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followingfantasies's review
2.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publishers and author for providing me with an eARC of this title in exchange for my unbiased review.
Alexa, our main character, has moved to Savannah in the hope of starting over fresh after her parents were sent to jail. Unfortunately people find out rather quickly about her parents' criminal history, making her just as much of an outcast in her new town. Luckily Alexa finds a group of outcasts that accept her into their friend group anyway, but after a long crazy night they all turn into Faeries, which happen to be the towns worst nightmare.
This is a YA urban fantasy graphic novel that was a very short read for me. This book reminded me a lot of the movie 'The Craft,' except with fairies instead of Witches. There are some trigger warnings in this book including bullying, child neglect, trauma and minor violence. This book was a fun and unique take on fairies and changelings. There is LGBTQ+ representation included in the story. The pacing of the book moves along very quickly which keeps you interested in what is happening, but it can feel like you are jumping around quite a bit. I think this may have benefitted from being told in seperate volumes or as a longer work. I did find it somewhat hard to relate to the characters in the book. Since the pacing is so quick you don't really get more than a quick glimpse into what drives these characters. The ending, while sweet, also felt abrupt to me. I really think this book would have benefitted from being longer and more drawn out. I found the illustrations to fit well with the atmosphere and aesthetic of the book. I really enjoyed the Gothic style aesthetic of the book and illustrations.
Fans of 'The Craft' and 'Mean Girls' will probably enjoy this. It is a nice quick read for those who want something easy and fast to get through. The Gothic and spooky elements are great for people who like that sort of thing.
2
Alexa, our main character, has moved to Savannah in the hope of starting over fresh after her parents were sent to jail. Unfortunately people find out rather quickly about her parents' criminal history, making her just as much of an outcast in her new town. Luckily Alexa finds a group of outcasts that accept her into their friend group anyway, but after a long crazy night they all turn into Faeries, which happen to be the towns worst nightmare.
This is a YA urban fantasy graphic novel that was a very short read for me. This book reminded me a lot of the movie 'The Craft,' except with fairies instead of Witches. There are some trigger warnings in this book including bullying, child neglect, trauma and minor violence. This book was a fun and unique take on fairies and changelings. There is LGBTQ+ representation included in the story. The pacing of the book moves along very quickly which keeps you interested in what is happening, but it can feel like you are jumping around quite a bit. I think this may have benefitted from being told in seperate volumes or as a longer work. I did find it somewhat hard to relate to the characters in the book. Since the pacing is so quick you don't really get more than a quick glimpse into what drives these characters. The ending, while sweet, also felt abrupt to me. I really think this book would have benefitted from being longer and more drawn out. I found the illustrations to fit well with the atmosphere and aesthetic of the book. I really enjoyed the Gothic style aesthetic of the book and illustrations.
Fans of 'The Craft' and 'Mean Girls' will probably enjoy this. It is a nice quick read for those who want something easy and fast to get through. The Gothic and spooky elements are great for people who like that sort of thing.
2
jazhandz's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Nightmare in Savannah is a revenge fantasy gone wrong: when a group of social outcasts discover that they're all fae, they immediately get to work wronging everyone who has ever wronged them. It's a fun premise, with memorable characters and interesting, complex relationships between them.
The writing here is unfortunately 3-star writing. The setup is great, and the way the fae lore slowly unfolded was fantastic. But Lela Gwenn's dialogue hews a little too quippy to be natural, to the point where I made faces while I was reading. The story is interesting, but the pacing is breakneck - even another 20 pages would've helped loosen things up - and the ending ultimately felt rushed and unearned because of it.
Luckily, Rowan MacColl's art is 5-star art. The visual storytelling here is impeccable, and the art style flows from high school romcom to genuinely unnerving horror with ease. And there IS a horror element - not gross, although there is mild blood and some hair/eyelash picking, but more tension and unease that would've been fine in written word but that I found delightfully unnerving with MacColl's art. The visual element brings the rating up to a solid 4 stars. Great graphics, so-so novel.
Nightmare in Savannah is a revenge fantasy gone wrong: when a group of social outcasts discover that they're all fae, they immediately get to work wronging everyone who has ever wronged them. It's a fun premise, with memorable characters and interesting, complex relationships between them.
The writing here is unfortunately 3-star writing. The setup is great, and the way the fae lore slowly unfolded was fantastic. But Lela Gwenn's dialogue hews a little too quippy to be natural, to the point where I made faces while I was reading. The story is interesting, but the pacing is breakneck - even another 20 pages would've helped loosen things up - and the ending ultimately felt rushed and unearned because of it.
Luckily, Rowan MacColl's art is 5-star art. The visual storytelling here is impeccable, and the art style flows from high school romcom to genuinely unnerving horror with ease. And there IS a horror element - not gross, although there is mild blood and some hair/eyelash picking, but more tension and unease that would've been fine in written word but that I found delightfully unnerving with MacColl's art. The visual element brings the rating up to a solid 4 stars. Great graphics, so-so novel.
lavenderrreads's review
3.0
The plot set up and the friend group in this graphic novel reminded me so much of The Craft and I’m not surprised to see other readers point this out as well. Fae was definitely giving me Nancy vibes. If you like classic teen horror movies this would be perfect to read in the spooky/fall season. There was even a small romance included that I thought was really sweet. I think the edgy art style and dark color palette matched well with the tone of the story too. I will say that the quick pacing in some parts was a little confusing, as if some details had been skipped over, but it didn’t hinder me from keeping up with the plot. The story did have a complete ending but I wouldn’t mind reading a part 2!
tiffany93's review
4.0
Thank you to NetGalley for providing this book for review.
Alexa moves to Savannah to live with her grandpa after her parents are sent to jail. At her new school she encounters the popular bully, Jen. Thankfully a group of outcasts ask her to join their group, and this is where Alexa's life changes forever.
A story filled with teen drama, a hint of romance and a lot of magic, Nightmare in Savannah sets a gothic, fun vibe for the reader.
This was a pretty cool little story. I liked the format of there being pages from the fairy hunter's journal spread throughout the main story. I would happily read this if it were flushed out into a full novel.
The drawing style was really funky and fun with a limited but suitable colour pallette.
I found the story to be quite reminiscent of The Craft, but with fairies. Which is great because I love The Craft.
A fun little read, maybe best enjoyed in spooky season.
Alexa moves to Savannah to live with her grandpa after her parents are sent to jail. At her new school she encounters the popular bully, Jen. Thankfully a group of outcasts ask her to join their group, and this is where Alexa's life changes forever.
A story filled with teen drama, a hint of romance and a lot of magic, Nightmare in Savannah sets a gothic, fun vibe for the reader.
This was a pretty cool little story. I liked the format of there being pages from the fairy hunter's journal spread throughout the main story. I would happily read this if it were flushed out into a full novel.
The drawing style was really funky and fun with a limited but suitable colour pallette.
I found the story to be quite reminiscent of The Craft, but with fairies. Which is great because I love The Craft.
A fun little read, maybe best enjoyed in spooky season.
dorothysbookshelf's review against another edition
2.0
ad // gifted - a copy of this book was kindly gifted to me by the publisher via netgalley.
review: i didn’t really enjoy this book. definitely a new and interesting concept, but was very hard to keep up with. i feel like the plot and characters were telly vague, so i wasn’t sure what was happening for a lot of it. and the plot needed to be more fleshed out. maybe adding a lot more pages would have helped - it seemed rushed.
i think the author’s goal was to make almost none of the characters “good” and they definitely achieved that, but i feel like the characters should have been explored more, as it was really confusing in certain segments.
review: i didn’t really enjoy this book. definitely a new and interesting concept, but was very hard to keep up with. i feel like the plot and characters were telly vague, so i wasn’t sure what was happening for a lot of it. and the plot needed to be more fleshed out. maybe adding a lot more pages would have helped - it seemed rushed.
i think the author’s goal was to make almost none of the characters “good” and they definitely achieved that, but i feel like the characters should have been explored more, as it was really confusing in certain segments.
bookish_4life's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
2.0
Sometimes I go into graphic novels not really knowing what they are about because that's fun (right?) but with this one, it wasn't that fun. It's not that I didn't like the changeling plot, in fact I though that it was really interesting, but the pacing. The pacing of this book definitely screwed up my reading experience. From the start everything starts moving up so quickly (and I know this is a graphic novel and usually they are very short) but still there was no need to rush everything in the story.
dallas10's review
3.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Graphic novels are normally not my go to genre when picking up a new book, but the unique cover and book description made me want to give this a shot. I flew through Nightmares in Savannah, finishing it in about an hour and overall I was satisfied with my experience. The artwork and the colour palette used was beautiful to look at, and I think this was my favourite thing about this graphic novel.
The story itself I found to be interesting. I enjoyed the horror element and it kept me interested in what was to come. I enjoyed the love story between two of the female characters, Alexa and Skye. While most of the story I did enjoy, I found it moved extremely fast and it almost seemed as if I was missing pages at times. I was worried it was my copy of the graphic novel, but it was just the way the novel was created. I think it easily could have been longer, which would have allowed the story to flow a bit better and not feel rushed.
Overall, I would recommend this to those looking for a fast read and a beautifully designed graphic novel.
Graphic novels are normally not my go to genre when picking up a new book, but the unique cover and book description made me want to give this a shot. I flew through Nightmares in Savannah, finishing it in about an hour and overall I was satisfied with my experience. The artwork and the colour palette used was beautiful to look at, and I think this was my favourite thing about this graphic novel.
The story itself I found to be interesting. I enjoyed the horror element and it kept me interested in what was to come. I enjoyed the love story between two of the female characters, Alexa and Skye. While most of the story I did enjoy, I found it moved extremely fast and it almost seemed as if I was missing pages at times. I was worried it was my copy of the graphic novel, but it was just the way the novel was created. I think it easily could have been longer, which would have allowed the story to flow a bit better and not feel rushed.
Overall, I would recommend this to those looking for a fast read and a beautifully designed graphic novel.
notabookseller's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Thank you to NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Nightmare in Savannah is scheduled for release on October 26th, 2021.
Alexa moves in with her grandpa after her parents are send to jail for embezzlement, which does not stay secret past second period, where she discovers her people so to speak. After Alexa’s secret is outed by her new school’s head mean girl she meets a trio of outcasts, Fae (a little on the nose but whatever), Skye, and Chloe who immediately adopt her into their group. Together they realize that they have powers and they decide to use those powers to get back at their local bullies and tormentors. But what kind of story would this be if somebody didn’t go too far?
If you like The Craft (1996) then you’ll probably enjoy this story too. I think that the fat mythology used and the journal pages interspersed throughout the book add a fun and new take on the classic trio-adding-a-fourth trope.
I really only had two issues with the story, not counting that one event really close to the end that just straight up sucked so I guess three issues, whatever. The first one: Alexa looks like she’s in her mid-thirties, I was shocked to find out that she’s in high school. And the second one: This love triangle between Skye, Alexa, and Lucas got real old real fast especially because the center point made it clear from the beginning who they wanted to be with. Y’all already know about the third one but I don’t wanna spoil it for you so I won’t say anything else about it.
I wouldn’t say that this book is inappropriate for younger readers, but it does have the lightest dusting of mature themes (specifically drinking and the mention of sex) so if I had to give a limit then I would say it’s best for readers 14 and up, but really I think anyone can read it and enjoy it.
All things considered, I enjoyed this graphic novel; the art was beautiful, the story was fun, and it’s being released just in time for spooky season. I would definitely recommend picking this up.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Sexual content and Alcohol