I was lucky enough to be granted a copy of All Princesses Die Before Dawn. This is a graphic novel that’s set within the day of and the days following Princess Diana’s death in France.
In a slice of life like book we follow a small family living in France, Lulu, Cam, and their mother. Each one is going through the different stages of love. Lulu has a crush on his friend, Cam is dating an older man who she’s sneaking about with, and their mother is dealing with the fact her husband is cheating on her and makes him have one more meal with her and the kids before he leaves them for good. Lulu is 8, an age where he’s finally becoming who he is. Though, admittedly, I wish the author did give us a bit more. In my opinion Lulu is trans, as a trans person who has gone through similar things. He wants long hair, he wants to wear dresses, and he wants to be a princess. But this isn’t explored. Instead the author chose to keep he/him pronouns and leaving his side of things unexplored in a way. Mind you, it is 1997, being queer, let alone trans, was a bad thing to a lot of people, which we see with his friend once Lulu tells him his feelings. But to me, it kinda left the story lacking a little. Thankfully, his mom encourages him, makes him a dress he can wear.
I related to Cam, being the younger one in a large age gap relationship. I was her age when I dated a 18 year old, went through that same painful love that makes you feel sick. To me, I found this was expressed a lot better than Lulu’s narrative.
The artwork in this book was well done and expressive. It gives a nostalgic feel to the whole story. Light and bright but very clearly the 90s. To me, the artwork saved my rating some, pushing it up to a 3 star read.

A very sweet&melancholic slice of life and wuick read, following mother, daughter and son the day of Princess Diana's death, and seeing each personal drama.
Beautiful artstyle, marrying the real-world both with the fantasy world of the child and with the inner worlds of the older characters.

Representation : Achillean MC

Life isn't as good as fairytale. All Princesses Die Before Down shows that. It follows 3 family member who face their issues. Lulu, a boy who finds himself want to kiss his neighbor. Cam, a teenager who has a boyfriend much older than her, and their mother who struggles to keep their family together.

It was a bittersweet realistic story. However, it didn't leave meaningful impression to me. It felt plain.

The art was good. I like the cover art. Zuttion also uses some visual metaphors.

Overall, it was good but the writing could be better. 2/5

Thank you Netgalley and Europe Comics for providing this eARC

Representation : Achillean MC

Life isn't as good as fairytale. All Princesses Die Before Down shows that. It follows 3 family member who face their issues. Lulu, a boy who finds himself want to kiss his neighbor. Cam, a teenager who has a boyfriend much older than her, and their mother who struggles to keep their family together.

It was a bittersweet realistic story. However, it didn't leave meaningful impression to me. It felt plain.

The art was good. I like the cover art. Zuttion also uses some visual metaphors.

Overall, it was good but the writing could be better. 2/5

Thank you Netgalley and Europe Comics for providing this eARC

A big thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book through Netgalley.

In this graphic novel we follow three love stories, Lulu's, his sister Cam and their mother.
Each with their own troubling thoughts.

Lulu has fallen in love with his best friend Yoyo, Cam has a boy sneaking in her room, and their mother is having a troubled relationship with their father.

This is a light, sweet read. It touches on topics of homophobia as well as the premise of having s*x in order for the relationship to be valid.

I loved the illustrations and I loved how this story was told, particularly from Lulu's perspective when playing his games. I loved how we got into his mind and saw how, through the mind of an eight-year-old, the games were envisioned.

The toxicity of some high school-ers beliefs was one of the main elements in Cam's relationship and you can feel the raw emotions through the illustrations as well as through the script.

I do feel the relationship between Cam and Lulu's parents could have had a little more added to it. It felt quite rushed, but, in a way I can see how that can very well occur in real life.

If you're looking for a light read, you should definitely pick this up! (Especially if you're attempting to reach that Goodreads goal!!)

This was a cute but more serious graphic novel. Tackled a couple serious topics in a short amount of time. I wish it was a little longer but I still enjoyed it

All Princesses Die Before Dawn is a sweet, gentle story about a boy in love, a girl sunburned, and a marriage falling apart. It's a quiet story, but all the more powerful for it.

The writing is evocative without being overwrought and the art does a good job of creating a sense of summer ending.

This is a delightful graphic novel.

This graphic novel captures a moment in time. A real princess has died, a young princess feels conflicted because he loves his friend, the teenage princess is in love, and saved from the hunger of the charming older wolf by a bad sunburn, and the queen comes to grip with the fact that the wedding and the family they had together, wasn't enough for the king to stay. It's a somber read, but instead of sadness, this story ends on a calm, hopeful note.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a free review copy through NetGalley!

This graphic novel is a peak definition of slice-of-life story with following three romances that are fast forwarding to their breaking point: a young kid imagining he is the princess and who is in love with his best friend, a teenage woman who is dating an older dude, and their mother who sees her husband drifting slowly away.

The artwork is absolutely stunning, using vivid pastel colors with a crayon-like texture. My favorite part is when the young kids imaginary games slowly switch to real, and how it is represented in the art. Magnificent, I love it.

The story is simple, and sometimes heavy-handed (especially the parents storyline), I enjoyed the mother's understanding and open mindset about her children, and Lulu's storyline captivated me.

ARC given by NetGalley for an honest review. Thanks NetGalley!
This book, by Quentin Zuttion was a suprisingly refreshing read. The script as well as the interpretational art was truly interesting. All the three stories came together wonderfully!. The effect of crayons used in the pictures made it soothing to the eyes! Honestly 10's across the board for the drawings :). It confronts many social issues and is set in France, so props to the author.

5 stars!

All Princesses Die Before Dawn is a graphic novel about growing up, divorce, and sibling bonds, all set against a backdrop of Princess Diana’s death. CW: homophobia, slurs, grooming, sexual assault.

This was a short, self-contained read that mentioned a lot of heavy themes, contrary to the expectations that come with having an eight year old as the protagonist. The artwork uses crayon-like textures which makes it stand out as well as being thematically appropriate.

I appreciated the subtle nods to the time-period (thought it feels strange to call the late nineties a time period), like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and CD players, but otherwise the plot seems rather lacking. A lot of themes are set up without much follow through - in essence I think it lacks character reactions rather than just the passive events that happen. The father leaves the family, but it isn’t addressed, and neither is the fact that a grown man is ‘dating’ a girl about to start high school. I’m not sure how French schooling works, but either way the girl can’t be more than fifteen.

All in all this is a decent, quick read without much of the depth expected with the themes included.

This was a beautiful and very poignant story. I loved the art style, and how it showed so clearly Lulu's imagination and Cam's heartbreak. This story was very touching.

Thanks so much NetGalley and Europe Comics for the arc!

This is the heart-warming story of a young person trying to find their place and voice in the world. I totally recommend it. Also, the illustrations are unbelievable!

-A slice of life that could speak to everyone. We meet Lulu, who wants to be allowed to be a princess, his sister who experiences teenage love and their parents who are separating. We follow their lives during the same summer day that is decisive for each of them for different reasons.
-The graphic design is amazing, the story itself is a bit simple even if it hides some heavier elements. This book could have used a few more pages to better address them.
-I also really enjoyed reading a book set in France, it's something I would like to do more often

ARC given by NetGalley for an honest review

ALL PRINCESSES DIE BEFORE DAWN is a slow read, chronicling the lives of a family in suburban France on one fateful day. The story is nice but not impactful enough for me, while the art fits the story with its dreamy style.

There are multiple things happening in this novel, all with the setting and thematic backdrop of Princess Diana's death. Zuttion does a good job of layering the story and its themes, though it can feel a little disjointed at times. A sense of melancholy also permeates the book; coupling with the slow pace, it makes for a moody combination suited for certain readers more than others, with me belonging in the latter. We do not learn much about the characters aside from the one day shown in the novel, and while I am interested in Lulu's story, I do not feel connected enough to or impacted by the other characters and overall plot (or lack thereof). As someone who quite values emotional impact in my reading, needless to say this is not as good a reading experience as can be.

The art fares better in my opinion. It has a certain dream-like, ethereal quality that fits the book's inclusion of fairytales and renders the story with a particular uniqueness. The color scheme is nice as well, maintaining the novel's dreaminess while also portraying the vibrane and tranquility of summer. It can be hard to discern facial expressions at times, however, and the font in the e-book edition is small, making it almost impossible to see punctuations.

This is a nice read overall, but its pace, tone and story are suited for some readers more than others. One has to be in a particular mood to truly enjoy it, but objectively it is nice enough.

3.4 ⭐

Thank you NetGally for the arc, in exchange for an honest review! 📚

The story of 8 year old Lulu discovering more about himself, and teenage Cam's relationship with an older man.

This felt so genuine, and was written (and drawn!) beautifully. The art style is perfectly matched to the story. The book is both heartbreaking and heart-warming at the same time.

There were moments where the story felt a littl bit disjointed, but otherwise it was a good read.

If you are a fan of Heartstopper, you will like this.

The day that Princess Diana dies, the family in this story is going through issues. Lulu wants to kiss his best friend, because he has a crush on him. His sister is dating an older man and sneaking him into her bedroom at night. And meanwhile, their father is off having an affair.

All very French.

The having the affair and not giving a toss about how it affects his family.

the main focus is on Lulu, and how he tries to make it all normal that he wants to kiss his friend.

Sad sort of story. It didnt' touch my heart other than to be sad for Lulu as he doesn't come out. Probably too young to understand what he is feeling.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The art style was so unique and beautiful! The colors that were used were so gorgeous, and when the kids were playing fantasy, the scenes looked so cool. Their family relationship was so sweet! Cam and their mom, Lulu and Cam, it was so nice to read. I have a close relationship with my family, so it is always is that much better to read about other families or siblings having a close relationship as well. Their mom telling their dad off was so good; she tried so hard to get him to be a good father, but in the end he made his choice.

I was sad to see YoYo use a slur on Lulu, I felt so bad for him. It hurt so badly to see Lulu asking if it was bad to be one. But Cam talking to Lulu after that happened warmed my heart. And I felt for Cam too, the man she was seeing was so disgusting. That is life sometimes though. The author did a good job showing these things happen, even if it’s a horrible thing. I’m glad she stood up for herself though and didn’t force herself to do anything she didn’t want to do just to keep him around.

Seeing Lulu’s family take care of him and accept him in the end was so sweet. Reading the acknowledgements at the end from the author was so touching, you could tell he based at least part of it, if not all of it on his life, and that made the story much more impactful. Just a great outlook on life, and childhood, and what it means when you’re questioning your sexuality, especially as a young kid. It’s a quick read, but well worth it!

I received an ARC and I’m leaving an honest review.

It’s a very short comic. I really liked the art style but the story was just okay.

Lulu is gay and his friend uses the f slur against him, which I should have expected to see. But I still don’t like it nonetheless.
The synopsis said Cam had an older boyfriend but the age difference made me uncomfortable (he mentioned going to back to campus so I’m assuming he’s in university, and she just finished middle school and is now starting highschool. I don’t know how old someone is when starting highschool in France, but whatever age it is will still be too young for that guy. He even used the typical “you’re more mature than girls your age” phrase.)

I didn't really understand how Princess Diana fit into the story, what she added to the plot (but maybe I'm just dumb and I didn't get it - it might just be me), but I still liked that she was included.

I did like the final few pages with just the three of them being happy without the deadbeat father.

I think my actual rating is more like 2.5/2.75 stars.

I picked up this graphic novel before realising that it was translated from my mother tongue. I can only love and support books that resonate closely with the world I've known.

Each member of the family has its own story but all is tied up to the father. It feels very meditative and dream-like as the end of the summer always is.

There's a little child exploring gender non-conformity, queerness and his feelings for his friend. An teenage girl with complicated feelings and the mother.