Basically, Deowulf is trying to bring his daughter up the way he and his father Ceowulf were – a heroic warrior, fighting bad wherever it rears its ugly monstrous head. But Eowulf – I'm sure you can see what they're doing with the names – has come back from a summer break's worth of missions and learnt that things aren't perhaps as black and white. In trying to find the cause of the snappiness in the kid that gets routinely bullied at school, she is sure there is less of the monster and more of the mundane about him, but could it instead be that her senses are wrong and it can only lead to trouble?

An interesting premise, then – bringing a stone cold, folkloric level of good and bad into the modern school dining hall and bus pick-up. But it's done rather clumsily, in that I wasted a good few minutes making sure I had not missed the prequel to this – the girl's narration has so much about her summer experiences in reference, and in the order of building worlds, that it's a distraction. And as far as world-building goes, this proffers some cockamamie comic book series, and a D&D scenario for E and her friends – again, all to the extent that when she complains about her multiple moral worlds colliding and spilling over into each other, you only sympathise. If the book knows it is awkward for her, why make it so for us, too?

Add on to that a talking sword and an X-Men styled Danger Room for Eowulf to practice and yack constantly in, and you get a pure muddle. OK, it's a muddle just about worth sticking with to the end, to see how much gets un-muddled, but I can see the mess of sub-rate characters from diverse fantasy worlds, OTT-ness and so on as all off-putting in their way. You need something at least here to be winsome, and the D&D, the wide (cheese) spread of subsidiary characters we meet here, and even the -Owulf family itself are all lacking this. The fact it gets three stars then is a sign of the rescue mission the author pulls off, but why put the demand of such a save on your own shoulders in the first place?!

I loved this book. The illustrations are bright and eye catching perfect for reluctant readers. The story itself is jam packed with monsters, fight scenes and the friendship woes that come with school.
We follow Eowulf as she learns some home truths about her family and herself and sets out to change them. Fans of Percy Jackson, D&D and Amari and the night brothers will enjoy this.

I adored this book! The illustrations were amazing and so well done and the storyline was fantastic!
Lots I didn’t see coming but in a good way.
Really enjoyed the story and how it was done.
Fantastic message for kids too.
I would definitely recommend to middle grade kids and adults who love a graphic novel.