"Lifetime Passes" by Terry Blas, with artwork by Claudia Aguirre, is a darkly comedic and deeply moving YA graphic novel that takes readers on an unexpected journey through the complexities of friendship, loss, and the lengths people will go to hold onto the things they love.

The story centers around sixteen-year-old Jackie Chavez, whose love for her local amusement park, Kingdom Adventure, becomes a lifeline after her parents are deported to Mexico. Left behind in the United States with her Tía Gina, Jackie finds solace in the park's rides and attractions, which hold her happiest memories. However, her world is turned upside down when she learns that she can no longer afford a season pass.

Desperate to maintain her connection to the park, Jackie stumbles upon a morbidly intriguing secret: if someone dies on park property, the rest of their party receives lifetime passes. This discovery leads Jackie and her friends—Nikki, Daniel, and Berke—into a scheme that involves bringing seniors from the Valley Care Living home to the park, hoping one might "croak" during a visit.

The novel takes a poignant turn as Jackie and her friends get to know the seniors, particularly Phyllis, a spirited resident who volunteers for their fake program. Through their interactions, Jackie learns about the seniors' rich histories and deep connections to the park, uncovering profound truths about herself, her friendships, and what truly matters in life.

Blas's writing is both sharp and heartwarming, blending gallows humor with genuine emotional depth. Aguirre's illustrations perfectly complement the narrative, capturing the vibrant, whimsical essence of Kingdom Adventure while also conveying the more serious undertones of the story. Together, they create a world that feels both magical and achingly real.

"Lifetime Passes" is a twisted satire that evokes comparisons to "Cocoon" and "Heathers," yet it carves out its own unique space in the realm of YA literature. It's a story about obsession, resilience, and the unexpected ways in which people connect. Jackie's summer at Kingdom Adventure is not just a wild ride of humor and thrills but also a journey of self-discovery and empathy.

This graphic novel earns a stellar rating of 5 out of 5 for its masterful blend of dark comedy, heartfelt moments, and striking artwork. "Lifetime Passes" is a must-read for anyone who enjoys a story that is as thought-provoking as it is entertaining.

This book plays with some teen tropes in a fun way. The friend group includes a blonde who is upbeat fandom obsessed, a jock YouTuber, and a twink. The amusement park shown in this story is a fun take on properties you are already familiar with.

The group creates STOP or the Senior Time Outreach Program with the goal of getting a pay-out when one of their party members dies in the park.

This story shows teenagers connecting with the older generation. Both groups learn each others motivations and better understand each other by the end.

This is a story about finding friendship, mourning, and growth.

Hilarious and heartwarming, my favorite combination. I will be recommending this book to everyone I know that enjoys graphic novels.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

This was such a fun and colourful read. I absolutely loved the illustration style and all the characters almost leapt off the page.

A funny and irreverent graphic novel that ultimately strikes a chord with the reader. I love the recent trend of cross-generational experiences, and this is a very amusing take on that.

I sort of expected this to be more exciting and heist oriented. Honestly, the story that Blas presents us with is a bit depressing. I appreciate the message about valuing memories and letting go of the past, but it's rather lacking in nuance.

I enjoyed the relationships that were developed in this book between the teens & the elderly folks. I feel as though the main character did grow & evolve but it is a shame that some of her 'friends' did not have that same change of heart. There was a part near the end that had a really shocking scene that I was not prepared for, but overall I enjoyed the book. Shocking scene mentioned next.....spoiler warning & CW severe injuries
*
*
*
*
* SPOILER: her one friend that was always trying to live stream himself on the coasters flies out of a roller coaster, severely injuring himself.

In Lifetime Passes, Jackie Chavez unhappily faces the prospect of a season without a pass to her beloved Kingdom Adventure. Then she hears a rumor: if a member of your party dies while at the theme park, the company gives the rest of the group … wait for it … LIFETIME PASSES! How convenient that her Tía Gina works at Valley Care, a senior living facility. What harm could possibly come from a resident taking a little day trip to a local attraction? Bright artwork meets dark humor in this unexpectedly touching graphic novel, also featuring one of my top tropes: intergenerational friendship! 🎡 🎠 🎢 👵🏻

I requested a copy of this graphic novel because the premise was kind of wild. A group of kids that are trying to get lifetime passes to a theme park by having a member of their party die? So strange and dark. The fact that the main character's aunt works at a facility where senior citizens live and those senior citizens are the ones expected to die? Even more shocking.

Honestly, when I started the story, for a moment, I was filled with regret. I thought this book was too much, Jackie the main character seems okay but her friends are horrible and the plot seems less funny and more sad. But, then you discover that is the point. That Jackie has surrounded herself with people so she isn't alone but these "friends" are not good people. To find this out she goes on a journey through this crazy scheme and by meeting these senior citizens, who don't realize they are being used as sacrifices for free tickets.
By the end Jackie has really grown as a person and made some great connections, including some betters friends and even the senior citizens.
Honestly a really interesting and moving book with so much depth.

This was a beautifully illustrated graphic novel that packed much more of an emotional punch than I was expecting! I also found it really fun that this was set just up the freeway from where I live so I was able to perfectly picture the setting and immerse myself into the story. Definitely recommend if you're looking for a new graphic novel to read!! Especially if you're looking for something that isn't part of a series and wraps up in a single issue.

CW: deportation, death of a loved one

Sixteen-year-old Jessica Chavez loved going to the local amusement park, Kingdom Adventure, but her aunt tells her that at the end of the summer, she won’t be able to afford to renew her season pass. Jessica and her friends heard a rumor that if someone dies while at the park, the rest of the party with that guest receives lifetime passes to the park. They decide to bring the elderly people who live in the facility where Jessica’s aunt works, in the hopes that they will die while at the park. Jackie ends up becoming friends with Phyllis, a woman who always wants to go to the park. Phyllis and the other seniors share their stories with these teens, and open their eyes to the similarities of their histories.

This story had a dark premise, but I can believe that teens would think this was a good idea. Many of Jessica’s friends were ignorant and rude, only wanting to get lifetime passes for themselves, but not actually caring about the elderly people they brought to the park. One of these teens ended up having an ironic ending, so they didn’t win in the end.

There was a common theme in this story about kids living without their parents or family. Jessica’s parents were deported to Mexico, so she lived with her aunt. One boy who accompanied them to the park was adopted and wanted to learn more about his Korean heritage. Phyllis was a Holocaust survivor, who left her family behind after moving to the United States. Each of these characters had different circumstances from different time periods, yet they all lost their biological family in some way.

Lifetime Passes is a dark comedic graphic novel.

Thank you Abrams for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

i received an e-arc of this but it was in grey scale. So it was a little hard to read. I would still recommend it though. I liked the story.

Content warnings/Trigger warnings: Racism, homophobia, deportation, ageism, sexism, ableism, major character death

What would you do for a lifetime pass to your favorite amusement park? A group of teens gets the chance to answer that question when they learn that the park will issue lifetime passes if one member of your party dies during a trip. A plan is hatched and the teens begin a program where they guide older adults around the park during their summer break. Blas and Aguirre take readers on a journey both whimsical and dark.

Lifetime Passes explores a number of timely struggles such as teenagers dealing with their parents’ deportation or experiencing homophobia. The graphic novel has some interesting things to say about these topics. It is also a rare comic that highlights the lives of older adults. Age representation is so uncommon in this medium and the story handles it well. The older adults forming friendships with the teens is the emotional heart of the story. Unfortunately, at times the graphic novel strays too far from the story and into after-school special, with the tone going preachy in quite a few places. At times there is a level of “kids these days” mentality that is exhausting to read. Some threads are not fully explored. Lastly, the dramatic ending is out of step with the rest of the story in a way that takes the reader out of the emotions of the moment.

The art is where Lifetime Passes really shines. Aguirre’s colorful sensibilities fill each page with whimsy worthy of this Disneyland-esque experience. The characters are most wonderfully realized under the artist’s hand. It is worth flipping through just to enjoy the colorful art.

Verdict

HIT OR MISS. Your mileage may vary for this one. It might be worth a library pick up and certainly the creative team is one to watch, but overall the book does not quite stick the landing. It has a number of interesting ideas that get marred down in its desire to make a point.

This graphic novel wasn't what I expected it to be, but I was pleasantly surprised by the turn it took in the end. Although the concept of trying to get lifetime passes to an amusement park by volunteering to take the elderly to the park in hopes that they die is a just a *bit* morbid, this book didn't end up being very dark. To me, it seemed like it was a half-hatched plan made by a teenager who is in a rough place rather than a malicious scheme.

Jackie, the main character, is living with her tía who works at an elderly home. Jackie's tía informs her that she can no longer afford to pay for Jackie's summer pass to the amusement park. Jackie later gets together with her friends and they hatch the twisted plan to get lifetime passes. She gets permission from the nursing home to take the elderly to the amusement park, but only if she helps with other programming (which, although this is a plot device, really bugged me because they didn't offer any kind of compensation service).

Jackie ends up bonding with some of the residents who show her that her friends aren't that great and that her future has a lot of potential. It gets pretty heavy on the life lessons toward the end, but I enjoyed that. I think there's a lot of value in learning from our elders. This book really showed how the elderly are often misperceived and overlooked, especially by younger people.

I also liked the end; I think it tied up everything neatly. Overall, I'd recommend this book for those who like a quick read and enjoy good character development arcs.

The storyline was way too hokey for me, I wasn’t really a fan. I was bored pretty quickly. It was just too unbelievable a story.

Thanks to netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in return for an impartial review.

Let me start of by saying by no fault of the book's quality upon publishing, but the ARC of this book I received was so grainy and the text so haphazardly placed it was genuinely difficult to read and understand through most of the book.
That aside, I personally loved the concept of the book. People saying this is an unrealistic thing for teens to do, a basic summary, the kids "help out" old folks in the hopes that one will die in a theme park and they will get lifetime passes to said theme park, have not spent a lot of time around teens. The side characters don't get as much development as I hoped they would through the book and ended up being flat, but the main cast is characterized in a compelling way.
The copy I received was in black and white and that left something to be desired in a colorful looking book about a theme park. Will definitely be recommending this for my library!

Jackie occasionally helps her aunt out at her place of work, a senior citizens home, and spends her free time with her friends at the local theme park based on an old cartoon (obviously a play on Disneyland). One of her friends is fixated on playing the princess in the park someday and the follow her to a staff section of the park where they overhear that someone died at an international park and their whole party received lifetime passes so they wouldn't press legal charges. This gives Jackie an idea. She and her friends decide to start taking the senior citizens from Jackie's aunt's workplace to the park in hopes that if one of them dies while they're there they will get lifetime passes. They disguise their plan as a fun volunteer activity but Jackie ends up getting a job at the senior home as activities director and comes to enjoy it and likes getting to know the seniors. She realizes that her friends are kind of terrible and when she tries to stop the group they try and blackmail her but her friends end up getting in trouble at the park on their own. The story didn't end with a senior dying at the park which is nice but it was nice to see Jackie stand up to her friends for what was nice. It was kind of a strange story but could make great conversations about friendships and morals.

First of all, I think that the marketing for this book is completely wrong. It's advertised as a darkly comedic ya graphic novel. And while the ya team fits I don't think it had a lot of dark elements to it. But that being said, I think the story was cute, but I wish that all of the characters was more flushed out. I loved that we got to see and read about Phyllis and Allen's backstory.
I wouldn't recommend this if you are looking for a dark book, but if you are looking for something cute and kind of wholesome, this is pretty good.

3/5 STARS

So, I was not sure about this one because the description sounded so dark! A group of teens starts taking old people to an amusement park hoping one of them will DIE so they can get free passes? Gross right? But it turned out to be a touching little story about life, death, aging, time, and even freaking immigration. Who knew?