Let's get something straight by starting this review:
If you like graphic novels / comics then look for this one here. It's perfect!

So: a poor but honest orphan, a village girl with a noble origin goes to become a lady of the queen's court. The queen is a bit insane, the rest of the ladies of the court are even more insane while the king is a bit of a mess, and there is also an sadist executioner somewhere in the basements very kindhearted and an apprentice executioner who is boyfriend material and at some point a jester also makes an appearance and somehow there are some words that do not exist but have to mean something (or even everything) and in general there is an extremely funny and intelligent paranoia!

I think I was (tried to be) clear and informative enough!

This is a historical fiction graphic novel which centres around Serine and her desire to become a lady-in-waiting so that she will be able to provide for her family after her father has passed away and her family is on the breadline. When she arrives at court she finds out about the scheming of the queen, and her lords and ladies to plot to kill the King. She meets a boy who is the torturers apprentice - who has been kept hidden from court and his destiny - and she befriends him and his charges. She then goes undercover and finds out all about the plot and starts her own investigation. By then end of the story she has turned court up side down and is now marrying the hidden King.

A cute and charming comic with lovely art style and a HEA!

A cheerful but poor girl named Serine wants to break free from all the rules imposed to her on how to behave or how to be. So she runs away and goes to the palace to work for the queen as a lady - in - waiting.

But not all things go smoothly as there are some people who want to bring her down, so she has to take another route and from a lady - in- wainting, she has to become a jester.

As a jester in the palace, she will uncover some evil plots against the king Leo III and will try to save him and against all the odds at the end she’ll have her happily ever after!

Thank you NetGalley and Europe Comics for the ebook!!

A fun and interesting read for children! The illustrations were cute and fun and the story was interesting, the main character a strong inspiration! Thank you for sharing the arc!

Cute story translated from French. I love the positivity and the art! Will for sure be looking into and hoping for more translations from the author

This is so cute I can barely stand it. Translated from French, it actually flows quite well, and the translation is pretty smooth. Adorable artwork and a terrific leading lady with fun side characters make it a very enjoyable read.

I think the only issue I had was the size, my eyesight is quite horrible and it was very tiny on my phone, had to zoom in a lot. But I really enjoyed this book. It was absolutely amazing.

This was such a cute little story! I'll admit that it was hard to get into at first, but I quickly became engrossed in the heroics of our little heroine. I also enjoyed the artwork from the dresses to the wigs! I will definitely be recommending this title!

Super glad I decided to request this! I love stand alone comics, and this one was a fun and quick read with really cute art. Would definitely read more from them in the future.

I liked the concept of this more than the execution. This graphic novel has many confusing transitions between panels, with lots of chaotic small details that were hard to follow in my digital copy, and the sexual jokes and few instances of nudity raise questions about what age group this book is for. Based on the sexual humor, I would recommend this to high schoolers, but the art style and fairly simple story of palace intrigue would be better for middle-grade readers. This doesn't have enough thematic depth or plot complexity to appeal broadly to older readers who have seen the same kind of story done before, and would be much better off without the adult elements that complicate this book's appropriateness and appeal for younger readers.

Young Serine has decided to go to the Palace to become a lady in waiting for the Queen.

On arriving at the Palace, Serine soon finds out that the Palace might not be the place for her as she is rejected, made fun off and kicked out eventually.

But despite the adversities she encounters, Serine is determined to uncover the plot against the kingdom, the king and show everyone she has everything it takes to be a lady in waiting.

The Court Charade is a perfect middle grade story for young readers. A graphic novel that uses a pastel art style to tell the story of Serine who is resilient and determined above the challenges she encounters in the Palace.

The story was just okay. I didn't really care for the font/found it hard to read. It was funny though. And I liked how our main character rose up in the ranks. The art wasn't my favorite, but it did have some cute moments. I think my favorite aspect was the fool. Definitely not a favorite, but not bad either. I found it a little underwhelming. Nothing particularly remarkable about it. I was bored and put this down several times. I finished it in hopes that it would get better. But it didn't unfortunately.

For a book that has a young MC that seems to be no older than 14 from the way she acts, this book has a lot of adult content that should not be in books for kids this young.

When i went into reading this, i thought i was reading a harmless graphic-novel for kids, but it is far from that. In the future, please better state that this is definitely meant for adults- why would yo want kids seeing a scene where the main character is almost sexually assaulted or seeing pictures of stuff they shouldn't see (i.e. the scene where Serine's corset bursts)

I liked the end. I was rooting got Leo and Serine to get together, and they did. Upon hearing Leo IV's story, i had a feeling that he was the prince, and he was!

So yeah, liked the ending, but it needs to be better marketed that this is MOST DEFINITELY an ADULT graphic novel with a younger MC

Inventive and fabulous, a great graphic novel for a broad range of ages, all of whom will get something different out of the book.

This graphic novel is the translation of a comic book adaptation of a French novel by Flore Vesco, who did her own adaptation of the story here (got that?). Working with top-notch French comic artist team Kerascöet, Vesco has created a delightful little court mystery, full of ably translated wordplay and visual comedy.

Serine, the only daughter of a noble house that has fallen on hard times, refuses to get married and instead runs away to seek her fortune as a lady in waiting at the royal court. She is uneducated (she doesn’t know how to read or write and sends “letters” to her little brothers in the form of mute comic strips she draws), but she is quick-witted.

By happenstance Serine finds her way first in the company of the washerwomen and then quickly is at court, where she impresses the vain Queen when Serine pays her the unique compliment of being “As ravishing as an glampersand” (a word she spontaneously makes up). Serine becomes one of the Queen’s ladies in waiting.

As might be expected, the court has more than its share of intrigue, and Serine finds herself caught up in a variety of plots, misadventures, and hijinks over the course of the book. In some ways this reminded me of "The Princess Bride." The book features a smart and somewhat silly female protagonist.

Coming to this primarily as a fan of the artistic team, I found the book to be very cute and charming, but in all honesty it doesn't have the "WOW" factor that other Kerascoët classics like "Beautiful Darkness" or "Beauty" have. "The Court Charade" is definitely aimed at a younger audience than those earlier books (despite a bit of light nudity and a couple naughty puns, I'd say this is fine for a YA audience), tho’ there is plenty to enjoy for adults as well. But where Kerascöet's earlier graphic novel "Beautiful Darkness" presented a fully realized and disturbing universe, and "Beauty" has a really clever hook that then expands to be an epic fantasy tale, this book feels much more like a pleasant but not revolutionary riff on a classic kind of storytelling. This graphic novel is charming, light, and funny.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the ways that the translation managed to capture much (if not absolutely all) of the wordplay that was on display in the original French. When I initially read the original graphic novel (and some parts of the novel as well) I was constantly wondering how well the flavor of the book would come across in the translation. The original "De Cape et des mots" focuses a lot on clever and funny wordplay, which was a big part of its appeal. For instance, in the original novel each chapter is named after an obscure word such as “tartiboulote” (a kind of flower), there are a few neologisims like “esperlune” (a combination of the words “hope” and “moon” that also sounds like the word for “ampersand,” in the translation this is rendered as a "glampersand"), “lifrejole” (inspired by a word found in the work of Rabelais), etc. There are also quite clever punning phrases like “Le secrétaire ne sait taire ses secrets” (“The secretary does not know how to keep his secrets hidden”) that must have been a real challenge to translate (this last one was translated as "The secret-ary can't keep a secret..." which does the job well enough). At another moment in the story, during a parlor game involving scraps of paper with syllables which need to be turned into lines in a poem, Serine suggests the Queen say “Il se glissa derrière le satin, pudique.” (“He slipped behind the satin, modestly.”) But the Queen gets mixed up and starts to say “Il se glissa derrière le sadique putain.” (“He slipped behind the sadistic whore”)—You see what I mean about the translation challenges! The translator, the enigmatically named "L. Benson," manages this joke quite deftly, with Serine's suggestion ending with "cocky stunt" (I'll let you figure out what the Queen ends up saying). I tip my hat to you, L. Benson!

Love love LOVED it. The character of Serine was so beautifully written, it was impossible to not fall in love with her and her antics as the story progressed. The story itself was beautiful and flowed really well. I particularly loved the romance between Serine and Leon because it wasn't rushed and didn't overshadow Serine herself.

I have to be honest... I found this to be pretty terrible.

Based on the cover and synopsis I had pretty high expectations going in and ended up struggling my way through the latter half.

This graphic novel reads like a children's picture book with naughty bits added in for adults. This is a style that I've seen work well but it has never been a style I've particularly enjoyed so this completely turned me off. One of the biggest things I look at in graphic novels is panelling and how the story flows from one image to the next and I cannot emphasise enough how much I hated the panelling in this and think the flow is stilted and awkward.

The story was both frustrating and boring and I found myself simply not caring about any of it.

Overall this one was a massive disappointment and I wouldn't recommend it

Absolutely hysterical! This was fun from beginning to end. I'm sorry, but a compassionate torturer and a classist dog? The characters are so varied and creative, I am in love with this little graphic novel.

I feel terrible, but I had to DNF this. I was rather bored since story really didn’t keep my interest. The artwork was not what the cover hinted at, so it made the story even less appealing.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-ARC. I found the illustrations to be delightful. The plot seemed at times too convenient, and the tone was jovial but overall it was an enjoyable read.