Blog Tour Review: Blades of Furry, Vol. 1 by Deya Muniz & Emily Erdos

Hi friends, I’m back for another blog tour today! I’m excited to share my thoughts as part of the blog tour hosted by TBR & Beyond Tours for Blades of Furry by Deya Muniz & Emily Erdos.

Thanks to Little, Brown Ink for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Blades of Furry, Vol. 1
Publisher
: Little, Brown Ink
Publication Date: 13 May 2025
Genre: Young Adult Graphic Novel

Rating:

(5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

Enter the high stakes world of battle skating in this rivals-to-lovers romance based on the spectacularly popular webcomic.

Emile is an up-and-coming rookie in battle skating, a sport that combines the grace of figure skating with the high impact sparring of martial arts. Just as he is gearing up to fight in his next duel at the championships, there’s a change in the lineup! To his horror, he’ll have to face off against reigning champion Radu, the best battle skater in the world (and Emile’s longtime skating idol). There’s no way he can win!

During a pivotal moment in their match, however, Emile discovers Radu’s most closely guarded secret…and it’s a bloody one. This could destroy Radu’s career for good, but when feelings start to develop between them both on and off the rink, will this rivalry turn into something more…?

Based on the WEBTOON hit comic with over forty million views and half a million subscribers, this irresistible story full of heart-pounding romance, breathtaking skate battles, and secrets both good and bad is now available in a gorgeous print edition that includes never-before-seen content!

📚 BUY A COPY

TL;DR: Inject this into my veins because I want to live and breathe this 24/7. Holy granola, I don’t have the words for how much I enjoyed this and I’m so glad it came on my radar. Not to exaggerate or anything, but if I could give it a million stars I would. It might even be one of my favourite reads of the year and I know that sounds wild but honestly, I had the best time reading it. I laughed, cried, squee-d and even raged in frustration. Not only did it make me feel all the things but it left me feeling so full of happy, and I can’t remember the last time a book left me feeling this satisfied. 🥹 I came to love these characters and got so invested in their arcs that I may have gone to finish what’s available of the Webtoon series because I’m not going to put myself through the torture of waiting any longer than I have to. Sorry, not sorry! 🤭 Needless to say, this has easily slotted itself into my favourite graphic novels/webcomics of all time and I would urge you to check it out asap. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, even if you don’t consider yourself to be a furry (cos neither was I)! 😉

First of all, this artwork? AMAZING. The way these authors capture the expressiveness of each character is amazing. I love how they have distinctive facial expressions, mannerisms, and how their vibrant personalities translate through the illustrations on the page! It made these characters come screaming to life and it made it all the more easy for me to get attached to them and tumble into their arcs. There are also incredible characters, interesting arcs and a tension-filled plot.

I found the battle skating aspect of the story so interesting/unique and I loved that, as much as we get the fluffy relationship aspect, we also get to see these athletes training hard and competing against each other! This competition is clearly violent and the juxtaposition of beautifully fluid figure skating moves at one moment with the brutal slashes and take downs in the next second, was pretty cool! What I also appreciated that while on the surface, this is an incredibly entertaining, hilarious, and absorbing story, I loved the themes that the authors chose to tackle in this LGBTQIA+ graphic novel. It explores all kinds of relationships: friendship, romantic, sibling, familial, and also tackles bigotry and discrimination, among others.

Did I already mention how heavily invested I was in these characters and their well-being? Because I sm! Emile and Radu are my favourited and I loved their arcs. Their romance was the purest thing and I loved seeing them go from rivals to reluctant training partners to the smooshiest lovers. They’re fool simps for each other. The banter was also top notch, and I don’t just mean between Emile and Radu, but between the friend group as a whole. I lost count of the number of times I laughed out loud (in public too, I might add!) reading some of these scenes and interactions. This friend group had the most fantastic chemistry and it made for such a pleasant read! I loved them all especially Iacob, Hana and Mimi!

I’m going to stop myself while I’m ahead because I’ve already gone on much longer than I meant to. It’s hard to stop talking about a book you loved so much when all you want to do is gush about how amazing it was! I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this graphic novel, even if you aren’t normally about the furry characters. If you’re a fan of the anime series Beastars, then this book will undoubtedly be your cuppa and you should let it fall into your lap!

Deya Muniz was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where they grew up watching Pride and Prejudice and reading copious amounts of shojo manga. In 2017, they moved to the United States to pursue a master’s degree in sequential art, where they met and fell in love with a wonderful girl who makes delicious grilled cheese sandwiches.

Author Socials:
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Emily Erdos was born and raised in the Midwest with a wild love of making up tales that tugged on people’s heartstrings. After attending the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and Savannah College of Art and Design, she graduated with an MFA and married her comic partner-in-crime, Deya Muniz. They now live and create sweet and silly stories together with their dog children, Ellie and Pumpkin, by their sides!

Author Socials:
Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Have you read Blades of Furry or is it on your TBR?

15 thoughts on “Blog Tour Review: Blades of Furry, Vol. 1 by Deya Muniz & Emily Erdos

  1. Ohh, I did see the blog tour about this and thought it would be interesting to read, but didn’t manage to sign up in time! Glad you loved it, and it sounds like something I would definitely enjoy! The art does look great!

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I’m glad you loved this one, Dini. My daughter was a figure skater, and I’m not sure about the battle part, but when she switched to hockey she has no problem with the take downs. I’m not a graphic novel gal, but I know they are loved by many and as a teacher librarian, I bought a lot for the school library.

    Liked by 1 person

      • I grew up on Archie comics, Dini. My grandpa was a pharmacist (they called them druggists back then) and I slept at their place a lot on weekends. He would bring the Archie comics home for me to read. I had to be very careful with them, because he took them back and put them on the shelf on the Monday. 😁

        Liked by 1 person

        • That’s awesome, Carla! I did love Archie comics and every time I see them now I do feel quite nostalgic 🙂 I haven’t read one in ages and I think they’re starting to re-print them again (or at least, I’ve seen one or two in the store here but they’ve started introducing new characters, I think hehe)!

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