A cute and inspiring tale of friendship, love, being true to oneself, and 'bridging societal divides'. Although it's just the first volume in the Hematite series, I have a feeling that it's going to be one of my personal favorites! I love how the story started out light and then finished off (temporarily) with an unexpected, dark twist—one of the plot developments that I personally seek in a story. It's a really quick read but it left me wanting more. I need the rest of the series!

As an artist, I also really adored the illustrator's art style, especially the colors used. It really brought out the "medieval, witchy, spooky," atmosphere— a perfect fall/halloween read!

What a sweet kids graphic novel about getting along with those different from yourself until….
Spoiler space.
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It isn’t…. Well, that got really dark really fast. So very dark.

Hermatite is a graphic novel that introduces us to a city with Victorian light overtones and intriguingly where supernatural creatures coexist with human in a classist society. This is the background to the gothic tale of unrequited love of our heroine, a young vampire. Enthralled by Emile a human, Hermatite journal entries are sublime, evocative, showing the depth of her emotion, and her skill as a poet. It is raw and from the heart.

To round out the characters we have imperious parents, learned men and the set piece, the local school where the children - a band of misfits find themselves involved in "juvenile shenanigans"

I've left it to last but it by no means least: the illustrations are lush, apt, with a sepia tone overlay giving the city a mysterious vibe. The children are quirky and expressive, their personalities just jump off the page. The city, its building and people are wonderfully detailed.

Hermatite was a magical read, with all the classic vampire essentials, ending on a cliff hanger which leaves you quietly pacing, eager for the next instalment.

In a world where paranormal is the norm, the dead don't stay dead, if you don't want them to be.

Hematite, a young vampire, struggles to fit in with her family, her peers, and her community. As she works through these issues of identity in this short graphic novel, she grapples with what it means to belong. Beautiful, gothic-ish illustrations and it depicts mythical creatures in a way that felt unique, like nothing I'd seen before. The story seemed a bit rushed and not fully developed, and the cliffhanger seems to suggest a sequel. An interesting fantasy take on teen life, but not my favorite.

Thank you Europe Comics for provide me a copy of this book.


I love Hematite , she’s such a relatable character. And what I love more about this book it’s that something author have a hard time making a teen feel authentic and this not the case.

Hematite emotions feel raw and her poems help us to understand more this character. It also helps they are beautifully written. The visuals are stunning and it’s helps to set the mood in this book. I also love that it shows a bit of discrimination of the other kids with Hematite do to the fact she’s a vampire and people don’t trusted them. She feels the pressure to be better and not being the typical stereotype of vampires. This fact make her relationship with her parents a bit difficult. And I felt like I was a teen again when I thought that no one could relate to my emotions.

Don’t get me started on the ending, I was ready to keep reading when it just ended. I need the other book asap.

This is a beautifully illustrated story of the paranormal. I love the color palette that was used.

The story itself was also intriguing, a lot happens in this short story. a quick and cute (though it can be a little dark towards the end) read!

It is a short story about a vampire girl trying to fit in the "normal" world.
The art wasn't what I expected from the cover it is a bit darker.
I liked the friendship with her best friend, but it all felt a bit rushed and uneven.

It's a little too soon to give a full review with only one volume of this super cute comic. I really liked the main character and thought the friendship between her and Drunela is simply beautiful. I can't wait to find out what happens next, both with Emile and Drunela's friends. The art is also very sweet. The reason why I didn't give it 5 stars is because it's too fast-paced and I'd like to get to know the characters more in depth.

Thanks a lot to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read a copy of the book, to the author as well.

It's a bit of a gothic and depressing novel, according to what happens at the end (I won't tell it as one shouldn't do that).

This is the story of a vampire girl who seeks to conquer the guy she has been attracted to for a long time. She, her friend and her enemies try to work things out and conquer the boy along with her friend.

4.5

Hematite is an interesting story which takes a new twist on supernatural creatures and their world. The setting is unique and novel since it does not use a masquerade, which is rarely portrayed in supernatural related genre books. The art is also amazing and creates the atmosphere of sadness and novelty which kept me engaged and feel as if I myself were in the story. Moving to the main character, Hematite is not your ordinary vampire. Her quirks and different prospective of the world makes her relatable. The friendship between her and her friend is really sweet. The loss which would derive the plot made me heart-broken and hooked up for the next book in the series.

Thanks to Netgalley, I have given an honest review of Hematite (1. Serenade) by Script by Victoria Maderna, Federico Piatti, and art by Victoria Maderna, Federico Piatti.

A fantastic story with awesome art about human and supernatural creatures that live together.
Hematite is a vampire, she doesn't like to go to vampires school, has fallen in love, and she and her best friend Drunela are making mischief.
This was a funny and interesting story, I really look forward to the next book to see what Hematite and Drunela will do for their sneaky plan.

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974

A wonderful tale that has humans and the supernatural. We find Hematite a vampire that does not like blood and is okay going against the grain. She writes poetry and is pining love. This whimsical tale will keep you enthralled and you'll want more. Hopefully this is just part 1.

I really liked this story, the art works are very beautiful and atmospheric, I just love that kind of atmosphere and it works really well for the story.

Writing is never something I emphasize in graphic novels but I would like to emphasize in this particular one, the character writes poems that appear in the story in which they convey to the reader her feelings and thoughts and I loved these poems, it definitely gave it more depth to the character, thus making the reader understand the character more.

I don't have anything negative to emphasize about the book, it's a cute and light graphic novel but at the end it gets a little dark and by the way it ends I think it will be a series and I will for sure continue reading it.

Very lovely read. The art is fantastic, and the story is very compelling! I was startled when it ended. I had no idea it was a part of a series! I look forward to the next book though!!

'Hematite' is stunningly illustrated and paints a fantastic atmosphere right from the beginning. The artist uses muted colours, that work well for this setting. There's also a bit of humor to loosen up the mood.
We learn about Hematite's family and their expactations, but also accompany the MC finding to herself and exploring friendships. So in this rather short comic there's actually a lot going on.
I'd say for the majority it's a rather cute graphic novel, though towards the end it gets quite dark.

Firstly, thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this eArc!

This was so fun! I really have to start reading more graphic novels. I’ll definitely be picking this up once it hits shelves!

Vampires? Check!
Other Paranormal creatures? Check!
Humour? CHECK!!

I highly recommend this!

3.5 stars.

This book is a lovely read. I enjoyed the setting of a school for different monsters but with the 'human student' element. The graphics showed the setting and the characters emotions so well. The book ended on a cliff-hanger and I am intrigued to see what would happen next.

I’m familiar with the brilliant artwork of Victoria Maderna, in fact I’m the proud owner one of her gouaches.
So, naturally I was eager to review “Hématite”, snippets of which I’d already seen on her social media pages.
I love her atmospheric drawings, the architecture and the critters she creates. With an “octopus” pet, a ghoul, sorry “draugr” bezzie, those elegant but ever so haughty parents and, of course, EMILE, Hématite tells a great story of love, coming of age and loss.
I guess and hope there will be more?