Perfect for fall! Cute, funny, sure to be a favorite for multiple age groups. It is accepting, delightfully odd, but not scary. Perfect for 4th graders that want spooky, but wholesome.

This graphic novel was absolutely so cute, and sweet. The art style was so fitting and perfect for the story. I absolutely loved the characters, and that the main character was non-binary. I also adored the lesbian couple that took in the vampire kids, it really added so much to the story. The only nitpick that I have with is that I wish it was more clear when the flashbacks are happening. Other than that, I absolutely loved this graphic novel and it was so good.

Dragoslava and friends are engaging characters that the reader will root for. Interesting world building, and fun vampire lore easter eggs scattered throughout the book. The humor is perfect for middle grade readers and scary without being too much for the target audience. Would recommend.

The Accursed Vampire follows a non-binary vampire and their two friends as they attempt to complete a quest for an evil witch. This fun, thoughtful middle-grade graphic novel was an absolute delight to read. The characters are flawed but likeable, the adventure is exciting, and the illustrations are beautifully engaging. The Accursed Vampire has a ton of heart and just a little bit of bite.

I did not expect this book to have so many LGBT+ characters! I was very pleasantly surprised by that. The artwork is right up my alley too - it reminds me a lot of Adventure Time. The story was great, the characters were cute, overall a fantastic graphic novel.

I found this graphic novel (about three vampire friends on a quest to retrieve a powerful grimoire) to be a bit of a jumbled mess. The plot was quite confusing and this read like it should have been an installment in a series. The transitions between current day and memories were extremely abrupt and did little to enhance the story. None of the characters were really that appealing and I think most upper elementary/middle grade readers will find this confusing at best and boring at worst.

A fun story about three vampire children who are friends, who learn how strong their friendship really is when they go on a quest for a Grimoire! Very sweet and another fun addition to the trend of vampire books making a resurgence.

We don't get a lot of stories with kid vampires. The exception, of course, is comedies. Here we have a trio of little vampires on a quest, getting into kid mischief along the way. Of course, they learn a lesson about standing up for yourself and being a good friend in the process. The book doesn't take itself too seriously. It follows a plot but allows for a lot of diversion. Fun with a fairly simple illustration style.

Dragoslava is a vampire kid who works for the mean witch who cursed him ages ago. The witch wants her stolen grimoire back, so she dispatches Dragoslava and their two friends, Quintus and Eztli, to a town called Baneberry Falls, where the kids discover life in a small Michigan town around Halloween, and befriend Ayesha, the witch who has the grimoire in her possession - and her vampire partner, Sara.  Posing as travelers interested in learning magic, Dragoslava wants to gain their trust and grab the book, but Quintus and Eztli are enjoying their new surroundings and suggest that maybe Dragoslava cut ties with the witch making their life miserable? The book, however, is too powerful to be contained, and there's another being in Baneberry Falls keeping an eye on Dragoslava and their friends. A fun story with a few thrills and lots of adventure and humor, The Accursed Vampire will appeal to readers who like their spooky books on the funny side. It's a story about found family and learning to stand up for oneself, with a diverse cast: Dragoslava is nonbinary, referred to with "they/them" pronouns; Quintus is a male child of color, from vampire society; Eztli is a Latinx female, likely from Mesoamerican mythology: the bird feet bring to mind the feathered serpent, quetzalcoatl, and the name Eztli originates from the Aztec word for "blood". 

The Accursed Vampire has a starred review from School Library Journal. Find more of Madeline McGrane's artwork (and more Dragoslava!) at her website.

The Accursed Vampire is a quite oddly appealing all-ages appropriate graphic novel with story and art by Madeline McGrane. Released 27th July 2021 by Harper Collins, it's 176 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook (comiXology) formats.

This is such an oddly appealing and nerdy graphic novel with some subtly important messages. On the surface, it's a group quest narrative with three small monster "kids" who are trying to recover (steal) a grimoire for the witch who sent them out. Main character Drago is accompanied by their two friends in small-town midwest USA and the themes of support, solidarity, kindness, trust, honesty, respect, and found family are done well and without being preachy or strident.

Drago is apparently non-binary, their friends are different ethnically and morphologically, and it's no big deal. The main adult characters in the story are compassionately rendered with a loving and normal partnership (and are also a same sex couple, again, not turned into a spectacle in the book). The antagonists are sufficiently scary and mean that it's easy to cheer for Drago & co, even when they make less-than-ideal decisions.

There is a lot to like here. The art is also whimsically appealing and does a nice job of telling the story alongside the well written text. The language is simple and will be easily understood by middle grade readers.

Odd, but fun. Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

'The Accursed Vampire' with story and art by Madeline McGrane is a middle grade graphic novel about a grouchy vampire.

Dragoslava became a vampire when he was small, so he remains a kid in stature. His bad behavior has led him to be cursed by a witch he refused to help, so now he runs errands for a witch with a bad temper. Fortunately he has other vampire kid friends, unless he drives them off with his moodiness.

This is a pretty adorable story and I instantly related to little Drago. The art is really a lot of fun and I liked the character design quite a bit.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from HarperCollins Children's Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

This story is about 3 vampire children with main character as Dragoslava. It's a story about Dragoslava trying to complete a task given them by a witch. Hence, this starts off their journey which is packed with twists and well-written dialogue. I really liked the art. It adds up to the fun and thrill as well as portray the light-hearted atmosphere of the story. Dragoslava is very relatable and funny. Read the book to find out!

"The Accursed Vampire" is a graphic novel about 3 child vampires traveling the world to help Dragoslava finish his jobs given to him by a mean, bitter witch lady. The Accursed Vampire has everything you need for a fun time with road trips and plot twists, blood sucking and trick-or-treating, and loads of quirky dialogue. For being an undead child, Dragoslava is very relatable. I loved their constant angry eyebrows. Their best friends are a vampire prince and a vampire girl with chicken feet (she’s my absolute favorite! she loves bugs).

Dragoslava and their friends are vampires, a condition that allows them to be children and hundreds of years old at the same time. This contradiction is echoed within the content of the book itself-- what is overall a light-hearted adventure also contains unexpectedly serious content. It feels like the story is still trying to find balance in its tone and pacing, and between the plot-driven and character-driven elements. The slower pacing in the beginning does, however, do its part in slowly growing your attachment to the characters, which allows you to truly feel something when the first glimpses of their inner conflicts are revealed. The illustrations are cute and pristine, but still able to shift smoothly into whatever is needed to convey the tone and content of each individual scene. I love that Dragoslava is visually flatter and more simplified than the world around them. It is effective in terms of pure aesthetics, as a way to differentiate the character as a protagonist, and also as a possible metaphor of Dragoslava's disconnectedness from the outside world. All-in-all, a perfect read for elementary and middle grade readers looking for their next graphic novel.

this was a cute book about friendship, loyalty, and most of all VAMPIRES. the reason behind the lower rating is because the plot moved incredibly fast, often times leaving me confused. I feel like each page had time jumps that weren’t as much explained. such as one page takes about drago when he was little, and the next page was him meeting his friends. the sketches are great though and I loved the friendship between the three vampires. thank you so much for letting me read this ARC

The art was nice, but the story didn't catch my attention. Nothing is really happening in this book. The reader is dropped into the world with no explanation, and it's not a fun story so far, so I'm giving up on it.

Loved the art and the plot of this book; the character designs were charming and looking forward to see the colors in their final form.

Cute and simple, with an overarching theme of friendship and community. Drago wrestles with loneliness, anger, and frustration as they try to navigate whether to continue living in fear and working for the witch or standing up to the witch and becoming a better version of themself.

Hilarious and spooky - I loved seeing what Dragoslava and their friends got up to. And the dialogue was fantastic! I can't wait to see the full-color version.

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Accursed Vampire was a cute and charming read. It balanced light and heavy moments well and presented a neat narrative through multi-faceted, and sometimes messy, characters. Madeline McGrane's art focused on shapes, and was extremely expressive. The lettering was balanced and aided the text and art.

There was one character introduced in the third act that contributed to the conflict who I thought appeared a little suddenly, but that might have just been oversight on my part.

Because I received an ARC that was partially in black in white (opposed to full color like it will be in the final), there were times I sometimes found it difficult to distinguish flashback from present day events in the comic, but I'm sure this will be better conveyed in the final book.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, and I think it's a solid read that can convey themes of friendship, loss, self-love, and finding confidence in oneself well.