Legends & Lattes: The Graphic Novel
written by Travis Baldree
adapated by Samuel Sattin
illustrated by Shanti Rittgers and Sarah Webb
My Rating: 3 stars
Genre: Cozy Fantasy
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: f/f
Blurb:
A stunning graphic novel adaptation of the New York Times bestselling BookTok sensation and beloved cozy fantasy Legends & Lattes“The modern classic about starting over truly comes to life in this warm adaptation of Baldree’s cozy masterpiece. I wish I could live in every panel.”—Matt Dinniman, New York Times bestselling author of Dungeon Crawler Carl and Operation Bounce House
After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword. The battle-weary orc aims to start afresh, opening the city of Thune’s first-ever coffee shop. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success, not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.
If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her dreams a reality, she won’t be able to go it alone. After all, the true rewards of an uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether they are drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup―Viv may find something deeper here than she ever imagined…
This full-color graphic novel adaptation brings the high fantasy and low stakes of this beloved story to vibrant life as it’s never been seen before.
My Review
I received a free copy from the publisher through Netgalley and voluntarily reviewed it.
I am a big fan of the cozy fantasy genre and yet I still haven’t read Legends & Lattes, so when I saw this graphic novel version show up on Netgalley I decided that was a great way to experience the story. While I had a fun time reading the graphic novel I do think you get more out of it if you have read the novel first. I felt like I was just missing some depth and inner thoughts of the main character.
Legends & Lattes follows the story of Viv who is hanging up her sword and starting a coffee shop instead. It’s such a typical cozy fantasy set-up and at times it just felt a bit too typical, which feel ironic as this is ofcourse is one of the books that really launched the cozy fantasy genre. As I’ve read many cozy fantasy books before it felt just a bit too typical and I have read books with this set-up that I enjoyed more, but I wonder if that would be different if I had read this one earlier.
I think my biggest struggle was with the fact that I haven’t read the novel first. The artwork is great and I could easily follow the story, but I felt like the graphic novel was missing some depth. I did not really understand what Viv was doing before except that it involved fighting. I felt like I was missing some of Viv’s inner thoughts. The romance felt a bit underdeveloped as I didn’t really get Viv’s thoughts about it. There are parts I felt the graphic novel does a great job conveying what is going on and even some of Viv’s struggles, but it just lacked the depth a novel has.
Overall I liked the story. I did feel some part felt a bit slow or more boring, while other parts were really interesting and fun. I liked seeing Viv start her coffee shop, how she dealt with everything and seeing how she gathered some great side characters around her. I liked reading about the pastries and I liked the baker side character. The romance is sweet and I liked seeing them together. Although I would’ve liked some more depth and emotions that the graphic novel can’t quite reach. The ending was great and I liked how it wrapped things up.
I do feel the artwork ads something to the story. I liked seeing what all the characters looked like and the artwork looks pretty. I liked how facial expressions and gestures and body language are used a lot to convey things instead of text. And it was fun to read and see all the artwork.
To summarize: I had a fun time reading this graphic novel, but I feel like those who read the novel first can appreciate this more. I felt like I was missing some depth and understanding in places and would’ve liked more of Viv’s thoughts and emotions. I liked the story, although by now it feels very typical for the cozy fantasy genre as I’ve read quite a few books in this genre, while this is ofcourse one of the books that came out early in this genre. Some parts of the story felt a bit slow or more boring, but there were also parts I really liked. The ending was well done and I liked how it got wrapped up. The artwork looks good and I like the way character facial expressions and body language are used to convey things. All in all I enjoyed this graphic novel adaption, but think those who read the novel first might enjoy it more.
I definitely recommend reading the full Legends & Lattes novel! It’s very good.
I hope to read to novel eventually as I feel that I would enjoy that one more 🙂
It sounds cute but good to know to read the other.
Definitely start with the novel instead of the graphic novel.
I’m tempted to give this a try. I did love the novel, but I read it not that long after it came out, so it felt less like it’d been done before.
This one is probably more fun if you have already read the novel. I kinda wish I had gotten to this one earlier so it felt more fresh.
Yeah, you don’t get the interior thoughts and feelings with GNs, and maybe this one is sort of relying on people having read the book first. I haven’t read either, but it’s good to know to start with the novel if I do! It looks like pretty art if it’s the same as the cover style.
I think this one would be more fun if you read the book first. And for sure definitely start with the novel before reading this one. I really missed having the interior thoughts and feelings in this one.
I enjoyed the book on audio, so definitely recommend you go give it a try. I don’t remember that the romance was really as big though in that either, so don’t go in expecting that necessarily? Thanks for your review on this!
https://lisalovesliterature.bookblog.io/2026/10/05/l-l-l-little-reviews-september-2026/
I definitely plan on picking up the audio or the novel as I feel I would enjoy that more than this one.