I love fairy tales of all sorts so I loved this graphic novel! I definitely want to check out the other books in this series!

My thanks to Iron Circus Comics for a temporary digital edition via NetGalley of ‘The Nixie of the Mill Pond and Other European Stories’ edited by Kel McDonald & Kate Ashwin in exchange for an honest review.

This third volume of ‘Cautionary Fables and Fairytales’ takes nine European folktales and has the writers and artists selected reimagine them in comic/graphic novel format.

Some of the stories are quite well known, such as Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel, while others were less familiar (to me) such as the Nixie of the Mill Pond from Germany and Bisclavret from France. There is a great deal of energy and a generous mixture of darkness and comedy in the text and art. Many of the stories have little twists in the tale/tail.

Not all the art was to my taste though the majority was. I was especially impressed by the final story, Hamelin’s Piper by Jose Pimienta, that was told without any dialogue or text, as the artist used only his art and especially facial expressions to convey this dark tale.

It is aimed at readers aged 10-12 and this feels appropriate as some of the tales might be a bit intense for younger children.

'The Nixie of the Mill-Pond and Other European Stories' edited by Kel McDonald and Kate Ashwin is another compiled graphic novel of fairy and folk tales from Iron Circus Comics.

There are 9 stories in this collection, each by a different creator or creators representing different countries. There are stories I was familiar with like Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel and ones I was less familiar with like Kid Brother and Bisclavret. Some of the stories have twists on the endings.

I have enjoyed this series quite a bit. Seeing stories from different regions and different artists takes on them. The art is all black and white and the art is consistently enjoyable. The book ends with creator bios for those wanting to learn more about the featured artists.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Iron Circus Comics in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

I was provided an ARC by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I loved the pictures and how easy the stories were to follow. It's a great break from reading a lot of words. Graphic novels and comics are new to me and I enjoyed this one a lot!

This is an anthology of well known European folktales. Some of the stories kept the brutality of the old stories which was nice. The art was fun. Even though there was a different style for every story depending on who the creative team was, it still fit together well. In the story Nixie of Mill-Pond, the font was a very Old English style. It made that story difficult for me to read. It might be better in the hard copy since I was reading a preview copy on my phone.

I do wish that it was easier to see who the creative team was. In the beginning, it only listed one person. I was curious if that meant the one person did everything, story, art, letters.

Overall it was a fun modernized read of old fairy stories.

A very engaging collection of different European fairy tales - some familiar ones and some interesting lesser known ones. This means there's a nice variety of art styles, too.

What I really liked about this graphic novel was reading all of the fairy tales from different cultures. And, there were so many I hadn't heard of! Even if I had heard of them, some had a new twist on them.

Even though this book is listed for middle schoolers, I definitely think all ages, including adults, would enjoy this book. It is nostalgic, but it is also just fun.

What I didn't like about this graphic novel were some of layouts of the drawings. I just thought it was hard to follow in some instances what part was supposed to be read next.

I will definitely recommend this title to the school librarians in my service area, but I don't think the tweens who come to my programs would particularly care for this graphic novel.

This book was definitely for an older audience. I would put it in a teen collection. The illustrations and stories were well done and would introduce readers to stories they might otherwise be unfamiliar with. I found the tone darker and more mature than the other books in this series, but I, personally, enjoyed it.