Such a fun YA horror! Perfect for spooky season or for those wanting to dip your toe into horror. Excellent illustrations and mixed media story telling with journal entries.

Received a review copy NetGalley. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.

Wow, I had SO much fun with this book! There’s an element of mystery to it right from the beginning, but then it also turns fairly gruesome and horrifying very early on. It reads like a typical YA book, so I was actually caught off guard (in the best way) by the brutality and pulse-pounding scares of our protagonist’s first major paranormal encounter. It’s violent, it’s instantly memorable, it lasts for three glorious chapters, and it instantly hooked me into the book. From that point on reading this was pure bliss.

I totally flew through this story and I think anyone could do the same! There were some wild action scenes, emotional sisterly bonding scenes, and some intense family secrets and past that come to haunt the present.

I do wish we had a bit more character development here - everything just went straight into action so we never really got to know the characters in full. However, being this is the first in a series, I'm sure we'll see development over the next books forthcoming. Overall, this was a quick and fun romp of a read. Easily devoured in one sitting and full of supernatural, monstry goodness. I enjoyed this unique story – a gruesome entanglement of supernatural and dark fantasy with its intermittent illustrations and journal entries of clues.

Jennifer Strange is left alone with her sister when she develops supernatural powers to effect ghosts. It is a fun ride that is a mix or story, comic, and journal. It gives the story a fun uniqueness that I can't wait to see in person.

4 stars

I was super excited to have the opportunity to read this one! I thought the story sounded interesting and the cover looks amazing. I think the writing style itself was super unique and I really liked that about this book.

This title a very interesting one, out of my typical reading comfort zone but I found it generally enjoyable.

Jennifer Strange just found out she has a gift, a magical gift. She can give ghosts and demons a corporeal body with just the touch of her hand. Instead of teaching her how to use this gift, her dad drops her off on her sister, Liz’s, doorstep with a journal that promises to help guide her in this ability. The first day at her new school goes awry when a demon unleashes its fury during her first class, and it’s all downhill from there. Jennifer “Jacks” will learn all about her monster and ghost hunting family first-hand and with the help of a classmate, Marcus, who seems to know about her gifts, and her sister, she’ll work her way through wraiths, phantoms, ghosts, and just about every other paranormal creature imaginable. According to the publisher, this is Part comic. Part journal. Part novel, and it’s 100% unique.

I really enjoyed this read. I wasn’t planning on finishing it in a single sitting, but work was slow and I was intrigued, so here we are. I enjoyed how the comics and journal broke up the longer prose versions of the story, illunminating the subjects more than Jacks just figuring out things as she goes along. There are plenty of twists and turns, and though the story wraps up pretty well, it does leave things a tad open ended for a sequel. I’d definitely read that sequel. I’m a tad late to this book, but it would be perfect for October reading. It’s spooky, set in Savannah, and a fun, fall-time adventure.

Imagine almost being killed by a supernatural force at your high school one day and after, your father hands you a journal and drops you off with your older sister. Basically - good luck, read this and try not to die! Byeeeeeeeeee! This, my friends, is Jennifer Strange. And her first day in her new school... well, it starts with quite the literal explosion. But what else would you expect from Savannah - known for the supernatural? 😉

This is the young, queer demon fighter we have been waiting for! I would absolutely agree that if you love Supernatural and Buffy that this would be a fantastic read for you. There were many times that I was thinking the Winchesters should head to Savannah and meet up with Strange. *tee hee* I especially love the interspersed journal entries and fun illustrations.
I do wish we had a bit more character development here - everything just went straight into action so we never really got to know the characters in full. However, being this is the first in a series, I'm sure we'll see development over the next books forthcoming. Overall, this was a quick and fun romp of a read. Easily devoured in one sitting and full of supernatural, monstry goodness. Perfect for the young adult audience that enjoys horror.

I have one positive thing to say about this book and that’s about the illustrations and diary entries. Even though they were hard to read on my Kindle, they really made a difference. The author figured out a clever way of infodumping with the entries while the sketches helped me imagine what the various beasts might have looked like.

Now, for the not-so-good stuff. Firstly, I found it really hard to care about any of the characters. The main reason for that would be how they reacted. One moment, they’d be angry enough to kill and the next second, they required babying. Marcus was so temperamental that reading about him gave me emotional whiplash! When it came to the Sparrow sisters, it took them half the book just to go check out Marcus’ family’s shop. They knew that was where they’d find any clues but they dithered, went to school, and did other things instead of heading over there! Jennifer kept whining how her dad had dropped everything on her shoulders and taken off. Yes, we get it but at least, grow a pair yourself and do something about it!

Secondly, I could pretty much predict the story without reading it. It was also really cliched and convoluted as if the author didn’t know where they wanted to go with it. This isn’t horror, either.

Thirdly and finally, even though really awful things happen in the story, we don’t see any real consequences come to light. It reduced the importance of those events.

In the end, it’s clear this one wasn’t for me. Maybe that won’t be the case for you?

Fun, clever and perfectly spooky. I adored the illustrations especially. Can't wait to read more from this author.

DNF

I tried reading this book but just couldn’t get into though I did think the brief illustrations in the book were really interesting.

Jennifer Strange has a great hook to draw you into reading it: a young woman comes into previously unknown powers and is left with her older sister while her dad searches for a magical artifact. Female Supernatural? Gimme! But I feel that the book went off the rails after the first chapter, with introducing several new characters that were given plot-heavy hooks that were ultimately never explained. Even at the end, I cannot tell you why so-and-so was given top billing or why the book happened as it did.
However, the illustrations are top-notch! So check those out I guess.

When I initially asked for this book to review, I thought it was going to be comic book based upon the cover.
Needless to say I wasn't disappointed since there were some illustrations within the book as well as the text.

This was an very haunting story about family relationships, and the creepy dark underworld of ghosts, monsters and demons.

I loved the sisters', Jennifer and Liz, relationship- it was tenuous at first, but they soon realized that they were both experiencing the same weird powers, so they knew that they needed to help each other out.

Cat Scully wasted no time in showing how horrifying this world can be with the many creepy demons and how death is not far behind once you have encountered one of the dark creatures. It was an quick-paced plot, so I was always ready to read the next chapter. I also loved the illustrations, and the dad's journal pages.

I would definitely list this as higher YA because of the violence but super interested in where the next book is headed.

Scary enough to read with the lights on, sweet enough that you can resist finding fav characters. I loved getting to know the Strange sisters, the Blackwells, and Jennifer’s dad. With worldbuilding through illustrations and journal entries, I dare you to find a more immersive read this fall. Fans of Supernatural and Buffy wil love Jennifer Strange!

Stars: 2/5

Thank you to the publishers for a free ARC of this story in exchange for an honest opinion.

I finally finished this book. It took me so long. Admittedly, that wasn't all because of the book.

I wanted to like this story. I held out. I had hope. The beginning was slow. I was 50% finished and the story was hardly off the ground... felt like I was still being introduced to everything.

As an unedited proof, there were a number of grammar mistakes which annoyed me and every second paragraph had text telling me it was an uncorrected proof and not for sale, which I understand why it's there, but it's distracting.

Then there's the characters. The only person I liked was Liz. Every character was temperamental. One minute they were wired enough to punch a wall the next SECOND they were being coddled. One minute they were mad at a friend and the next they were upset (tears brimming upset) when the same friend didn't help them. The whole story and the writing is cliche. I could not stand Jacks. Also her name is Jennifer, why is she Jacks? What on earth happened to certain characters it's like they just stopped existing.

I liked the illustrations. Very unique and the art is lovely. I liked the diary entries and the idea for this. It's definitely there. I just found myself groaning every two pages because of a character's words, thoughts and actions.

The story was all over the place and overly cliche. This is also classed as horror? It's not. Honestly it's a cheesy paranormal story.

I'm sorry I really admire authors, they put so much effort into these stories but it's my honest opinion and kudos to you, Cat Scully, but not for me, thank you.

WARNINGS: death, stabbing, demons, disturbing illustrations (honestly more disturbing than scary but I liked them)

RECOMMEND: To young 12+ readers who like paranormal and cheesy stories. It's not scary.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of Jennifer Strange in exchange for an honest review!

I don't feel entirely too comfortable pointing out any of the issues in Jennifer Strange until I read an updated finished copy because the author has already mentioned that they listened to the Netgalley feedback & updated their book based on that feedback. So, what I might have to say might no longer be in the book. Who knows. This rating is based solely on the story & not if I vibed with the writing or whatnot.

Anywho, I will say that I love love Cat Scully's artwork in Jennifer Strange; very cute & added a lot of extra umph to the story & we love extra umph in this house. Also, I'm always a sucker for a YA-horror story that has a character fighting ghosts & demons & that's that on that. The premise is GREAT. The characters, unfortunately, fell a bit flat for me, but I did like the concept of Jennifer & her sister bonding throughout the story.

This was a barn burner of a story. Jennifer Strange is left with her older sister by her dad right after she discovered she has supernatural powers. She doesn't know how they work or what's going on at all except she's now being attacked by ghosts and demons. We find out as she does as everything unfolds. There's a lot of potential here. I'd like to see some more well-rounded world building in future books.

I DNF'd this book about 30% through. Right at the start of the book there was tons of action, but it literally didn't make any sense. I was just way too confused to enjoy the story. The illustrations were also really difficult to read on the eARC.

This isn't a graphic novel, but an illustrated YA horror. Netgalley tricked me is all and why this took so long for me to finish. Got this free for review.

Something about this seemed VERY familiar, but I couldn't really put my finger on it.

There were a lot of aspects about this I enjoyed, the setting for one (Savannah, GA - I could really envision it and feel those muggy summer days) and the sisterly bond for two, but man I didn't like Marcus. Even by the end I didn't feel he was redeemed more so excused. Eh.

The lore was interesting and I love me some demons, but at times it didn't follow its own rules.

My biggest complaint is the pacing. It felt very rushed and I know you're supposed to drop the reader into it, but I think this dropped us a little too far along into the timeline. I don't know. It was OK overall. Not sure if this is going to be a series, but is read the next one I think.

I agree with other reviews that going in, I expected a graphic novel, or at least for it to be heavily illustrated. I loved the horror aspects, but it was a bit hard to get into and stay interested as it felt fairly flat overall.

Jennifer Strange should have been classified as a ya novel instead of a graphic novel. I think that would help many of the reviews. We went into this book expecting a graphic novel, but instead got a book with occasionally a photo & journal entries. The story itself was decent.