Really enjoyed this story and well illustrated.

I haven't read a comic like this before and I will definitely look to read one again

A coming of age story featuring a developing love of music, and the relationships that enhance the beauty and meaning of music. This was beautiful!

I received this as a review copy from NetGalley and Europe Comics. All opinions are my own.

This is a powerful story of passion, identity, hardship and success... Illustrations and words are perfect together, the characters strong and realistic. Excellent graphic novel

I absolutely loved this masterpiece.
Let me begin by saying that the art in this book is so so beautiful.
The meaning behind the whole story makes the whole thing so beautiful for me. It is down to earth and shows the difficulties that people of different backgrounds encounter.

Forte follows the life of Flavia working her way through a music conservatory in Paris. She comes from favela and is still dealing with the death of her father who was murdered in a gang shooting.

I really liked the character development throughout which can sometimes be difficult to capture in a graphic novel. There were moments were I became frustrated with her because she would argue about pointless things and be too stubborn to see the other person's perspective.

I also liked that the overall message - hard work, determination, and talent will reap success no matter the background in which you come from - was reiterated time and time again throughout the storyline.

This graphic novel told the story of a girl who grew up in a Brazilian slum and rose to do great things through music. It was a nice story. The art style was not my favorite though. I really liked how you saw character development which is sometimes hard to show in graphic novels. Overall it was a nice story but wasn't one of my favorites.

"Forte" tells an inspiring story about Flavia, a girl from a Brazilian favela. After experiencing some tragic events in her family, Flavia finds comfort in playing the piano. This graphic novels depicts her struggles to become a professional pianist.
What makes "Forte" stand out is its wonderful pictures. The story itself seems to be a little predictable, but there is something than makes the reader keep reading and not give up. It is not possible to give up on Flavia and the reader finds themselves wanting to constantly keep up with her struggles.

Forte
Script by Manon Heugel / Art by Kim Consigny

This is a coming of age story about a girl, Flavia, who rose from the slums of Brazil’s favelas to win a scholarship to a top music school in Paris.
It’s a sweet and lovely story full of emotion and passion. A story of focussing on your dreams and surviving hardships.
I enjoyed the style of the illustrations although occasionally it was difficult to read the characters expressions. I felt that sometimes the expressions and pictures made the story more angry or aggressive than it needed to be.

I really enjoyed reading it in one evening when I was having a bit of a reading slump. Thanks to netgalley and Europe Comics for the opportunity to read this graphic novel!

A fine graphic novel, telling the story of a Brazilian girl finding her way from Brazil to Paris to learn classical piano at a prestigious school in Paris, & all the challenges & obstacles along the way. We learn about her family at home & the new friends she makes in Paris. The graphic artwork was unique & interesting, & even included some nudity! It was a good story, all thru out. I find these graphic novels a different, interesting way to tell a tale..... they're kind of fun for a change......
I received this e-book from Europe Comics via NetGalley, in return for reading it & posting my own fair & honest review.

Fun, romantic, musical, I love it!! Enjoyed it with all my heart, so strong and free. Defenetly what this world is looking for.

3/5 Stars for Forte by Manon Heugel and Kim Consigny

Thank you to NetGalley and Europe Comics for early access to the e-galley of this graphic novel!

As someone who comes from a very musical family and has two Grandmas who play the piano very well, this graphic novel drew me in. It tells the story of Flavia who grows up in the slums of Brazil, and how she discovers her love of the piano after her father passes away. Her mother takes a housekeeping job for an older gentleman, and Flavia is soon learning the piano under his tutoring. A dream has now awoken inside her, to be one of the best concert pianists the world has ever know so she can build a new life for her and her mother. The book continues to tell the story of her journey across the world to pursue her musical education - with all its highs and lows.

I thought the strongest parts of this book were storyline and characterization. I personally really enjoy books that tell the story of a person's life over an extended period of time! From the beginning, it laid the foundation for us to know Flavia - who she is as a person, and how she came to be so. We are taken along as she explores her home country, and then beyond to France. Her experience growing up in poverty and losing her Dad to violence, I believe, carries forward into her music. As readers, we want to root for her as she chases and works incredibly hard to realize her dream. Other characters support the book very well, from the professors Flavia meets, to her mother, roommates, and the pianist who inspired her from the beginning. There was definitely some dimensionality to these side characters, and I appreciate it can be difficult to do well in a shorter graphic novel. A good example is a young composer Flavia meets soon after joining one of her music schools.

Finally, since this is a graphic novel, it is important that I address the art style. Personally, it was not to my taste. I tend to be drawn to graphic novels with crisper art and more colours (maybe more modern? idk). However, I felt that the artwork did suit the genre, theme, and story of this book. It is more hand-drawn, sketched, with muted colours, but from what I can tell it is very consistent and is done well.

If you're looking for a graphic novel centred around music, and a girl who fights to chase her dream definitely check out Forte. It feels refined, and will have you hearning Flavia's music and feeling all her emotions!

Such a beautiful story. I really enjoyed this graphic novel.

Although I didn't love the illustrations, sometimes it was hard to tell what impressions the characters were trying to portray on their faces. But overall, I really enjoyed the Forte.

A beautiful graphic novel about a young woman called Favia Antunes who grows up in the favela of Belem in Brazil. Flavia's father is killed when she is young and so her mother takes up cleaning to keep herself and Flavia.

Falvia's life changes when she meets the man her mother cleans for. Mr Lima is a lonely and wealthy man and when his cleaning lady's daughter (Flavia) shows an interest in the piano he decides to teach her. Her love of piano and Chopin, and her desire to be concert pianist take her from Brazil to Paris.

This is a lovely story about hard work and sacrifice, but also courage. As she learns piano, Flavia also learns about love, life and friendship. The artwork is ok, but it was the story content that really captured my attention.

A great story and a good graphic novel.

Copy provided by Europe Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

Forte follows the story of Flavia who works her way through a music conservatory in France. She comes from a poor neighborhood in Brazil after her father is murdered in a gang shooting. Forte finds friends and challenges while attending the school. Her passion for music started when an elderly man introduced her to the piano and the composer Chopin and from there, she is determined to be a famous pianist.

I really enjoyed the friends and roommates Flavia met while in school. I also really like her relationship with Paul. These were my favorite moments in the story. I also enjoyed the message of working hard for your dreams and to not give up when facing challenges and low moments in life.

I found the artwork to be good, but I wish we would have seen more variety of facial expressions with Flavia. She always looked angry to me. I really enjoyed the moments when she was with her roommates and Paul, but everything else seemed like she was forcing her way through her passion (with her eyebrows always pointed downward.) I couldn’t tell if she actually loved what she was doing or if she was forcing herself to continue on.

I think this story captured the life of a musician very well. I really liked the end….I’m glad she was able to make it home to see her family, and the open ending with the phone call to Paul was very cute!

I really liked the artwork of this graphic novel! It really called to me but I'm unsure if it was the best fit for the story itself. I would have loved to see something that incorporated Brazilian and French art styles.

The plot itself was a little basic and a bit cliche. I did really enjoy Flavia's character, I liked how driven she was about her passion. But her story arch does follow a pretty simple path that many other stories have done in the past. I would have loved to see more conflict in the plot. However, it was a sweet and heartwarming story. It had diverse characters which added to the enjoyment of the story.

I absolutely loved this comic. From the music themes, to the familial relationship Flavia had with her mother, to the unique art style. I was eager to find out what was going to happen but I didn’t want the book to end.

The only part I had an issue with was how Flavia seemed to argue over pointless things with everybody in her life. It was briefly mentioned that she believed she ruined everything, but not enough for her outbursts to be believable. It made me dislike her a little less as she felt a bit bratty to me.

Overall, I did really enjoy this comic and I would recommend it to anybody who would like a cosy heartwarming coming of age story.

I absolutely loved the art style in this book! Although I'm a sucker for dark blue + yellow so it was probably inevitable.

This told a very sweet, sometimes frustrating, and oft-predictable tale of a girl from a slum who has an extraordinary piano talent - and her coming-of-age while juggling her life and her musical dreams.

It was lovely to read. Gorgeous art. Definitely an emotional little journey.

A thoughtful and tender coming of age story about a talented musician from Brazil studying in Paris. The relationships between the characters are believable and engaging. It is a sweet story that demonstrates why some people love music and the transformative effect it can have on one's life.

This was a really lovely story of commitment to your craft, staying true to yourself, and overcoming adversity.

I don't think the subject matter would have grabbed me had it been a novel rather than a graphic novel. Something about that gorgeously brooding yet hopeful cover caught my attention, however, and I'm glad it did.

Flavia's story isn't completely original in terms of the bare bones of it - it's a fairly straightforward "escape your circumstances and make something of yourself" kind of tale - but I felt the author's love for her own character over each page. The almost unfinished and slightly scribbly style of the illustrations also worked for me - it added a kind of whimsy to what is, essentially, quite a serious story.

I especially appreciated the author's interplay between Flavia and her roommates - I think their interactions and lives are faithful representations of students like them in real life, and I would have loved to see even more of them. Another little plus was the nudity. I kind of felt the romantic tension coming on, and as I had wondered how it would be portrayed (I was expecting but not hoping for a movie-like "they fall on the bed kissing, and now you need to use your own imagination"), I was pleasantly surprised by the author and illustrator's choice to portray some skin. To me, this was fitting within the context of the story, and I'm glad for it.

Overall, I felt pretty swept up by the story, and I even got a little weepy during the Nocturne, but the kind of abrupt ending threw me off completely. This might be something that is unavoidable due to the medium (it would have worked perfectly if it were described in detail in a novel, for instance), but I think my lasting impression of the story would have been cemented a bit more had the ending been written with a little bit more finesse.

A huge thank you to the publisher and authors for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book.

Flavia Antunes grows up in a favela. Her father was a casualty of gang warfare after which her mother begins working as a cleaning lady to make ends meet. One day her mother takes her along to the house of her employer, Mr. Lima, a wealthy old man who introduces Flavia to her future: the piano. She then earns a prestigious music scholarship to study in France.

The story then follows her journey in France - struggle, love, friendship, and undreamt-of opportunities.

I really enjoyed reading this book and the message that it reiterates that talent, determination and hard work will ensure that you achieve success irrespective of your background. I however feel that it came to an abrupt end and wished that the ending was a little bit more better.