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tmcphetridge4's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
I won't lie. I did not like this book. What I thought would be a fresh new take on werewolf packs and being a teen girl was just a rehash of Mean Girls meets Heathers. There is a girl squad who is ruthlessly pretty and it turns out they murder men who sexually harass/assault girls. This felt like it was trying too hard to make commentary on the sexual assault narratives of schools but in a toxic way. Should men who harass women be punished? Yes. But should they be straight up murdered? I also *hated* how they took the black girl of the group and really othered her. From not acknowledging how she wants to be called, to being belittled, I just kept asking myself, "Why?" The ending was the best part, but even then it felt rushed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Minor: Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Gaslighting, and Cannibalism
ednam0dewannabe's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
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
3.5
This was an interesting, light and entertaining read. Despite becoming confusing in certain panels, the narrative is straightforward and clear. I loved the art style and the lgbtq+ representation (we need more of it) but I found the pacing too fast, leaving neither characters nor readers a minute to digest any new information or emotions. In conclusion, if you want a light and entertaining read I recommend this graphic novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cannibalism, Death, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Body horror, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Blood, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Grief, Racism, Vomit, and Lesbophobia
foreverinastory's review
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I wanted to love this but this was not what I was expecting. There were so many toxic things in here and I was not prepared for it. Or the cannibalism.
Squad is the story of Becca, a transfer student to an elite high school. She doesn't expect to be adopted into the popular clique. But she is and now she has friends. Friends that are sometimes mean to each other, but that's the price of belonging right? Then Becca finds out her friends are werewolves and they prey on boys who sexually assault people. Becca agrees to be turned and together the four of them are unstoppable. When Arianna's predatory boyfriend is accidentally killed, cops begin looking for a serial killer and the girls world begins to unravel.
I guess in all this a good guide on what friendship shouldn't look like. You shouldn't be afraid of your friends. They should call you by the name you want them to use. They shouldn't insult your body or what you do with it.
I did like Becca's romantic storyline, even though it did feel a tad underdeveloped. Overall, I think this was not for me, which is par for the course with me and werewolf books honestly.
Rep: queer Asian American female MC, sapphic white female love interest, Black female side character, white fat female side character, BIPOC female side character, hijabi BIPOC female side character.
CWs: Murder, cannibalism, violence, attempted sexual assault, attempted rape, death, gore, blood, toxic friendship, bullying, sexual harassment, body shaming, slut shaming, misogyny, sexism, lesbomisia/lesbophobia, underage alcohol consumption, fatphobia, toxic relationship. Moderate: Racism and racial microaggressions, eating disorder mention, ableism, classism, grief.
Squad is the story of Becca, a transfer student to an elite high school. She doesn't expect to be adopted into the popular clique. But she is and now she has friends. Friends that are sometimes mean to each other, but that's the price of belonging right? Then Becca finds out her friends are werewolves and they prey on boys who sexually assault people. Becca agrees to be turned and together the four of them are unstoppable. When Arianna's predatory boyfriend is accidentally killed, cops begin looking for a serial killer and the girls world begins to unravel.
I guess in all this a good guide on what friendship shouldn't look like. You shouldn't be afraid of your friends. They should call you by the name you want them to use. They shouldn't insult your body or what you do with it.
I did like Becca's romantic storyline, even though it did feel a tad underdeveloped. Overall, I think this was not for me, which is par for the course with me and werewolf books honestly.
Rep: queer Asian American female MC, sapphic white female love interest, Black female side character, white fat female side character, BIPOC female side character, hijabi BIPOC female side character.
CWs: Murder, cannibalism, violence, attempted sexual assault, attempted rape, death, gore, blood, toxic friendship, bullying, sexual harassment, body shaming, slut shaming, misogyny, sexism, lesbomisia/lesbophobia, underage alcohol consumption, fatphobia, toxic relationship. Moderate: Racism and racial microaggressions, eating disorder mention, ableism, classism, grief.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Gore, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Sexism, Lesbophobia, Cannibalism, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Murder, Violence, Rape, Death, Blood, Alcohol, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Ableism, Classism, Racism, Eating disorder, and Grief
bahyreads's review
dark
emotional
funny
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
5.0
This was the first graphic novel I’ve read in a really long time and it was one of my favorite things I’ve ever read. It’s fun, gay and has werewolves and cannibalism what more could I ask.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism
deadboydoodling's review
dark
tense
medium-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
4.25
It's a book where the main characters aren't inherently likable, but it goes well with the story so it was never much of an issue for me. I enjoyed the pace, and the art (especially the cover) was gorgeous.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Sexual assault, Eating disorder, and Body shaming
Minor: Lesbophobia and Racism
fox's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Cannibalism
Moderate: Fatphobia, Body shaming, Sexual assault, and Rape
Minor: Lesbophobia
her_littleclouds's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
relaxing
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? N/A
4.0
Read through this so quickly! The art style is beautiful and the story is really entertaining and fun to read. It can be a little dark though for some people, I didn’t really have too much trouble with this but it’s definitely not for everyone. Would still recommend though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Sexual assault, Death, Violence, Murder, Blood, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Body shaming
rustylasagna's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Cannibalism
Minor: Rape
nmcannon's review
dark
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
5.0
While a sapphic werewolf romance comic is totally my wheelhouse, my impetus to pick up Squad was that our sapphic book club wanted to read it. This Mean Girls meets Ginger Snaps feminist roar of a tale was much lauded last year, even snagging a nomination for a GoodReads Choice Award. I was prepared to be impressed. And I was!
When Becca transfers to an elite, mostly white high school in Northern California, she dreads the usual new-kid struggles. But on her first day, she catches the eye of the beautiful blonde Marley. Their first interaction is Becca giving Marley a tampon, which I thought was a great detail. Marley introduces Becca to the Plastics the it girl crowd, who, turns out, are werewolves. Every month on the full moon, they must consume flesh, or they’ll frenzy from hunger and/or lose “luster” (think Jennifer’s Body lore). They have rules to keep their murder rationalized, such as be pretty, be smart, no personal boyfriends, only devour would-be rapists, and leave alive anyone from their school. When these rules are snapped, the true horror begins.
The art is stunning. Color splashes and floats across the page. Sterle’s work easily keeps up with the vacillation between pink-tinged charm and blood-drenched gore. A lot of reviews mention different comparative titles. All are helpful and true, because Squad pays dark, touching homage to many a horror story. Squad’s plot is a gorgeous, barbaric scream against rape culture and patriarchy—and a reminder that we cannot only scream. The ending reminded me of second wave feminism receding and returning as third wave feminism. While it’s cathartic as all get out to viciously dismember the future Brett Kavanaugh’s of the world, to cry and call for leaving men behind altogether, that’s not realistic. Such movements leave behind people at other intersections of identity. For example, Becca doesn’t feel safe coming out to her “sisters,” and Amanda is belittled and not called her preferred name.
If I had to nitpick, my book club’s suspension of disbelief didn’t stretch quite far enough at times. We wondered at the logistics of a devouring a whole teenage boy, clothes and all. We wondered how a fuss hadn’t been kicked up yet. In real life, my college campus was basically shut down after a death, with massive protests, calls for reform, and investigations. It was hard to imagine these repeated, semi-localized deaths/disappearances would remain under the radar for so long.
Overall, Squad is a bloody good comic. Read it to sharpen your fangs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Gore, Cannibalism, and Blood
Moderate: Lesbophobia and Body horror
Minor: Racism
almost_literate's review against another edition
dark
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Cannibalism, and Murder
Minor: Sexual assault