Nimona

Nimona is a badass shapeshifter who can fool you with her appearance as a little girl. All she wants is to be the evil sidekick of our supervillain Lord Ballister Blackheart. He may be the villain in the eyes of everyone but he is an antihero who is trying to bring the dark truths of the Institution to light.

Nimona was really cool. She is full of energy, doesn't really care for consequences, is very impulsive and has not met a door she can't break. I loved Blackheart because he is only a villain due to circumstances and tries very hard not to harm any innocent people. His arch nemesis is Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin but they used to be best friends before the Institution led to their falling out.

I loved their relationship which was more like frenemies and I could really understand how much they cared for each other despite being on opposite sides. It also had a lot of Simon/ Baz vibes from Carry On, so it was disappointing that their relationship was not truly explored.

The writing style is very funny and there were a lot of humorous moments. Nimona could bring out laughs with her dialogue even when she was hell bent on murdering people. The banter between Blackheart and Goldenloin is also very entertaining except a couple of places where it made me very emotional. It was really nice to see a small book like this evoke so many different feelings.

The action sequences were very fast paced and it did get confusing at times. The ending also felt very rushed and I wish it was explained better. I also wish there was more detail about Nimona's backstory because I felt her motivations were not very clear. The ending also left me wanting because though it's not a cliffhanger, it's definitely more open ended than I would have liked.

The artwork is so much different from the only 3 other graphic novels I have read, so I had to get used to the style. It's obviously done in a way that is more attractive to younger readers but I had a fun experience.