Book Review: The Music Box – Carbone & Gijé

cover144272-medium — The Music Box – Carbone and Gijé

Before I get into the review, can we all just take a moment to admire the stunning cover artwork for this book? Just look at it! I can’t stop looking at it.

OK, I’ll drag myself away for a moment.

The Music Box is a children’s graphic novel by Carbone (script) and Gijé (artwork). This is part one, ‘Welcome to Pandorient’. Nola is left a music box by her late mother, but it’s actually a portal to another world – Pandorient. We follow Nola on her first adventure into Pandorient and meet a cast of characters along the way.

This first story seems to be an opportunity to set the scene for The Music Box series; understanding how Nola comes to discover Pandorient, what Pandorient is like, and who her friends and enemies might come to be.

The artwork is simply amazing and I found myself taking ages to read the book as I was going back and fore between pages just to admire them.

I think this would be a hit with children who maybe are just starting their foray into the world of graphic novels and those who already enjoy them.

I will certainly be looking out for the next part of the series. My only reservation is that these are only available in a digital format (to the best of my knowledge) and I would love to see them printed. Having said that, the digital format is very affordable and I could maybe imagine a printed version to be very expensive, especially for a children’s book.

Regardless, I am giving The Music Box a solid five stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Europe Comics for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.