Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this graphic novel in exchange of an honest review.

Me gustó bastante esta novela gráfica, es graciosa y novedosa. No me esperaba muchas de las cosas que sucedieron, y algunos personajes me agradaron desde el inicio y eso se agradece.

Al final de la historia vi que ésta, está basada en una novela. Creo que leerla con más lujo de detalles debe ser mucho mejor 🤔

Las ilustraciones son bellísimas! Los invito a verlas.

THE COURT CHARADE by Kerascoët and Flora Vesco is a graphic novel exploring the intrigue and gossip of a royal court filled with deceitful lords, haughty ladies, and a reckless queen. But the young Countess Serine is resolved on having her try at becoming a lady-in-waiting - even if she has to fight the natural order of the court and befriend the royal torturer!

The story is a perfect mix of being humorous and reflective and Serine is the excellent heroine. She is funny, innovative, and charming and in a way her role very much resembles the story of "The Emperor's New Clothes". She invents new words and idée fixes at the court and whenever she is in trouble, she comes up with a solution in no time! The illustrations are magnificent and perfectly reflective of the court, its fashions, and sets the mood and atmosphere of the story.

If you are looking for a historical graphic novel with an entertaining and hectic heroine, beautiful illustrations, and a touch of underlying seriousness, THE COURT OF CHARADE might be the next book on your to-read-list!

Thank you NetGalley and Europe Comics for the review copy. All of the opinions in the review are my own.

My thanks to NetGalley and Europe Comics for giving me the opportunity to read this book. The Court Charade is the story of Serine; a girl that had to work in the palace as a lady-in-waiting to provide for her family. She goes in there with great expectations but she is shocked by the meanness of the queen and the plots and intricacies of the court life. But not all people in the palace are awful. There are many pleasant people with whom Serine becomes acquainted. It was an enjoyable read and the ending was the best thing.

Truly a majestic graphic novel! I loved the premise and Serine is a marvelous and hilarious protagonist! I enjoyed her ways to bring happiness to the court and in the heart of the old king (I can't believe I was invested in his story too 🥹). It's suspenseful and the plot — and by that I mean the schemes of the antagonists — makes this book more interesting and it gives Serine the chance to use her intelligence.

The jokes were a bit childish for me sometimes, but I'm sure 12+ youngsters will adore them more! The illustrations are amazing and, together with the writing parts, they tell a good story. I even wanted it to be a bit longer, but the length was okay.

This graphic novel was so good! I adored the illustrative story, the style was right up my alley! The characters were believable and the main character was so loveable that you was rooting for her from the start. It was fast paced, fun and a joy to read!

Thank you, NetGalley and publishers for this arc!

The Court Charade by Kerascoët & Flore Vesco is a fascinating graphic novel. I expected it to be more child-like and innocent, but it delved into deeper topics, such as death and torture. That makes it sound like a depressing story, but it is quite fun!
The tale is told humorously, while simultaneously addressing poverty and the mistreatment of women. I would not say it’s comedic, but it is light-hearted in a way.
The main character is extremely lovable, and her friends are also amazing characters.
The ending is predictable, but it’s still nice to experience it, even if you know what will happen. Even though the end is known from the beginning, there are still many twists and turns along the way.
I give it 3.5 stars, rounding down to 3 on here.

Warning: there is some nudity drawn, but it is not detailed.

I absolutely loved the tale of Serine and her court charade! Have you ever wondered what would happen if someone came and turned a royal court upside down and sideways? That's exactly what Vesco and Kerascoët achieved with this delightful graphic novel, a translated, illustrated version of Vesco's novel De cape et de mots.

I loved the main character Serine. Her personality shown out from the very first pages and remained consistently herself throughout the entire story, a rare thing in a royal court. Surrounded by an eccentric cast of colorful characters, Serine shines through. The artwork was bright and beautiful, though small. The story was engaging and never dull! I highly recommend this to all people who love intrigue.

I can’t get over how cute and sweet this was! The illustrations were beautiful, and I felt as though every single detail was precise and perfect. The storyline won me over completely. Serine dreams of reading and that was entirely relatable.

This plot has all the makings of a cute children's story. There's a heroine with grand dreams, there's mischief and mayhem, and even a power struggle. Best of all there's creativity with twists and turns. In The Court Charade, young Serine dreams of becoming a lady-in-waiting to the queen. As one can imagine, things don't quite go as planned. Serine often creates new words to get her out of scrapes, helping to pull the wool over their majesties' eyes. Sometimes her antics are reminiscent of The Emperor's New Clothes. This graphic novel has many aspects of European story-telling including life at court and a class-system, along with some publishing elements such as cursive font and even a few pictures depicting nudity of both genders. I very much enjoyed Serine's ability to stay one step ahead of the antagonist. However, there were moments where I felt the story, or the telling of it, might have got lost in translation. By that I mean, I felt perhaps some information was missing to make for smother scene changes or plot advancements. The images were beautifully done, highlighting key components of the story-telling. I think readers of upper middle grade books would enjoy this adaption of De cape et de mots. Thank you NetGalley and Harvard Common Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This is the story of Serine, who moves to the castle to become a lady-in-waiting and chaos ensues. This story was a little hectic to me and took many turns. I appreciated the humor of the dungeon and the torturer's apprentice. However, the rest of the story was a little too all over the place for me. Serine was a free spirited girl who found herself in all sorts of trouble. She eventually uncovers a plot to kill the king and acts as a jester to keep him safe.

3.5⭐

Serine is an empowered character, so it's not hard to get attached to her and wish that everything goes well for her.
On the other hand, the plot was interesting and fun, and even though I could already see that ending I still enjoyed reading it and learning about Serine's future.
If you are looking for an entertaining graphic novel with a diversity of characters in a royal setting, jesters, torturers, servants and of course, a fun heroine like Serine, this is definitely a good choice.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for allowing early reviews of this!

This charming graphic novel was like an adult Roald Dahl book in graphic novel form. I loved some of the more rude scenes in this colorful graphic novel that reminds you of illustrations in children's books.

I adored the emotive and ridiculous artwork by Kerascoët, and loved the feel-good story that we got to experience. The story itself was fun while still having some depth to it.

This was such a fun, quick read, and I love that it was a standalone graphic novel able to be enjoyed on its own without having to continue in a series.

3.5 A quick, fun read with excellent illustrations. Often silly and nonsensical, but overall a good time.

*To our Lord NetGalley I praise and thank for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*

You know? I´m a bit taken aback with this one. I absolutely loved the art. The protagonist is quite lovely as well, but the plot... The plot I just can´t take it seriously (and maybe that´s fine, because that might be very well the intention of the author) since it has that kind of humor and solution for plots that´s so common in children´s books.

For example, Serine just invents a word out of nothing and suddenly everyone is praising her even though they don´t know what it means (?)

Idk, that´s the kind of thing that put me off. It´s not a bad comic, just not for me.

This had a charm to it and the art was lovely!

It felt like a fairy tale and I liked seeing the silly palace shenanigans.

It would have worked more for me if there had been a bit less dialogue and a few more kind characters.

Thank you for the e-arc!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC!

The Court Charade is a cheerful comic that follows Serine; a resilient girl who uses her wits and charm to create a place for herself in the queen’s court! At the same time I felt like the obstacles she faced were solved way too quickly.

As a graphic novel the story depended too much on dialogues, which is a shame because the art style is adorable and the characters’ faces are really expressive. I would’ve loved to take in some of the moments and information by just looking at the pictures.

Overall, it’s worth your time if you want a witty graphic novel full of mischief and shenanigans.

A delightful graphic novel by @florevesco and @kerascoet_ original title in French: De Cape et de mots. I simply adore this artist and all her works, and so thrilled to receive an ARC of this!

Serine is the oldest daughter of a large and formerly bourgeois but currently broke family. When her father dies, her mother wanted to marry her off for a quick buck but no-siree, nobody is doing that to her! She rides at the back of the tax collector's and somehow stumbles into the palace, and finds herself climbing the ranks. Despite not being able to read, nor owning a single wig, she wins the favours of both the queen and the king. But not without stepping on the toes of some terrible characters.

Through her wit and charm, and alongside a cast of wonderful characters (eg. the dungeon torturer that is actually a softie). They manage to turn the courts, and eventually the entire monarchy topsy turvy. Such a fun read, and the illustrations are just wonderful!

Thanks @netgalley for an ARC of this graphic novel!

#bookrecommendations #bookreviews #graphicnovels #comics #frenchartist #bookstagram

Many thanks to NetGalley, Europe Comics and the authors for this ARC of THE COURT CHARADE, a graphic novel by Flore Vesco and Kerascoët, art by Kerascoët.

I gave this book a 4 -star rating based on the quality of the art and the story plot. It is a fun read, the characters are well developed and the intrigue and the twists are interesting.

Young Serine is determined to become a lady-in-waiting to help provide for her family. But she soon finds herself at the mercy of a thoughtless queen, scheming lords and ladies, and vicious palace fauna. Luckily, this garrulous and down-on-her-luck countess has always been able to count on her wits—and her words!—to survive, and life at court proves no different.

I’m very pleased to have requested this book and look forward to reading more graphic novels.

This was a pretty entertaining and quick read for me. After the tragic death of her father, due to the strain poverty has caused on his health, serine seeks to become the queens favorite lady-in-waiting. Its a fun quirky ride and the art is honestly very fitting and lovely.

When life gives you lemons, become a jester! Or, as my boyfriend said, become the lemonade!

Young Countess Serine is determined to become a lady-in-waiting at court to help provide for her family. But she soon finds herself at the mercy of a thoughtless queen and scheming lords and ladies.

I found the art style lovely and the story very entertaining and gripping. The more it went on the clearer it became that Serine is an extraordinary lady, resourceful and inventive, with a totally justified mean and vindictive streak. I really felt for her when faced with awful nobles and loved how sweet and kind she was towards the palace workers!
Also, Leon the torturer's apprentice is very cute and funny!

Highly recommend this if you want a fun read!