A Sparrow’s Roar by Cristina Rose Chua, Paolo Chikiamco
Special thanks to BOOM!Studios for sending a copy for review.
Summary:
A Knight’s tale about duty, duels, driving your sister crazy…all while trying to save the country from a secret that threatens to tear it apart.
When a seemingly harmless prank goes wrong, knight-in-training Per of Esterpike watches her sister Elena, famed hero and leader of Lions, murdered by a barbarian horde set on wiping Esterpike off the map. Together with Elena’s second-in-command Amelia, Per must impersonate her sister and travel to Unity’s capital to convince the Generals of each city-state to provide aid against the oncoming horde. But as Per moves forward on her quest, she comes upon a conspiracy that might just threaten Unity itself! (Goodreads)
Thoughts:
A Sparrow’s Roar is a graphic novel about sisterhood. Although short, it has a lot to offer. From magic and heroes to death and character growth, this graphic novel is a mixed bag-full.
Let’s begin with Per, the protagonist. Per is, simply put, very likable! As a young knight, she’s blunt, honest, and gives off a very refreshing feel. Although her mistakes killed her own sister, she tries to atone for them in her own way. She faces her problems and doesn’t flee. It’s almost touching to see her grow, and come to terms with the world. There’s something human about Per, and that makes her incredibly charming.
The setting is also very well written! I found the medieval concept of the graphic novel quite interesting. With knights, heroes, kingdoms and magic, it’s a classic fantasy world, but in the detailed way the authors portray it, it feels intriguing. Esterpike (the main setting where the story takes place) is well-developed and intricate in design. Each ‘nation-state’ has their own specialties which provide distinct and vivid colour to the world.
I found the plot to be a bit rushed. While the general premise of the graphic novel is good, the execution doesn’t feel very smooth. Perhaps it would have been better to increase the page count of the graphic novel to spread the contents out a bit more. It would be much better for the plot to be given more time to develop and to aid a gradual flow in story telling.
The art is really great. The characters are drawn in a cute manner, and the backgrounds are detailed and well-designed. From the sweat drops on Per’s face from training, to the intricate expressions on the character’s faces, everything is done with great care. Different tones of colour are skillfully used to create feelings of tension, fear, and contentment. The details put into this graphic novel really shines!
Yet, there is a small problem with the character designs. I found that the characters, despite their vivid personalities, didn’t look very distinct. They all look kind of similar, and it was a bit difficult to differentiate between Per and her sister in the beginning. Although Per and Elena are twins and are supposed to be alike, the only differentiating factor between the two is their eye colour; otherwise, their design are near identical! It was really confusing. I had to reread the synopsis to figure out what had been going on! The art itself is very good, but it’s just a little hard to follow.
Overall, A Sparrow’s Roar is a solid graphic novel. It can be read by all ages and has a wonderfully developed world. As long as you can look past its flaws, it is definitely worth a read!
Reviewed by Jing M.