Hi friends, I’m excited to be back for another blog tour today and this time it’s for an adorable new graphic novel! I’m here to share my thoughts as part of the blog tour hosted by Toppling Stacks Tours for Forgive-Me-Not by Mari Costa.

Thanks to First Second Books 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!}

TL;DR: Oh my, what an adorable feel-great graphic novel! This had the cheesiest ending but it still had me giggling and feeling a buoyant giddiness that left a big smile on my face long after I’d finished reading. This is a timeless fairytale where princess meets knight and they fall in love, but with a changeling twist and a sapphic bent that I loved.

The artwork was fantastic and complemented the story really well. I loved the contrast between the brighter spring palette human world and the darker autumnal palette of the faerie world. I think this contrast was also reflected well in the personalities between Aisling and Not. I loved the art style so much, with clean lines, intense colours, and very emotive character expressions and actions! There were some chibi-adjacent illustrations that I found adorable, and I particularly loved how the expressions in those scenes were conveyed too.

Aisling and Not are so easy to love! The way Not comes in and drags Aisling to the faerie world, they definitely start off as ‘enemies’, but Aisling’s genuine (and somewhat goofily enthusiastic) naïveté, pure heart, and kind and thoughtful nature ensured that any walls that Not put up were quickly brought down. She’s a true princess who’s loved by all her subjects in the mortal world, and whose good nature endears her to many she comes across. She believes wholeheartedly in romance and fairytale endings with improbable happy-ever-afters, and I honestly loved that about her! She’s a font of positivity which made it so easy to root for her.

In perfect contrast is Forget-Me-Not or Not or Folkslayer. She was the hardened and grumpy knight who was the true princess that was kidnapped and brought to the faerie world as a baby. She presents an incredibly tough exterior and has built up a solid realm-wide reputation of being a ruthless killer. But underneath that hard shell, she’s actually a softie who’s doing her best to survive in a world where being human is a great disadvantage. Throughout the story we learn of some of the horrible experiences she had growing up in the realm, but still this place is more home to her than the mortal world, and she longs to be seen and appreciated for who she is.

As Not brings Aisling deeper into the faerie world, and they learn more about each other and their experiences, their dynamic quickly changes. I enjoyed their banter and how thrown off/flustered Not became at some of Aisling’s reactions and questions regarding her experiences. 😂 It was kind of really adorable! They had a very fun dynamic and mixed within that, there were lots of sweet and touching moments, some that even made me teeter over to the side of very emotional.

I loved seeing Not soften towards Aisling, and while the romance does happen quickly, I think how it unfolds and especially how it ends, fits their story perfectly. Of course, I would’ve loved to have seen a deeper exploration of the impact of both their experiences in the faerie world. I particularly would’ve liked to see when Not realises how she’s blaming Aisling for something she never asked for and had no hand in, and how it makes her a victim, too.

Overall though, I thought this was a fantastic graphic novel that still makes me smile at the thought of it. I can’t wait to read more by this author in the future—if she writes more stories like this, she could definitely become a new auto buy author for graphic novels! 😍

Is Forgive-Me-Not on your TBR or does it sound like something you’d enjoy reading?

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