Book Review Saturdays: La Reine Des Pantins (The Queen of the Puppets)

This book came to my attention, and I have to admit I am an absolute fan of graphic novels coming from France. But don't let the illustration fool you. Yes, the illustration on the cover looks colorful and vibrant at the same time, but the more you read it, the more you'll understand why. Because it hides a cruel but heartbreaking truth, when you reach the end of the story.

The fan art for this graphic novel is still in the works, but because of working on some important stuff as well as planning on doing commissions its going to take time, as well as other stuff in particular. Since Fantasy is the genre of this is a French graphic novel, I would advise that some of the topics here are covered, including some stuff called LGBTQA+, Bigotry, and religious fanatics. However, there's one other thing you should know about this book: because the book is entirely in French, the story takes place in 1760 France (this was before the French Revolution).

Anyways I don't want to give out spoilers here. If you want to read the book yourself, you need to purchase it, which is available on Amazon. But I will tell you about the main character in this story, it's about a small, frail boy who wants to escape the harsh and brutal reality of his life on a poor farm, but also escape from his bigoted, horrible parents (child abuse in France wasn't common until the 1880s). His escape was that of dreaming of a world he created, where he takes on a different identity, but has a set of outcast puppets as his new family. 

So yeah, this story takes place in France, anyway, on with the so yeah.

There's a lot to unpack here. Also, I have already done a book review for this book, but for NetGalley and Bookreads.

 

So yeah, anyways, on with the review.

Title: La Reine Des Pantins 

Author: Rosalia Radosti

Genre: LGBTQA+,  Fantasy, Historical Fiction, 

Verdict: "A dreamlike and moving fable, powerfully and delicately exploring gender identity. Jacqueline is a princess you won't forget..."

The Premise: Before the French Revolution started, the story begins with a young boy named Jacques who grows up on a poor farm with horrible, sickly parents. Despite being sickly and frail, he is forced to work on the farm by his alcoholic and violent father. Trapped in a gray and bleak reality in a rural town in 1760s France, Jacques only escape was a dreamlike world filled with color, warmth, but also a world where he's the ruler but under a different identity as Princess Jacquline, and his subjects are Puppets who come to life in his world where they love and protect him from harm. La Reine Des Pantins Shows 2 worlds, where one shows a harsh reality of growing up in France through fear and violence through religious fanaticism, while the other one is full of color, imagination through a child's eyes. 

The Pros: The story shows some 2 different worlds coming together, but with a separate point of view, in general. What I say to this is that the book was created to create some visual moments that felt like a visual of color. Despite the book being in French, you can still read through the visual illustrations in this graphic novel, which really says a lot about this book altogether. 

The Cons: I cannot give you any spoilers, but the book doesn't have a satisfying ending where Jacques's parents were punished for their crimes against children. But still, if the book were to have a sequel, to see if Jacques's parents were to be punished based on crimes against children, they would be in prison or under the French Revolution, sent to be guillotined. But either way, the book shows us the harsh realities and how religious fanaticism and bigotry can damage families entirely.

Recommendation: I would recommend this book to anyone who is drawn to historical fiction through a graphic novel. But still, the book does contain a tragic ending disguised as a graphic novel for children. But it could be a learning moment for anyone who wants to escape from the harsh realities of living in a bleak future and carve their own path in life.

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to finish the fan art, but I'll try to post it on a later date if I can. Anyways thats all for now.

Book Review Saturdays: Persepolis, The Complete edition

The post would have been a roadmap for this blog, but unfortunately, I didn't have time to do so due to some personal stuff. But it's not too late to start, and I will post the roadmap on a later date. But for now, this would be the first one.

The book I will be reviewing is Persepolis: The Complete Edition by Marjane Satrapi.

"The First writing of the human being was drawing, not writing." 

-Marjane Satrapi (1969-2026)

Recently, Marjane Satrapi passed away at the age of 58 on Thursday, June 4th, 2026. And this really hits home to me. I know I haven't mentioned this to anyone, but the first time I read Persepolis was in the 9th grade back in my high school days. And I would admit, I didn't understand the story at first, but over time, I've begun to understand the story, as it progresses to the second volume of Persepolis. Heck, my high school teacher noticed me reading Persepolis in her reading class and told me Persepolis is a real city, but an ancient city that's located in modern-day Iran. So for years, the only time I've come across Persepolis, whether it was from the school library or from the public library, I've already read the first volume, which focuses more on Marjane's life though her childhood to her teenage years. But I would say the first volume focused on some historical events, with one event that happened in 1979, with the Islamic Revolution, with the overthrow of the king of Iran, and the war in Iran that came with it. Basically, reading this book is like reading a story that takes place in a different era, back in time, despite how turbulent history can be. Something that history has never told you about the history of Iran, unless you do the research. But this is the kind of history you won't be able to find in the history books these days. 

So, anyway, the first volume of Persepolis only covers the first part of her life from childhood to teenage years, while the second volume covers her life as an adult, navigating her life through turbulent times in Iran. But after purchasing the full and complete Persepolis from a college store at Valencia College, it basically completes the story altogether, as one big story. So anyways, here's the full review.

Persepolis: The Complete Edition & Why you need to read it.

Title: The Complete Persepolis

Author: Marjane Satrapi

Genre: Graphic Novel, Autobiography, Nonfiction

Verdict: "A Memoir of growing up as a girl in revolutionary Iran, Persepolis provides a unique glimpse into a nearly unknown and unreachable way of life...that Satrapi chose to tell her remarkable story as a gorgeous comic book makes it totally unique and indispensable" -TIME magazine

The Premise: Just like in the first volume of Persepolis, Satrapi starts her story of what happened after islamic revolution of 1979 to 1980, where society in Tehran, Iran, began to change from a liberal modernization and cultural environment to a heavily strict, deeply religious ideology. The ideals of how society should function in Iran, despite becoming a modernized society, would change into a theocracy. It is difficult to find any information on why Iran became a theocracy due to limited information. However, it doesn't mean that you can tell your story through an art form rather than through words alone. Persepolis is more than an unforgettable coming-of-age story; it's a historical textbook of what happened in her viewpoint of Iran from her family's point of view from her family. A living eyewitness to the changes in society in Iran from 1980 to the present day.

Pros: Through visual storytelling, but drawing in black and white, which became her signature trademark and art style. Satrapi tells her story as it is, from her days as a child experiencing what's going on around her. Not on what's going on around her, from her friends to her family, and the people she meets. As mentioned before, she included some historical events that happened during her time in Iran, which include the overthrow of the Shah and the Cultural Revolution. But also, she isn't afraid to tell her part of her story of how the people in Iran, especially women, are heavily policed based on morality. But it's also to note what she exposed, the wickedness and misogyny in a fundamentalist society of Iran are still occurring to the present day.

Persepolis Vol 1, the story of childhood. The Veil

Cons: It's difficult to shake the stigma that Iran is a country of terrorism due to the prejudices and the hurtful, stereotypical, and racist undertones of painting Iran like this. Although Satrapi's best efforts to explain but layout the contradictions of Iran in a different light, unfortunately, she would come under fire by those who don't believe her viewpoint, but is often picked apart by some who want to accuse her of being a hypocrite on what she's saying about the ayatollah or accusing her of being a islamaphobe, which is not what the book is about.

Recommendation: The book is very much a historical textbook on what Iran was like in the 1980s. But also a brave woman such as Satrapi is not afraid to speak up, but also she isn't afraid to speak out about the wrongdoings whats had been happening in Iran. Anyways please read this book but also watch the film as well, because it's a good read, but also Satrapi is one of the best storytellers of all time.

Oh And I forgot to mention this, yes, I was the one who drew this as a tribute to Marjane Satrapi.

Also, I have a copy of the book as well.

Okay so thats everything. So anyways cyas.