I LOVE I LOVE I LOVE I LOVED IT. I don’t think I can say it enough how much I enjoy it! Can’t wait to see where it goes

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy for an honest review

I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend and I can’t wait to buy a copy for myself 🙂

Rating 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was unfortunately a DNF for me. While I can see the interesting basis for the story and that it does have potential, some of the writing rubbed me the wrong way, for personal reasons. The art was pretty decent, as well.

Thank you NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for this stunning arc!

5/5 stars

This story is so imaginative, whimsical, and absolutely beautifully illustrated!! I read this so quickly I was shocked when I got to the end 😅 I don't know what took me so long to pick this up, I love it!! And that bonus chapter?! TOO CUTE!!! I can't wait for volume 2!

stunning art
really intrigued by the story and plan to pick up some physical copies of this as it releases.

I definitely was immediately drawn in by the cover.

Magic, angels, battles and demons. This is a manga about the ancient struggles between good and evil. A young orphan with black wings aspires to be an Angel even if people don’t like her but there is more to her than wings because she holds power herself.

This is book 1 in the series so there is much of the story to come but it is a great start.



Copy provided by Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

I love when I find a story that leaves me eager, hungry to find the next installment so I can learn more about the story and the characters. A Kingdom of Quartz is another story just like that for me.

Blue is a character that can grip your attention right off the back. Her upbeat, eager personality is adorable, but then finding out she is different and seeing that everyone thinks she's a demon really makes things interesting.

This first volume does a great job of introducing everything while also raising questions that one can hope are answered as the story continues.

The art style did so good at showing the situations where everything is more light-hearted verse when it's not. The darker moments really give the feeling that this could morph more into horror down the road.

Once I really got to know here and see where her journey might go, I couldn't put this down. I had to continue and learn more about these characters and the world. If you like a good fantasy that has some horror elements, pick this up. It feels promising.

Background

A Kingdom of Quartz started serialization in Kodansha's Afternoon Magazine December 23th, 2022.


Kodansha USA announced on May 23rd, 2023 that A Kingdom of Quartz will be getting a physical release February 27th, 2024.



Review

In this world, war and strife are the primary forces in action. In order to bring peace, the goddess in this tale split the world into two beings: winged beings named Celes, who carried out the will of this goddess, and those who are classified as demons. While demons were banished to a realm referred to as The Darkness, Celes were given a domain to rule to carry out the goddess's will. Those celes are named Quartz, Lovecraft, Alrune, and Lucia. These four families worked together to create a domain named the Quartz Kingdom for future Celes to live in peace.


Which brings us up to our main character: Meet Blue, an orphaned girl who's always dreamed of joining the ranks of the Angels. But unlike the other kids who have white wings, blue has pigmented wings, about which little is known. However, that detail doesn't stop Blue from being the brightest in the room and helping those around her. This title does a really good job making you feel for Blue, as her can-do attitude made me feel in awe.


For example, in the beginning chapters, we see Blue stand up to a few bullies picking on one of her friends named Noah. Albiet doesn't succeed in her attempt and falls into the arms of one of the highest-ranking members of the Quarts Kingdom, Prince Cassian.


As she regains her balance, she immediately introduces herself to him and proudly exclaims how she wants to become an angel just like him. However, instead of fanfare, we're treated to silence as onlookers look in disgust at Blue's pigmented wings and cluelessness. As she gets belittled by the townsfolk, even going so far as to call them demons, one of them raises a tomato to throw at her before a giant white wing protects her. Prince Cassian reassures Blue of her passion to become an angel and hands her the archangel badge. Another member of Cassian's group steps forward to explain that no matter who you are, as long as you carry the badge, you'll be seen as an angel. This heartwarming moment gets interrupted as one of the caretakers finds blue and rushes away back to the orphanage.


We cut back to our main protagonist wanting to do late-night reading before she notices that the quartz that shines bright in the night suddenly turns dark, and as she enters the bedroom, she encounters a disturbing sight along with the one thing that hasn't entered the kingdom since it's founding: a demon. Without diving too much into spoiler territory, we're shown a sequence of events that really showcases the "darkness" in this fantasy tale, which enables our main character Blue to awaken mysterious powers inside her, which sets the reader up for this Quartz Kingdom.


This title's artwork is something that needs its own section. It's absolutely incredible; the character designs, the aesthetic of Quartz Kingdom, and the angels and archangels really hold your attention. Especially when the story takes a dark turn and shows scenes of brutality that bestow on our cast of characters. I'm probably thinking too deeply, but it's almost refreshing to see a story such as this one give an equal amount of attention to detail to its darker tones as it's lighthearted ones. This panel here with Blue and Prince Cassian is one of many examples throughout this volume that execute this duality perfectly.


This leads into another strong suite of this title, it's power system and it's world-building. As the volume wraps up, we see a time-skip where Blue is on her way to take an entrance exam to fulfill her dream of becoming an angel. Here we're introduced to other Celes from the four different districts, each with their own distinct look to differentiate from one another. Here we meet another Cele named Killian, who, similar to Blue, is different from the others in the fact that he only has a single wing instead of two. Which brings us to this world's power system. In the Quartz Kingdom,, its power comes in the form of Solus: a source of energy that is the life force of these Celes. However, it's explained that Celes can produce this energy to fly or cast magic, though not all Celes are able to use solus easily.


These nuggets of information that's presented have me asking myself questions to the point where I pre-ordered Volume 2 immediately after reading this one because, while we saw a few hints of discrimination while Blue was on the train, is there something more deeply rooted between each of the different districts? Is there a correlation between someone's district and their ability to produce solus? Is there something like producing too much? or too little? So many questions honestly made me super excited to want to know more.


Final Thoughts


A Kingdom of Quartz is a really good dark fantasy story that excels in its art, storytelling, world-building, and most importantly, its main character, Blue. It isn't afraid to showcase how dark it'll go while providing an engaging story that makes you want to know more, learn more, and see what else will be in store for our main character, Blue. This is definitely a must-buy to add to your collection, and I'm glad Kodansha USA picked this one up for an English release and kept the localization true to the author's original intent.


I usually don't do this with reviews, but I want to ask you guys something: on the last page of this volume, we see a door. Will she open the door in the darkness? I wonder if our main character would open this one like another certain chainsawed character who has a locked door within them.


Addendum: It's "An Average Day at Quartz Co. Bonus Chapter had me laughing pretty bad and was such a delight to read I can't wait enough for more!


Verdict: Buy it

I have added a copy of this to my wishlist.
I like the cover of this book also.
The artwork of this is great also.

I will definitely be recommending this to my manga lovers. Beautifully drawn, great story, beautiful cover!

The stunning cover of this manga was what initially had caught my eye and the art remained gorgeous throughout! The celestial and demonic imagery were awe inspiring and haunting respectively. Each page was so intricate and eye catching. The story and the world also intrigued me and our main character Blue is very endearing. I wish more volumes were out already!! Fans of Witch Hat Atelier (including me) would definitely love it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me this eARC in exchange of an honest review.

The art in this manga is absolutely beautiful, Blue is an extremely lovable protagonist with the quest of becoming an Angel (the equivalence of a knight in this story). They are direct similarities to Black Clover:

- A kid raised in an orphanage who wants to become a knight
-This kid is different from everyone else (Asta being powerless, Blue having black wings)
-Will soon discover that the kid has powers related to demons
-Kingdom separated in districts
- There was a big war in the past against the demons

The first volume was okay and I will read volume 2 to see how the story develops.

5/5

A Kingdom of Quartz is about Blue, a young Celes citizen that has been born with black wings, and thus been called names and shunned by others. When tragedy strikes, Blue becomes something dark, something dangerous. But luckily the Archangel Cassian helps Blue and sets her on the path to becoming an Archangel herself.

This? This manga right here? I want to read everything right now. I want to devour this. I need this. It is everything I personally love in a manga. A fun but stubborn/strong female lead. Phenomenal art style. Excellent world-building. I couldn’t put this book down when I started reading.

I honestly can’t get over the art. It’s so beautiful. I love the eyes of basically every character. The hair too is to die for. It’s a manga that I would read for the art alone, but it just so happens the story is interesting too. Also the first few pages are in colour as a treat.

I am so extremely looking forward to continue reading this series. And if it ever became an anime? I would simply perish.

5/5

This little hidden gem gets a beautiful full score!
I will find the way to continue this series because this was hands down the best read I have had on the netgalley manga section so far.

I went through this one completely blind and I couldn't have done a better choice.
The drawings are absolutely eye candy, they are so full and busy, in a good way! They are so detailed, even the brackgrounds.

The story was absolutely a favorite since page one. Clear but not simple, with a touch of darkness and mystery.

A beautiful fantasy I will recommend to anyone.

This was very good and I am try to expand my anime section. I like having some complete series and some newer ones to keep people coming back

I really enjoyed reading this manga, it was so good!?
The synopsis made me so curious and immediately caught my attention, and I was not disappointed. Also, the artwork?! Wow! Loved it. The characters were so good too.

A great story with some of the most amazing illustrations seen. It would be a great addition to anyone’s collection of graphic novels. I can’t wait for more.

The art is stunning and the premise is intriguing. I have no regrets picking this up based on the cover alone. The contrast between the innocence of the main character and the darkness implied in the lore works well and has a lot of potential. I will definitely read volume 2!

*I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.*



Cover: Sooo good. I scroll quite fast most of the time and this made me stop. It really catched my eyes!

Drawings: I think it's quite lovely drawn. As always it's black-white as it's a manga, but the drawing style is really good. Especially the prince of Quartz. He looks so good!

Review

Nice drawings. Almost every third page has a big drawing and I personally like them a lot. The hair was also drawn really well from each character. The feathers are drawn with so much detail. And there are sometimes small stars around the drawings, I think that's cute.

Get to know the main character Blue quite fast. We get an insight of the life of Blue and how she has a hard time interacting with other's based on her wings. I can relate to her on many ways and I think showing her insecurities is a great way of making a reader connect more with the characters.

Every few pages happens a new event and it makes the reader excited to read more.


End note/Final thoughts:


Thank you for the advanced reader copy of A Kingdom of Quartz 1 by Bomhat.



Started the book: 20. March 2024
Finished the book: 20. March 2024
Wrote the review: 20. March 2024

Thank you to the publisher for the arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

First off, this art style is absolutely gorgeous. I want a physical copy just so I can stare at it. Secondly, the world building is really fun. It definitely has some Catholic influence which I think is super interesting. I'm interested in seeing where they take the goddess. I sort of hope she's the bad guy, but that's just a personal preference. It is a bit gory for those who are easily grossed out.
Belle as a character is pretty much your typical shounen manga protagonist. Highly motivated, probably the thing they hate the most, a little naive, but she is so adorable. I just want to protect her forever. I'm super interested in seeing where this goes.
I think this perfect for people who like the promised neverland.