"A lone tree will not protect us from the storm".

Heroic feminist fantasy, post-apocalyptic fairy tale in which humans are true beasts, beasts are sometimes shapeshifters, and witches and ogres hold what's left of humanity in their hearts - before the murderous fog swallows them all up.

Grisette the witch flees, hunted by the angry mob that her husband, human as can be, cannot control. Wounded, she collapses in the middle of a gathering of witches, clutching a baby - a little girl with red eyes and sharp teeth...

Eighteen years later, Temperance, the ogress, has become the daughter of the whole village - and is preparing for the rite of passage, even though Grisette has always refused to teach her any spells... But everyone has their own place in the world, and Temperance The Mist Walker will soon discover hers.

I'm a big fan of Stéphane Fert - he's always been a brilliant artist with a very recognisable style, and over the years and albums he's also become a great storyteller, who knows how to keep the tension up, release it with smiles and provide reading levels to marvel children and adults alike. Don't hesitate - enter the magical, frightening and wise world of The Mist Walker. Like all great stories, this one hides the secrets of real life.

Disclaimer: I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. This didn't influence my opinion in any way.

The Mist-Walker was a delight to read from start to finish. I was blown away by the artwork from the very first page and the story instantly grabbed my attention.

This art style is absolutely phenomenal. I feel like I say this every time, but this is genuinely one of my favourites of all time. It’s stunning and so beautifully stylised. I’m a big fan of really colourful graphic novels but I also like the dialled-down monochromatic ones. The blues and pinks used in The Mist-Walker are two of my favourite colours and they just look so good. Sorry, I’ll stop gushing about the artwork now.

I will say that the story, for me, was overshadowed by the artwork just slightly. However, it was quite interesting. I’m still a little confused about what The Mist is and where it came from, but I’m intrigued enough to want to read the next instalment.

The cast of characters was so much fun and I adored the character designs, especially Temperance and Asma - absolutely gorgeous. They all had very distinct personalities and I enjoyed their little backstories, hopefully, we learn more about them in future volumes.

The story leaves you on a cliffhanger and I’m 100% looking forward to the next volume, I need to know what is going on and who/what Temperance is. I’d definitely recommend The Mist-Walker.

Thank you so much for an e-ARC of this, I loved reading it!

The Mist-Walker is the story of Temperance, a half-ogre raised by witches since she was a child. However when the time comes for her initiation ceremony, an evening of celebration and frivolity turns to something much darker very quickly. But can Temperance find a way to save those she holds most dear to her?

The art in this is sensational - the varied colour palettes ranging from the deep purples of the misty forest to the warm autumnal wash of the village squash patch was so satisfying, and the range of characters was brilliantly depicted too. I loved the variety of bodytypes (and I was thrilled to see that the artist is not afraid of subtle nudity and embracing body positivity!) which was a lovely bonus. I also thought some of the panels in which there was no dialogue were some of the most striking, which is always a testament to skill!

This title ends on a CLIFFHANGER though so be warned - you will be desperate to know what happens next! I'm also so curious to see where the sapphic romance leads as I'm really hoping this develops and is explored in a more intentional and fleshed out way in the next installment.

I would definitely recommend this as a beautifully crafted and perfect read for spooky season!

thank you for the eARC!

the illustrations are absolutely gorgeous! i love the story the plot the characters!

the story is very interesting & I cannot wait to see what happens the second volume.

i don’t read much graphic novels but this one’s cover intrigued me. i love this

Thank you for the arc.

The illustrations and colours are absolutely beautiful, and they carry the story to another level. Really adds to the emotional side of it.

I must admit, that my attention dropped a few times, I can't say if it's the storyline or the flow. Overall a beautiful piece.

The art is absolutely lovely and the story was a great. I do agree with other reviewers that it could have been a bit longer to get a bit more fleshed out. On a more personal note, I'm not sure if it was my screen, my eyes or what, but I found the font difficult to read at points. I still enjoyed it and would recommend it for someone interested.

Temperance, a half ogre, has been raised by witches since infancy. As her coming of age ceremony is about to begin, everything goes... wrong.

This is a tough one to rate. The art is absolutely gorgeous - a total stand out! I love the diversity of bodies that we see with the witches, and also an almost entirely female cast? Amazing!
However, I wish this story had been maybe 50 pages longer. All of the world-building felt extremely rushed and I often felt like I was missing some pieces of information. I would have been happy to have those pages give more dialogue or even just to see more scenery. I honestly felt like some of the most powerful world-building came from some of the beautiful views drawn in panels without dialogue. I think just taking a little more time to explore the world would have been a really big bonus.
I also felt a few times that this story played too heavily on antisemitic tropes that are often featured in witch stories (see: big noses, baby-eating-ogres, consumption of blood...) While it wasn't a big part, it gave me a bit of the "ick" for the first 40 or so pages. I think making NOT the witch that was Temperance's grandmother the one with the biggest stereotypical form would have helped a lot.

Another negative - which honestly is only a negative if you're invested! - is this story ended on a very severe cliff-hanger! Super annoying when you want to learn more about the story!

Overall, though, I am quite interested to see where this story goes! I'll definitely be looking forward to reading the next volume when it's released in English!

I am in love with the art style of his book! It so pretty! All the characters have different bodyshapes, and are characterized partly through that. An extremely cool concept.

If I have to be nitpicky the story got a little long winded at times, but that really is a minor problem.

The introduction was so good, and it really gives a great impression on how the story is going to work, and the premise of this world.

The art in this is beautiful, and was what first drew my eye to it. The imagery is phenomenal, and even on pages without words it still invoked the emotions it hoped to.

The worldbuilding was natural, and the story started slow at first but very quickly picked up at the end. The conflict of the mist and the creatures in it vs the witches vs the “lost ones” potentially hunting the witches all felt natural and made the world seem much bigger than the little sliver we can see in this first book.

Plus the ending was a heart punch and I can’t wait to see what happens next!

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Europe Comics for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Recommended: yes!
For a dark but loving story, for compelling magical lore, for art that carries an impressive amount of mood with it

Thoughts:
OK YEP I LIKED THIS ONE! But y'all -- that ending -- I need Volume 2 ASAP.

Before getting to the ending though, the journey (literally) of the story was one I flew through. I was quickly invested in the characters and world, which is impressive and critical when you've only got 120-ish pages to tell this first part of the story. To get me to care about these characters in a short span was key to how much the rest of it impacted me.

This book feels like hope. That might sound a bit strange, given the perils they face in it and how overwhelming it all seems, but despite the darkness -- of the world, of their situations, even of the art -- there's a lot of love between the characters that brings the light to balance. The art can be formless at times, which makes sense given the nature of mist, and helped establish a feeling of disquiet that mirrored the characters' emotions well.

Favorite panel / scene was when we see more of Grizette's power. I got goosebumps all over and just looked at that page for a few minutes. Favorite little addition is the sound effects like SBOUF that just felt so accurate and made me smile.

One tiny spoiler I guess? Though I would argue it didn't matter at all and came out of nowhere and felt forced -- (view spoiler)

Thanks to Europe Comics and NetGalley for a free copy. This is my honest review.

Set in the heart of a self-built safe haven inhabited by an unlikely coven of witch sisters, Stéphane Fert weaves a story of self-identity, suspicious shadows, sweet sapphic sub-plots... and lots and lots of squash!

I'd be doing this graphic novel a huge disservice if I didn't use my first breath to wax poetic about the stunning art that accompanies this story. With a limited colour palette which flip-flops from warm hues to deeper greys and blues, Fert's work has a magical storybook feel to it... but with no shortage of nudity, profanity and feminist fury.

Despite The Mist-Walker's action-packed and spooky storyline, there is no shortage of heart and humour. Each character has a unique 'gift' and character design which gives this hodgepodge ensemble of half-friends so much character. There were panels that had me scrunching my nose up in glee, grinning wildly and biting back laughter.

I would recommend this graphic novel to fans of Rachel Eaton's storytelling & Tilly Walden's artwork.

I am incredibly excited to add a physical copy of this to my bookshelf in future, and to continue with the next volume! A perfect read for the fast-approaching spooky season.

Many, many thanks to Stéphane Fert, Europe Comics and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Grisette is sooooo bitter about everything, and why wouldn’t she teach Temperance magic? All her aunts seemed to have expected it. And poor Esther gets lost amongst the Mist and is hard of hearing. But I will say, what Grisette did teach Temperance came in handy when she went to try to save Ester, and poker Esther died. I was so sad. The illustrations were top notch, and the plot was page turning. Can’t wait to get this in paperback. AND THAT CLIFFHANGER?!?!?! I need the next installment, asap!

I love this kind of stories that have all you want in a witchly environment but I have to struggle to read thought that kind of typography. It was just super messy and my eyes hurt

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

My Selling Pitch:
Do you want stunning, witchy art? Do you like post-apocalyptic and fairytale vibes?

Pre-reading:
I randomly got this on NetGalley because the cover was gorgeous.

Thick of it:
This art is stunning.

Oh, I don’t want her to die! I got attached so fast!

I cannot get over how beautiful this art is.

The colors are just incredible.

I like how campy and self-aware this book is

Oh!
Wow, this book really loves to get you attached to people and immediately kill them. That hurt.

OK, the sapphic romance is a little too fast.

Post-reading:
The art-5 stars. Absolutely 5 stars. It's quirky and beautiful and stylized. The color story is amazing and so, so thoughtful on every page.

The story’s pacing is a bit fast and infodumpy, but it's also a graphic novel so the wordier it is, the more drawings, and that's a lot of work. I think the main character’s romance is too fast. It was doing a lovely, subtle slow burn and then went zero to sixty for the ending.

It's hard to judge the completeness of the story because it's clearly setting up the world for the reader. It doesn't feel like a complete story arc, but I don’t necessarily think it was trying to. It's definitely a well, I have to keep reading ending.

It did an excellent job of attaching us to characters in a few panels with very, very little dialogue. That's impressive. The deaths were sad.

I can't wait to read more. It's not the clearest story I've seen in a graphic novel, but I think you have to pick this up for the art alone.

Who should read this:
Witchy art fans
Fairytale fans
Sapphic romance readers

Do I want to reread this:
Maybe? Would definitely continue and I want to make other people read it.

Similar books:
* Nimona by N. D. Stevenson-modern fantasy art style, morally gray villains, queer
* Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall-beautiful femme werewolf art, high school mean girls
* Monstress by Marjorie M. Liu-steampunk fantasy fairytale, gory, queer

A graphic novel perfect for spooky season! Witches, ogres and a magical mist.

Temperance is an ogress who was adopted by a clan of witches after being left behind by the mists. Years later, the mist returns and it wants Temperance back. The witches and Temperance set out on an adventure to save Temperance from the mist and work out what her future will hold.

The art style is stunning, it has such a unique colour palette that really adds to the atmosphere of the story.

Feminism, importance of community, LGBTQIA+ rep

I look forward to seeing what future volumes hold!

The perfect cozy autumn read.
Fantasy, Witches, Orges, Magical Mist?
Gorgeous artwork and a fun cast of characters to follow along with on their adventure.

A graphic novel with beautiful dark artwork, the paler used is really atmospheric and suits the tone of the comic really well.
The story is simple and easy to follow, lovely mixture of text and art to make reading easy and quick, the story is interesting and a great start to the series setting the scene well for future issues.
I enjoy the element of the fog and the characters within, the coven gives a found family feel and holds some interesting characters and dynamics.
I really enjoyed the reading and the art even more, there are some beautiful frames of scenery and characters that you can’t help but sit back and admire.
A great start to a series, suitable for those who love fantasy, witchcraft and sting female leads.
A big thank you for allowing me to read and review.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. I adore the art style and colour palette’s used in this graphic novel. The perfect spooky season read, I devoured this in one sitting and can’t wait to see where the story continues! You immediately fall in love with the characters and I already want to live amongst these witches, more please!

A perfect graphic novel for spooky season.

I adored the art style in this gn. The palettes were a good mix of soft and inviting and harsh and a good indicator for darker themes.

I loved that we got introduced to the world throughout the book but got a general understanding right off of the bat. The storyline was so interesting and I just want to know what is going to happen to Temperance in the next volume!

I was a little bit sceptical of this book going forward as I haven’t read anything from this author before, but I was thoroughly surprise absolutely adored the story I don’t have the concept that sometimes people can embrace the true nature, but not be exactly what that true nature is in a controller on destiny I also absolutely love the art style, the concept, all the different personalities and the character arc of the main person. I will 100% read more from this author going forward and I will also look into purchasing this book physically. I have not read a five star book in a long time, and this one was a pleasant surprise.