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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This stand-alone graphic novel is one for the YA fans. It is packed full of gorgeously illustrated panels, the pains of being a misunderstood teenager, and ghosts. What more can a reader ask for? Chelsea Grant is just trying to fit in at a prep school where everything about her labels her as an "untouchable". But the popular kids have noticed her and at the end-of-year party Chelsea gives into peer pressure. She lands herself in a sticky situation, and her punishment? Working for her ghost-hunting father all summer! This could mean the end of any social life Chelsea has, especially if the fact that she can see the ghosts without her dad's inventions gets out!
I found this graphic novel to be visually stunning. I loved the cooler shades of color used. Each panel was exactly needed to move the story along. The characters where relatable and believable. The overall theme is one of my favorites. Ghost stories are just so much fun to read, and Ghost Roast is one of my new favorites!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Slavery, Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Drug use
Minor: Murder, Alcohol, War
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Ghost Roast follows Chelsea, a high schooler who is enjoying the opportunity to be a “normal highschooler” after spending her childhood branded as Ghost Girl because of her father’s ghost busting - ahem, paranormal removal expert - business. As a Black scholarship student at a New Orleans private school she still struggles to fit in with her popular clique, and a cemetery break in gone wrong gets her grounded and forced to spend the summer working for her dad.
Her dad’s business, “Ghost Roast,” is gaining traction and he gets a contract helping to paranormally cleanse a historic New Orleans manor-slash-former plantation. Chelsea, her dad, and her dad’s other employee Russell start out by trying to track and prove there’s ghostly activity…except Chelsea discovers she doesn’t need an EMT reader to do it: she can see and speak to ghosts.
Chelsea befriends a ghost named Oliver, a member of the family who built the manor that she hasn’t been able to find in historical records. While her father becomes increasingly obsessed with cleansing the manor of all spirits, especially a malevolent entity that haunts past the garden, Chelsea doesn’t want to exterminate her new friends and is trying to find another way.
I thought Ghost Roast was a fun graphic novel that suffered from having a little bit too much going on, and taking too much time to get to what I considered the good stuff. My favorite part of the story was Chelsea finding out more about Oliver’s past and the history of the Harrington family which hadn’t been revealed. Unfortunately it took a while to get to that, and there were so many other aspects of the story muddying things up. Chelsea’s struggle to be accepted by her friends who seemed to maybe be using her, her crush on one of their boyfriends’, and various activities with her friends were needed to set up her having to work with her dad for the summer, but didn’t otherwise add much to the story. Similarly, Chelsea’s parents’ recent divorce seemed to exist more so Chelsea could sneak around them more easily and didn’t add much to her backstory. Her dad’s past - his beloved grandmother was killed by a malevolent spirit - was brought up but not delved into; although it set up a conflict where he wanted to destroy spirits and Chelsea wanted to help them, there was no resolution to that conflict.
I think this story would have benefitted from some editing to pare down some of the side plots and allow the historical mystery part to shine. That being said, this was an enjoyable read, and should appeal to those who enjoy a modern paranormal story. There were serious Ghostbusters vibes and the New Orleans/Louisiana history that was incorporated was an interesting touch. Minimal language, but teenagers drink and smoke weed on-page, albeit briefly, making this more suited for a YA audience.
Her dad’s business, “Ghost Roast,” is gaining traction and he gets a contract helping to paranormally cleanse a historic New Orleans manor-slash-former plantation. Chelsea, her dad, and her dad’s other employee Russell start out by trying to track and prove there’s ghostly activity…except Chelsea discovers she doesn’t need an EMT reader to do it: she can see and speak to ghosts.
Chelsea befriends a ghost named Oliver, a member of the family who built the manor that she hasn’t been able to find in historical records. While her father becomes increasingly obsessed with cleansing the manor of all spirits, especially a malevolent entity that haunts past the garden, Chelsea doesn’t want to exterminate her new friends and is trying to find another way.
I thought Ghost Roast was a fun graphic novel that suffered from having a little bit too much going on, and taking too much time to get to what I considered the good stuff. My favorite part of the story was Chelsea finding out more about Oliver’s past and the history of the Harrington family which hadn’t been revealed. Unfortunately it took a while to get to that, and there were so many other aspects of the story muddying things up. Chelsea’s struggle to be accepted by her friends who seemed to maybe be using her, her crush on one of their boyfriends’, and various activities with her friends were needed to set up her having to work with her dad for the summer, but didn’t otherwise add much to the story. Similarly, Chelsea’s parents’ recent divorce seemed to exist more so Chelsea could sneak around them more easily and didn’t add much to her backstory. Her dad’s past - his beloved grandmother was killed by a malevolent spirit - was brought up but not delved into; although it set up a conflict where he wanted to destroy spirits and Chelsea wanted to help them, there was no resolution to that conflict.
I think this story would have benefitted from some editing to pare down some of the side plots and allow the historical mystery part to shine. That being said, this was an enjoyable read, and should appeal to those who enjoy a modern paranormal story. There were serious Ghostbusters vibes and the New Orleans/Louisiana history that was incorporated was an interesting touch. Minimal language, but teenagers drink and smoke weed on-page, albeit briefly, making this more suited for a YA audience.
lighthearted
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
fast-paced