Blog Tour Review: Arcana: The Lost Heirs by Sam Prentice-Jones

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 Toppling Stacks Tours for Arcana: The Lost Heirs by Sam Prentice-Jones.

Thanks to Feiwel & Friends for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

^{Click the banner above or here to check out the other incredible bloggers on the blog tour!}

Arcana: The Lost Heirs
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: 24 June 2025
Genre: New Adult Graphic Novel

Rating:

^{(4 pandas)}

📖 SYNOPSIS

Debut author/illustrator Sam Prentice-Jones explores fighting against your destiny and reconciling the actions of your ancestors in Arcana: The Lost Heirs, a tarot-inspired fantasy graphic novel for young adults.

James, Daphne, Koko, and Sonny have all grown up surrounded by magic in the Arcana, an organization of witches that protects the magical world, run by the mysterious and secretive Majors. Eli Jones, however, didn’t even know other witches existed… until he stumbled into James. As James introduces Eli to the world of the Arcana, he finds the family he never had, and a blossoming romance with James.

The five new friends soon realize that sinister things are afoot and everything may not be what it seems at the Arcana. When the group delves deeper into the mystery surrounding the deaths of their parents and the Major’s rise to power, they discover that they’re at the center of a curse – one they’ve just unwittingly set into motion. As the friends search for answers, they’ll have to confront the cursed legacy that links them in hopes of freeing their futures.

📚 BUY A COPY

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Death of parent, generational trauma

Arcana: The Lost Heirs is a great start to a new graphic novel series! It’s witchy, mysterious, and had a great found-family vibe going on. The art style and colour palette matched the story perfectly and I loved how different colours were used for varying characters but also emotions, moods, and events! It set the scenes apart quite well and helped to project a strong atmosphere for the story.

I loved the diversity and representation with the wholesome group vibes, and how well they all gelled. These are folk who will unquestionably have each other’s backs and it was wonderful to see them welcome Eli into their group with wide open arms. I especially loved Koko’s enthusiasm—she’s a beautiful emotionally charged human and I could relate to that! 😂 Eli was a wonderful MC and I felt how happy he was to learn about the existence of other witches, and to finally find a place with a group of people where he felt he really belonged. The other members in the group had more subdued personalities in comparison, but alongside Eli’s main character, I also liked James and how he complemented Eli’s more grounded nature with a joy that almost matched Koko’s. Daphne was definitely the sensible and reliable figurehead and I also connected with Sonny’s introverted, bookworm, history buff personality. As mentioned, this is an introduction to the series and so we only get small glimpses into each character and their backstories, but I wanted to know more about each of them (and I can’t wait to continue the series to do so)!

Aside from the wonderful characters, I was also intrigued by the mystery of the Farm Hill barn fire, the history of the original Arcana majors, and I was eager to see how the current majors would eventually reveal their sinister natures. I wished that we got to see a bit more magic—especially with Eli being trained by the current majors and seeing how their interactions went. Basically, I was ready to learn more about everything ASAP and I wasn’t ready for the story to end just as the action really picks up, but Prentice-Jones definitely knows how to reel readers in with an interesting story! Oh, that cliffhanger… What a way to end this first volume of the series! 🫣

I’m an author-illustrator working in Brighton UK who graduated from Arts University Bournemouth in 2019 with a BA Hons in Illustration, specialising in graphic, character-based work. I like to create work that celebrates diversity and queer culture and even created a queer illustration magazine titled POOF Magazine which ran from 2019-2021. The goal of this magazine was to help uplift and celebrate LGBTQIA+ creators making themed work for each issue. My work is mainly digital and I have had the chance to create work for the worlds of book publishing, web design, advertising and product design as well as being featured in art fairs across the UK and being named one of the most influential queer illustrators working in the UK by We Built This City, London.
Represented by the Bright Agency.

Author Socials:
Website | Instagram | Goodreads