"Sera and the Royal Stars" is an intense and thrilling fantasy graphic novel about a princess who is pushed into a quest to save her world from cosmic destruction. Though the story felt rushed, it was highly captivating and had me engrossed until the end. I can't wait to see what happens in the next volume!

I was unable to fulfill this book after multiple downloads. I was really excited and wanted to read it as I am a huge Avatar fan. I will look for the print version.

'Sera and the Royal Stars, Vol. 1' by Jon Tsuei with art by Audrey Mok is a graphic novel I found original and captivating.

Sera is a princess and warrior in the Empire of Parsa. Her father is fighting her uncle and her mother has been dead for years. She receives a vision with an urgent quest. Leaving her family at this time is bad, but not fulfilling the quest is worse. She must find embodiments of the constellations and restore them to the heavens.

I loved this story and the concept at it's heart. Sera is a very capable protagonist and I loved the embodiments of the constellations. Audrey Mok does great art here and I loved her character designs.

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

This first installment of Sera's quest to save her country from civil war and release the trapped seasons is lush and spectacular. Sera, our main character, is a princess, a warrior, the eldest daughter, a military leader, and chosen by something supernatural to lead her country back from the brink of destruction. Beautiful artwork blends seamlessly with a layered story, weaving together Sera's family relationships on a micro and macro level, from her fraught sibling relationships to her arrogant uncle scheming to take her father's throne. But little does she know that behind the looming civil war are greater difficulties - the Royal Stars are trapped, and it's Sera's destiny to release them. And along the way, she might just solve the mystery of her mother's disappearance and death.
There's loads going on in this first volume from Jon Tsuei and Audrey Mok. The artwork blends seamlessly with the lettering, family ties tug against magical destinies and Sera feels very human as she struggles to understand what's calling her, and how she can and will respond to it. I absolutely devoured this graphic novel, and will return to it again to ogle the beautiful scenery and rich colouring. A cast of PoC (and by of colour, I mean blue, green, and purple) and a female lead who's tough and ready, but soft and vulnerable at the same time. I really thoroughly enjoyed this, and am already impatient for volume 2.

The art was cool. I loved that the heroine was fully clothed and not a stick figure. She looked real, unlike the sexualized women who often lead the cast in comics and animes. The character selection was also cool. Sera was on a quest to release the stars and protect her family. The way her family was drawn was great. The stars also made sense and were pretty amazing. I am a bit confused about the villains. Why does her uncle look like Rasputin and why were the enemies in the early scenes all wearing Batman masks? There was also some weird Greek mythology stuff going on in the middle of the story. I wasn't sure if that was supposed to help us date the story, or if Sera's quest brought her in contact with gods from another time.

It reminded me slightly of Yona of the Dawn, one of my favorite animes, however the story didn't flow as smoothly as Yona. I am curious how the story will continue as the ending included a twist that made sense, but was not typical in this sort of hero story. I suppose I will have to wait and see where things go from here. It was definitely different than anything I've read from this genre.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and have reviewed it willingly.

Sadly, I am unable to give a review for this title! The file has continued to fail to download.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this title!

I loooved this. The graphics and illustrations were amazing. The colors used were perfect and each character had their own distinct look. There’s also a combo of mythologies here along with new ones created for the story itself. Sera is on a mission not only to save her family but free the stars, gods that have been chained and forgotten. This was her mother’s mission and now it’s been passed on to Sera. She may not understand what’s happening to her, but she’s determined to do what needs to be done. Definitely pick this up if you’re looking for a great fantasy graphic novel.