A Dream for Three (Emma and Violette, #1) by Jérôme Hamon
Release: January 17th 2018
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Europe Comics
Source: NetGalley
Emma and Violette Synopsis:
Emma and Violette are sisters who share the same dream of attending Paris’s most prestigious dance school. Violette passes the first audition with flying colors, but Emma doesn’t, and their world comes crashing down. But there may be more than one way to dance through life… This is the revelation at the heart of the first volume of this lively and graceful narrative.
Review:
A BIG Thank You to NetGalley and Europe Comics for providing me an advanced electronic copy of “A Dream for Three (Emma and Violette, #1)” by Jérôme Hamon.
This was a charming graphic novel to read. The graphic novels I have read usually range from fantasy, science fiction, adventures and action. It is such a refreshing change to read a regular family drama told in this format. Reading this made me feel like I was watching a good old prime-time drama from the 90s. In fact, I felt like I was reliving watching old episodes of shows like “7th Heaven” or “Dawson’s Creek”.
I found the characters’ portrayal very appealing while reading “Emma and Violette”. There are no good or bad characters in this book. Each person has their good and bad attributes that make the story more realistic and relatable. My favorite character was of course, Emma. Even though she goes through a lot of disappointments with her mother, Violette, Jake and ballet, she still emerges a trooper.
While most of us would root for Emma, I can’t help but feel sorry for her mother as well. I’m sure there are parents out there who put their hopes and dreams onto their children to be fulfilled. When the child fails to meet their expectations, the parents react negatively to their failures. The story has depicted the turmoil between the mother and daughter relationship very well. I also like the father figure in the family, as he is portrayed as someone cool yet sensible. I liked Violette as well, but we don’t get to see her interact much in this issue.
The main credit goes to Jérôme Hamon for creating a gripping story and executing it in this graphical format. The pacing, storyline and characterisations are all beautifully implemented, making it a very memorable read. Lena Sayaphoum has also done a good job on the artwork. While I see most of the reviewers complimenting the illustrations, I felt they could have been better. I like how the details of the background contrast with the cartoon like forms of the characters. However, the colours seemed a little dull, and didn’t suit my personal choice for reading. Also, the text bubbles are somewhat squeezed in some panels and I couldn’t make out which character was talking.
I am very much looking forward to the next instalment in this series. What’s fun about this kind of genre is that there’s always room for new stories with the same characters. I hope the series does well and we continue seeing the trials and tribulations of Emma and Violette growing up. I would have loved to see some sibling rivalry between the two. Overall, I enjoyed reading “Emma and Violette 1: A Dream for Three” and give it 4 / 5 rating.
