I really enjoyed this graphic novel - the dark color palette really fit the Gothic, mystery vibe; the humor was witty and just the right amount of sarcasm to keep my laughing; and ultimately, the character's choices to move outside of their prescribed roles and expectations was inspiring and refreshing.

"I'm a Gothic Heroine. And I've read a heck of a lot of books."

When Haley tries to rescue a drowning man she slips through a crack into a strange, yet familiar world - a world filled with Gothic tropes: moody gentlemen, ghosts, and iron-willed housekeepers.

But, there's an evil presence that threatens to destroy this delightful place, and Haley's book-smart knowledge of dusty old novels may just come in handy when it comes to saving the world.

This was an immensely enjoyable romp that kept me laughing.
Highly recommended to those with the right sense of humor.

This fun title releases on July 20th. It is S-O-O-O worth the wait.

This silly romp of a book was a delight from beginning to end. Featuring a hyper-focused nerdy Black protagonist with a deep love Gothic romance and nothing else, it could have gone in so many directions! Fortunately for us, it went with dimensional shift, gothic magic and weird happenings all around. The art and colors were lovely, the dialog and art complemented each other superbly, a great choice for middle school and upper elementary readers.

Very fun sci-fi adventure in a universe where everything obeys gothic romance tropes. Perfect spooky fall vibes and lots of meta humor for avid gothic readers. I had a great time and will probably read it again near Halloween.

What happens when a girl who is obsessed with gothic romances falls into her very own gothic romance? Haley is told she needs to do a book report that is not on a gothic romance for school. On the way home she ends up jumping into the river to rescue a stranger and ends up in Willowweep Manor. With three brothers, a ghost and a crazy housekeeper, Haley has to figure out what is going on and how to return home to finish her book report. But on the way, adventures with mad monks and strange devices await. A fun sidestep into a steampunk gothic novel!

Thanks Netgalley for the chance to read this title.

For those who have read gothic romance and fallen to the allure of those paintings of frightened women fleeing from an ancient mansion on the cliffs, this parody is for you!

The characterization covers all the tropes it can while providing a unique science fiction twist to the classic gothic genre. The artwork was excellent, in the modern style, yet I must say the virus was reminiscent of Richard Corben’s most vile. (Don’t look that up, trust me.) The mad monk is horrifying, and the heroine resourceful and tough enough to meet the challenge.

As a fan of Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, and Jane Eyre, I had a great time with this serious adventure mixed with creative parody. The men are bumbling, the women are strong (especially Wilhelmina), and the bile is a suitably insurmountable challenge. (Chapter 5 is titled “All is Lost” for you fans of literary deconstruction.) I will be looking for more work from this author!

This was almost a three star book for me but the twists and clever references at the end were clever and amusing enough to bump it up to four stars. Our heroine gets knocked into a pocket universe and has to work with the gothic characters she finds there to save the day. It’s fast paced and amusing with cartoony art that suits the story well.

Unfortunately, I've tried multiple times to download The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor and keep having issues with the graphics not showing up. I will wait until I read the published copy before updating my review. I still very much look forward to reading it.

Ok. Ok. This was just the absolute BEST. Easily the best graphic novel I’ve read in a while.

The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor is a delightful, smart, unique spoof of gothic romances in graphic novel form. Gothic enthusiast Haley is obsessed with the genre and accidentally finds her way into a pocket universe of sorts that is constructed from gothic tropes. She’s delighted, but to help the new friends she makes there, she’ll have to...branch out a bit.

I can’t say enough about how clever this was, and that it’s actually laugh-out-loud funny, which is rare for any book, especially a graphic novel.

The writing is the star here, but the art is wonderfully rendered as well and fits the narrative perfectly. I loved the settling, the jokes, the characters, everything! Oh and can Haley please be my new best friend?

Looking forward to re-reading this many, many times and will be eagerly anticipating the next installment.

I was unable to finish this book in its entirety due to ACSM issues, but the opening pages were lovely, the color work is great, and this will be a good transitory graphic novel for middle grade readers wanting older works, and to draw in non-super hero loving YA GN readers who want something not so ordinary.

This story starts off with Haley, a high-schooler and hopeless Gothic romance addict, being chastised by her teacher for turning in yet another book report about a Gothic romance; she's told she has until Monday to write a book report on another topic. Crossing a bridge as she walks home in the pouring rain, she sees a young man struggling in the water and dives in to help him. That course of action leads her on a strange and wondrous adventure.

Haley wakes to find herself in a place called Willowweep Manor, which is inhabited by three very different brothers: Cuthbert, Lawrence and Montague. One of them is happy go lucky and another is gruff and brooding, while the third is trying to escape and find help from someone on the outside. There is also a sinister maid and a lady ghost who's delighted to finally be seen by someone. The location inside and out is right out of a... yes, you guessed it: a Gothic romance!

At first, Haley is in heaven. Her fantasy lifestyle has come true, but it doesn't take long to figure out that all is not as it seems at the Manor. As the story unfolds, she learns that she has fallen through a crack in a pocket universe, designed to stop an evil universe from colliding with her own. Now that the cat is out of the bag and Haley has discovered the family's hidden secret, it's not quite what she had in mind for this scenario. Can she stop the evil bile from invading her world and save the day, all while following the rules of how a maiden from a Gothic romance novel must behave?

This graphic novel was a well written, witty story and the artwork worked wonderfully with the setting.
I really enjoyed the characters and the amusement the author instills throughout the pages. It was an interesting concept and fun read with good dialogue and I look forward to reading more stories by Shaenon K. Garrity.

This is a novel i'd gladly purchase and gift to my teenage granddaughters, as they'd get a kick out of reading it.

Thanks to the author, McElderry Books and NetGalley for sending me this ARC.

Right off the bat I'm giving this graphic novel five (5) stars. I adored it.

I loved Haley from the very beginning. A Black girl with her hair in braids who adores gothic romance. It was like looking at myself which made me want to squeal.

It starts with her English teacher telling her she cannot keep turning in book reports on Wuthering Heights. Or any gothic fiction. She then goes on to say that she had to limit the book reports of another student on Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction so you know right from the beginning it's going to be funny.

And it was.

As Haley is heading home in the rain, her arms full of books and reciting poetry as any good gothic heroine would, things jump into high gear. She saves a man from drowning and things go weird.

At a certain point it showed her asleep in a bed wearing a bonnet and I lost it. I have never seen it before. In tv shows, movies or books, whenever the Black character is in bed, there's never a bonnet to be seen and it's one of the most infuriating things because it's so easy to get right! It's such a simple thing!

I didn't realize how happy it would make me to see it.

The world Haley ends up in is one populated by gothic tropes where she refuses to fit into a role someone else forces onto her because no one can tell her who she is and I loved it.

There's ghosts, a gothic castle, horses and a frighteningly named forest. Things you love and know well if you're into gothic fiction. Plus some very fun scifi twists that I didn't see coming. Not to mention to evil of the story. It was fun and easy to read.

There's also a quick Sapphic romance. Usually fast romances bother me because it feels like there's no set up for them. That's not the case here. The entire story runs fast and there is indeed set up. Not to mention it's diverse with races and one character uses forearm crutches so we got a little disability rep too.

I read this quick and was grinning the entire time. Yes, I will be buying it.

At the end, Haley has changed and things seem to have found a new equilibrium. For now.

A sincere thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC

Willowweep Manor is a funny little tale that pokes at melodramatic story tropes and doesn’t take itself too seriously, reminding us that we are more than just our labels and that we can be whatever kind of hero we choose.

Haley spends her days reading gothic romance novels while wearing floaty skirts, wondering what Jane Eyre would do. Clearly, she would be fast friends with Sarah from Jim Henson's Labyrinth.
She gets her chance to be the heroine when she spots a dapper stranger drowning in the river and dives in to save him. In doing so, she winds up in the alternate universe of Willowweep Manor, where the universe casts her as a 'Maiden' with a capital M. Can she return home and does she want to leave this world based on every gothic novel ever?

The dialogue is spot on. I was rooting for Haley right away. With a great cast of side characters full of witty lines, I grinned through the whole book.

The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor was an unputdownable joy. From the exasperated Language Arts teacher to the casual bullies to the cast of characters in the pocket universe, every character behaved exactly to stereotype, but then transcended it. The romance was presented with a very light hand, and the literary references were a bit heavier, but this book is ideal for any graphic novel or gothic fiction lover.

In this delightful graphic novel, gothic romance novel-loving teen Haley falls through a crack in the universe and ends up in a place called Willoweep Manor. She meets three brooding brothers, a sinister housekeeper, and a long-forgotten ghost. At first she's thrilled her gothic dreams have finally come true, but then she finds that all is not as it seems at the Manor. In fact, it is a pocket universe, designed to stop another, evil universe from colliding with her own. Now it's up to Haley to save the day. Can she do it?

What can I say? Loved the characters, loved the dialogue, loved the concept, loved the artwork. A fun, fast read perfect for literary nerds and sci-fi geeks.

I loved seeing Haley be thrown into the world that she loves to read about! The art was different from a lot of what I see in graphic novels and I can definitely think of some teens that would love to read this book. Great worldbuilding, characters, and humor.

The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor
by Shaenon K. Garrity

This was a fun graphic novel that I know many of our high school students will enjoy. Haley loves gothic romance novels. The teacher can’t seem to convince her to try something else. Somehow she gets swept into another dimension that seems to be set in a gothic romance. She loves it, but eventually modern Haley must take charge to help save that world as well as her own. I think this will fit right in our high school library’s collection of graphic novel. A great story and great illustrations! Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review the Kindle ARC of this title. #TheDireDaysofWillowweepManor #NetGalley

Haley is in love with the Gothic Romance. If there's a brooding hero, moor, and an out of the way manor she wants to read that novel. After saving a young man from drowning she finds herself swept away in her own tale of ghosts, rainy moors, brooding heroes and creepy villain. This book was hilarious. I enjoyed this tale of a young woman swept away in an adventure that brought to light the limitations of the cliches of the tropes allowed, she is actually aware of her limitations, she gets scared, admits it and tries anyway. Also she's brown, it's not at all mentioned, it's not a problem and I loved it.

I absolutely loved this graphic novel! I enjoyed every single page. It was lighthearted and funny with great world building. I wasn't expecting a hilarious discussion on quantum mechanics/multiverse theory but somehow that happened and it worked.