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directorpurry's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Blood, Bullying, and Animal death
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Abandonment
werepsyche's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
i feel like the ending was rushed quite a bit. there were a lot of different questions that could have been answered but just wasn't. it was a bit disappointing, but i did enjoy the book. i love the cast of characters and the use of ghosts and lycanthropy (big fan of werewolves. can you tell? love a novel about werewolves that isn't some weird hetero romance story). i'll probably draw fanart or something. auugh, SOOO WISH the story was more fleshed out. there felt like there were a lot of holes :-(
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Grief, Death of parent, Animal death, Chronic illness, Bullying, and Blood
Moderate: Medical content, Emotional abuse, Body horror, and Gun violence
bookenbee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
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? Yes
4.5
I loved this! The end felt rushed, but it was overall a well paced story and great characters. Tony and Eli are so sweet together. If there was a sequel to this to answer some questions/give us more background on the characters it would be even better!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Ableism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical content, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic friendship
booksdogsandcoffee's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
3.5
Thank you to net galley and Macmillan children publishing group for this arc in exchange for an honest review:
3.5 stars
Tony is the track star everyone loves and adores, Eli is the kid with a chronic illness who no one knows or cares to know about. He is always missing school because of the pain. Through unlikely circumstances the Eli reaches out an olive branch to Tony and the two become friends. But there is a something curious about Eli, and something even more mysterious going on in their small town of Blackwater.
I'm not sure I was able to see all of the graphic novel. From what I did read I really enjoyed the story of Tony and Eli. Tony being the tough track star, but really deep down is a nice guy is always one of my favorite characters. I also really liked how asthma was depicted in the graphic novel. Eli was also another great character. Myself growing up with a chronic illness I missed school a lot, lost friends left and right. so relating to him was very easy. And he is jewish!! The rep in the graphic novel was awesome to see. There was ableism and bullying, but you do see Tony working away from it during the novels progression.
Cw
Bullying
Ableism
chronic illness
animal death
emotional abuse
homophobia
3.5 stars
Tony is the track star everyone loves and adores, Eli is the kid with a chronic illness who no one knows or cares to know about. He is always missing school because of the pain. Through unlikely circumstances the Eli reaches out an olive branch to Tony and the two become friends. But there is a something curious about Eli, and something even more mysterious going on in their small town of Blackwater.
I'm not sure I was able to see all of the graphic novel. From what I did read I really enjoyed the story of Tony and Eli. Tony being the tough track star, but really deep down is a nice guy is always one of my favorite characters. I also really liked how asthma was depicted in the graphic novel. Eli was also another great character. Myself growing up with a chronic illness I missed school a lot, lost friends left and right. so relating to him was very easy. And he is jewish!! The rep in the graphic novel was awesome to see. There was ableism and bullying, but you do see Tony working away from it during the novels progression.
Cw
Bullying
Ableism
chronic illness
animal death
emotional abuse
homophobia
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Ableism, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Bullying
Moderate: Toxic friendship
melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition
dark
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? Yes
4.25
Thank you to netgalley for an arc of this book and then to Henry, Holt, and Co for sending me a finished copy!
In the town of Blackwater, Tony is a popular track star with a crush on the quiet, nerdy Eli. But something is happening in the woods, and Eli might know what it is.
So, weirdly enough, the netgalley arc of this that I got only had half the book? Either that or it didn't download properly. So I read the e-arc and thought...what a terrible ending! It felt like it was the middle of the story. I was so disappointed because I felt like it had so much potential...Then, the publisher sent me a finished copy and I was like, "wow, this sure is bigger than it seemed." Cue me realizing I had only read half the book. So I read the second half, and my disappointment went away because this was fabulous!
Creepy and cute--I love the budding relationship between confident Tony and shy Eli. I love the chronic illness rep with Tony's asthma and Eli's autoimmune disease. I love the character development that happened in this book! The plot was interesting and I liked how it turned out. I wish the werewolf aspects had been developed a little more, but I did like that part overall!
The characters are really what made this book stand out to me!
In the town of Blackwater, Tony is a popular track star with a crush on the quiet, nerdy Eli. But something is happening in the woods, and Eli might know what it is.
So, weirdly enough, the netgalley arc of this that I got only had half the book? Either that or it didn't download properly. So I read the e-arc and thought...what a terrible ending! It felt like it was the middle of the story. I was so disappointed because I felt like it had so much potential...Then, the publisher sent me a finished copy and I was like, "wow, this sure is bigger than it seemed." Cue me realizing I had only read half the book. So I read the second half, and my disappointment went away because this was fabulous!
Creepy and cute--I love the budding relationship between confident Tony and shy Eli. I love the chronic illness rep with Tony's asthma and Eli's autoimmune disease. I love the character development that happened in this book! The plot was interesting and I liked how it turned out. I wish the werewolf aspects had been developed a little more, but I did like that part overall!
The characters are really what made this book stand out to me!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Ableism, Animal death, and Bullying
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Chronic illness
Minor: Animal cruelty, Homophobia, and Body horror
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