This Was Our Pact Paperback – June 11, 2019

This graphic novel starts a little slow, but the art style is both dreamlike and tweenlike, and helps draw you into a magical realist story about really-real-seeming kids in unreal geographies with remarkable and delightful people and animals and animal-people. I have a couple bookshelves of the best graphic novels out there from the past 20 years, and this definitely deserves a spot. I'm sure it would be fine for younger kids, but I think it would resonate better with tween and up (my teen liked it too.)

I've just spent a season reading graphic novels and this was by far my favorite. It's a simple friendship and quest story only there is nothing simple about it. The plot is truly original and moves from sequence to sequence more like a dream than a novel. The action and characters are high fantasy but the story itself is so deeply grounded in reality, it makes a delightful contrast. Andrews illlustrates his magical landscape with sweeping, gorgeous vistas that match his towering imagination.

I've been wanting to read This Was Our Pact since I discovered Ryan Andrews' art on Instagram. It's a beautifully illustrated graphic novel that took me back to childhood imagination and the immersive fantasy that comes with it. I recommend This Was Our Pact to any 'indie' graphic novel or unique illustration style fan. My only disappointment was not buying the physical copy!

This book is gorgeously illustrated and beautifully written. Full of imaginative storytelling and truths on human nature. This book makes you believe in magic, never growing up, and how to be a friend - through good times and hurtful mistakes. Perfect for people of all ages.

The illustrations are nice. Very good, even the character design need some improvement.The story is okay so far but even just for the illustrations, I would still buy it with no doubt.

It started how I expected then became more and more unexpected in the most beautiful, mysterious and even hilarious ways. The entire time reading it I would show panels to my husband and we would crack up about them. The giant dog was my favorite. The way feelings were expressed in the art and panel layout was impressive. Easy to follow too. And you want to savor it. Don’t read it all in one sitting 😉

I got this book for my soon to be 9 year old daughter. I ended up reading it myself in my free time and really enjoyed it. The story was new and exciting and I loved how the pages were colored to set moods

There are tons of amazing thing about this book - characters, art, and whimsy. Unfortunately, this writer has not structured this book super well...it feels rambling with too many ideas to make a cohesive or effective point in the end. It's beautiful and ambitious, and I kept feeling like it was going to all come together. This will probably end up being a promising work by an author who (hopefully) improves at his craft with years to come. Lots of potential, but not quite a good graphic novel.