I picked up this graphic novel before realising that it was translated from my mother tongue. I can only love and support books that resonate closely with the world I've known.

Each member of the family has its own story but all is tied up to the father. It feels very meditative and dream-like as the end of the summer always is.

There's a little child exploring gender non-conformity, queerness and his feelings for his friend. An teenage girl with complicated feelings and the mother.

This was gorgeous!! I loved that it followed one day and a real momentous moment in history, and an important revelation for each family member. The artwork was beautiful too!

Princess Diana has just died, and Lulu's mother has the radio on to catch the details. Lulu is more interested in the lives of other princesses—his dolls, and the princess he dreams of becoming. His sister is dating an older boy, his parents' marriage is crumbling, and he only knows how to express his own dreams of romance through games of imagination, through child's play. By the time 24 hours have passed in this beautifully illustrated graphic novel, each family member has seen his or her own small drama play out—for better and for worse.

One benefit of graphic novels is that a quick Google can give you a sense of whether or not an illustrator's style is to your taste, and I knew immediately that I'd like Zuttion's dreamy style. The use of water and light, in particular, are gorgeous. Most of this graphic novel is grounded in reality, but there's a wordless, full-page panel early on, where Lulu is rescuing his drowned dolls from the pool, that looks to me like a standalone print. Dappled sunlight, firelight, and the ripples and splashes of the pastel pool play throughout the piece, and I want to live in Lulu's imagination, with his princesses and dragons. (Some time later, the sun beats down on one side of the house while a tempest rages on the other side—it makes sense in context—and I laughed out loud.)

The book takes place over one day, and the slices of each character's story that we get are calibrated for that—the plot doesn't bite off more than it can chew. This is complete as it is, and doesn't need a sequel, but...I'd love to see/read a longer span of these characters' lives, see how they grow and change with a bit more time. Maybe someday a follow-up with a day in Lulu's life as a young adult...? I can hope.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a free review copy through NetGalley.

A really beautiful graphic novel set in late 90's France that follows a family as they navigate different social systems (marriage, homophobia, and misogyny) over the course of one Summer day.
Artistically panels are mostly rectangles and squares, evoking film, television, and other forms of pop culture media that are also predicated throughout the text. The subject matter is handled with a softness and care for its themes, while not shying away from the complexities of them either. I particularly found Cam and Lulu's sibling relationship to be affecting, as it reminded me (closeted) with the relationships with my brothers. While some sentences feel a little stiff, I'm just assuming that's a casualty of translation. I'm definitely going to bee keeping an eye on Zuttion's work in the future.

All Princesses Die Before Dawn centers on a family in the summer of 1997. The death of Princess Diana plays background throughout while Lulu plays princess, his sister Cam plays girlfriend to an older boyfriend, and their mother plays the happy wife while her marriage to their father crumbles apart. As the graphic novel continues, we follow each character's realizations about themselves as they ultimately come together. I really enjoyed this, it says a lot with a little. The watercolour art reflects the story perfectly.

I don't think I quite got this graphic novel. It was short, and sweet, and full of nostalgia about August 1097, the death of princess Diana, and three love stories - but although the art was beautiful, I didn't quite understand what the book was trying to say. I think that's a me problem, though, but not the book. As I said, it's beautiful and soft and thoughtful. Just not for me.

A tender story about a young boy Lulu who just wants to be a princess, his sister Cam who is dealing with young love, and his Mom and Dad who are going through a separation. The story takes place in one day, the day that Princess Diana died. I found it an interesting epicenter for the story but if I'm being honest...it worked really well.

Zuttions art and touching storytelling create a beautiful story that tackles identity, family bonds, and love. I would highly recommend this to readers middle grade and up!

I love stories with multiple perspectives, and this wasn’t an exception. I was expecting to love the story, and I did, but the art style is one of my favorites I’ve seen in a graphic novel so far. It looks almost like watercolor or colored pencil, and the way water is drawn in some panels is just gorgeous!

I thought that this graphic novel would be all smiley one, but turned out this was so beautifully heartbreaking. It tells a complex and dynamic situation of a family, a boy who tries to discover his sexuality, his sister and her love choice, his parents's problems, and how they finally console and protect each other. I very much enjoyed the illustrations, they were gorgeous. Thank you NetGalley and Europe Comics for the eArc

The art style is gorgeous right from the start! The beginning is the most charming and what got me hooked by the story. It is so luminous, sure to transport the reader to a bright summer day.

The book deals with difficult topics like death

Rep: achillean mc
Rating: 3.5 stars

This was a pretty cute book, though it does have some heavier elements. It's a bit bittersweet. Each family member is going through their own struggles.

I went into this without reading the blurb, or if I did I forgot, so I had no idea what the story was about. I didn’t expect it to also focus on the parents and sister’s struggles as well, but it wasn’t a bad thing. It takes place around the day of princess Diana's death, so it mentions it pretty often. The title makes more sense now.

Lulu was great. He has a big imagination and loves fairy tales. Though he often gets bullied or talked down to for it. He’s not the traditional “boy” society thinks he should be. But Lulu is just living his life and doing what he loves to do. He’s so carefree and joyful. We see him start to explore his sexuality and gender expression while hanging out with his friend. His experiences are very similar to a lot of Queer people growing up trying to figure things out.

At first I thought the older sister was just a typical older sibling who doesn’t wanna be bothered by their younger sibling. Learning her story made me empathize with her more. She seemed very conflicted and even depressed. Her boyfriend was not great and just wanted to use her. He was definitely older as well, so the whole relationship was concerning. I was pretty worried in that one scene.

The mother was very strong and trying to keep it together while her husband is seeing other woman and isn’t around often enough to support her and their kids. I like how she handled the situation. I just wish she would have gotten him to tell the kids, so she wouldn't have to, even though that convo isn’t shown.

The father was obviously not a great one. But the rest of the family don’t seem to need him anyway. They’re all there for one another and love and support each other. It has a pretty nice ending despite everything that happened to them.

I loved seeing Lulu’s imagination. The author used a lot of bright colors and the backgrounds were done in a way that you knew it was summer and just made sense for a middle grade graphic novel.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book!

This book was so much more heartbreaking than I was expecting, eventho I probably should have expected it form the title... I didn't cry tho, because it wasn't that kind of heartbreaking. Just the kind where you feel bad for the people involved.
So yeah, I felt so bad for Lulu, Cam and their mom. I hope they will continue to support each other through other challenges they might face in the future.

One sentence that came to mind while I read the last page of this was: At least they have each other.
And I'm very glad that they do.

This was a great read. Each of the family members bring their own issues to the table but they are all connected to one another, almost like going through the stages of life from the first crush to a crumbling marriage. The art work was exquisite and really helped to tell the story along with the dialogue given.

An honest, heartfelt story, relatable to all. Lulu, Cam and Mum all are navigating themselves and their emotions through different stages in their life. The mundane, slice of life approach vividly shows the impact our own individual relationships can, not only effect people who are close to us, but be guided by them.
Lulu's experience is no different to a large majority of LGBTQ+ children; the innocent approach, the unrequited yearning, and the navigation through unfelt and unrepresented emotion.
Cam's pain is demanding in its need to be understood - the cold teenager mannerisms are softened when reconnecting with both Mum and Lulu, as she recognises the importance of family unity which ultimately helps her through the adolescent experiences. The hurt she feels is portrayed so rawly and leaves a lasting impression.
The parent's dynamic is difficult to stomach, when hitting so close to home in such a beautifully written and illustrated form. The art accompanies the emotional story, feeling like a breath of fresh air, and a kick to the gut at once.
The death of Princess Diana follows the story, the relatable and loved princess stands as a metaphor for her acceptance and importance to society, which this novel's themes replicate.
An important, accessible visual journey to embark.

This was such a beautiful story, the family dynamic (minus the dad) is very precious to me. I liked the different stories for the main characters and how it was handled. the drawing style was also extremely beautiful. I would def want to read more.

This was a beautiful and poignant comic about one day in a family's life that will change things forever due to heartbreak and love in different forms. This was an emotional read, but ultimately ended with an uplifting note. I highly recommend if you're looking for an interesting slice of life comic. Plus the artwork is absolutely beautiful!

this graphic novel was super cute and lovely, the detail was amazing! I really liked all the main characters and their each individual stories were really cute. I felt even though it was a short story that each had their own journey and overcame something. it was the perfect length and super adorable! <3

One day, 3 family members all experiencing a phase of love in the shadow of the announcement of the death of Princess Diana. This is a slice of life graphic novel, very short for quite a lot of important topics. Of course they are all paralleled rather well, but if you want the full impact of the story you might want to pace yourself, enjoy the images and think about what is unfolding on the page. In fact, considering how short this comic book is, it does quite an amazing characterisation work.

A short and bittersweet story told over a long summer's day, shadowed by Princess Diana’s death in 1997.

Coming to life through gorgeous, wistful artwork evoking memories of childhood summers, the story is small in scale but emotionally deep in its gentle exploration of burgeoning sexuality and gender expression, coming-of-age, giving and receiving love, and youthful innocence. It will especially resonate with the queer community, but is a heartwrenching tale all will enjoy.

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Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for the ARC in return for an honest review.

This book is a good representation of family relationships, and talks about a some important topics such as abuse and self-discovery. I think it is an interesting choice to read because of it's story and amazing illustrations. The three stories get togheter in an incredible way, and for all of that you should read it as soon as you have time, even just a bit, it's a reallyfast book, so give it a try.