The straw king was full of beautiful vibrant colors. I found myself reading way to fast and not stoping to enjoy the colors and drawings, so when I forced myself to really slow down and take it all in I was in awe. Isabelle art is amazing.
I would of loved to see more dialogue between Neith and Sennedjem, when they found a way out also a few more pages but still I loved this short story.
So insightful and you can take a chance and read this and take in the art.
Thank you Netgalley.

First of all, the artwork in this graphic novel is absolutely stunning. The use of colour really suits the setting. I wish the issue had been a little longer with less time skipping however, it felt a little rushed.

I think seeing how Neith and Sennedjem were taken by the slavers would have slowed things down enough for me.

My only other complaint on this graphic novel is the font choice, i feel like it can be a little difficult to read at times.

First off, this was a beautifully illustrated graphic novel, with lush backgrounds and great use of colors. Several times while reading I stopped just to look closer at the details drawn into the backgrounds of some of the larger panels.
I would have liked to have seen a little of Neith and Sennedjem's journey between their first talk of fleeing to their capture 10 days later, but that is a small nitpick. Some of the dialogue was also a bit hard to follow at times due to how much text was in a panel at once, but that happened only occasionally.

I was pleasantly surprised by the character of Shamhat and she turned into one of my favorite characters while reading. I liked how down to earth and realistic she was, despite the position she was in. The relationship between the siblings is also great, especially with how determined Neith is to save her brother.

Overall, I enjoyed reading The Straw King. It was fast paced with little filler. I would definitely recommend it and I look forward to book 2.

A well researched and interesting graphic novel! I enjoyed the characters, and the history involved was fascinating. Also loved the attention to detail with the clothing, architecture, and hairstyles.

From the very first page, the art was gorgeous. The landscapes and the details in them were especially mesmerising. I loved the setting and premise, and I wish the story hadn't felt quite so rushed and frantic, so I could have appreciated that a bit more.
I loved the focus on the sibling relationship. However, we were told early on that the siblings were close and loyal to each other, but I wish we could have seen that for ourselves, rather than having to believe it based on limited dialogue between the two. I love close siblings in fiction, so I would have loved to have seen more of them together before the rest of the rest of the story took place.
What is more, the dialogue felt stilted and artificial, and the overall story felt a bit choppy and rushed to me. While that is understandable with the amount of action we're shown in so few pages, I do wish it had slowed down a bit and taken its time.

I really wanted to love this because I have a lifelong love of anything Ancient Egypt, and have always thought that literature had a severe lack of plots set in this time period.
First off I want to say that this comic has beautiful art, it really brought the set and the characters to life. Hence my 3 stars.
My issue came with the dialogue - it either read like it was trying to tell us (reader) specific information, or like it was someone communicating in a modern setting - and both of these things made it very unnatural and brought me out of that setting. I highly doubt many of these terms of endearment were seen in the English language prior to the past 100 years. I know this is picky, but it really ruined the setting for me.
The plot also felt a little all over the place - I appreciate that author has to try and fit so much into a short comic but it felt very disjointed at times.

As the author says, much of what we know about Egypt comes from the Greeks, and although this is based on history, there is only so much that has filtered down to us. The two main characters, Neith and Sennedjem, are children of the Pharaoh, who thought they could go on adventure, and end up being sold as slaves to the royal court of Babylon. Although they wanted to run away from home, they don't want to be slaves, and so try everything they can to escape, especially since Sennedjem is set to be the Straw King, the king figure that is killed in order to appease the gods, and take away bad luck from the real king.

The art is fantastic, and the story is good, but it is part 1 of 2, so hard to say how this will all end, but oh, my, so far so good.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

An interesting story that takes you back to ancient Egypt that lightly touches upon complicated family relationships, slavery, religious rituals, political battles and more.
At the heart of the story is Neith and her brother Sennedjem, both children of the royal family in Egypt who decide to run away and go into a lot of troubles on the way.

The Straw King
Volume 1
Isabelle's Dethan
Graphic Novel
4 ⭐

Thank you Netgalley for the free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

About the book:
Egypt, 7th century BCE. Neith and Sennedjem are two of many royal children too far down the inheritance ladder to matter. Facing limited prospects—she’s likely to wind up in her own father’s bed, and he won’t even wind up an advisor—they set out instead to see the world. But the ancient world is full of dangers, and soon enough, the royal pair find themselves sold off to the court of Babylon by slave traders. As a lady-in-waiting, Neith becomes entangled in another royal family’s power struggles, while her brother falls victim to a bizarre religious ritual: the Straw King…

My take:
This was a beautiful graphic novel, rich in Egyptian and Babylonian political, religious, and social culture. I loved the mystery and suspense, and I was sad it ended! I'm gonna need part 2 to come out real soon.

Librarians and parents:
This is probably okay for most high school students. There are some topless women, which is fitting for the time, but it is not excessive.

The Straw King has a wonderfully unique premise! I wish the novel had been a bit longer; the first part seemed short compared to other graphic novels I've read. Some of the jumps between the scenes and the characters' feelings seemed a bit unrealistic to me. The attitudes of Neith and Sennedjem seemed very modern in their take, which I did not like. The art style was beautiful, and landscape scenes were -chef kiss-. The details were exquisite.

The Straw King was an entertaining and gorgeous story of two siblings who flee their prospects as children far down the line of the Pharoah of Egypt's succession.
The art was definitely the highlight of this story - it was stunning, vivid and colourful, depicting the lush world in a gorgeous way. It lit up the story and brought it to life in absolutely amazing way!
Neith was a great character - beautiful, brave and smart. She was willing to do anything to save her brother, she was kind at heart, fierce and adventurous.
The story was action packed and entertaining. It was the story of the fierce love between two siblings, court politics and adventure! I was pretty confused for the first 10 or so pages as there wasn’t a lot of detail in the writing but I quickly got enveloped in the story as more became clear!
There were a lot of aspects to the story line that tangled together and made it exciting, and I look forward to hopefully reading the second issue and finding out what happens

Beautiful artwork that was colourful and eye catching. The style really works well with this particular period in history. The subject matter is a little different as most of the graphic novels I've read have been about superheroes or space. I really enjoyed the quick trip into Ancient Egypt, that had clearly been well researched.

First of all: this book is beautiful. The overall colour scheme blew me away immediately, and made me stare at the drawings for minutes, trying to discover more details. I only recently started reading graphic novels and have been enjoying them so much, so I got very excited when I found this book.

This is the story of Neith and Sennedjem, children of the Pharaoh who set out to see the world but end up being sold to the enemy Babylonian empire as slaves. When Sennedjem is chosen to represent the Babylonian king in an ancient religious ritual that will end with his death, Neith tries everything in her power to rescue him...

As I have said before, the art in this book is absolutely stunning. Ancient egypt is really brought to life in this story, and makes you feel completely immersed. The characters are amazing, and the plot so gripping that you can't stop flipping the pages. The only negative thing I can say about this book is that sometimes, the plot seemed to jump a bit too quickly for me, and I was confused what exactly was happening. Then again, it is possible that that's just because I was reading too quickly, wanting to find out what happens next.

All in all: If, like me, you are trying to get into graphic novels or like to try out something new, I can really recommend picking up this wonderful book!

Although this book is quite short, it is action packed. I read it in one sitting and could not put it down. The art was spectacular, and the plot was very intriguing. It follows a girl named Neith who escapes the fate of marrying her father only to be sold into slavery to Egypt's enemy kingdom, Babylon. It is a story about love and devotion between Neith and her half brother. I think one of the most intriguing things about this book is the political drive behind many of the characters actions. It is a great reminder that after all, we are all human. Overall, I would defiantly recommend this book, I just wish it had been longer.

Wonderful representation of history, and the myths of Egypt. Beautiful illustration that draws you in with a plot that keeps you reading.

So much fun! I could wish for a bit more context, though. Political, emotional, religious, really any dimension of context would do. Still, the artwork is lovely and the world believable. I very much enjoyed this and look forward to reading its sequel.

4 stars

this was an amazing read for me personally felt that i was in the graphic novel in Egypt.
It has been my dream to enter the place and be mesmerize with the king and princess, they are known to have the best art and crafts in Egypt.

The storyline for this graphic novel was smooth and very easy to understand. Loved the illustrations a lot.
Neith was very determined and loyal to her brother. The way she saved the princess kid was amazing and shocking at the same time. i wanted more for this book personally and cannot wait for book 2.

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC! I was initially drawn to this graphic novel by the cool cover and the fact that I love anything Ancient Egyptian. I thought the plot was well done and well paced and I really loved the artwork. I found the font a little bit tiny though so it was a bit hard to read especially with the swirly font choice. The dialogue was very to the point and I also liked how Isabelle included a glossary at the end. The plot was quite action packed and I can't wait to read the sequel!

Breaking my normal pattern I'm going to talk about characters first. They are undoubtedly the highlight of the book and that is saying something! Neith was very engaging as a character & she had the right kind of female strength I'm always prowling for. Senn is a character I'm interested to see further development in further along the series, which I also like because I've not had everything dumped on me. Amal is another one I feel this way about and am looking forward to see his growth. Shamat wasn't was I was expecting in the best possible way. She was possibly my favourite character in an understated way. The story was incredibly fast paced, more so than I was anticipating. Nothing seemed left out or lacking but also nothing felt drawn out. Very well done with the pacing. The artwork is probably the best artwork I've encountered in a while. It was beautiful and immersive. It draws you in so you could be walking through ancient Egypt and Babylon. Loved this book and would highly recommend.

A beautifully illustrated historical story, What I liked most about this book was the wonderful artwork. Pictures with depth and detail that really pull you in to the setting of the book. A great retelling of a historical account, but the split in the story leaves you feeling unsatisfied, I want to know what happens next and I am very keen to read the second half.