A quirky witty girl set off to make her own destiny. Running away from the prospect of a boring marriage set by her mother, she arrives at the palace in hopes of being a lady-in-waiting. In a stroke of luck, she succeeds and then with the wit and charm, she becomes the Queen's favorite. This is where she discovers a few deadly secrets which lands her in trouble.

But again, with her smart thinking, she returns to the palace and now becomes the King's favorite! Then she uncovers the plot to kill the King. Even though she fails to thwart it, she does get a happy ending. You have to read it yourself to find out how!

I enjoyed reading it and the illustrations were cute!

Thank you #NetGalley and Europe Comics for giving me the opportunity to read this!

4/5

Two words that I feel perfectly describe this comic/manga are Glampersand and lushmande. What are they well you will have to read to see. This was a wonderfully written and drawn comic that was a quick funny read!

I loved Serine, she was a strong independent character who helped others and knew when to accept help. She was strong willed and knew not to give up. She was determined to work for the queen and help the king.

I loved meeting all the characters and seeing what hi-jinx she would get up to next.

Thank you NetGalley for gifting me a copy of this comic I return for my honest opinion/review.

Do you want a fun graphic novel inspired by the 1700s that doesn't take itself serious? Pick this up.

We are following Serine, who leaves her home after her father's death to becaome lady-in-waiting for the queen to escape an arranged marriage. She can't read or write and doesn't really understand the rules in place. This results in her being bullied and she wants revenge.

I adored this and a big plus: It's translated.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I will start with the art style of the book which consists of a pretty watercolor style of illustrations in neat layouts. While the book has simple illustrations for the characters, it is also rich in detail capturing palace life in its essence.
The story is a fun ride in the life of Serine a vibrant girl who decides to become lady-in-waiting to a queen to support her family. From then on, it's a chaotic unravel of the many plots and schemes going on inside the palace and how Serine through her shenanigans makes a place for herself in the palace. I found the plot engaging and easy to keep up with. It's a lighthearted book full of jokes, wordplays and rhymes. The book would be mostly suited to young adults and above.

The Court Charade Graphic Book was written by Flore Vesco and illustrated by Kerascoët. What a cute comic book! The illustrations are charming, the main character is quite clever and fun, the bad guys are delightfully off-putting!

In this Graphic Book adapted from a novel by Flore Vesco (I don't think it's available in English just yet, but I'd love to read it!) we meet Serine. She is a young countess whose family lost its riches and she is coming of age. Her mother wants to marry her off as soon as possible to lessen her family's financial burden. But of course Serine has much higher aspirations: her goal is to become a lady-in-waiting to the queen. I'm not sure why as the court with all the scheming is a vicious place and is just as hoity toity as you'd expect. However, since I'm sure she did not have any other prospects other than getting married, she chose a servitude of other sort. She makes it to the Palace and that is where all the debauchery unfolds.

The book is genuinely humorous and funny. It's definitely not for children: there is some nakedness and suggestive themes. But as an adult I definitely enjoyed it!

I would like to thank the publisher, Netgalley, and the author for the ARC of this book. I read an advanced copy of this book, so the final edition of the book might be slightly different. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

This was such a fun, quick read! I always love standalone comics to read in between longer novels, and this fits that role perfectly. It was also surprisingly witty, and I really loved some of the wordplay and banter.

I think my favorite part of this comic has to be the art style, and I loved how well it fit the characters and story. I especially loved how Serine was drawn, and how you could visually see the difference in manner/attitude when she switched between her various roles. It really brought the writing to life! There was also a nice amount of fluidity and movement to the art, which was especially important for certain scenes and characters. The color throughout the story was also such a pleasant addition, and often mimicked the tone of the current scene very well, and brought different moods to various moments. It was honestly just wonderfully done!

The story itself was also extremely fun while still having some depth to it, and I loved how clever certain moments and characters were. While the twists aren't super unpredictable, it was still done in such a way where you picked up small pieces along the way, and knowing the twist didn't actually ruin the reveal at all for me. There was also a good balance of frustration/Serine being treated horribly by royals and satisfaction at seeing those same royals suffer, without saving all the 'revenge' for the final scene. It gave some relief throughout the story, being able to laugh at the misfortune of some of the crueler characters!

Overall, I really enjoyed this, and I can see myself picking up more by the artist/writers!

**ARC provided by NetGalley for honest review**

The Court Charade, script by Kerascoët & Flore Vesco, art by Kerascoët was a full length, complete comic story about a young girl trying to seek her fortune as the queen's lady-in-waiting. It could be described as very loose historical fiction, but it feels more like a fairy tale as she has to outwit her enemies in court while making friends, assuming an alter ego, and trying to save the kingdom of course!

A very lighthearted and often silly graphic novel with beautiful sketched drawing and colors. Would recommend for teens and above as there is some brief nudity.

The Court Charade is a gorgeous piece of work. The authors have chosen a time period in France that the illustrator does a very good job of bringing to life. The illustration is beyond beautiful. If you love art and color, I recommended you buy this book. The power of the illustrations and their ability to tell the story and the authors' tone is really shown on pages 84, 94, 102, and 104. These pages are wild. They are so pretty and well-executed that I had to pause to just stare at them. I was really mesmerized. Additionally, the authors' did really well in developing the story.
However, I feel like they should have slowed down on some parts to really develop their main character and new characters like the new king at the end. Also, I feel like the authors kind of rushed the ending and should've shown more scenes of the new king and the old king together.
Altogether, this story is well done and so is the illustration. I also like the addition at the very end. It allows the authors to show that they haven't forgotten about the main character's family. I would recommend this book! (However, this is not kid friendly. It has nudity.)

This comic was great! I loved the drawing style and all the little details made me fall in love with it even more. The colors were really nice and went well with the story.
I liked the plot, it was funny and lighthearted. The main character, a young girl named Serine was brilliant: I liked her personality, her determination, her humor and her ability to adapt to different situations.
I definitely recommend this book, I'm sure it will be enjoyed by all fans of historical comics!

ARC through Netgalley.

Serine wants to have fun and be free, but in this world girls and women are meant to be pretty and decorative. This story is set in a "18th century France"-style world and Serine, decidedly against being married off, runs off to become a lady-in-waiting to the queen. The scandals and assassinations abound, lots of gossiping and silly shenaningans with ridiculous, yet funny jokes. Like, when the queen is dressed they use a scaffolding so help her put her ridiculously voluminous clothes and large wig on.
The story takes twists and turns and the characters are sometimes straight up weird. Like, the torturer's apprentice is a young lad and he should torture a kitchen boy for allegedly poisoning some Duke and Serine stops him, but the apprentice is sad about this because...he likes to torture people? And he's supposed to be a good guy. It's played off as a joke but I'd be seriously concerned if my "friend" (and of course love interest) is fond of torturing people, to the point that he's disappointed he can't torture a child for a confession to a crime he didn't commit.

Also, the queen's dog has a litter and the queen orders the puppies with spotted fur to be drowned and I...look, I'm not criticising the book for this (a little tho) but just remembering how cruel and despicable people can be makes me horrendeously depressed and that's not the mood I want to be in when reading a fantastical and silly story. I don't know, but I understand the queen is cruel and sees no true worth in others without that throwaway line.

Anyhow, the art style is very pretty and the story flows well. It's a fast and enjoyable read with ridiculous characters and storylines, closer to a fairytale than a narrative we read today. If you want to have a quick and fun read with a pretty art style, this might be for you.

This is a very sweet story about Serine a down on her luck duchess. First off the art is beautiful and is what drew me to this story to begin with; the soft, watercolor style just really worked for this book. Serine is a charming, witty protagonist who just seems to stumble into things both good and bad. The story is a little convoluted, which I think works for what the author was going for, but there was a point towards the beginning where I was thinking "What is happening? This isn't making sense." And I can see that turning off some readers.

This was adorable and very dynamic — for younger audiences in terms of the story, perhaps, but a quick and lighthearted read if you like the artstyle, which I did!

Thanks to Netgalley for the arc of this graphic novel.

I loved this!! The graphics were just amazing and I loved just looking at them all. The story line was good but I was drawn to the pictures. Great Job! I loved it.
I just reviewed The Court Charade by Script by Kerascoët & Flore Vesco, art by Kerascoët. #EuropeComics #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

Young Serine is desperate to escape marriage and become a lady in waiting for the queen. Quite different from the other girls, Serine is constantly on her toes with the scheming of the lords and ladies at court. Finding herself embroiled in a scheme to kill the king, Serine is desperate to clear her own name and save the life of the king.

Adorable artwork, colorful characters, and a clever storyline. A great speedy read for older teens and young adults. There is some slight nudity and hinting towards adult acts.

This was a light-hearted, quick read - very entertaining, however, more suited to a younger audience.

This graphic novel is engaging!
I love the main Character Serine. The illustrations are beautiful.
The story is fun to read.

A true rags to riches story delightfully told as a graphic novel. This story follows Serine, who to provide for her family hopes to become a lady-in-waiting for the royal family. When things don’t go to plan the reader is treated to wit, humor, gorgeous illustrations and wonderful storytelling. Would love to see this as a movie!

This graphic novel made me laugh out loud several times. Witty and unexpected, it has an inspiring protagonist that I couldn’t help but love. The love interest and romantic subplot was in my opinion a bit unnecessary but still sweet. I loved all of the fun side characters and the story was a quick and engaging read. I would definitely recommend this book.

Thank you NetGalley/publishers for an ARC of this amazing book in exchange of an honest review.

The story follows the girl named Serine, who lives with her parents and her many younger brothers. After the death of her father, Serine sets out to make a life of her own by wanting to become a lady in waiting. The palace life was not at all what she expected, filled with cruel and mean ladies who are out to get her. She unfortunately gets kicked out by the Queen. But Serine, wanting to get revenge, comes back as the Royal jester.

The art was really cute and the story was extremely hilarious and engaging. I loved Serine's, witty and fun character. I would highly recommend reading this, if you are looking for a cute, fast paced graphic novel.

Oh man, y'all, I'm wheezing right now at the rhyming game because how would I ever anticipate that? This book is hilarious! And Serine is such a bright, whimsical character with a great agency. Also, I just simply love to see girls being chaotic. Such a colorful, fun story with three dimensional characters. At first, I thought this might just be mostly without plot but I'm very glad that the interweaved plot of mysteries became undone page by page. I'd read this again in a heartbeat.