Aquicorn Cove Review

Aquicorn Cove by Katie O’Neill

When Lana and her father return to their seaside hometown to help clear the debris of a storm, the last thing she expects is to discover a colony of Aquicorns—magical seahorse-like residents of the coral reef. As she explores the damaged town and the fabled undersea palace, Lana learns that while she cannot always count on adults to be the guardians she needs, she herself is capable of finding the strength to protect both the ocean, and her own happiness.

Rating:

Last year I read and reviewed The Tea Dragon Society, where I fell for her artwork and story. So I had to have this little gem but somehow forgot I wanted it and it came out (why did I not preorder?!) and then I got it.

Starting the year with a graphic novel in the pile does make you feel like you’ve got this and can read through your reading goal.

Now unto the book. The Aquicorn Cove is all about awareness of the ocean and the sea and pollution, so it has a bit more of a message running through it. What I’ll say next may be a little controversial, but having that pushed as one of the main topics made the story feel rushed and took away from the rest of the topics. I felt like it was great as an awareness book given by a campaign for saving the ocean, but it felt less like a graphic novel/fantasy book.

I love Katie’s universes and that was amazing, even if this is a little confusing as it looks like the same world of Tea Dragon Society but it is also quite different. Still a lovely world to live in and the artwork more than blows me away, which was worth it. The hairdos, and creatures are so lovely I wish I could style my hair into those cute “horns”

There is also a lot about grief and friendships/relationships and how we survive and move forward (there seems to be a lot of grief topics in my reviews recently, but I promise it has been unconscious or at the very least not on purpose!) which was quite porwerful (and probably what I would’ve preferred to see explored more, as it was done so well through the scenes and artwork, the saying of a picture says more than a 1000 words works well here).

So my veredict is, I preferred The Tea Dragon Society a lot, and this felt more educational/campaign, however the artowrk was still stunning and cute and I am glad to have read it.

Moon recommends

Well, since there seems to be a theme on my reviews, pick any of my previous reviews and probably you’ll get a mention on grief. Or go check out The Tea Dragon Society, which is a big winner and quaint. (Plus it has tea and dragons, what else do you need?)