Adorable Empire

Jinx’s parents are getting divorced, and this is happening on top of everything going wrong at school. Now she’s moving into a new apartment without her dad, which she isn’t too thrilled about. Jinx's life is only about to get even more complicated as her new neighbor gave her a mysterious crystal that brought along with it the Adorables, magical creatures that are here to cause chaos. Jinx has done everything to try to get rid of them, but they won’t leave her alone and are just messy and distracting. Jinx can’t seem to get rid of the adorables, so she enlists the help of a neighbor, Robyn, who is one of the only people she seems to want around now. Just who are the Adorables, and will they be able to help Jinx find happiness?

What I liked: This book instantly pulls you into Jinx’s story as her parents are discussing splitting up, and she remains hopeful that things will work out between them. This book does a great job at capturing Jinx’s feelings through this separation while ensuring that neither parent is painted in a negative light. While Jinx’s father is having a difficult time with the change and establishing himself on his own, meaning that he has less time to spend with her, Jinx’s mother tries her best at explaining his actions and highlighting that his intentions are good.

The illustrations throughout this book are soft, which helps lighten the mood for scenes that might be scary for a younger audience. While there are scenes that younger children might find scary, these scenes are bright and colorful to showcase that there is no real danger associated with the Adorables. While the Adorables do get into mischief, they aren’t really going to hurt anyone beyond the playful pranks they pull on others to protect Jinx.

What Left me Wanting More: Near the end of the book, things wrapped up rather quickly, and I was left hoping that they would have left it as a cliffhanger instead. I wanted more time to learn about the Adorables and exactly who they are and what their mission is. While the ending did leave things open for additional books, it felt like the resolution for Jinx was a bit rushed, and her story moved quickly. I also felt that we didn’t get enough time with Greg, who originally had the Adorables, to be able to figure out the mystery behind all of that. He provided us with a brief description, but it seemed like he was also unsure about the Adorables and their role.

Final verdict: Adorable Empire is a fun graphic novel that children 8 and up will find themselves laughing over. This is a great book for children who might be struggling to fit in or are undergoing many changes at home, to feel that they aren’t alone and that things will start looking up, as well as learning how to embrace themselves as they are.