Imagine this: you've always daydreamed about diving headfirst into your favorite story and becoming the hero, right? Well, that's exactly what happens to Holly, but let me tell ya, timing is everything in this gig.

So, Holly accidentally finds herself smack dab in the middle of "The Chronicles of Lucitopia," a fairy tale land that's gone seriously sideways. We're talking grifter grandmas, breath that could knock out a dragon, and no working toilets in sight. Yeah, it's a hot mess. Holly lands the role of Princess Pleasant, but guess what? She's fashionably late, showing up just as some evil sorcerer turns Lucitopia into a rusty old nightmare.

But fear not! With her trusty (and dreamy) knight sidekick, Holly's off to fix this mess before it's too late. She's got a tight deadline, though – just fifteen days to save the day, or she's stuck in this chaos forever. And considering she's overdue for her shots, that's not exactly a picnic.

"Illustrated Girl" is like a rollercoaster you can't get enough of – fast-paced, hilarious, and totally addictive. Seriously, I tore through it in a day flat! The characters are pure gold. . Our dear Holly, with her infectious humor and relatable quirks, serves as a beacon of light amidst the chaos of Lucitopia. And oh, the nods to our own world! Angelini masterfully infuses the story with playful references and clever deconstructions of fairy tale tropes, inviting readers to revel in the joy of literary self-awareness.

Sure, the writing's a bit chatty, but that's part of the charm. It's like your BFF telling you a crazy story, complete with laugh-out-loud moments and heart-pounding action. And let me tell you, that final showdown? Epic doesn't even begin to cover it.

"Illustrated Girl" is an adventure like no other. It's sweet, it's fantastical, and yeah, it's downright ridiculous at times – but isn't that what makes a story unforgettable?

The Chronicles of Lucitopia. Becoming the Main Character of Your Favorite Book.


This is what happened to Holly, or more accurately now, Princess Pleasant. A spell transports her into the fairytale "The Chronicles of Lucitopia", except she became her favorite character too late in the story. Instead of becoming the hero and stopping the evil sorcerer, she transports into the book world after it becomes a land of the malevolent and the nefarious.

Now, Holly has to fix this mess of a world she has magically transported to.

We then meet a heroic knight, who is righteous, honorable, and noble. The clock is ticking, though! This is the part that brought me memories of Labyrinth by A.C.H Smith, based on the movie directed by the puppet movie featuring David Bowie. So much time does she have before her brother is turned to a goblin! She must get past the riddles, the traps, and reach the castle before she can get her brother back.

In this story, Holly has but fifteen days or she is stuck in this odd world forever, never to return to her life outside of a little novel. I will say, the story dragged on in some parts. I wanted to be enthralled like I had been with The Labyrinth, but it was hard to get through at times.

How does Holly successfully leave this land of ink and pages? She must kiss a human boy.

This was a funny spin on a good storyline, inserting many hilarious scenes. The ending was well worth getting to the end. This story is sweet and fantastical, and so ridiculous at times. There is excitement and whimsy, and the final boss fight is magnificent.

I would add this novel to my list of cozy fantasy books. There are more and more every year. I hope this trend does not stop its momentum. They are of full of cinnamon-roll type characters. Slowing down, falling in love, often in a sweet and charming way; with a dash of mundanity. Such a tame, heartwarming side quest. Readers, enjoy the sweetness of this bookish cozy love story 🌟🌟🌟🌟/5 Stars!

First of all, thank you to NetGalley, Sungrazer Publishing and Josephine Angelini for allowing me to read the ARC to "Illustrated Girl" in exchange for an honest review.

Something right off the bat, the cover is absolutely stunning, which is the first reason how I got interested in the book, I will not lie.

Luckily, I did not get disappointed by the content either.

The main character, Holly, does get her wish granted and is thrown into the fictional world of a book where she does play the role of Princess Pleasant, however, she discovers very quickly that to live in said fictional, fantasy world is not as pleasant as she imagined it to be. Holly has 15 days to leave the world of Lucitopia before she is trapped there forever and ever but to achieve that, a kiss is required and of course, this exposes itself to be not as easy as one think. Along the way, there is a lot of adventure, banter and danger, and a knight.

I did overall enjoy the book very much, the self aware humour of the main character did lure more than one chuckle from me. I loved the character development you were able to witness first hand, since the book is written from the POV of the main character.

It was a funny, romantic read, even though I admit it did took a while for me to get captured, but it was absolutely worth it.

I loved it! A girl is stuck inside the book and needs a kiss from a real boy to escape. Simple concept but great execution. Funny, colourful and sweet. Beautiful YA read.

Thank you very much for providing me with an ARC copy of this book.

This was an excellent and light-hearted read to jump into after reading more dense and serious fantasy books. This book is a great fantasy palette cleanser and is such a fun read. It is on the more YA side (barring a few not so YA references). It definitely has some funny moments and jokes throughout which helps solidify the books as a ‘cozy adventure’. However, there are still plenty of traditional fantasy elements and it reminded me quite a bit of Inkheart which I used to enjoy when I was younger. You still get the world building, twists and turns, and character development but without being overly serious. I would recommend reading this after a heavy/long/serious book to get the most benefit from it. I would say it is on the lighter side of a romantasy and is more of a sweet story than one with lots of romantic details which is in line with it being more of a YA read. The universe it is set in has lots of fun ideas and there are definitely some great opportunities for future developments. The only thing I would say the beginning is a little less polished but this definitely picks up throughout and didn’t take away from the overall book for me 😊

Thank you to NetGalley, Josephine Angelini, and the publishers for allowing me access to the e-Arc.

4.25 stars

I have found this book to be a lot of fun. It is definitely a cozy fantasy but with some great adventure to it. I love the quirky characters. Our main character is hilarious. I enjoyed the fact that she references things in the real world where she came from. I will say that the middle part lost me a little but then it picked back up again. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this series. I’m curious to see where it goes.

I highly recommend it, if you love cozy fantasy.

This was a lovley book. I gave it 4 stars because I recognize that is is well written and a lot of people will truly enjoy it. Personally, I I found myself losing interest at points because I could not relate to the FMC. That is my failing rather than the authors as this book is likley not targeted at my demographic.

Even so, it is well written and I have no doubts that plenty of young adults in the young teens will adore this. The cover is also remarkably pretty and I admit half the reason why I requested this ArC in the first place.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the Arc.

Wow, I really enjoyed this book. It was so much fun to read and I really enjoyed the FMC, she's so funny. I loved the ending and I just in general love the story and the idea of someone getting trapped inside of a book, because let's face it we all have wished it would happen to us.

I did find one typo, End of chapter 9 where it says" "What the matter" Torvold asks" it's missing the s for "what's".

I had to sadly DNF this book at 30%. It was becoming a chore to read and I thought I could make it through since it’s short but no I just couldn’t do it.

I was excited to see the character get stuck in a book world and see how she handled adapting to that. But the book begins with her having been stuck in this world for almost a year. So you don’t get to discover the world with her. I was already disappointed at that.

The style of writing is what really made me dislike this book though. It was far too chatty and casual. The pop culture references will not age well either. I feel this reads like a children’s cartoon rather than a novel.

This book is aimed at Teenagers & Young Adults and I’m someone in their early 30s so perhaps I’m just not the target audience (although YA novels are what I predominantly read).

I do have a feeling back in school I’d have a few friends around the age of 12-15 who’d maybe have enjoyed this book. Some of its lines were funny. Those friends would have also have liked a few of the dirty jokes too. Despite that I think if this book was made less mature it actually be a better suited book for a younger audience especially with the tone of the writing. Best for 9-12 years old instead with perhaps a few illustrations in the style of the cover which is gorgeous.

I think I’d recommend for anyone interested in this book to read a few pages or a chapter before picking it up. If you enjoy those you’ll enjoy the rest. Happy reading if you do as I’m sure you’ll find it a fun unique read. It just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sungrazer Publishing for granting me an Advance Reader Copy. All opinions are honest and my own.

This YA romance (younger end of YA or at least lighter end of romance) has a sassy sense of humour! The premise of a real world teen trapped inside a fairy tale book was interesting, and the author included many sly mentions of various well known fairy tales in a world that is itself well detailed and descriptive, reminiscent of those tales we know so well. The pace was satisfying and I was compelled to read on to find out if our heroine is freed to join the real world once more. I did think the characters were a bit flat and one dimensional, but the fantastical setting balanced them out. I also thought that while the sassy tone added much humour and irreverence to the story, occasional flippant wording didn’t always live up to my inclusive standards.

I’m not the target audience, and did not completely connect with the voice, which at times was too angsty, deprecating, or wordy - but also at times quite clever. Teenager me would’ve loved this and devoured the rest of the series, but adult me prefers prose that is a bit more polished. Overall though this is a fun fairy tale!

Thank you to Netgalley and Sungrazer Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh Em Gee!!! I loved this sooo much! Even after finishing it I felt like I was having withdrawals because I wanted more! Such a fun quick cute quirky cozy fantasy with a touch of a cutesy romance!

In this book, we are following Holly who is transported into a book. Like an actual book she was reading. The book she was transported into is called The Chronicles of Lucitopia. However she gets transported into the near end of the book where readers typically stop reading because of something that happens to the main character, Holly can get out of the book, on only one condition. She has to be kissed by a real person! Not a person from the book, but more so a reader possibly?

Holly manages to get herself reinserted earlier into the book. She is the character Princess Pleasant and she embarks on a quest with the virtuous Sir Knight Torvold and his Squire. We follow them on their adventures and their ever-growing troop.

Illustrated Girl is full of funny, quirky little jokes and scenes, really good character growth, cute romance and a plot twist that will really get you.

Side note: I was on a date last night and for the entire duration, told my date the entire plot of this book and even he was ultimately intrigued!

I can’t wait to read the next 3 books that are rumored to be released later this year.

Thank you to NetGalley for the Arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a quirky, funny and enjoyable read for the most part. I found this book more aimed at Middle school aged young people, not so much for adults, however I did find myself chuckling along. The writer for sure has a sense of humour. Thank you again for allowing me to read and review this book.

This book was such an interesting concept and I ate it up! Absolutely full of fun, adventure, awesome characters, love, and full of heart. I had a great time reading it! And the cover is absolutely stunning! Can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy for my shelf!

This book was a quick read aimed at a middle school or young ya audience but I still enjoyed the unique spin to a fairytale story the character were likeable and the plot fast paced enough to make it a fun read

I love the premise of the story and the feminist undertone in the book. The book has a witty tone which will make it fun for teenagers to read this. I am just not sure about some of the words used in the book which are marginally inappropriate for teenagers.

"Illustrated Girl" is like a sunny stroll through a whimsical world, perfect for those who love light-hearted adventures. Its carefree spirit and playful twists make it a fun read, though sometimes it feels like it's trying to do too much at once.

There's no denying the charm of the story, with its amusing moments and playful twists, but it does occasionally trip over itself, unsure of where exactly it's headed. One thing that threw me off guard was the inclusion of some not-so-kid-friendly content, which felt out of place given the book's target audience of young adults.

The main character's self-awareness reminded me of an old favorite, "Babes in Toyland," which added a nostalgic touch. The ending, very much reminiscent of "Babes in Toyland," left lingering questions about the blurred lines between fiction and reality.

With its stunning cover and cozy ending, reminiscent of a classic fairy tale, "Illustrated Girl" has its allure. While I'm uncertain about delving into the rest of the series yet, there's a simplicity to the narrative that may draw me back in.

The beautiful cover drew me in and the amazing storytelling kept me reading, I loved the characters which made it so easy to read.

This book completely blew me away. It was like a mashup of T Kingfisher, Inkheart, and a D&D campaign. It was so genuinely funny, adventurous, and heartwarming. The worldbuilding was amazingly shown and the story was completely immersive. I read it in one sitting because I just couldn’t stop.

It’s such a charming and fun read! Our main character, Princess Pleasant (or actually Holly from Fresno), spent almost a year locked in her tower, but mostly stuck in a book. Lucitopia, the land she’s stuck in, is a place where tales and stories lead when the virtues die (literally) and the evil wins. Holly has had enough of hiding, especially considering she has only two weeks or so to find a real boy (or a girl) to kiss her and release her from the book universe or else she’s stuck there forever, so fuelled by her fear, armed in some small illusion spells, salt bag and multiple daggers in various locations on her person (that she learned how to use exceptionally well during her time in the tower), goes to find Mother Maybe, a person she considers responsible for her current situation, to ask for some change. And the change she gets.

I loved Princess Pleasant and her adventures. The character was written perfectly - she was not a Mary Sue like in many YA novels, but a relatable person with flaws and quirks, as well as amazing dagger throwing skills and sense of humour. Other side characters were also interesting, it was easy to care for them, to root for them, to pay attention. The story was also great. Creative, surprising but reasonable considering the characters and their choices.
My only issue was the beginning of the book, it felt a bit chaotic and it only seemed to start making sense 2-3 chapters in.

4,5/5 rounded up

I really enjoyed this unique twist on a fairy tale! It was funny, recognized the inherent silliness of a modern person being stuck in a fantasy world (like pooping in the forest), and had a lot of heart.

The ebook edition that I read had a lot of errors, which really took me out of the story a lot. One example is the very beginning of Chapter 16 which says "Circe de Soleil" instead of "Cirque de Soleil". I'm not sure how thoroughly this advance copy has been edited, but I hope it will go through another round before publication!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book.