Serafina and the Black Cloak: The Graphic Novel

by Robert Beatty

Robert Beatty's best-selling gothic fantasy about an unforgettable heroine is now a mesmerizing graphic novel with rich, atmospheric illustrations.

"The story drips with suspense, wrapping readers into the narrative just as easily as the man in the black cloak binds his young victims." — School Library Journal

“Never go into the deep parts of the forest, for there are many dangers there, and they will ensnare your soul.”

Serafina has never had a reason to disobey her pa and venture beyond the grounds of Biltmore Estate. There’s plenty to explore in her grand home, although she must take care to never be seen. None of the rich folk upstairs know that Serafina exists; she and her pa, the estate’s maintenance man, have secretly lived in the basement for as long as Serafina can remember.

But when children at the estate start disappearing, only Serafina knows who the culprit is: a terrifying man in a black cloak who stalks Biltmore’s corridors at night. Following her own harrowing escape, Serafina risks everything by joining forces with Braeden Vanderbilt, the young nephew of Biltmore’s owners. Braeden and Serafina must uncover the Man in the Black Cloak’s true identity…before all of the children vanish one by one.

Readers who enjoy history and mystery and like their thrills and chills in visual form will delight in this graphic novel adaptation of a bestseller.

Read the entire New York Times Best-selling series!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Mystery, Middle Grade, Historical Fiction, Comics, Horror

128 pages, Paperback

First published April 4, 2023

About the author

Robert Beatty is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Serafina Series, the Willa Series, and Sylvia Doe — all published by Disney-Hyperion. Loved by both young readers and adults alike, his books are being taught in over a thousand classrooms nationwide and have been translated into over twenty languages across the world. Over ONE MILLION of his books have been sold.

The award-winning Serafina Series is a spooky mystery-thriller about a brave and unusual cat-like girl who lives secretly in the basement of the grand Biltmore Estate, surrounded by the opulence of the Gilded Age and the rugged beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Serafina and the Black Cloak, the first book in the series, won the Southern Book Prize in 2016. All four books in the series became #1 New York Times bestsellers.

Mr. Beatty's second project was the #1 New York Times best-selling Willa of the Wood Series, the story of a young forest girl with ancient magical powers who struggles for survival and understanding in the Great Smoky Mountains. The Willa books are in the early stages of being developed into a live action television series by Lionsgate.

His latest book, Sylvia Doe and the 100-Year Flood, is the tale of a lonely 13-year-old girl and a powerful, magical storm that forever changes her life. The award-winning author Kwame Alexander called it, "Magical realism at its best." Both Kirkus and Publishers Weekly awarded Sylvia Doe with a prestigious STARRED REVIEW.

Robert Beatty lives in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina with his wife and three daughters, who help create and refine his stories. He loves to explore the historic Biltmore Estate and the Blue Ridge Mountains where his novels take place. He writes full-time now, but in his past lives, Mr. Beatty was one of the early pioneers of cloud computing, the founder/CEO of Plex Systems, the co-founder of Beatty Robotics, and the chairman/CTO of Narrative Magazine. In 2007, he was named an Entrepreneur of the Year.

When asked about the inspiration for his writing, Robert said, “My books are inspired by my desire to write about heroic young girls for my three daughters."

Reviews

[Cat Carstairs]

My favorite book of all time has been turned into a graphic novel? WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS?? 😭❤️

[Maggie Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scared me just as much as the middle grade chapters did. And even more fitting, in both instances, my own children scared the living daylights out of me as I read in the dark long after I thought they were asleep. This is extremely well done and follows the longer versions well. Assuming the other three will get GN adaptations as well.

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 3 out of 5]

I honestly didn't even know this was a graphic novel version of a prose book, that's how out of the loop I am. So I'm not sure if it's a good adaptation, but I know it was an enjoyable read, for the most part.

[Sera]

There was too much text on the pages and the font was a bit too small. It took me out of the story.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Serafina and her father live in the basement of the Biltmore Mansion in the early 1900s. Her father works there repairing equipment, and Serafina toils on as the chief rat catcher, finding rodents in the night and carrying them outside to release them. She is not allowed out in the day, and her father tells her that no one must see her. She does come to the attention of the young, orphaned Braeden Vanderbilt, and talks to him about the fact that children have gone missing from the estate. Serafina has had a run in with a dark and creepy figure in a black cloak, and thinks that it is behind the disappearances, but no one would believe her. She talks to her father about her background and finds out odd and disturbing secrets about her past. When she is out of the basement in the daylight, a staff member wants to know who she is, but she makes her escape with Braeden in a carriage. The two share a deep bond neither understand but find comforting. When they run into trouble in the woods, the need to solve the mystery of the disappearances grows more desperate. Will Serafina be able to solve the mystery and return the lost children to their parents?

It's always interesting to read a graphic novel version of a novel I read years ago (this originally came out in 2015), and see what I remember. Serafina wearing her father's shirts so he wouldn't be seen buying dresses in town was foremost in my mind; sure enough, the drawings do show her in a belted garment that looks suspiciously like an old fashioned undershirt. I also remember violent killigs of rats, but this seems to have been changed to relocating them. She does still have to grab them and hold them tight, which was uncomfortable to read! The rest of the story remains the same, and some of the issues in Serafina's past are made more clear by having illustrations.

While it's rather disturbing that Serafina has been hidden away in a basement for her whole life, her father has good reasons for it that I don't want to spoil, and they do get beds and linen in the end! The mystery of the figure in the black cloak is rather dark, and there's a pervasive sense of dread and doom because of it. The pages mirror that feeling with very muted colors; blues for the night, and tans and maroons for the daytime. Despite the missing children and the evil of the cloak, Braeden and Serafina finally have each other and are able to have a soul mate to help them deal with their trauma.

There are several novels in the original series, so I wonder if more will be adapted into graphic novels. This put me in mind of several other middle grade novels, although I can't think of anything that is exactly like it. I think Serafine would be friends with Bunce's Myrtle Hardcastle, the figure in the cloak reminded me of some of the creepiness of Smith's Hoodoo, and this also had the adventure and something of the feel of Chadda's City of the Plague God.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an early release copy of this graphic novel from Disney Hyperion. The cover is beautiful, but I had not read the middle grade fantasy series this was adapted to graphic novel from. Serafina is a very likable character, I was happy to follow her. I liked the conversational text better than the narrations. An easy read for young ones interested in fantasy adventures.

[Carson · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I love Serafina and it's one of my most nostalgic books I really didn't like the art style in this book and I feel so bad because I think it's cute but it's just not for me and it's not how I imagined the characters. But I do highly recommend you guys should read the Serafina books.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This adaptation was beautifully done! Captures the novel in a condensed, yet thorough manner. It was fun seeing the novel come to life in the artwork.

[Wisbel · Rating 5 out of 5]

So pretty!

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

more like a 2.5....basic story and the ending was meh

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Vanna Book-Mage · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would like to be a catamount thank you very much!

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel certain that I read the novel this is adapted from when it first came out, but I remembered basically nothing about the story. Is it a good adaptation? I really don't know. It does suffer from an overdose of narration boxes, something that happens often in graphic novels adapted from full length novels. As far as the story goes, it's creepy and the mystery is solvable by the readers without being too obvious. I picked up the culprit almost immediately, but I'm an adult reader with a lot more mysteries under my belt than the young teens this is aimed at. I think this will definitely find middle grade fans, even more so if they live close enough to Asheville to know anything about Biltmore.

[Noelle;) · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok but coming from one of my favorite stories I feel they skipped way to many scenes

[Christine The Uncorked Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Living in Asheville - and as a Biltmore annual passholder - it was fun to see Biltmore illustrated, including famous rooms like the library, dining hall, billiards room, and more.

Serafina is a beloved story here in Asheville, just like Beatty is a popular local author.

While I didn't always champion the coloring or illustrations, I appreciated their magical elements - glowing eyes and purple and blue coloring.

The story is quite creepy for tweens too, and there's a little romance. This is a great read with the family before visiting Biltmore Estate.

[Aurora · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve read other graphic novel adaptions before, but they’ve never been as… *wordy* as this one. The art is passable. The story is okay? IDK, I might read more of these if they do more, or I might not. Hard to tell. It was aggressively *fine*.

[mickey hawk · Rating 1 out of 5]

Whoever brought this monstrosity to fruition should be ashamed. If I could give negative stars I would.

The Serafina series was one of my all-time favorite series when I was younger, not least because it was one of the few books for young children that explored the horror genre and was also well-written and tasteful. Horror has always been a favorite genre of mine, so you can imagine my surprise and sheer delight when I stumbled upon this at my local library. In retrospect, the fact that it was in the junior graphic novels section instead of the teen or even young adult sections should have been a red flag. I could write an entire college-level dissertation on this bastardization of a perfectly lovely story, but I’ll keep this relatively short.

Issue Number One: The Art.
I have nothing in particular against this artist, or anyone who draws like this artist. However, this artstyle is way too cartoony ‘cutesy’ for the story that is Serafina. Serafina herself looks, frankly, ridiculous. She is part mountain lion, not a freaking housecat. She’s described as sometimes a bit uncanny, with wild hair and glowing eyes. The Serafina in this book looks like she just stepped out of a hair salon. Next, Brandon. He looks like quite possibly the most basic white boy to ever exist. There is not a single thing that stands out about him. His design is painfully bland. Third, the expressions. There are about five different expressions drawn in the whole book, and that’s it. (Also, the ‘0.0’ expression the characters keep making where their mouths are nothing but little dots looks idiotic.) The anatomy, facial structure, apparent age and more of each character appears to change in each panel. The movements and poses of the characters are stiff and stilted, and overall they feel and look like paper dolls as opposed to the almost-real characters of the book.

Issue Number Two: The Story.
Whatever idiot adapted this book for the graphic novel (though this crap barely deserves that title) should be lynched. The story is so insanely dumbed down that even a toddler would be bored out of their skull by it. So many of the interesting side characters are removed (like Essie, justice for Essie) important bits of the storyline that make the overarching story make more sense are cut out (Serafina’s plan, her and Braden’s investigation) and the unique personalities of each character are stripped down to flimsy, lazy, versions of themselves. Serafina goes from a clever, independent, brave young woman to some dolt who says things like “oh that’s real nice, you stupid sky,” and despite her apparent status as a so-called ‘creature of the night’ is practically wetting herself at the thought of being left alone in the woods for more than a few seconds. Meanwhile, the original (and better) Serafina is having a grand old time chasing rats and climbing trees. Comic-Serafina is a wimp who can’t do anything for herself and apparently has zero critical thinking skills. They remove all the little scenes exploring her relationship with her father, favoring less material over more substance. Braeden is basically a Ken doll- just there to be ‘handsome’, useless, have a tragic backstory, and kiss Serafina- (which, disgusting. My god, let a girl and a boy be friends. There were little hints in the book, but nothing official until the fourth one. And even then, that wasn’t supposed to be the crux of their relationship or anything. Media literacy is in the toilet.) Braeden in the book is just as smart as Serafina, with an incredible relationship with his animals and his dog, Gidean. Braeden in this comic is about as interesting as a dead fly.

TLDR: Artstyle doesn’t fit the storyline, they chopped up the storyline, served it to the writer, who then shit it out all over the pages, the characters have zero personality and are more bland than unseasoned chicken, and this book is an overall mockery of the original. Shame.

[Nickie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Serafina and the Black Cloak is a graphic novel interpretation of the similarly named full length novel. Admittedly, I had not read nor even heard of the novel before picking this up. So, take of that what you will. Serafina is a young girl who has been hidden her entire life in the basement of Biltmore Estate where her father works as an electrician of sorts. It is vital, he says, that no one knows she exists or that they live in the basement instead of going home at night or they will be thrown out. This isolated existence has left Serafina with a lot of questions. What is it like to talk to people? To be part of the high society that everyone upstairs is a part of? To wear nice dresses and dance with boys? On top of all of that, she has an even bigger question. What happened to her mother and why does her father never talk about it?

Serafina's world is turned upside down when, while exploring the underbelly of the castle one night, she witnesses a figure in a dark cloak take a young girl. The estate is in shambles as everyone tries to find the young girl, convinced she must have just gotten lost. Serafina knows better, but she's not allowed to talk to anyone. The rest of the graphic novel follows her attempt to uncover the mystery and save more children from a similar horrible fate without revealing her and her father's secret.

Overall, this was ok. The artwork was nice enough to look at, but the writing was difficult to read a lot of the time because the illustrators chose white writing on black background and densely packed the writing in as well. I believe the story suffered from being condensed into a graphic novel and that I would have enjoyed it better in novel form. The ending was rushed with one reveal after another after another with little time to sit on the revelations or their impact on the greater story and characters. As such, I found myself wanting so much more. I still don't fully understand the antagonist's motives, another big reveal raised more questions than it answered for me, and then the story just wrapped up suddenly. It does seem like this might be the beginning of a series (I saw the novels were a series), but I don't know what it could be about. The main storyline is "resolved", and the questions that remain do not an entire new book make.

[Tonja Drecker · Rating 5 out of 5]

With darker images and historical details, this is a thrilling read, which will have kids hiding under their blankets long after bedtime.

Serafina has spent much of her twelve-years, living in the basement of a manor with her father. She's not allowed to let anyone know she exists or her father would lose his job. But she's found her own usefulness and serves the house as the unknown rat catcher...something she's amazingly talented at. When she hears screams in another section of the basement, she rushes to save whoever is in danger despite what it means to her own existence. But when she sees a creature in a dark cloak absorb a little girl, she barely escapes with her life. Still, she can't let the horror be ignored and tries to figure out a way to stop whatever evil is at large before more children disappear.

The graphics in these pages take on a darker tone, sticking mostly to the drearier atmosphere...and this works very well. Serafina's world is a darker place as she's spent most of it in the basement and out only at night. The scenes are well placed and keep the tension high, while still allowing the time period and characters to come across nicely. There was a time or two, where the frame order threw me for a moment, but the rest is an easy read. It was easy to get lost into the tale and hard to put the book down until the very last page.

To make sure this hangs closely to the original tale, there seems to be an fairly even divide between dialogue (speech bubbles) and explained plot and thoughts (presented in when text in black rectangles). This mix keeps the events clear and allows the reader to dive deeper into Serafina's head. It's well suited for the middle grade level and will pull even slightly older readers in.

It's a grabbing story with surprising twists and turns. Not only does Serafina find herself up against a dangerous creature, but learns more about herself. So, there is quite a bit of character depth going on as well. It also hits upon friendship and learning to step past the comfort zone. More sensitive readers might be bothered by the creepiness of the creature and a couple more aggressive scenes. Those, who enjoy a touch of fear and shadows, will enjoy this one quite a bit.

[Munchie · Rating 3 out of 5]

What an interesting story that I wasn't expecting. The narration vs when Serafina is talking is a bit odd. It starts off with very strong narration that felt like it would never end. But as the story progressed, the narration became less and less and more talking began happening from Serafina.

The book talks about a child, Serafina, and her father living in a rich person's basement because her father works for the owner as a type of electrician I presume. But they technically aren't supposed to be living there. So they're in hiding. During a party that the owners were hosting, children go missing suddenly and Serafina sees a man in a black cloak take one and disappear. Sending Serafina on this mystery adventure to discover what happened to them while also slowly discovering more about herself as she strikes up a conversation with her father about why they're truly hiding.

The plot twist I didn't see coming but had a feeling based on character design that somehow one character was related to Serafina. Won't spoil it but you begin to get invested in this world and it's spooky ways. This is a graphic novel retelling I'm told of a beloved book series. I never read the original book, but it sounds like I might need to start. I cannot compare it sadly to the original but based on this being a graphic novel, those usually are short and hard to cram stuff in there. I'd say it was an okay read. It felt very fast for sure and the images were nice to look at since they used different colors for different types of scenes. Which made your brain feel emotions when something terrifying was playing out. I liked that. But the way the story is told and how the grownups don't believe kids, was an eye roll for me. It ain't perfect but maybe it's portrayed a bit differently in the original novel. I'll have to check it out now.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few disclaimers up front: I didn’t read the original novel, I don’t typically read graphic novels, and I’m not the target audience. Despite all that—I genuinely enjoyed this graphic novel.

I picked this up for three reasons: I’d heard glowing things about the novel, I have a small obsession with the Biltmore Estate, and, as an assistant librarian, I had already recommended the novel to a young reader. This was my only option.

I was initially put off by the rat hunting scene, but once I got past that, I found myself drawn into the story. The illustrations are very well done. I’m a fan of gothic mysteries, fantasy, beautiful and intriguing settings, and a touch of innocent romance—and this graphic novel offered all of that. The story was engaging, the characters were enjoyable, and the mystery kept me turning the pages.

That said, I didn’t rate it higher for a few reasons. The scenes of rat killing and other graphic moments (trying not to spoil it!) felt a bit excessive for the intended audience. Also, there was a typo, and I just can't with typos: "THERE IS A NOTHING A VANDERBILT CAN'T HANDLE." (No page numbers to reference, but it was near the middle.)

Still, I think fans of the original novel would enjoy this adaptation. It’s beautifully illustrated and captures an eerie, magical atmosphere.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art was beautiful. The storytelling was delightful. The folklore was fascinating.

I have the full text chapter book on my shelf and it's been there for a couple of years. I really wanted to read it. I love this mythology built around the Biltmore estate. There is a lot of history to the location and the land it was built on. The house is huge! There could be all sorts of things hidden in there. Start some legends, author! I feel dumb that I only started the chapter book and never finished it. I still might read it some time, there is obviously going to be some descriptions and things that weren't covered in the graphic novel, or the artist read them and drew from their imagination. I will still want to read the descriptions for my own mind some day, but for now, I really enjoyed the graphic novel.

I also have a reluctant reader. He has some dyslexia that makes it hard for him to focus on long paragraphs and large bulks of text. But he's reading graphic novels like a champ! I'll take it! This book will be perfect for him, as well.

[Echo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book, as I've read the original novel version fits the story perfectly. The artwork gives a sharp edge and dark feeling to the story. Although some of it is a bit to "animated" more so like childish. For a dark sort of Gothic it might not fit the picture. But overall the story gives me the same feel as the original. The relationship between Braeden and Serafina shines through and the story of Serafina finding herself all combines together to make this story.
*Even though it is for children there is a bit of blood, and battles just wanted to put that on note

[Stacy Renee (LazyDayLit) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Middle Grade
Graphic Novel Adaptation
Fantasy

Adapted from one of my favorite MG fantasy trilogies, this graphic novel recounts the story of Serafina, who lives with her Pa in the basement of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC, and the terrifying Black Cloak that seems to be kidnapping children!

This was sooo good!
The illustrations capture the mood, aesthetics, and the horror of the Black Cloak really well.
The 'horror' is appropriately spooky for the age group and has more of a supernatural element to it.

[Ash Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this adaptation, the visuals weren’t what I was expecting but it was well put together. My one complaint is that the most iconic line from the series wasn’t in it. “Our character isn’t defined by the battles we win or lose, but by the battles we dare to fight.” That line holds so much significance to Serafina discovering who she is and it was so significant for me in discovering who I am. It was my senior quote when I graduated high school. It’s a very critical line to exclude.

[Bonn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably should go read the novel. I think it relied a teensy bit too much on exposition through narration. Overall it was still a fun read. Fast paced. Compelling. Intriguing. Lots of spooky elements. A fair few visual clues in the mysteries. Illustration was enjoyable overall, but I kept getting distracted by how much the protagonist's face changes on any given page and the inconsistency in her body proportions (random mini hands).

A little bit of blood is involved/shown: a very, very little.

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know if I would like this as I absolutely loved the print book, in fact the entire series. I did enjoy the graphic novel and felt the artwork was great and went well with the narrative. What I didn't care too much for was changing some of the story, however, it flowed well for those who haven't read the print book. I would suggest to those folks to go back and read the original novel! It's great!!

[Erin Wells · Rating 3 out of 5]

I need to read the original because I’m sure it’s better. I am intrigued by the plot and the fantasy aspect of this and I love historical fictional side. The GN felt lacking and the narration was odd, which I think was probably due to trying to make up for what was being missed from the original. It was still good and I liked the art. I think my students will enjoy it and I’m hoping I can use it to inspire them to attempt a more typical historical fiction piece, too.

[Toni Suzuki · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I thought the storyline and illustrations were excellent, I ultimately felt this book didn't take enough advantage of the graphic medium to convey the story. The blocks of text were large enough that I occasionally wondered why this was a graphic novel at all. I think, though, that if you're trying to transition a reluctant reader from more traditional comics to more text-based reading, this is a good in-between step.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The graphic novel balances the beauty and horror of Asheville very well. A touch of gothic influence, plenty of whimsy, and smatterings of cultural references really create a setting you do not experience often.

I found the story in its entirety to be refreshing! Darker than I expected, but so full of local lore. I wouldn’t be surprised to find Disney wanting to pursue more with Serafina’s world.