Reviews - Ghost Roast | The StoryGraph

546 reviews for:

Ghost Roast

Shawneé Gibbs, Shawnelle Gibbs

4.18 AVERAGE

dgrstory's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional mysterious 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: No

Content Warnings

v_nessa's review against another edition

3.0

This turned out to be pretty good! At first, I was cringing at the Mean Girls setup-the populars, the unironic use of the term untouchables, a girl who was socially outcast falls in with the popular kids but is constantly on the edge of losing it. However, I think starting with those tropes helps with the story progression and overall growth for Chelsea.

Chelsea attends prep school, her parents are divorced but the biggest thing is that her dad is Ghost Roast Doug who runs his agency in New Orleans. Just because it's New Orleans, a locale known for its ghosts, voodoo, and long, rich history doesn't mean Doug's business is any better received than any other place in the world. However, Chelsea has been able to move past being Ghost Girl-more from distancing herself from her dad-and have a more normal school experience.

Of course, when these prep school friends land Chelsea in jail for a night-her parents are understandably upset and ground her as well as make her help her dad in his Ghost Roast business for the summer.

I love that this has focus on Chelsea and her family, as well as Chelsea and her friends and then still has enough focus on the ghost aspect. Gibbs accomplishes the balancing act well. The characters all felt real enough, as well as their relationships with one another, and the ghost story was interesting. The bonus is the art is also fantastic!

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

himalaya's review against another edition

5.0

I really enjoyed this, great art and great story! I wasn't exactly sure of the story or tone direction in the beginning but it really pulled together in the last third especially.

I will say it had this one artistic quirk that I didn't love....you know how sometimes with silly moments in comics/manga the characters are drawn small/chibi or more simply to emphasise that emotion... in this, they're drawn like 👤 shape with. no hair? but like there's enough detail for me to read Everyone's Bald In This Frame before I interpret what's actually being portrayed there. weird. there's definitely less of that as it goes on though.

v_spain's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

booktails's review against another edition

4.0

Chelsea will do anything to fit in with the popular girls at school, including doing her best to hide the fact that her father runs a ghost hunting company. Unfortunately for her, getting grounded means working for her Dad and she realises she's actually perfectly suited to the job!

I loved the style and the colours, I'm sure the finished version will look absolutely amazing! It was such a fun book to read and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

https://sabrinasbooktails.blogspot.com/2024/01/graphic-novels-part-3-my-love-of.html

allie_ish's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Great book for teen and excellent for black history month. I loved the characters and the twist at the end and the sweet little romance as well. It feels like it could be a series 👀

notsobinaryart's review against another edition

5.0

hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: Yes

I went into Ghost Roast expecting a cute and quick read about a young girl seeing ghosts while her dad tries to find them, and I got that and so much more in this unexpectedly deep graphic novel.

Our main character Chelsea is introduced as a pretty common teenager facing the balance between popularity, parental expectations, and being true to yourself. I immediately hated her friends as we are, at least in part, expected to. The story picks up when Chelsea starts a job at her father’s ghost elimination business, starting a big paranormal job on an old plantation.

Ghost Roast doesn’t hesitate to delve into the racist history of the rebranded “manor” and its previous owners while still remaining overall a story of youth and hope. The book approaches the idea of ghosts head on, with the lead girl asking one of the ghosts if he used to enslave people like her.

As a white person, it’s not my place to give the final say if this is ultimately done right, but you can see all of the time and consideration that went into this story being what it is.

I rooted for everyone (okay except maybe the friends) in this story and wish them the best. The book felt complete, like it didn’t miss any context or need to be expanded upon, which I often struggle with in the genre. I’m excited to see what everyone in this team does next!

Content Warnings

kayles514's review against another edition

4.0

funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

ageorges's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous emotional funny informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

freckles_and_books's review against another edition

4.0

funny mysterious fast-paced

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