Blog Tour Review: The Divine Order by Hamish Steele

Jenny (jenjenreviews)

Rating: 4 out of 5.

One of my favorite graphic novel series is finally coming to an end.

Thank you so much to TBR and Beyond Tours and Hamish Steele for allowing me to be part of this experience and also providing me with a complimentary copy and media kit!

Book Information

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Publishing Date: April 18, 2023

Eisner Award–winning creator Hamish Steele’s DeadEndia series is Steven Universe meets Adventure Time for fans of Scott Pilgrim, Rick and Morty , Adventure Time , and Pumpkinheads .

In this diverse YA graphic novel, third in the DeadEndia trilogy, Barney, Norma, and friends team up with unlikely heroes to fight a battle for the fate of the universe, all while dealing with their greatest challenge of their love lives.

The battle between angels and demons rages on, and Courtney finds themselves restored to former glory in the realm of the angels with a new bring about a new Divine Order and create a fourteenth plane of existence to keep the demons at bay. On the seventh plane, known to us as Earth, Norma Khan and Barney Guttman have allied with the demons in a search for both freedom and peace. There’s just one thing standing in their the Guttman family reunion. Badyah has joined the resistance as well, honing her martial arts skills and getting ready to protect Norma in battle.

But Pael, the Divine’s lead angel, has tricks up their sleeve that throw everything into chaos as Norma, Barney, and Badyah learn the truth behind everything. The three friends struggle to stop Pael before their lives are changed forever, and a familiar friend returns with a power that just might save them all in this stunning conclusion to the DeadEndia series.

Book Links

About the Author

Hamish Steele (he/they) is a freelance animation director and illustrator who grew up surrounded by legends, myths, and folktales. Since graduating from Kingston University in 2013, Hamish has worked for the BBC, Cartoon Network, Disney, Nickelodeon, among others. He is the creator of and showrunner for the Netflix series Dead End: Paranormal Park, based on his graphic novel series, DeadEndia, and the Eisner Award-winning creator of the graphic novel, Pantheon. Hamish currently lives in London and can be found online at https://hamishsteele.co.uk/.

Author Links:

Review (no spoilers)

If you’d like to follow along with the rest of the tour, you can find the tour schedule here.

Before I get to the review, please note that this is the third and final installment in the DeadEndia series. I read and reviewed the first two books here.

This final installment of DeadEndia picks up where the previous one left off. Courtney has reverted to the wrong side (the side of the angels) and the demon rebellion is on the verge of losing everything they’ve sacrificed for.

When I first read DeadEndia books 1 and 2 a while back, it very quickly stood out to me as a one-of-a-kind story. There are strong found family themes mixed into thought-provoking messages regarding religion, fate, and identity. If you’re looking for a book with a diverse mixture of characters of multiple races, faiths, genders, and sexualities, this series is definitely the one for you.

While I’m incredibly sad that this story is coming to an end, I am also eternally grateful for having been introduced to it. As graphic novels, these books are very quick reads, but they’re full of so many deep messages that I can only hope that one day they’ll be studied within various educational courses on spirituality, gender/sexuality, religion, and ethics. There’s something about these books that speaks to me on a level that I can’t put into words. I just know that I’m forever changed having read them.

Leave a comment