The Alanna Quartet was one of the first series I picked up in Middle School that I absolutely loved. I've reread the novel many times and was not dissappointed by the graphic novel adaptation! I think the pacing was well done and the illustrations of characters and settings were spot on! Can't wait to purchase this one for my own collection!

I love this graphic novel!
If you were to ask me what my favourite book, the one that was most fundamental to me growing up was, it would always be this book!
I read this series growing up and I still love it to this day. Getting to re-read a story I LOVE in a graphic novel was so delightful! The art is amazing and adds to the story perfectly. The text adaptation was also perfect.
I thoroughly enjoyed this!
5 stars

it was adorable it shows our alana as the kind of girl who needs reassurance but will do anything for her dream which is inspiring and heart warming at the same time. would of been even better if we could of read it in coulour.

This was one of my favorite novel series as a kid. I would read and reread it over and over again. I could not get enough of Alanna. This graphic novel spoke to my soul. It brought me back to my earlier days of reading and I felt all the warm fuzzies. I love the art style. I think it works beautifully well with the plot.

I just want to say thank you for bringing me back in time and allowing me to experience this as a graphic novel for the first time all at once. I feel like I need to reread the whole series again now.

What I love most: Alanna is spunky, yet a totally normal girl pretending to be a boy, the juxtaposition of the prince and king of thieves, the horses

This graphic novel was my first foray into Tamora Pierce, and I am officially hooked. This was a great entry point into the world of Tortall, and I'm definitely going to be picking up the full text novels, in preparation for future graphic novel adaptations (and because I am desperate to hear about Alanna's adventures). However, because I have not read the original novel, I cannot speak to this adaptation's quality as an adaptation of that original text.

I really loved the exploration of the concept of gender in this book, which was almost certainly a fresh perspective in fantasy for teens, at the time of the original text's publication, and still will ring true with audiences of today. I imagine the explorations of these themes will delve even deeper as the series progresses. I think if the graphic novel had a little bit more length (0r perhaps two volumes!) we would see these themes explored a little bit more here, as I'm sure they are in the original text.

I also think that this will be a great transitional text for hesitant readers in younger highschool grades, to move from graphic novels to trying full text novels, much in the way that the Percy Jackson graphic novel adaptations do for hesitant middle grade readers. It would also be a fantastic transition text for those readers hoping to try moving into young adult from middle grade.

I received an eARC of this title through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Honestly, I was so excited to see this become a graphic novel series. This series was one of my first book loves as a kid. I felt so seen by the heroine who wanted to be a knight instead of do "girly" things. And as the character grew, so did her idea of what "girly" things she wanted and didn't want.

Honestly, I felt this graphic novel was hard to read as a digital book. There were so many words and they were tiny. I know a lot happens in each of these books as it covers multiple years of her life, however, I feel like (at least from the digital copy I read) the text was daunting and hard to read and keep up with what was happening.

Everything else was great. The art was amazing, the way each character is drawn is well done. I think I will want to give this book a chance as a physical copy instead of digital to give it the best chance.

I have been a fan of Tamara Pierce for over 20 years, and this did not disappoint! It follows the story of young Alanna, who wants to become a knight. This book takes us through the first year at the castle and all the fun/adventure/struggles that go along with it. Since this is a graphic novel adaptation, not everything from the original book is included, but I thought they did a great job at condensing it. Also, the illustrations are beautiful and clear and definitely add to the story. I highly recommend this graphic novel, as well as ALL of Tamara Pierce's books!

"Song of the Lioness, Book 1: Alanna" is a retelling of Tamora Pierce's "Song of the Lioness" YA fantasy fiction series, adapted into a graphic novel series by Vita Ayala and Sam Beck. We get to meet Alanna of Trebold, a teen girl who wants to be a knight even though currently all knights are boys. She swaps places with her brother and pretends to be a boy (Alan of Trebold) so that she can learn knight skills. The book does a good job at adapting the work into a graphic novel, though it felt a bit short and that a lot of detail from the novel was lost, though it is a good introduction to those who have not read the series. A recommended purchase for graphic novel collections.

I could cry I love this book so much. The graphic novel definitely lives up to the hype of the original books. The artist has rendered Alanna in full color glory and I hope they do the whole series. Seeing some of these scenes depicted visually pulled at my heartstrings even more. This story has always been brilliant and the new medium is amazing.

I grew up with Tamora Pierce's books and I can't wait for this book to introduce her to a new audience.

Thank you to Netgalley, Tamora Pierce and ABRAMS Kids for a complimentary digital copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

I first read Tamora Pierce's seminal 'Song of the Lioness' quartet back when I was a kid myself and seeing that there is now a graphic novel adaptation of it really took me back. I love that they chose to re-create this story, originally released in the 80s and the art is gorgeous and really fits how I saw all the characters from the original series. I also love the choice of adapters here with one being a nonbinary person of colour, which really works with our somewhat genderfluid heroine, Alanna - back when I first read this and seeing Alanna dressing as a boy and trying to hide how her body was changing as she grew, I didn't take this for a trans storyline but on re-reading this it really shines through as a trans experience of sorts. Never does Alanna or Alan as they're known, say that they don't want to be a woman knight, but they are also pretty horrified about certain things they experience with their body which really does mirror a trans experience.
The arc version I received was in black and white rather than colour so I think this did hamper the visual storytelling somewhat and the quality wasn't perhaps the best particularly as it went further into the graphic novel unfortunately - hopefully this quality issue will be fixed with the addition of colour for the final release in May.
Overall, I liked this graphic novel but I did feel like with them basically squeezing a whole novel in here, we definitely lost a lot of the detail and the subtleties of character relationships - the only ones I truly believed in throughout this graphic novel was with the History teacher and the Prince, the others and all the side characters generally felt too under-developed to really be able to tell them apart. It's been too long since I read the original novels to tell if this was a fault in the original book also, but I suspect this was due to the more rushed pacing of the graphic novel. Some of the chapters feel very short and off kilter as they're depicting certain events but the pacing does get better towards the end when the group are on a journey to a far off land and the events which happen there.
I thought this was a good adaption but definitely had some room for improvement - I'm interested to see how the rest of the series will be adapted however!

I grew up with Tamora Pierce as one of my favorite authors and I was thrilled to see her come out with a graphic novel on her Song of the Lioness series. I loved the characters, the plot, and enjoyed seeing the visual interpretations of the characters and world, but I do wish it had had colored- hopefully a finally one does. This is a great story for reluctant readers and middle grade students who want a strong female lead who has a goal and lets nothing stop her from reading it. It mixes fantasy with some historical context for a uniquely blended story of genre and setting.

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy. I will be purchasing this once it's out. My opinions are my own.

I discovered Alanna and Tamora Pierce as a teen and have been entranced ever since. So of course I jumped at the chance to see the graphic novel adaptation early and couldn't wait to read it. I loved the art style chosen by Vita Ayala and Sam Beck as it is very much geared to the target audience, but also has a nostalgia vibe that will appeal to those like me who grew up with Alanna, and the rest of the Tortall book series.

Vita did an amazing job at taking the essence of Alanna's first adventure and making it easy to read, thus inviting an entire new generation to fall in love with this red headed girl who wanted to defy societal norms and be a hero. Sam's artistry brought everyone to life and I adore the characters.

Highly recommend for those looking for a non-traditional girl story about magic, heroes, defying norms, and becoming yourself. Really looking forward to seeing the rest of the series!

As a fan of the Song of the Lioness Quartet, I had to read this graphic novel as soon as I heard about it. The story is the same fun adventure full of character growth, magic, and friendship. I thought that the art style of the book was beautiful and fit with the story. I did find that the format did allow less time for some of the characterizations of the minor characters, which made me less attached to the larger group of friends, which could be an issue if the later books are also adapted (at least for readers who have not read the original books). Other than that, I enjoyed jumping back into the world of Tortall and seeing Alanna's adventure play out again in a new way. Definitely a fun and nostalgic read for anyone who loves the Song of the Lioness Quartet.

This book was so good! It was very different to anything else i’d read in a little while and it was like a huge breath of fresh air and I really enjoyed it. I want to read more in the series asap

This was a decent graphic novel adaptation of the book, but for me, a graphic novel will never beat the full text. The final book is also due to be in full colour, while the arc was black and white, which did take a lot of the experience away from me, but it didn't impact my rating since I know the final book will be different.

Thank you to NetGalley and Abrams Fanfare for an arc in exchange for an honest review

When I saw this book was being adapted and made in to a graphic novel, I was so happy.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this ahead of release! I loved revisiting Tortall and all the wonderful characters. If you loved the original books or want to visit a magical world - this book gives so much.

The fresh take and newly added elements are definitely needed, and something I am sure the author Tamora appreciates - to bring the amazing Alanna to new readers.

A girl who wants to be a knight and fight as one. Prevented from doing so, because of her gender. So she swaps places with her twin Thom and heads off to train as a knight. What could possibly go wrong? I can't wait for the final copy to release and have it on my shelves.

Highly recommend this fantasy series to anyone who loves a good strong FMC, royalty, thieves, romance and magic.

I have kind of always wanted to get into Tamora Pierce's books. I remember reading one of them in elementary school and loving it. I'm really enjoying the graphic novel adaptations.
Alanna of Trebond wants to be a knight. Girls are not allowed to be knights, so she switches places with her twin Thom, cuts her hair and pretends to be a boy in order to train. At the beginning she is bullied and is the smallest and weakest, but she works hard and even befriends the prince. Alanna also has healing powers which she uses to save the prince. She ends up traveling with him to a faraway city that is close to a cursed city and they figure some stuff out I don't want to spoil.
I felt like this book had a lot more words than the usual graphic novel and it was quite long as well. I really got a feel for this world where women and girls are not allowed to be soldiers or knights or pages and this is all Alanna wants. This was a good graphic novel to have a lot of words since a lot of things needed to be explained.
The first half of the book was kind of slow paced, but it was really setting up for the explosive ending. The ending was really exciting and quite interesting.
The only thing that took away from the experience was that the art was black and white and I think in the finished copies it will be color. Absolutely no fault of the book since it was an arc. It was a little hard to distinguish between a few of the characters without the color, but I think that will be a moot point with finished copies.
I'm really hoping that the rest of this series gets put into graphic novel form because I'm loving reading Tamora Pierce's books this way!

The set up of the ARC for this was really hard to read, but I love this story and I love the art! I’m so excited to be seeing this in person. For the ARC itself doesn’t have the text in the speech bubbles so it was like a puzzle lol.

Tamora Pierce has always hard a special place in my heart and I’m so excited to see her novels adapted in different ways!

I always wanted to see her books turned into a TV show or movie and a graphic novel is honestly so close to this that it feels like a childhood dream is coming true!

Beautiful adaptation of one of my favourite series!

Song of the lioness quartet has a special place on my shelf and always has so when I found out there was a graphic novel I absolutely needed to read it!

The artwork is perfect and I could not have asked for more! I can’t wait to see the rest of the series made this way! Now I just need The Immortals and Daughter of the Lioness and I’ll be a happy book dragon!

Thanks The Abrams Books Team and Tamora Pierce for the amazing opportunity to read this in return for a review!