Sorceline has been eagerly awaiting the first day of her summer apprenticeship studying cryptozoology with Archibald Balzar on the Isle of Vorn. Under Balzar's tutelage, she'll learn all about various cryptids and how to care for them. A classmate's disappearance, though, sets off a chain of bizarre and dangerous mysteries in this diverting middle-grade series opener.
Everything about the Isle of Vorn thrills Sorceline. It's "creepy, gloomy, and super scary" and full of cryptids, "amazing creatures that most humans don't think exist." The students on Vorn are ready to learn and determined to impress Balzar in hopes of being chosen as his assistant. Sorceline quickly demonstrates an aptitude for cryptozoology, which gains her both admiration and annoyance from her classmates. But on a late-night quest for unicorn blood, classmate Tara goes missing. Frightened Sorceline and her remaining classmates must find and rescue Tara, or they fear one of them may be next.
Sorceline is the first English translated work by Sylvia Douyé and is a compilation of three Sorceline graphic novels already published in France. Disney Academy graduate Paola Antista (Cats! Purrfect Strangers) brings to life the world of cryptids in a manga-influenced illustrative style that depicts cryptids from Roman, Greek, European and Persian mythology and folklore. Her characters and creatures are expressive and the novel's format features broken, overlapping and asymmetrical panels that help move the plot along at a rapid pace. Sorceline is wonderfully atmospheric and immersive, and the Isle of Vorn is shrouded in irresistible secrecy. --Kyla Paterno, freelance reviewer