*I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Releases September 24th!

I'd never heard of this WebToon comic before until I saw it on NetGalley, and right from the beginning the cover drew me in, I was so excited to read this!

I absolutely fell in love with this dragon shifter, enemies to lovers, forced marriage story, which includes issues 1-25 from the WebToon comic. All the artwork is so beautiful, every scene is drawn in a captivating manga style with some 'chibi' parts where humour is involved, I couldn't stop staring at some of the pages.

The characters are so well written, I loved Princess Clove of the azure clan and how she's quiet but brave and willing to do what it takes to bring peace to the clans. We then have the mysterious and menacing Prince Kyro of the crimson dragon clan. Their chemistry was sizzling and I was holding my breath in anticipation for their scenes together, it was that good!

The story is intriguing too, there's mystery and deception, I sense some betrayals coming as well as some more plot twists. I enjoyed the mix of angst, romance and fantasy. The book does end on a cliffhanger, and I'll be desperately waiting for volume two to release so I can join the journey of finding peace and maybe spotting a sneaky kiss between Clove and Kyro...

5/5 🌟

“Sub Zero” is a fantasy webtoon that is getting a traditional publication! It weaves together elements of romance, adventure, and court intrigue. The best part of the story are the Chinese style dragons. Clove, an ice mage, and Kyro, a fire mage are entering into an arranged marriage for the good of their kingdoms, and make a really good foundation of an Enemies-to-lovers trope.

The central conflict revolves around the pressure of the greater good. As Clove and Kyro navigate their feelings for each other, they must also grapple with their responsibilities as mages. The fate of their realm hangs in the balance, and sacrifices must be made. The tension between personal desires and duty adds depth to the narrative, making it more than just a typical romance.

However, there’s one aspect that occasionally disrupts the flow: the panel order. As someone familiar with both webtoons (up-and-down scroll) and Japanese manga (right-to-left reading), I found myself getting a bit lost with panel order, but you may be better at directions than me and have no issues at all.

In summary, “Sub Zero” offers a delightful blend of magic, romance, and moral dilemmas. If you’re a fan of beautifully illustrated webtoons with a touch of Asian-inspired fantasy, this one is worth exploring.

I liked the webtoon when I read it a while ago so I was excited to read it again in graphic novel form. The story was good but I just thought it was kind of short in this volume.

Thank you Net Galley & Oni Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Arc Copy...I don't I'm split on this. Although the art, a fiery princess and political intrigue and workings are solid, the romance wasn't working out for me and...Oh my horrifyingly abusive!

First and foremost, the artwork is absolutely beautiful and vibrant — this is my FAVORITE part of the story.

Now onto story/plot points: not a lot happens in this volume — I expected there to be a bit more action in it, especially with a war going on and these two opposing royals being forced together — it’s a slow burn for sure and I would go as far to say that it’s almost too slow of a burn with the action, but too quickly paced in other ways — for instance, the two (while they have their own agendas) should not be agreeing to work with/join forces too easily, especially in a situation where this is a marriage of “convenience” (only in the way that it is set up to end the war) — sure, there is room for physical attraction and lust, but it did feel like I got whiplash while reading.

Another point, they’re totally allowed to keep secrets as they’re from opposing sides of a war, but their form of keeping secrets just felt a bit juvenile.

Now onto characters: my favorites by far are Aaron and Kharis — and in the creator’s note, they expressed these are two of their favs as well — it shows. They seem a bit more interesting to me and a bit more fleshed out than the others as far as what were shown about them and what we learn about them through their actions and words.

This isn’t to say that I didn’t like Clove or Kyro, just these two feel like cookie cutters of characters I’ve seen before and I just feel like I need to spend more time with them/learning about them to care more for them. Clove feels a bit too naive in some ways but I can’t really tell if that’s true or not and Kyro is definitely more than just a hot tempered dragon warrior prince, but again, just need more time with him.

In a first volume that is ~330 pages, I feel like I should care MORE about the main characters of our story.

As a reader, I really gravitate towards characters first before the world and I struggle to keep reading when the characters aren’t super interesting to me in the initial time that I have with them.

I will say, though, regarding the world — I’m intrigued, but again, I just need MORE.

Definitely will keep reading because I am interested in the political climate of the Crimson Dragon’s side of things that we got a bit of a tease for.

Would I recommend it for someone who is looking for fantasy? Not really - the world feels similar to Avatar: The Last Airbender, though so if you liked that…I’d say a really iffy maybe?

Would I recommend it for someone who is looking for romance? Not unless you’re into insta-stuff that also happens to somehow be slow burn…

Would I recommend it for someone who has time on their hands and has access to it and thinks the art is pretty? Sure, go for it!

I enjoyed my read, don’t get me wrong! I finished it because I was enjoying reading it and I plan to keep reading because I’m interested in it.

This was a beautifully illustrated and interesting story! A great fantasy with dragons and lot of court politics which I personally enjoyed.

That was a bit disappointing. I haven't read the Webtoon and so I don't know how the story develops over the next few chapters, but for somebody who's unfamiliar with the series, this first volume was a major letdown. Nothing stuck out to me, neither the plot (which was very basic) nor the characters. Clove was too naive and too much of a damsel in my opinion. She probably does develop as a character during the rest of the series, but we get little to no evolution in this volume. And keep in mind that it's 300 pages long, which is almost double the length of a manga. Kyro was slightly better written, but we get more flashbacks for him. It also annoyed me that all the male characters have the same face. And no, changing the hairstyle is not enough to make a character unique. Ultimately, I feel like this volume needed a better edit. So many panels are copy and paste and should have been deleted. I don't know if or how much the panels have been edited since their release on Webtoon, but the print version still needs a polish. I think the series could have also benefitted from a more serious tone. The start is quite goofy and I'm not sure if I like the manga-esque style. That's probably why I just couldn't click with the book. But hey, other people probably really love this comic.

What a great introduction to a world of dragons and power. I love a good enemies to lovers trope and that is most definitely the focus of our introduction to the protagonists of SubZero. The art is vibrant and outstanding with opposing colors showing the enemies opposing forces. I wish a bit more had happened in this first Volume as the plot didn't get very far, so hopefully volume two is out soon!

Such a great story. I love enemies to lovers, forced proximity & marriage of convenience!!!! You literally can’t do anything wrong when those three tropes are involved, I loved the two main characters and the side characters are so fun and bring an extra layer to the graphic novel!

This is me trying to get into the Comic/Graphic Novels because as much as I am a word addict, I am also a visual person. I always jump on Pinterest to try and find the perfect fanart or description.

But at the end of the day, THIS IS A BOOK, and I have to review it as such. So, first, a thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Oni-Press for auto-approving me for their ARCs.

⚜Genre: High Fantasy
⚜Theme: Fantasy Romance
⚜Targeted audience: 15+
⚜Characters: Princess Clove, Prince Kyro, Kharis, Aaron, Dragons
⚜Representation: Non
⚜Pace: Fast
⚜TW: i did not see any
⚜ tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Love triangle, arranged marriage, hidden secrets,
⚜ POV: Multiple
⚜ spice 🌶
⚜ rating 🌟🌟🌟
⚜standalone: No, this is Vol1 (ep 0 - 25)
⚜Ending: unresolved

The first thing that drew me to this GN was the cover. It is absolutely stunning
The second thing was the author. Although I know nothing of her, but apparently she and her episodes were popular on Webtoon
The third thing are the dragons. Give me a fantasy with dragons and I am sold let alone a GN with sassy dragons.

Clove, the valiant heir of the Cerulean Dragon clan, embarks on a thrilling journey to end a centuries-old war through a daring alliance with Prince Kyro, the formidable heir of the Crimson Dragon clan. Their union, a beacon of hope for peace, is tested by hidden secrets and the looming shadows of those who seek to ignite the flames of war. Supposedly, a forbidden romance will blossom, promising a future where love and peace might just triumph over longstanding enmity.

<u>The Graphics</u> were absolutely stunning capturing every emotion and action. You know they are good when you start zooming in and out to see all the details.

<u>Most of the characters<u> were brilliantly presented with twists in their lives that would leave you laughing, swooning or sad for them. Kyro was everything the novel promised: a tormented prince burdened by his past and his current responsibility feeling annoyed when an arranged marriage was sprung on him.
I loved his sister Kharis, she was a surprise. She is if a cat and a dragon had a soul marriage and had her. too bad she wasn't the main lead

<u>The story</u> was not something we hadn't seen before. Two magical kingdoms at war, have to come together through marriage for the sake of their people, but secrets and treachery promise more chaos. Just note that this is not a Cultural Fantasy. Though inspired by Chinese folklore, the character descriptions and setting put this on a "whole new made-up world.

Where the story lost me was with:

<u>Clover<u/> was annoying. She is the last heir of her Cerulean Dragon clan. However, she doesn't know how to fight, she is not eloquent, she does not defend herself from the verbal attack by Kyro or his court. She is timid. And I find that ridiculous. As a princess of a kingdom fighting war, shouldn't you be trained to do that? It is not like the culture of that time forbade it because Kharis did exactly that.
Add to that, she has long-lasting feelings for her bodyguard Aaron and she literally throws herself on him and tries to seduce him WHILE IN THE CASTLE OF HER SUPPOSEDLY FUTURE HUSBAND!! So, knowing she probably will end with Kyro, this was icky.

<u>The story<u> itself was confusing. You really need to pick your brain to understand what is/was going on, and how certain present and past events are affecting the plot. Add to that, for an 330-page intense graphic book, not a lot happens

overall, it was an enjoyable read.

I want to thank Netgalley for a copy of this graphic novel to read

I found the art in this book to be aamazing and so beautiful, the deep colours used within the characters but also for the feelings etc was stunning. The story for me at first started of strong and kind of dragged a little at the end but I am looking forward to reading vol 2 when it releases to find out more of what's happening but so far it's a story I enjoyed

Beautiful artwork but I found the storyline really hard to follow. The background information wasn’t given enough depth and the scenes felt really rushed

my issues with this book:

- writing and dialogue felt unnatural and forced,

- art style was stiff and all the male characters had the exact same face but with a different hairstyle

- too short to see any character development while somehow still feeling too long and boring

still, it had dragons and a cute horse, and it's a very quick read! so if you're willing to overlook all of that and just want something entertaining to pass the day, you might want to give this one a try!

Gorgeous artwork, steamy enemies to lovers romance with a high fantasy storyline!
Clove is the last heir of the Cerulean Dragon Clan that has been battling the Crimson Empire for over 300 years.
A political alliance marriage is offered by the Crown Prince Kyro of the Crimson Empire
However he is not even interested in the mere presence of clove when she arrives
After her arrival to the crimson palace, secrets from both sides become more seen and the alliance may not be what everyone thinks.
Im so excited for volume 2 and will be starting the webtoon series!

I have been obsessed with SubZero for a long time, since it was put on webtoons, and I am so excited to see it as a series of volumes. It's got drama, danger, and dragons!! What more could you want? Not to mention the gorgeous art style. It was so lovely going back and reading where the story all began. Can't wait for volume 2.

Thank you netgalley and publishers for the arc.

I’m not a very experienced graphic novel reader as I’ve only ever picked up the Heartstopper series, so when I saw this on NetGalley I thought I’d request it and give it a go!

I was very pleasantly surprised with how much I got into the characters and the storyline - it’s certainly bingeable and took me less than 2 hours to read, and upon finishing I’m definitely looking forward to reading the next in the series!

Gorgeously bright and detailed illustrations pair with dragons and warring kingdoms to offer this interesting beginning to a comic.
Clove is the heir to the Cerulean Dragon clan fighting a war against the Crimson empire. To bring peace she agrees to marry the crimson dragon.
Great opening volume for those who haven’t read the series as there is just enough to introduce the story and leave you wanting more.
It’s always nice to read web comics in book format without the scroll eye strain.
Would recommend it to anyone wanting an enemy nation, angst, love triangle type of story.


I voluntarily read an advanced copy of this book. Thank you to the author and publisher. All thoughts and opinions are mine.

I've been following this book ever since it has been released on webtoon. The story is riveting with drama, love and mystery. It is such a fun and entertaining story, I can't wait for it to be officially published.

My ARC request was approved today, and I was so excited I read it right away. Best decision of the week...I LOVED IT 😍

I knew nothing about this book, so I went in completely blind. But then I started reading it and found people shapeshifting into dragons, enemies to lovers, a forced marriage, a snarky MMC and a FMC who seems quiet and docile, but is actually very strong and can stand up for herself. This book basically had everything I love!

And the drawings are so vibrant. I hadn't read anything in a manga style for a long time and I missed it. Seeing this style again, brought me back to when I was a teenager, reading tens of volumes of mangas every week. And the colours! I can't wait to see them on a printed page.

And obviously this volume ended on a cliffhanger and all I want to read now is volume 2 (which I think doesn't exist yet?😭 I'll go look it up now!)

thank you #netgalley and @onipress for providing me with a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

SubZero is a joy to read! There’s intrigue, mystery, and romance all offered in one gorgeous graphic novel. The primary character is Clove, a princess willing to marry the leader of a rival kingdom to end a 300-year war. But all is not what it seems with the offer of marriage, with the dragon-shifter prince Kyro, or with Clove.

Junepurrr does a great job of unfolding the layers of complex relationships that lie at the heart of Kyro’s kingdom. There are restless warriors, lovestruck guards, gossiping maids, and hidden powers—and Clove is the unwitting catalyst for action and transformation. And despite the multiple layers of deception and the many characters, Junepurrr structures everything in a clear, accessible way.

This volume contains the first 25 episodes of this series, so it’s the beginning of this saga of a dynastic marriage. But I was definitely intrigued enough to want more right away!