of faerie, Artemesia is eager to get home. In order to do so, she makes a binding deal with a dark fey creature who goads her into ever more extreme acts of violence, assuring her that only through the destruction of powerful fey creatures can she become strong enough to return home. Along the way Artemesia meets and often murders several characters who possess hidden depths, becoming nigh unrecognizable in her pursuit of power, which eventually becomes its own end.

The worldbuilding in this comic could use some work, or else it assumes the readers have a passing knowledge of faerie lore. Anything that might be unfamiliar, Crispin can helpfully explain to the reader while he explains it to Artemesia over the course of their blood-soaked journey. Despite the lack of actual information about the world, it is easy enough to absorb the basic structure and rules there, and illustrator Matias Basla does a fine job creating scenery which can best be described as a toxic idyll, where the trees are poisonous shades and even the most carefully curated gardens look like they bite. Similarly, as Artemesia's story progresses and her travels change her, Basla's depiction of her alters.

The story is refreshing in its darkness. Artemesia starts as the typical downtrodden heroine, and she does acquire fighting skills at an unreal pace, but otherwise hers is not the typical heroine's journey. Her wise guide has a lot more to him than first appears, and his motives are never wholly revealed. The love interest does soften her, but not enough, and in the end she makes other choices. I loved that she made other choices, and that her actions hardened her heart somewhat, although not to the point where she moved beyond feeling the need to justify herself. It was great to watch her becoming less sympathetic as the story progressed, right up until the final showdown, when readers are reminded that there are other baddies in the world, and they're worse.

The comic leaves off on a cliffhanger, and it's good enough that I would seek out the second volume implied by the number 1 in this one's title to find out what happens next.

I was delightfully surprised with how much I enjoyed Sparrowhawk. Artemisia has had a difficult time (mostly with her stepmother and one of her half sisters) growing up as an illegitimate child. Set in mid-nineteenth century England, Artemisia has spent her time as a lady’s maid for her sister Elizabeth, who has just died. Fortunately the sister she is close with, Caroline, is still alive. Elizabeth was set to marry someone who would help their family’s financial situation, but now that she is dead the stepmother has decided it is Artemisia’s duty to marry for the sake of the family. As she is looking in a mirror and thinking about how she just wants a simple life, the Faerie Queen reaches through to enter Artemisia’s world and pull her into to Faerie. She must quickly decide who can be trusted in Faerie when she starts on the long and gruesome road to get back to her world and the person who means the most to her.

The artwork by Matias Basla is whimsical and the color by Basla and Rebecca Nalty does a great job of making Faerie really feel like a different world. The combination of great art and story have made this my most-enjoyed comic in quite a long time.

Sparrowhawk will be released on August 20, 2019.

I was given a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The artwork could have been better, however, the story full of fantasy and treachery really carried the story as a whole. It reads like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but with more gore and horror. The artwork, rather pedestrian, will grow on the reader. The clever remarks on the themes of racism, colonization, and feminism are clearly rampant throughout the story. The ending was just so twisted...I'm still thinking about it.

loved this.


Sparrowhawk is the perfect balance of a dark story told with love and feeling.


Think Alice Through The Looking Glass, but with monstrous Fae versus feelings of tragic bereavement. Deals gone awry and the need to do good - even at the risk of becoming evil.


The author and art team have worked really well together to tell the story of Artemisia (Art), an unwelcome daughter of a financially struggling of British high society who suddenly finds herself thrust into a terrible struggle between two worlds.


The art is wonderful and the bright colours are a great contrast to the dark tones and themes of the story. The use of variable lettering styles throughout the story to highlight the differences between characters and their own changes is brilliant.


This Sparrowhawk graphic novel combines the individual issues from Boom! Studios Sparrowhawk comic run with story by Delilah S. Dawson. Edited by Chris Rosa. Illustrated by Matias Basla. Colour by Rebecca Nalty. Lettering by Jim Campbell. Series designer Michelle Ankley and collection design by Scott Newman. The amazing cover art is by Miguel Mercado.


5 out of 5 stars.

Definitely intriguing but perhaps too fast paced. The set up for Artemisia’s journey works well on all sides. Her Cinderella-esque background, being the bastard child of a Naval Captain and a slave, ensures she never fits in at home. Her stepmother is cruel and shows her no affection.

Then Artemisia is pulled into Faerie, the land of the fae. She meets Crispin, a Cheshire cat type, who convinces Art to kill the Unseelies she meets along the road. Her first kill transforms her and gives her wings.

This dark, twisted magic kept my interest for much of the story. Each time she killed, she became more and more Fae, and we were given a little flash of memory.

But great art and great story can’t cover up the speed that we blew through emotions. Artemisia readily accepts that she will have to kill to get home and doesn’t seem to acknowledge what a big change that it. The only time that she seems hesitant is when she has to kill her last Unseelie, before continuing back home to seek revenge on the Unseelie queen.

The lack of character development definitely holds this work back. I hope that, in future installments, this is addressed.

My Rating: ★★★☆☆

Sparrowhawk is a graphic novel that focuses on Artemisia "Art" Grey, the illegitimate daughter of a naval captain, who is faced with a situation full of dangers when the Unseelie Queen attacks her and enters our world, at the same time Art is dragged to Faerie and is forced to make a deal with unreliable and surely treacherous beings to return home.

It was a novel that I really enjoy because of the dark and gloomy story that narrates through wonderful illustrations a plot full of changes, death and destruction, which also reflect the true nature of Faerie, a land inhabited by a large number of beasts and terrifying and evil creatures.

I also emphasize that the author touches issues such as colonialism, slavery and identity, as well as the fact that the character of Artemisia is based on the figure of Dido Elizabeth Belle, who was the daughter of a British naval officer and an enslaved African woman in the eighteenth century.

Finally, I recommend this graphic novel if you enjoy mysterious and dark stories that do not have a happy ending. Personally, I adore Art, the protagonist, who is a strong and courageous girl who undergoes a great change throughout the plot, as well as the other characters, but especially Crispin, who is very similar to The Cheshire Cat, but manipulative and treacherous.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ebook to review!
All opinions expressed are my own.

Review was also posted on Goodreads.

Sparrowhawk is Alice in Wonderland meets Wizard of Oz meets Dorian Gray, inasmuch as our protagonist is whisked away into a curious world, becomes companion to a Cheshire Cat-like narrator of sorts, and engages in a hasty descent.

What I love most about this story is how Artemesia changes visually as her adventure continues.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the artwork, the character concepts, and many of the themes that were introduced, the story ultimately felt flat for me. Where the action was exciting to look at, it felt purposeless within the story, driven by a protagonist who didn’t quite come alive enough to warrant sympathy. The exposition felt careful and forced, as if an afterthought to justify the premise of a character lopping heads in the faerie realm. In a nutshell: tons of great beginnings without many middles or endings.

That being said, I think teens will LOVE this story and I’m sure it will fuel the imaginations of many readers.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for this early copy.

The art in this graphic novel is by far one of my favorites this year. I was captivated by both the art and the story. It showed the evil of the human world and the fairy world in such detail. I hope that it continues.

I loved this!! It was so fun to read honestly.

I loved the dark Alice and Wonderland (darker than it is) vibe it has.

Obviously I don't want to post spoiler but I love the characters and the progression of the story and how it all comes full circle in the end of this one.

The art is of course pretty awesome and I can't wait to read the next issue!

So, considering my copy didn't have any kind of dialogue, it made things a bit confusing. However, I ultimately got the story and message that was trying to be portrayed? And I ultimately liked it? Though I will say the artstyle was probably my favorite part of the story and I probably would have liked this more with any kind of dialogue.

Artemesia is an enjoyable main character. She was, oddly enough, someone I could relate to. Even though I've never been kidnapped or lived in the 1800s, I have felt like someone who doesn't belong.

The comic begins after the funeral of Art's oldest sister. We're introduced to her family, and learn that, while her father is an English noble, Art is his illegitimate daughter that he had in one of the colonies (meaning that, unlike most of Europe, Art is mixed).

But with the death of her sister, Art's stepmother tries to convince her to marry a lord to save their family from ruin (it turns out the dad has a lot of debts). I'm not sure why the marriage storyline was included, because it had basically no impact on that plot (and honestly, what 1800s European noble would marry a mixed woman?)

Then, while looking at her reflection, Art is pulled into the realm of Faerie, and the Faerie queen takes control of her body, leaving Art to fend for herself.

The story even sounds great, like some sort of Faerie Hunger Games, but unfortunately, that's not what ends up happening (wouldn't it be great though if Fae kidnapped humans and made them fight to the death?). Instead of some sort of organized fight club, as the title suggests, it's just Art and one very bitter, angry faerie who wants to turn her into the Terminator for reasons that we never really learn.

Art travels through Faerie, learning to kill as she does. Every time she kills one of the Faeries, from the adorable and innocent butter faeries (which are born whenever a child laughs) to the dangerous and dark Wild Hunt (the children of the queen) she gains power, becoming more and more Fey and less and less human.

To begin with, Art has little interest in killing the Faeries, even the evil ones like those in The Wild Hunt. Although her jackalope companion assures her that she's doing the world a favor by ridding it of evil, Art sees things differently.

Art doesn't want to be the grand savior of another world, she's content with just returning to the world that the queen pulled her from. In fact, Art reveals that she's afraid of becoming like her father.

In fact, Art brings that up a lot.

For a short time, at some point around the second and third issue, the story became less about Faeries and more about racism. Because, despite the fact that a rich European would apparently marry the bastard, mixed-race daughter of an impoverished lord, there's still a ton of racism. We're told about the racism constantly, but we don't actually see it (her Stepmother might hate her because she's racist, but it also might just be because she's a bastard).

It was an interesting point that the comic tried to make, but it felt like too much of an afterthought that wasn't added into the plot well. 

And it's pretty quickly forgotten, and Art just goes back to killing things.

There's a character who tries to stop Art's mindless murder, Warren, the pacifist son of the Fey queen, and he almost feels like he was meant to be her love interest, but he's such a weird character, a living moral compass, that everything he did almost seemed robotic.

And then, without spoiling anything, I can say that the ending is horrible. There's a lot of threads lose, and considering that most comics run much longer than they should (Marvel, in particular, is famous for having dozens or even hundreds of issues in a run) this one leaves you wanting much, much more. 

And yet, despite how abrupt and unsatisfying the ending was, I couldn't bring myself to care. I wasn't invested enough in the world to want more.

Holy OMFG, what did I just read?!

I feel like a decade of reading Holly Black and Melissa Marr's faerie worlds, I've been spoiled into seeing a happily ever after even after the fucked up shit that goes on in and out of these worlds.

There is no happily ever after to be found here. It's a straight up and down tragedy, but damn, what a well written one!

Delilah Dawson is still a relatively new author to me, so I went in knowing little more than it was a story about faerie and a girl who got drawn out of the Victorian Era and into the Unseelie court. Accompanied by her companion Crispin (has there ever been a kind, not monster of a character with this name?), Artemisia does everything she can to take back her world from the cruel clutches of the Unseelie queen.

I absolutely loved the idea of magic and slowly becoming a faerie creature. I loved the costs and the moral choices. I loved how well utilised was the faerie inability to lie, but nothing ever said that they can't mislead, which they do with expert ease.

Phew. I'm still reeling from that ending, which is the part that really packs a punch. Fantastic.

With the success of MONSTRESS I think we should expect dark fantasy to be on the rise within the graphic genre. Sparrowhawk is lighter in its darkness, though that could be partially due rougher artwork which allows for the violence to be glazed over. While it took me a bit to get pulled into the title, I'll be anxiously awaiting to see how Art fixes things, especially with Crispins continued scheming. Of note which I don't know if I've seen previously, the shift in lettering for each character added an additional element to the presence of the character. While there's plenty of violence. it is focused on monster killing so I would think most middle school readers and up would be fine to read it.

This was an interesting and dark fairy story. The 'heroine' is mistreated by her family, being the mixed race illegitimate daughter. She is pulled into faerie by a wicked fairy queen who wants to take over the world. The 'heroine' has to fight her way through faerie in order to get back to her own world. Unfortunately there is a price to pay and in this volume it seems the 'heroine' is becoming the very thing she was fighting against.

The darkness of the story gives it a creepy feel with many twists and turns. I wasn't a fan of the aftwork but it was interesting to read a fairy story in which there is only darkness and no real light at all.

Copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Alice in Wonderland, But Wittier and More Violent

Lots of blurbs for this book describe it as a sort of Victorian Fight Club, and I suppose you could view it that way, even though that really overlooks its most appealing aspects. If we need a comparison, I'd describe this as "Alice in Wonderland" with more explicit violence, wittier banter, a ferocious Alice, and a sly agenda built around feminism, racism, colonialism, and why you should never trust overly clever cats, (especially if they're faerie abominations).

The premise is straightforward. Artemisia is the illegitimate black daughter of an English sea captain/explorer. Mistreated at home, she is dragged through a mirror into the land of Faerie, and compelled to fight her way home. She meets up with a slick cat companion, who can't lie but can deceive with partial truths. She hooks up with the Seelie Queen's pacifist son, and the two adventure their way through Faerie land. Artemisia likes killing things more than she probably should, and the battle between her rage and her basic decency is the fuel that powers the character and the adventure.

When the Prince notes that "Killing isn't the only way to grow strong.", Artemisia responds that "It's the only way to grow strong enough". Take that, Tinkerbell. Where will Artemisia be by the end? Not gonna say. But remember her words, "I will not be a damsel. I will save myself.".

So, this was way, way more interesting, thoughtful, and rewarding than just some colorful faerie dungeon crawl. Artemisia is a strong character from panel one; she just gets more interesting on every following page. And the cat, Crispin, is dryly deadpan funny, like some sort of evil, demented Jiminy Cricket to Artemisia Pinocchio.

I took a while to come around on the art, but given the challenges of a Looking Glass faerie world, it worked. At the outset we have basic pencils, inking and coloring, but once Artemisia goes through the glass we get a jazzy, angular, brightly colored Peter Max sort of world. It's unstable and disjointed, so that while you always know who's who and what's going on you never feel really balanced or comfortable. And I figure that's exactly what the artist was going for.

So, I'm a fan of this book. It was just so much better than I had any reason to hope for, and so refreshing after a diet of typical superhero stories. This is "Alice" with teeth and claws.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)