Reviews

Nightmare in Savannah by Lela Gwenn

ankitakhataniar's review

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3.0

I liked the book and where it was heading until it just ended. The illustrations were appealing and gave off the gothic dark vibes. The premise of the Fae was interesting and the characters were well portrayed. They were interesting as they were morally grey and add to that the obnoxiousness of teens, and we have got ourselves a mess. The main problem was that the different fractions of the comic did not add up sometimes and it felt like there was a disconnection between panels. That being said, I did have a good time reading but I would have loved it if the plot would have been more coherent.

clarissa21663's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

bssfgbhnht's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.0

tripthroughthepages's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

gabbyreadswithtea's review

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3.0

Fantastic in theory, average in practice. Nightmare in Savannah’s biggest issue was pacing. I see most of the reviews stating this and I agree wholeheartedly. I found myself quickly confused within this story and felt like this needed a lot more time to grow. Like, 2 more volumes kinda time. The characters were okay, I felt like I needed more time with them to really connect.
The artwork was cool and spooky, perfect for the story and the colourings were perfect for this Fay tale.
I did enjoy the queer romance aspects of this graphic novel. And the main couple was super cute and I definitely shipped them.
In the end, this graphic novel wrapped itself up in a neat bow. I would be interested in seeing this creators future works, as long as the story is fleshed out a lot better.
If you want to try a fast-paced and unique, spooky fairy story, give this one a go.

Thanks to Diamond Book Distributors for providing me an e-copy of this graphic novel. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

karlybug's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

first things first: this book is gorgeous. I am obsessed with the color palette and its connection to the story and themes, and the art style is lovely and eerie, right on theme as well. and i think this story concept is really freaking cool and if you pitched this to me as a film/miniseries or a full-length novel i would back it on kickstarter for sure.

HOWEVER.

as a graphic novel? this story is waaaay too complex and needs too much emotional breathing room to be a successful graphic novel. which is unfortunate, because, as i said, the art style is pitch perfect. but the plot is ALL over the place; half the time it felt like pages were missing, the scene transitions were so abrupt. there are some really wonderfully written heavy topics to deal with in the plot here, but none of them is given the proper amount of time or emotional weight. the relationships all feel rushed and thin. it was just absolutely begging for more time/pages.

this story could really flourish in pretty much any other medium. i can’t imagine any reason for that to happen, but i’d really love it. maybe an animated miniseries in the same art style??? producers, see this and make it happen.

chantaal's review

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2.0

The main thing this graphic novel has going for it is the art. It's pretty decent, with some great color palette work.

The story itself made no sense, had no internal logic, didn't even try to have a cohesive storyline, and jumped all over the place. I have no idea of how or WHY anything happened in this book.

oddree13's review

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3.0

Alexa is sent to Savannah to live with her grandfather and get away from her family's past. Unfortunately, a quick search from her classmates reveals her parent's criminal acts and marks her as an outcast. Lucky for Alexa, three girls quickly invite her into their group of friends. But after a bonfire bacchanalia in the woods, the girls realize they have one common link - they are all fairy changelings.

Nightmare in Savannah was a fun spooky read during Halloween and gives the reader a good primer of fae lore. The story shows how the girls start to use their powers to exact revenge on those who have wronged them, and how it gets out of hand. There are some episodes of hallucination, paranoia, minor body horror, gore, and even death enacted on their victims and you come to find out there is another big bad really pulling the strings.

Bonus points for representation of a variety of backgrounds, both racial/ethnic and sexual, including ace and wlw romance.

My issues with it are that a lot of the motivations of the characters are only briefly presented. The character development for the main character is much more robust than for the other three girls, and usually, those wouldn't be an issue except that a lot of plot points turn on them and you find it hard to either connect with them or remember why something would have occurred. Additionally, there is one male character who will not let up his advances on Alexa and though at the end it's shown that he's not really a creep, he feels like a red flag from the meet-cute.

jhstack's review

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3.0

Liked this take on Southern Fae, but some of the character designs looked similar and confused me, and I would have liked a little more character development and fae background. (e-galley from Edelweiss)

spaceaviator's review

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

It was cool and original. I just wish there was more to it. Some parts feel like they should be expanded on, including the ending. But all in all, still a cool read.