In Blackwater, Maine, there are some strange things underway. These events bring together two unlikely high school students -- a popular, track star, Tony, and a student whose illness has led him to be isolated, Eli. As they navigate the regular push and pulls of high school life and the seemingly supernatural events that are occurring in their town, they are surprised to learn there may be more to what is happening -- and each other -- than they expected.

This is an engaging and interesting graphic novel. The chapters alternate between two artists' style, which is a really effective technique for advancing the story. This seems to be a start of a series, with much more to come in this narrative.

Recommended!

Blackwater is a young adult fantasy graphic novel about a popular track star named Tony Price and a quiet disabled boy named Eli Hirsch. Tony has a sort of fractured home life and seems desperate to get positive attention from his dad. A lot of the other students at their school think Eli is weird, possibly because of his autoimmune disorder, so he's often on his own. A ghostly fisherman keeps haunting Eli, warning him about the woods.
Despite being from complete opposite sides of the social spectrum at school, Eli and Tony live close to one another and begin to develop a friendship.

Macmillan Children's Publishing Group marketed this book as "Riverdale meets Stranger Things," but I don't think that description really matches this story. The only thing that does is that some of the characters look too old to be high school students.

I was really excited to dive into this story, but I think that it ended abruptly, just when it was starting to get interesting. The majority of this graphic novel seemed to focus on Eli being bullied by Tony's "friend" and Tony trying to get his dad to pay attention to him without having to outright say it. Blackwater was too short for me to get much more out of it.

I'm seeing now that NetGalley and the publisher only sent a sample of the whole book so that doesn't give me much to go on. I hope the full book is better.

Content warnings: ableism, neglect, isolation, bullying
2.5 stars for me...

If HEARTSTOPPER WAS A PARANORMAL ROMANCE!

Blackwater is a highly enjoyable graphic novel perfect for fans of Riverdale with a dash of Stranger Things.

Eli and Tony are on opposite ends of the high school food chain. Tony is popular, an athlete, and is surrounded by friends. Eli is a loner, has poor attendance, and appears to be suffering from some sort of serious medical ailment. Oh, and he can see ghosts.

The boys form an unlikely friendship, and it’s clear Tony is struggling with a piece of his identity.

After a hunting trip goes awry, Tony finds himself in quite the precarious situation.

I can’t wait to add this to my classroom library and to read the next installment!

Thank you to net galley and Macmillan children publishing group for this arc in exchange for an honest review:

3.5 stars

Tony is the track star everyone loves and adores, Eli is the kid with a chronic illness who no one knows or cares to know about. He is always missing school because of the pain. Through unlikely circumstances the Eli reaches out an olive branch to Tony and the two become friends. But there is a something curious about Eli, and something even more mysterious going on in their small town of Blackwater.


I'm not sure I was able to see all of the graphic novel. From what I did read I really enjoyed the story of Tony and Eli. Tony being the tough track star, but really deep down is a nice guy is always one of my favorite characters. I also really liked how asthma was depicted in the graphic novel. Eli was also another great character. Myself growing up with a chronic illness I missed school a lot, lost friends left and right. so relating to him was very easy. And he is jewish!! The rep in the graphic novel was awesome to see. There was ableism and bullying, but you do see Tony working away from it during the novels progression.

Cw
Bullying
Ableism
chronic illness
animal death
emotional abuse
homophobia

I don't even know how to review this, because apparently the NetGalley eARC I got is only a sampler, even though I can't find anywhere that states this on NetGalley? I can only assume this based off of the fact that the GR listing says it's 304 pages, while my copy was barely over 100 pages and ended very abruptly. On one hand, I hesitate to rate it based on the fact that, by that logic, I only got to read about 33% of it; on the other hand, I strongly disliked the 100-ish pages I got to read of it and have no interest whatsoever in the finished product.

I appreciate the immensely diverse character cast, but disliked every character I met so far besides Marcia, and found the plot difficult to follow and extremely rushed. This isn't for me, but I'm sure it will better suit a lot of other readers.

I really enjoyed the alternating art styles used in this story! It highlighted not only the authors' personalities, but also how the story is told from two different perspectives, and how those perspectives compare and contrast. I enjoyed the characters' introductions and the premise of the story. I was only sent a sample of this ARC to review, and I wish the sample had been slightly longer because I did not feel as though I got a good enough sense of the story with the material I had, but I was interested in reading more!

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This has almost everything I’m looking for, and my overwhelming feeling upon completing it is I need MORE. More of the romance, more of the paranormal, more of the friendships. Every part of this is slow burn, which works for me until the end when things finally picked up. I’m super invested in Tony and Eli, and can not wait to see what comes next for them. If there is another volume of this, I have to imagine it will be a lot more action packed than this. This had a lot of set up, but I do not care. I love the romance that’s being built up and I love the ghosts and spooky forest and werewolf (?).

I like both art styles a lot, but there is one I like more than the other. Still, this was a fun way to read a graphic novel and it works with this story really well. The atmosphere is wonderful and creepy, and I loved all the illustrations of the forest.

Ultimately my feelings can be summed up like this - I need MORE.

This was very short. As in I read it in about 20 minutes. I was expecting a full-length graphic novel, but it seems like this will be turned into a series and that the plot will be more developed. I really can't give much of a statement since I didn't really get a chance to explore the conflicts and their resolutions, but I liked what I had read so far. It looked promising. I also thought the art style was very unique. I just wish I got to read more. Also, my version of the ARC was very messed up at some points- each of the panels was split in half horizontally with huge chunks of white in the middle- which made it really hard to read.

Thanks to NetGalley & Henry Holt and Co. BYR Paperbacks for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Really interesting mystery/supernatural graphic novel--can't wait to read more. This will probably be a big hit for Stranger Things x Heartstopper fans. Absolutely love the art style and colors!

I liked the alternating art styles, and I found the start interesting, but it ends so abruptly. I didn't know this was the start of a series, but even if it is the ending just drops off. It didn't feel like a cliffhanger, but more like pages were missing.

I'd be interested in checking out the next book probably, but this book as a standalone is just baffling.

I feel like the story isn't complete and it left me hanging in the worst way. But I did enjoy the plot and the art is great too. You get all this buildup of information and then bam it's over. I needed more and hope there is a sequel.

Overall Blackwater was enjoyable. I did think it ended too soon, the plot was starting to really take off and it just kinda ended. The character development was a little off for me. I really enjoyed the art style. If you like Riverdale or Stranger Things you will enjoy Blackwater.

I was able to get the file opened, Which I was really happy about. I thought the ending was really good and I really loved the graphics.

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Blackwater

Author: Jeannette Arroyo and Ren Graham

Book Series: Blackwater book 1

Rating: 3.5/5

Diversity: Puerto Rican asthma user MC, Black character, poc characters, chronic autoimmune disorder character who is an ambulatory wheelchair user

Recommended For...: young adult readers, graphic novel, fantasy, werewolves, ghosts, LGBT, queer

Publication Date: July 19, 2022

Genre: YA Graphic Novel Fantasy

Age Relevance: 14+ (bullying, revenge and negligence, dead animal, animal gore, abelism, cursing, violence, homophobia, abelism)

Explanation of Above: There are scenes of bullying, homophobia, and abelism. There is a huge scene of abelism initiated by revenge and the negligence could have led to someone getting severely hurt. While I felt the character who caused it to be remorseful, that should have been shown more explicitly in the book and proclaimed as wrong because younger teens reading this might not realize that the action could potentially kill someone. There are also scenes of dead animals (deer) and animal gore (deer). There is some cursing in the book and some very slight violence as well.

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.

Pages: 304

Synopsis: Tony Price is a popular high school track star and occasional delinquent aching for his dad’s attention and approval. Eli Hirsch is a quiet boy with a chronic autoimmune disorder that has ravaged his health and social life. What happens when these two become unlikely friends (and a whole lot more . . .) in the spooky town of Blackwater, Maine? Werewolf curses, unsavory interactions with the quarterback of the football team, a ghostly fisherman haunting the harbor, and tons of high school drama.

Review: For the most part I enjoyed this graphic novel. I liked the story overall and I thought it was pretty good. The world building was decent and it highlighted the atmosphere well. The book had a good beginning story and I’d like to see more.

However, I have concerns about the book. To start with: the book is way too short and the plot was just beginning when it ended. The book did good to show abelism and then try to show how the characters were atoning for it, but I think that should have been more pronounced in the book, especially for the particular scene where one character almost caused another to die. I would have also liked to see more character development, especially for a book that claims to be a queer romance but not have a single frame of romance between the two characters.

Verdict: It was ok, but there should have been more.

I'm always trying out new graphic novels because of their popularity in my school library, and generally the ones that begin as web comics are huge hits with the kids (I can't keep Heartstopper: Volume One on the shelf).

Unfortunately I just could not get into this one. I was intrigued by the fact that two artists share the work--each illustrating every other chapter--but I wasn't really drawn in by either of their artistic styles. The story, too, was hard to engage with. There's not enough characterization for me to like or empathize with either main character, and the little excitement that we get lasts only a few frames before the story abruptly ends.

I know that web comics have a different flow to them that sometimes doesn't translate as well to actual volumes, and Blackwater seems to fall into that category.

This first installment of the Blackwater series has me intrigued! I honestly liked that we got to experience two different art styles and found myself curious to see how each of the characters’ features and the background details would slightly changed from chapter to chapter. I like that we got to see glimpses of each characters’ backstory and yet so much is left up to interpretation and/or future revelations. The interactions between Eli and Tony are quintessential awkward high school crushes, especially for their jock/nerd dynamic. I am super curious to see how this all turns out and am loving that we got to see that transformational ending!

Tony Price is a popular high school jock, a star of the track team. Even if he occassionally gets in trouble, desperate for his dad’s attention and approval. Something he never really seems to get. Eli Hirsch is on the opposite end of the popularity spectrum. Quiet, slightly nerdy, and dealing with an autoimmune disorder that causes him to constantly be in the hospital.

The two become unlikely friends as weird stuff starts happening in the words near their houses. Weird stuff like strange creatures and unusal deaths. When the apparent werewolf curse strikes close to home, it might be up to them to save the town of Blackwater, Maine.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s for an advanced copy of this to review! Always on the lookout for new YA graphic novels, so I was excited to start this one. If you’re a fan of slow burn horror, this one should definitely be on your TBR!

What I appreciated about this book is the way the spookiness kinds of winds its way into the story. It doesn’t happen outright, it’s subtle. Little things here and there put into the frames. It’s definite a slow build, which is okay in graphic novel format! I was intrigued about where the story was going to go, even if a lot of the other characters seemed oblivious.

I don’t think I read the entire graphic novel because the ending felt kind of abrupt. The story was over too soon! For that reason, I’ll definitely check out a final copy when it comes out to give it my full opinion. I also wanted a bit more interaction between Eli and Tony. It’s clear there’s something there, but their relationship isn’t at the forefront. There should be more of it!

All in all, I think there’s a lot of potential here, and I’ll definitely check out the final version when it comes out later this month.

The protagonist is charming, a bit of a jerk but has enough of a heart to know when something is wrong. Definitely a run read thus far.

I enjoyed this graphic novel. I thought that the story was original and I'm definitely excited to continue with it.

My main criticism of Blackwater is that I don't feel connected to the characters at all. A problem that I often have with graphic novels, especially the first volume, is that you're just thrown into the world without any explanation. I wish that there was more information given on the characters, even if only a little more. I also didn't particularly enjoy the stereotypical casting of a weak, nerdy boy being picked on by people physically stronger than him. This storyline left a lot to be desired for me. That being said, I do appreciate that chronic illness and ambulatory wheelchair usage is being represented!

Overall I think this book was about a 3/5 stars. I'm interested in looking into the webcomic and seeing if that will satisfy some of my complaints from what I presume is only the first volume in a series.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I am still somewhat new to the Graphic Novel genre but I work in a library with a lot of young adult and teen patrons who love it. So I'm learning :) I enjoyed Blackwater. Honestly, I wanted more. I want to know what happens next!

I really like the art style. The story is mostly grayscale, except the cover and the beginnings of each chapter. I loved that. It made me appreciate the breaks in chapters even more. Even though it is mostly black and white, there's so much life in each pane. I got major Riverdale vibes from this story and a little more Outer Limits. The description said it was like Stranger Things, but I didn't get that vibe. The characters were enjoyable. I like our two main characters and want to know more about why each of them are the way they are. Why is a character named Biff always a jerk? Ha ha.

4 stars as at the end of the book I said outloud, "oh but I want to know what happens next." Any book that does that to me, automatically gets 4 stars. (That's a good thing)