A review by nmcannon
Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

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.
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