A poignant and beautiful story. I was out of practice reading graphic novels and this was a great story to get back into it. I absolutely loved the illustrations and they were a perfect counterpoint to the written story.

I think this book was only OK. I thought that would be something really beautiful, but it was only in start, So I think that is so many comics, which are so good... That I don't have to like it...

A really interesting read full of self discovery, going through the challenges of life and managing friendships!

Excellent story about a young girl who grows in a poor neighborhood in Brazil, goes through some difficult times and gets the chance to play the piano, which becomes her passion. I don’t play any musical instrument but I could relate as an expat in a richer country. Definitely a great story, that shows the struggles of student life, trying to succeed in a new place, having your family far away, falling in love and more.

Flavia lives in a favela un Río de Janeiro. Her father was killed in a crossfire in her childhood, and her only escape from her really hard life are her piano lessons. So when she gets a scholarship for a prestigious conservatory in Paris, she takes it, decided to be the very best she can be.
The main character is driven, lives and plays her music with so much passion, nobody is able to ignore it. She makes friends, she makes frenemies, she meets musical heroes, and she learns, grows, gets better and better. But she never forgets her roots, her deceased father, her ill mother, and the music from her childhood.
Flavia's story is really inspiring, and I loved her character development.
The rhythm of the graphic novel just flows perfectly, and the art is beautiful.
It makes you think of all the talent that goes to waste because of how little importance today's society gives to any form of art, and how a little support can make the talent grow and create a better life for people.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. Great graphic novel biography about a young pianist. Great for young readers especially those who love graphic novels.

A gorgeously drawn graphic novel with an interesting narrative, plot, and concepts. Definitely recommended for fans of this genre.

Forté follows the story of a young brazilian girl and her carreer as a pianist.
I love the latin rep and how real is.
Flavia lives on the favela and her mother works as maid. One day, the owner of the house, where her mom works, offer to give her piano classes and then it where this story starts.

There where moments when Flavia was annoying but i understand her because she has to work more harder than the rest to get what she wants.

The story is very realistic and Flavia's passion for the piano its beautiful. Like i said the latin rep it's great, it talks about favelas, the reality of the people who live there, dengue disease and also this graphic novel has a lot diversity characters.

Thank you to netgalley for let me read it!

There were parts of this graphic novel that really spoke to me - particularly the importance of music. I think there were parts that could have been developed a little more, but I think that is more to do with the format. Nevertheless, I think it was an entertaining read.

That moment when you've got yourself all hyped for a book, then realised you didn't download it and that it's been archived on Netgalley 😭😭💔

Piano playing, according to this at least, is split between technique and interpretation. Well, I would argue that it's the same with graphic novels. The technique here is reasonable – we certainly get a great dramatic drive as we watch a young girl from the slums of Brazil fluke her way to scholarship in Paris and a degree course in being a concert pianist. Where the technique lets the side down is it's too much an A-B story, with few hindrances in the way. Our heroine is supposed to be a bit too self-destructive, always hurting what and whom she loves, but she also seems to be able to bounce back too readily, and drama is a little lacking as a result. Good characters are always too good, bad characters never allowed to be bad long enough. So we come to interpretation, and this is more my personal thing than the factual observations above. I did enjoy this, as it really did seem to know the music school inside and out, and seemed to be sincere in its approach to the music and to its study. But at the same time it seemed to be an entirely fictional story, and as a result I found something lacking. I would have enjoyed it so much more knowing it were autobiographical, or based somewhat on life. As it is it's a fantasy of the slum girl making it big, and with the world of fiction open to it, it makes more than a few peculiar decisions along the way. And it certainly doesn't earn the ending we get.

So yes, I liked the thrust of the story, however implausible and undramatic it was at times. But there was a lot here that also made me feel a little short-changed, and as a result I think three and a half stars would be too generous.

This was a touching story about one woman's journey to achieving her desires through music. I loved the art style, though I had a little difficulty with the layout of the text. The found family plotline through her connections to fellow students was definitely my favorite part of the story. It was difficult to connect to the characters otherwise, but this book was too gorgeous to let that overtake the entire story. By the end, I was happy for Flavia, but it took the majority of the story for me to start caring about her as a character.

The graphic novel is a story of the rise of a Brazilian musician from the slums to International fame (of a sort, but that is in effect the implication of the narrative)

It depicts a combination of factors, hard work and lucky interactions that lead to something more. It is a short piece with pretty decent illustrations that do capture the different emotions our leading lady feels through her journey. Some scenes depict the circle of life quite effectively. Overall, it is a simple and quick read that does a good job in narrating an interesting tale. There is not much more that I can acknowledge in a review of a work of this length, but it does pack a lot in, especially the different types of relationships people have. Flavia’s rise is something that might intrigue even those who have never trained or been interested in music. I actually would have liked more in terms of content, to know more about the events that might have taken place in the world shown to us.

I had such high expectations from this graphic novel memoir that I feel it influenced my review for this book in a way I don't want it to.

I read this book weeks ago just after I got the ARC from NetGalley.

Sadly, I couldn't like anything much about this one. The artstyle didn't appeal to me. The art sequence made it really confusing for me. The dialogue bubbles were haphazard and the lines were difficult for me to read.
I do hope it's better in the physical format.

As for the representation of the romance and living dreams, I loved the concept but it felt like I was missing the most important parts. Much focus was given on the 'happy' 'lucky' times I guess.

The story seemed disconnected as a whole and it didn't feel new.

Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC.

Flavia is a Brazilian girl that loses her father at an early age and who is raised by a single mother. They live in the favelas and whilst her mother is working to pay the bills, she learns how to play the piano thanks to her mom’s boss. She grows into a woman that wants to change her life by becoming a great pianist, and so, she makes everything in her power to achieve her dreams.

This is a coming-to-age story that reminded me that music is different for everybody: there are people that see it as a mountain that only a few can climb, for others it’s the reason they express their feelings, but it certainly is a universal thing we all get to share whether we’re young or old, female or male, rich or poor.

As a pianist, Flavia has to learn a lot. She wins a scholarship in France and there, she will experience true hardship. She has several jobs to pay her rent and food while she’s studying classical music in one of the most prestigious places. She will meet people that will praise her work and who will become her friends, but also, she will face a couple of people that belittle her in every change they’ve got.

Flavia loves music, that much I can tell and I admire her for that –she makes a lot of sacrifices in order to achieve her dreams. But I also see that she has these walls, even around her friends, perhaps because she doesn’t want to be seen as the underdog, or as the poor girl who lived in the favelas.

I wish she was a little more open to other people’s feelings because there were several times when she misunderstood things and that lead to drama that could have been avoided. But, at the end of the day, I think nobody knows how to deal with life, so we only learn by experiencing tough times and by making mistakes.

I really liked the group of friends she made, since they were all into music and also the relationship with her boyfriend seemed cute and realistic at the same time. I’m truly glad that she had these amazing people in her life ‘cause it can get pretty lonely when studying abroad.

Anyway, I’m always drawn to music-themed stories because that’s the only thing that I cannot live without so, this graphic novel was a refreshing reading. The art style is quite simple and easy to follow, so I’m sure it can be read in one sitting. Also, I’m grateful that we got to see diverse characters from different countries!

I would totally recommend you to read this if you have the chance!

This book was started okay and as the story goes, you can't help by feel moved. She lives very poor and her life is very hard. Forte is a coming of age story. It is a story about reaching the impossible and live it. It is about family. It is about music. It is subtle but yet loud. I love it! Oh and really love the art in here!

My Review: I was so excited to discover this graphic novel, I love when there is a focus on the arts in this format of story writing. Flavia's story is beautiful and bittersweet, from a childhood I couldn't imagine to working toward lofty goals and reaching them. The art style was beautiful and the color tones used in the illustration added an extra element to the story. This has also been translated into English and the translation is great, there are some lines that are not in English but I don't mind that as it also adds to the story and settings. Really a beautiful graphic novel, a bit of a hidden gem!



My Rating: I really enjoyed this graphic novel, the way that Flavia's life changed through determination, dedication and the support and love from others translated into a beautiful story. I give this one a rating of Four Paws!

Forte is a beautifully illustrated coming of age story about a Brazilian girl – Flavia, who overcomes her adversities and works extremely hard to earn her degree as a concert Pianist from the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot.

Flavia grew up in a favela – a Brazilian word for slum - and lost her father when she was a small child. To support the household, her mother took up a cleaning job at a rich old man’s house, who showed keen interest in teaching little Flavia how to play the piano.

The story fast forwards from here to Mr. Liam - her mother's employer - hiring a private tutor for Flavia. She trains to apply for a scholarship to the prestigious music institute - Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris Alfred Cortot. Once Flavia moves to Paris to get her degree as a Concert Pianist, she faces new adversities. She has to find a job to sustain herself while working hard to perfect her techniques. Making new friends in a new place is also a challenge nonetheless.

Flavia's journey has a relatable but predictably linear narrative and the ways she overcomes her adversities are also predictable. Her revelations surrounding music on her journey to attain the degree are many in number and she also goes through an emotional rollercoaster when it came to matters of the heart.

A few things which bothered me about the plot was about how abruptly her father – who was initially shown to be a man liked by all – was killed and was never mentioned from there on. I felt like there was a void within Flavia which wasn’t addressed towards the end of the story or at any point at all. Her impulsive nature and her temperament also made the character harder to like and to root for.

Overall it was a beautiful short read for me albeit a little too predictable and simple. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the simplicity of things, but this level of simple just didn’t seem to cut it for me. With that in mind, I’d rate this book with 3.5 bookmarks out of 5 and would recommend it to anyone looking for a read during a short journey (not that any of you should be travelling right now).

I'd like to thank Netgalley and Dargaud for providing me with a copy in lieu of an honest review. I'd also like to congratulate the author – Manon Heugel and illustrator Kim Consigny for creating a whimsical story about hard work and success!

Thank you to the publisher for giving me a free copy in order for an honest review.

I got to be honest this wasn't really my thing. The Art style wasn't my style at all and it made reading it a bit difficult due to the way the text bubbles were added. I like the overal story and I think it can be a very impactful story to some but I thought the execution was just not that good.
I appreciate the character development that was shown in the comic though. It was very clear that Flavia grew into an independent woman and went for her dream which is amazing.
I found the moment where her mother runs ill is quite weird though. Like it literally looked like she changed race to a white person and that's not quite the look for me when it comes to comics. You may look a bit pale but that was full on white.

Anyways in general I think I'l give this one a 2 to 2.5 stars.

Could not get past the art style. The speech bubbles also weren’t very clear like this was scanned in from paper.