I was granted eARC access to Elle(s) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

*Actual rating: 3.5
First of all, the art style for this is absolutely stunning, and it definitely reminds me of Pixar's 'Inside Out'. I really Liked how Elle's different personalities were showcased with different haircolours, and I'm very intrigued by the world in Elle's head, where all the different personalities are living (Even though we don't get to explore the world very much in this volume).

I really like the concept of this graphic novel if I'm being honest, however it's extremely short. It felt like I was thrown into the story, and the actual beginning didn't make a whole lot sense until the very end. We don't get a whole lot of answers, and we're left with a major cliffhanger at the end.

That being said, I will however want to pick up any future volumes, because I'm intrigued to see where the storyline is going. In the meantime I'll go back and look at the amazing artworks in this volume.

Absolutely gorgeous artwork: colorful and detailed without being overly busy or hyperstimulating, and beautifully expressive as well, which is important to the story.

The plot starts out very cute and charming, then turns slightly puzzling, and then intriguing.

The story gets slightly piecey and spotty when the mysterious/unusual element is introduced, and that sort of bothered me because I felt like the turnaround in both pace and subject was a little abrupt.

It’s not entirely my cup of tea, but I really do love the artwork!

Elle(s) is about a young girl with multiple personalities, and how those personalities affect her life when the surface. While I’m only somewhat familiar with personality disorders like this, this graphic novel seems to handle it decently. She has little control over which personality surfaces when, and each one has its own trigger. The story was told in an extremely quick manner that, in some cases, felt rushed. The ending also leaves a lot o more questions than not, but that’s expected given it’s the first of a series. The art is absolutely stunning, and the characters all seem interesting, although little is touched on with any of them, including the lead. All in all, it was a fun, quick read that was definitely worth it.

This review is based on an ARC copy.

I was gripped from the first moment. I want to know more. The story is interesting and unique and I have not seen it before so it was fun to be drawn in. I think more stories should feature mental health with supportive undertones.

This is a good first comic book that deals with mental health that I’ve read.

Mental health comes with stigma, and it shouldn’t. It’s an illness like any other and nothing to fear, what is fearful is the unknown when you don’t understand something.

This young girl was now in another school.

But what happens when they see her personality change?
Her rapid mood swings are depicted in full different varying pictorial colours of Elle. I thought that a brilliant touch to depict each part of her various mood swings.

The one that stood out to me was the little one with oversized glasses on she brought a lot of humour to a serious subject.

Highly recommend for YA.

Such an adorable and smart graphic novel!
The idea to represent Elle’s personalities with different hair color is actually brillant! I loved the art so much: it’s vibrant and expressive. It’s about friendship with a dodge of mystery and a lot of heart! Highly recommend.

I enjoyed the ideas this story presented. The topics of mental health, identity, and both the internal and external struggle to find your place. In your mind, your family, and the world around you.

The story is a bit short, around 100 pages, but definitely enough to get sucked in and wanting more. And enough to leave on a cliff hanger!

Hopefully this will get a second installment, because I liked where the story was going.
The art was gorgeous. So beautiful, colorful, and the idea of colors changing; brilliant.

My only complaint was this book was only provided in a PDF format, which made it difficult to read and impossible to zoom if I couldn't read text.

**Thank you to Europe Comics and Netgally for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.**

Ahh I'm so sad this was just issue 1 and I can't yet continue to get to know Elle, her many alters, and her fantastic gang of friends.

It was so great to read a story about a young girl with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and to see this repped in fiction. I really felt for Elle and wanted to get to know her and her alters better. Issue 1 was a great introduction to her and I loved the scenes of her and her friends, especially Maëlys who is honestly just the friend everyone needs in their life.

I'm so intrigued to see where this comic series goes and honestly so impressed by the gorgeous illustrative work so far! Glad to see a project like this being co-funded and supported by the Creative European Programme of the European Union. Such an important one for young people, especially, to see and understand that what you're seeing of somebody on the outside reflects only a small portion of what's going on on the inside.

Big love to the creators of this comic! I hope it helps people of all ages with DID feel seen and for those without DID, I hope it breaks down some of the stigma and helps them to understand what living with DID is like. This is definitely a comic I'd recommend to readers of all ages!

Everything is normal when Elle moves to a new town and starts at a new school... at first. After making friends and settling into a routine, something changes. Elle begins to show different, colorful personalities that test the strength of her new friendships. When she sets out to discover the truth about herself, she may find more than she bargained for.

Elle(s) is a beautiful new graphic novel with stunning illustrations. The characters really come to life on the page, each with unique personalities bubbling up through the dialogue and illustrations. The concept behind the story is really unique and engaging. I can’t wait to see what lies in store for the Elle(s) next!

I absolutely loved this book! It pictures (in a very easy way to understand) what it is like to deal with mental illness. I really felt for the main character. The daily struggle to try to control one self. The constant battle with mental illness as well as the way it not only affects the person suffering from it but also the people surrounding them. It’s a book that makes you pause and think. I would definitely recommend this book to any kid/teen suffering from mental illness as well as someone who wants to understand the illness better. I commend the author for their approach to the subject. It was made brilliantly. It was an easy and quick read. I’d definitely read it again.

📚 A New Favourite Graphic Novel 📚

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me access to an eARC of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I won’t lie I requested this graphic novel based on the art style because I mean just look at it! I wish I could draw like that and I love it! Every single page is full of beautiful vibrant artwork that really brought the characters and their stories to life! But also, the story is amazing too!

I read this in about an hour and from the beginning I knew it would be one of my favourites! The story has so much meaning to it as well as it explores the discovery and emotions of multiple personality disorder really effectively in a way that grips but also educated the reader. It feels strange to say but I feel like I learned from this graphic novel and I’d definitely recommend it to everyone!

Reread: ✅ 100%!
Recommend: ✅ Definitely if you love beautiful illustrations and a meaningful story!

A graphic novel about a high school girl, Elle, who has DID Dissociative Identity Disorder. Her alters manifest when she is stressed or angry, or too shocked to process information or emotions. The first tome is good, but the art is better than the writing. I wish they didn't make Linotte such an absent-minded person, who confuses "Saturday and Sandwich". Let's have all female characters strong for once, especially as she is blond. The cast is quite diverse, but could be even more inclusive and diverse. Like, both the main character and the love interest are white. And people of colors are secondary characters... I will read tome 2. I don't know if I like the images of the alters being trapped and chained, nor the weird feeling of a white explorer when set in different parts of the world. Could have improved on that. The artist is very good at capturing human expressions and body language.

I just read this absolutely gorgeous book (in one sitting) by one of the most talented illustrators I know, Aveline Stockart. I had the privilege to follow along on her journey of creating this book through her Instagram, and so I know just how much love and effort was put into this project.

If you are a fan of beautifully illustrated scenes, lighting and characters look no further! I honestly couldn't have hoped for anything more from this. Not only was I intrigued about the art within this book but I went in not knowing anything about the plot at all. As I was turning the pages there was new information to patch this beautiful story together. It definitely sets the scene up for more titles from Kid Toussain & Stockart - ending on a cliff hanger that I am looking forward to reading more about!

This graphic novel tackles some more complex themes such as mental health disorders, friendship, family and identity. The plot follows Elle, a teenage girl who is having a hard time controlling her five personalities who seem to take over whenever they please. These personalities are portrayed through different hair colours which is only aided beautifully with character design that displays a huge range of emotion. Who is Elle really? And what will her friends think when they see who she really is?

Elle, the new girl at school has pink hair and a fun personality to match. In no time, she comes into her own and establishes friendships with a fun cast of characters. Seems to be the ideal teenage life. That is, until the pains of life hit. As Elle is faced with various obstacles, not only does her disposition change but so does her hair color.
Does this metamorphosis represent Elle’s moods? Something deeper? Perhaps something more sinister?
Readers will have to hold on to their hair dye and wait it out until the second novel for those answers!

A graphic novel with an intriguing storyline and beautiful graphics. What is not to like?

Thank you to @Netgalley and @LeLombard @EuropeComics for the eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

I loved the first volume off this totally original graphic novel! Elle presents as your everyday high schooler, making friends easily at her new school. After a string of stressful situations however, you (and her friends) learn that Elle has Dissociative Identity Disorder and we soon meet her other (colorful) personalities.

To make matters more complicated, she realizes she is being followed by a private investigator. When Elle confronts him, she learns her past might not be what she was always lead to believe.

It was refreshing to read a graphic novel who’s main character has a mental illness, especially a more rarely discussed one such as DID. The book shows how this disorder effects Elle both internally and externally, along with her relationships.

On top of the compelling story, the artistry is beautiful.

My only complaint, was that this story was way too short and I have to wait for the second volume to release.


Kristin 📚

Super quick read. Beautiful illustrations. Easy to follow the storyline and love the cliffhanger at the end.

This review of Elle(s): 1. The New Girl by Script by Kid Toussain & art by Aveline Stokart is courtesy of Netgalley
Rating: 3/5 #EllesComics #NetGalley

Warning, this is the first book of a series and ends in a cliffhanger!

Overall, it's got a nice story which includes themes about friendship. It does suffer from some uneven pacing and starts slow with the intro to Elle at school across several pages. Midway a lot of stuff happens in a single page.

The art is cute and the different colored hair give an easy indicator of the different personalities of Elle.

The art in this book was beautiful!! I loved how the story touched on mental illness and that Elle’s different moods had their own hair color. I also loved how supportive her friends were. I’m hoping there’s a second book because now I need answers and I also think maybe Elle isn’t bipolar but perhaps the story will go somewhere supernatural or sci-fi.

I saw this book a few times and was debating reading it, but I figured it would be pretty much like that movie inside out and didn't really want to bother reading a story I felt like I would already know (despite the fact that I haven't actually seen that movie...). Finally, I read a couple of reviews and several people mentioned that it's more focused on dissociative identity disorder and other personality things like that rather than just being a characterization of emotions in general. Frankly, that's what sold me. I was hoping this would be fun, and creative, but also a way that mattered a little bit more and could give people insight into those that need it.

I can't speak so much to the depiction of the experience of dissociative identity disorder or anything else someone might peg l as having, but it was a lovely read. My one main issue with it was how quickly it glazed over Elle's first few months at her school. It was the comic equivalent of a training montage. While it was sweetly planned out and formatted brilliantly for the medium, it was a little jarring because they all knew each other super well after it, but *I* didn't as a reader.

I'm curious as to where the story is tracking with her family history element, but I'm SUPER curious about Ms. Blue at the end. I'll definitely continue reading this series!

Thanks to NetGalley and Europe Comics for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

Toussain balances the heavy subject matter of mental illness and trauma with a charming art style and plot. Elle(s) is at times sweet, at times serious, and overall an enjoyable read that covers new ground in terms of teenage mental health awareness.