Reading: THE ACCURSED INHERITANCE OF HENRIETTA ACHILLES: BOOK 1 (A HOUSE DIVIDED) - Haiko Hörnig (writer), Marius Pawlitza (illustrator)

After losing her parents in the great war, young Henrietta Achilles tries adjusting to life in an orphanage when she suddenly finds herself, instead, shipped off to the small, very very odd village of Malrenard, as the only living relative to a recently-deceased uncle she never knew named Ornun Zol. Malrenard is a bizarre place, to say the least, full of angry and bitter people with a lot of that negatively seemingly directed toward Ornun Zol and his tower-like castle, which now belongs to Henrietta. When a shady lawyer rushes Henrietta into taking ownership of the castle and accepting her inheritance, the girl's signature barely dry on the legal form, the girl is immediately and unceremoniously dropped off at her new home, where she quickly learns why all that resentment from the local towns people probably exists; not only was her Uncle Ornun a notorious wizard, but his home is full of thieves and soldiers and a bizarre variety of creatures that have turned the castle into a battleground, everyone fighting with each other to find a secret vault, hidden somewhere on the premises, that supposedly holds the source of all of the great wizard's power. I expected to enjoy this graphic novel - the first in a series - but what I didn't expect was to completely fall in love with the Looney Tunes-like artwork, action and story of this funny, snarky, addicting and yes even intriguing romp; an over-the-top page-turner that should leave you - like me - smiling and flipping back for a re-read immediately, already hungry (HINT!) for volume two. (Available April 7)  5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.