Reviews with content warning for Child death - Taproot

📖 Taproot by Keezy Young Book Review 📖

3rd book of July 2022 and 17th of the year:

This was such a cute, creepy, and atmospheric short graphic novel that’s great for the Halloween season! I loved the art and romance in it, and I recommend picking it up! TW for death, bugs, death of children, and mention of a car accident📚👻🪴♥️

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andrear's review against another edition

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This one didn’t really give me much. I don’t think it’s one that will stick with me.

The lore felt a bit thrown together and clunky?? I enjoyed the vibes, though, it was cute.

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cobwebshelves's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.0

"There's nothing evil about death, ghostie. But it's a balance. You can't force life without taking it from somewhere."

Hamal passes his days working at a flower shop and talking to the ghosts that only he seems to be able to see. He's a necromancer—but he doesn't know it.

Blue has been dead for a year. He used to wander around aimlessly, observing the living, until he came across Hamal—the only person who's been able to see him since he passed away. As time passes, he develops feelings for Hamal, though he knows that as a ghost, he can't give him anything—Blue can't even touch him.

This graphic novel filled the void in my soul that Pushing Daisies left years ago. Young's art style is so charming – from the colour palette to the stark contrast between the real world and the Reaper's forest. It's a beautiful visualisation of the threshold between life and death. The story itself was short, sweet, and hopeful – a perfect creepy-cozy read to return to on a gloomy day.

Thanks to Oni Press and NetGalley for the access.

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literarypenguin's review

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lighthearted 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? No

5.0

Taproot is such an adorable and lovely written and drawn graphic novel! The colors and drawings are so great, especially the character designs!

Taproot is a story of a gardener named Hamal who communicates with ghosts including his best friend a ghost named Blue. Blue has trouble moving on and admitting his feelings for Hamal and Hamal has trouble accepting his powers and losing these ghosts that he has come to call his friends. All of these characters have so much sass and the interactions between them easily make this book so much more enjoyable! Though at times I did feel like we should have gotten more of the background characters and their development. I loved the relationship between Hamal and Blue and felt like it was genuine and caring. I did believe that they cared about each other and their friendship turned into something more.

I did feel like the pacing was a bit off at times, especially toward the end and towards the end, and it made it harder for me to figure out the story at the end. I felt like I didn't know where the story was headed at the end because things moved by very quickly. The drawings were so beautiful and great to look at! I loved how the Reaper was drawn and the land of the dead was also amazing too! There was just a bit of information about the land of the dead but not too much enough to help us understand the story.

I do very much recommend this sweet and touching graphic novel just for the fact of how much I loved Blue and Hamal! The drawings and story were pretty awesome as well!

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