Not only is this a perfect adaptation of the short story <i>Demon In the Wood</i>, but it works so much better as a graphic novel.

For those of you who are familiar with the short story, this graphic novel offers pretty much the same story from what I can remember. However, this doesn‘t mean you shouldn‘t get it. In fact, the illustrations do a great job of visualizing the story, and I definitely would urge you to re-explore the Darkling‘s past through this graphic novel.

For those of you who haven‘t read the short story before, you can jump right into the graphic novel. (And maybe pick up the short story later if you‘re anything like me and want to compare. I, for my part, will definitely do a reread) Overall, <i>Demon in the Wood</i> shares a glimpse of the Darkling‘s past. Way before the Fold, way before Grisha were soldiers in Ravka. It‘a a beautiful and painful story of a young boy travelling with his mother, trying to find a safe place that doesn‘t seem to exist.

The Darkling - whether you hate him or love him as much as I do - is such a complex character. He might have been the villain in Alina‘s story in <i>Shadow and Bone</i>, but stories such as this one show you how one path leads to another, and that even the Darkling himself was just a boy who wanted a home for people like him.

<i>Demon in the Wood</i> is a must-have for every Grishaverse fan out there, and I can only highly recommend you picking it up and flipping through these pages!