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A review by capesandcovers
Blackwater by Jeannette Arroyo, Ren Graham
3.0
TWs: ableism, animal death/gore
To begin, I just wanted to say that the Blackwater arc I read is either a partial arc or the first volume in what I presume is going to be a series, so if you're expecting to read a standalone like I did, you're going to be in for a surprise (Also, just wait for the finished copy, it's not worth the effort of fighting the Netgalley app to read a partial arc, I promise). This volume lays down the foundation of the story to come, with pretty slow pacing until about the halfway mark and the ending. It's a little slow, but if you're used to reading graphic novels or comics you probably won't think twice about it since that's how the format tends to work.
Tony and Eli fell a bit flat for me, we got to see both of their lives before the more supernatural elements of the story got more intense, and how frustrated they were with their everyday lives. Part of that was potentially setting up the next volumes, but. Eli is lonely and struggling to make friends and keep up with school due to his health. Tony and his dad don't get along, and he's hanging out with his "best friend" who is more like a bullying ringleader. Marcia, who is Tony's friend, outshone the rest of the cast. She called her friends out, had strong witchy energy and was in general just a cool person.
Blackwater fell a bit flat for me, I had been hoping for more of a connection with the characters since it was off to such a slow start. If I were to try to comp it to something, I would say the first episode of the 2011 Teen Wolf series, rather than the comps from the blurb (Stranger Things and Riverdale). This might work better for someone else though, so if you're interested in Blackwater, definitely try checking it out! The ending was enough of a cliffhanger that I'll probably pick up volume 2 (or the whole thing. I'm still a bit confused as to what happened there since I've seen people refer to it as a partial arc and volume 1).
To begin, I just wanted to say that the Blackwater arc I read is either a partial arc or the first volume in what I presume is going to be a series, so if you're expecting to read a standalone like I did, you're going to be in for a surprise (Also, just wait for the finished copy, it's not worth the effort of fighting the Netgalley app to read a partial arc, I promise). This volume lays down the foundation of the story to come, with pretty slow pacing until about the halfway mark and the ending. It's a little slow, but if you're used to reading graphic novels or comics you probably won't think twice about it since that's how the format tends to work.
Tony and Eli fell a bit flat for me, we got to see both of their lives before the more supernatural elements of the story got more intense, and how frustrated they were with their everyday lives. Part of that was potentially setting up the next volumes, but
Spoiler
for someone who could see ghosts and someone else who turned into a werewolf, it was surprisingly... unexcitingBlackwater fell a bit flat for me, I had been hoping for more of a connection with the characters since it was off to such a slow start. If I were to try to comp it to something, I would say the first episode of the 2011 Teen Wolf series, rather than the comps from the blurb (Stranger Things and Riverdale). This might work better for someone else though, so if you're interested in Blackwater, definitely try checking it out! The ending was enough of a cliffhanger that I'll probably pick up volume 2 (or the whole thing. I'm still a bit confused as to what happened there since I've seen people refer to it as a partial arc and volume 1).