Book review: Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

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Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren’t the heroes everyone thinks they are.

But as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord Blackheart realizes that Nimona’s powers are as murky and mysterious as her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than he is willing to admit.


I don’t usually read graphic novels, so it took me a while to get used to the narrative style (which means I can’t judge it properly). But after that first struggle I found this to be an extremely charming little story.

It’s kind of a serious parody about heroes and villains and friendship and doing what’s right instead of what’s easy. I obviously can’t talk much about the plot since it is already a short story, so I’ll talk about the best thing Nimona has brought to me: Lord Ballister Blackheart.

I did not expect to feel so connected to him and his story.

Ballister is that typical character that accepted the label of villain other people forced on him regardless the fact that there’s nothing villainous about who he is. In fact, he reminds me quite a bit of Megamind (from the DreamWorks animation), and I really like that movie. I felt seriously related to him. He and I are very much alike and nothing alike at the same time. He is a better person than I am, because he understood that all hate born from a broken friendship is simply a different kind of love and admitting that takes a lot of courage. I wish I was that brave.

I didn’t talk about Nimona the character because, despite her name being the title, she is not that relevant to me. She is the trigger to all the things that happened and that caused the changes in the other character’s lives but the true protagonist (and hero, if you will) is Lord Ballister Blackheart and his story with Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin.

The ending was kind of open, but not really (and it confirmed my theory about Nimona not being the protagonist), and the development and conclusion of the main conflict were a little bit all over the place, but it didn’t affect my enjoyment (but that’s probably because of Ballister and my love for him, let’s be honest). Sometimes, plot is very important. This is not one of those times.

In conclusion: I liked it a lot more than I thought I would and it taught me more than I was expecting to learn.


Writing (in this case, quality of the narrative): 4,5

Characters: 4,5

Plot development: 3,5

Enjoyability: 4,5


Total: Level 4,25 on the Fox Scale

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