Shepherdess warrior vol 1 by jonathan Garnier

Illustrated by Amelie Fleu

10 years ago in Molly’s village, many of the men went off to fight in a mysterious war, leaving the village largely unguarded. The women decided to band together and create an order of warriors of the strongest and bravest women left to take up the duty of keeping everyone safe. As Molly turns 10, she can now become an apprentice and start training to become a Shepherdess Warrior. She starts going on missions across the wilderness. Her friend, Liam, desperately wants to join the order, but he’s not initially allowed because he’s a boy. Along with their trusty steeds, the Shepherdess Warriors patrol and learn skills like archery, sword-fighting, and more. On one mission, the apprentices and their master encounter a fearsome creature of black magic that they cannot overcome. The warriors must travel to the island of the witches to ask for their help in combatting the beast.

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There were many things I liked about this story. Molly and Liam are great main characters, and their sympathetic relationship with their animals is definitely going to pull at the heartstrings of young readers who have soft spots for animals. The story started off a bit slow, but it eventually pulled me in and hooked me enough with a slow and steady world build that left me disappointed when the cliffhanger ending hit. Now to some things that detracted. The lettering of this story was done by Vibrant Studios, and it often bothered me right out of the story. The chosen font was distracting, and the letters frequently exceeded the space allotted for the word balloon. There were also some odd translation choices, like modern-day euphemisms that didn't match with the time period. These little nit-picky things can add up and make a story laborious or confusing to read. However, as the target audience is younger readers, chances are most of them won’t pick up on these oddities and they will still enjoy this magical adventure story.

Sara's Rating: 7/10
Suitability Level: Grades 4-8

Publisher: Ablaze
Publication Date: July 25, 2023
ISBN: 9781684971695 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 7/10, Suitability: Elementary School, Suitability: Middle School, Graphic Fiction, Mythology, Magic, Ablaze