A review by mehsi
Lumberjanes: Beyond Bay Leaf Special #1 by ND Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Faith Erin Hicks

5.0

A ghost pony, a summer camp, friendship, and an evil lady. What more do we want?

Those who have been following me on Goodreads/my reviews for some time know, I did not enjoy Lumberjanes. For various reasons, like no character development, story? whut?. But when I heard about these little short specials, my curiosity rose up. Especially since, despite the terrible start Lumberjanes had, I always kept being curious about the series. Would it become better? Would later parts have an explanation? So these shorts would be perfect for me to maybe easily slide back, and maybe give the second volume another try. But first the shorts!

This one starts with our band of rowdy girls going out during the night for a fun stargazing activity. I knew immediately, and also due what I saw from the first Lumberjanes volume, that this wouldn't just be a cute and fun stargazing activity for long. And indeed. Quite soon Ripley sees something and dashes off in light speed mode (really, that girl can RUN).

And so it all begins. Our girls quickly lose Ripley, and so our group is split up. Ripley finds a ghost horse, and I was in stitches over what she named it (that poor horse is now wishing he had thought of his own name before letting her pick one). While on the other hand our group is getting slightly lost but then finds a campfire. They meet up with someone named Sola. And with Sola the stories reunite again as the ghost horse that Ripley met is of importance for this creepy lady.

I have to say I never once trusted Sola. That woman just vibrated NOPE NOPE NOPE vibes and I was just trying to get the girls to understand that (yes, I know that the story is already set, but still!).

Our ghost horse's story was very sad, the poor thing. :(

And of course there is a battle to save not only the horses, but also the girls, as Sola makes a very tempting over to Ripley (she really knows who to pick out).

This was so exciting to read, I never once was bored, there were creepy moments, hilarious moments, and I just loved the friendship between the girls. Yup. This was a hit! I just got a few more specials to read, and maybe, just maybe, I may get to reading Lumberjanes Vol.2 and further.

Ah, I forget, the art was fabulous! <3

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/