Wolfpitch is a YA graphic novel that follows Izzy, a werewolf bassist who is bounced from band to band for her strong personality, big ideas and sensitive hearing. When she is kicked out of another band - mainly due to the *insert colourful word here* frontman, Dylan, she’s set out to win Battle of the Bands without them when she meets the ghost of a famous jazz musician, Geraldine at a diner. She soon forms a trio with Geraldine and her longtime rival, Delilah.

I really enjoyed both the artwork, plot and overall character development of the story, much like Balazs previous graphic novel I’ve read, Doughnuts and Doom and I highly recommend checking it out if you get the chance. It’s quirky, cutesy, funny and an overall good time.

Rep: Queer, Hearing Impairment, POC

I loved Doughnuts and Doom so I was very excited to get an eARC of this graphic novel through NetGalley. This was a super fun read and I really enjoyed it. I mean…it’s about a paranormal girl band competing in a battle of the bands AND it has an enemies-to-lovers sapphic subplot. I loved Izzy and Delilah and Geraldine. I also loved getting to see how their friendship, as well as their music, evolved and grew throughout the course of the story. The graphics and the coloring were also wonderful and this story just brought me a ton of joy. Plus it has amazing rep - queer, POC, and disability. I’m looking forward to seeing what Balazs Lorinczi puts out next!

This book simply wasn't for me. I did enjoy the colour pallet, but unfortunately the art seemed somewhat rushed. The plot was too slow paced for me and for whatever reason I could not find myself taking it seriously. A book isn't always meant to be serious, but I find I should at least be able to buy into the world which I was not able to do.

The art is beautiful. I really enjoyed this book and I will be recommending it to all my friends and family!!!

Thanks NetGalley, IDW Publishing, and Top Shelf Productions for this arc!

4/5 stars

This was a fun, quick read about friendship, hardship, and bandship. I felt like things came together too in the nick of time too often, but it was still enjoyable and the art style was engaging and fun. A good read for when you want something that won't take long to get through with a happy ending.

All’s fair in love and music when this supernatural all-girl rock band must beat the odds and become the best band in town!

This was so much fun! Great writing and great art! Loved it!

The story was really cute, and the illustrations were great. Izzy's issues with her hearing loss are mildly problematic because she never comes to terms and live with it, she just uses her werewolf form to continue hiding from it.

4.75/5

THIS WAS SO FUN TO READ. Sorry for the shouting but also not sorry. We love an all-girl rock band and add supernatural aspects to it? Sold. The illustrations were amazing. I loved the story so much I made my wife read the book as well. We are both obsessed. I hope this author has more amazing books like this in the future. I reread it a couple times before the time was up.

Izzy is a werewolf that wants to create an amazing band but due to her ears no one is good enough, until she meets a ghost that just so happens to be one of her favorite artists. Along with Delilah who Izzy doesn’t get along with all that well (or does she?) Will they be able to win a competition against Delilah’s ex-bandmates?

This story not only was enjoyable to read it showcased struggles and challenges a lot of people face and how to work through them. I need more stories like this in my life.

Wolfpitch is a YA graphic novel following a band trying to compete to win the "Battle of the Bands" competition. With a werewolf, a ghost, and a magic stone, there is some really fun fantasy elements, while still being set in the real world. There was also a really cute enemies to lovers romance within!

I loved the art style and colour scheme within this one! The colour palette is soft and pastel, with the ghost being a contrasting colour. I also really loved the way that different themes were handled, and would really recommend to a younger audience! The way that the characters were encouraged to communicate their issues to each other was great. Of course I loved that it was queer and had disability rep too, and the storyline of a character working through their internalised ableism was well done in my opinion (though I do not have this particular disability, so I will be looking to own voices reviews for this).

Thank you so much to Netgalley for providing me with a copy for review.

Wolfpitch by Balazs Lorinczi

After werewolf Izzy is kicked out of a band for her keen wolf senses, she meets up with ghost musical icon Geraldine Dukes and starts her own band with Geraldine and drummer Delilah of Izzy’s former band. But Izzy and Delilah are not friendly with each other and have to find a way to make peace with old scores for the band to be a cohesive unit.

This, honestly, is a disaster. It just doesn’t feel …. well, like a cohesive unit itself. The worldbuilding is wild, but it’s only wild like twice and I can’t get any sense of the rules of this world. Characters do things that are both out of character and also pretty shitty, but the book doesn’t address that at all. Delilah is immature and I don’t understand the romance between her and Izzy. The only good thing about this book is Geraldine (whose ghost-related rules I don’t understand, but anyways) who deserves to break away from the trash fire that is Izzy and Delilah and start her own ghost jazz band.

Thanks to NetGalley and IDW Publishing for a copy of this ebook.

I would really like to read this arc, but unfortunately my access to the Netgalley app is being denied and the file available for download is not opening in any app :(

This was a pretty cute book! I enjoyed the illustrations. The storyline was a little different than I expected, but it was a cute and fun read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Rating is 1.5 stars rounded up.
To preface this review, graphic novels are not typically my jam because I like to be in the characters' heads and know what they think. Usually graphic novels or comic make up for this with cool looking art and interesting narratives. However, I didn't get that here.

The art could have used some finesse. The cover art looks pretty good, but when looking at the interior it doesn't match in terms of quality. I feel like some of the drawings were rushed; there were minor inconsistencies in the character design and tangents in the linework that could be quickly edited. I liked the colour palette though!

Moving on to the plot, there is a storyline that has to do with deafness and the way that this character deals with their deafness. I'm not sure if its my place to say so, given that I am abled, but it rubbed me the wrong way and frankly feels rather insensitive towards deaf or disabled people. This character is partially deaf from a childhood incident and feels insecure about their deafness, using "magic" to give them the ability to hear, but is insistent on utilising that magic 24/7 to avoid being deaf. However, after this was revealed and the character was reassured etc. etc. there was no character arc where they learn to overcome this insecurity and accept their deafness, not to mention that they continue using the magical solution to deafness and it's never acknowledged again. Using deafness as a plot device like this feels disrespectful, but I'm not deaf so any deaf people who disagree can share their thoughts with me.

As for the characters, I wish they were given more time to grow! Large part of the conflict is between Izzy and Delilah, and personally, I'm 100% on Delilah's side. I think Izzy has main character immunity, where she is the one being wronged, but never in the wrong. One prominent reason for their dispute is that Izzy is a perfectionist and forces her bands to rehearse and always finds fault with their playing, but this doesn't happen with Wolfpitch, for some reason. I would have liked to see some conflict between the band members over the music, rather than personal issues, that they would have to learn to collaborate and play together, which I feel is pretty vital for stories about bands. This whole book focuses on Izzy's issues, and I requested this ARC for band content! There's hints of the other characters having problems of their own that are kind of ignored. Delilah is said to have issues with her Mom who is negligent, but this is brushed over, and surely Geraldine has some trauma from dying? And she died pretty recently. Also it was mentioned that Geraldine lost her ability to improvise solos after dying, which I thought would be a significant plot point, except that it's never resolved. Also Izzy and Delilah have zero chemistry. I felt legit frustration reading their interactions.

One more thing that bugged me is that the world-building doesn't feel fleshed out. Izzy and her parents are the only werewolves that appear, and Geraldine is the only ghost. All the other characters are humans, but they don't find Izzy's and Geraldine's existences odd, which implied that ghosts and werewolves (at least) are normal in this world. Except that they're the only ones who appear. I don't need a full list of the local werewolf population in this town, I would just like to see some supernatural people in the background to give this world some depth.

Anyway, this had a lot of promise. I requested this arc because I love bands and the supernatural so this seemed right up my alley. Until it wasn't.

Summary:

Izzy is known to be a bit of a snob in the musical world. It's not her fault – as a werewolf, she has some of the best ears around, especially when it comes to music. Thus, she expects the best of her fellow bandmates.

That admittedly makes it pretty difficult to find a band that's willing to stick with her. That is until Izzy runs the perfect drummer and jazz pianist. They're perfect, inspired, and just as dedicated to perfection as Izzy.

Review:

I love checking out new graphic novels by creatives I (personally) have never heard of. Wolfpitch was a unique and entertaining delight, with the perfect blend of music, paranormal elements, and compelling characters.

Ironically enough, the characters are very human. Each one has desires and flaws, and their personalities absolutely shine throughout this volume. It was, without a doubt, my favorite part of the entire story.

Okay, that was one of my favorite parts. I also adored the artwork, which utilized a fantastic color palette. It helped to enhance that creative vibe while giving it a very unique feel. Given how much I enjoyed the art style and story, I should probably check out Balazs Lorinczi's other works (Doughnuts and Doom).

Highlights:
YA Graphic Novel
LGBT+
Paranormal Band
Werewolves & Ghosts

Such a beautiful graphic novel, the colours used are just so pretty!

I really enjoyed this sapphic romance following 3 musicians with strong personalities trying to get along long enough to try and win Battle of Bands!

This story also includes Deaf rep 😍

Thank you author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!!

I loved the vibes. I liked the art style a lot too. I loved Ron! Lol. I also enjoyed the small rivals to lovers story. It was silly and cute and they were learning to love themselves and making mistakes along the way. What more could you ask for.

It was pretty decent. I enjoyed it. I liked the ghost the most as a character. Nothing super terrible about it.

content/trigger warnings:
bullying (over supernatural powers)
death (accident, non-graphic)

representation:
Black woman (ghost)
burn scars (non-graphic, on an ear, only in human form)
deaf/hard of hearing (only in human form, due to an accident)
hearing aid (only in human form)
sapphic (identities aren't explicitly stated, but there is a romance)
sex (off-page)
Spanish (werewolf)

This was a fun graphic novel about a supernatural band preparing for Battle of the Bands. The art is cute and very fitting for this story.

Great graphic novel that pops off the pages with color and excitement. I had a great time reading it!

Thank you to NETGALLEY for letting me read this early 🙏🏾.

I sat this book review for a while because I wanted to make sure I got my thoughts together. I do love the concept of the music and finding people who love the same sound as you do and play as good, too. I love that part of the story when all three of the girls come together and realize they sound better together than separate. The backstory of Geraldine ans how she became a ghost and why she was scared to play anything else but the same songs over and over again before someone else gave her the confidence again to play other music with remembering that tragic night of what happen was do really well and I enjoyed Geraldine alot. I also wanted to know how she became a milkshake even after the story. ( or maybe she must have liked them a lot to become one).

Now when it come to the two main leads Delilah and Izzy, I didn't care for the romance because it felt rushed and I understand Delilah didn't like what Izzy did when they were younger basically taking what she was trying to build a path for herself and make her own way. BUT Delilah has to realize that sometimes someone will sound better or make something play better. When it comes to music so her being mad at izzy for taking the college scholarship was a bit much, and her making fun of Izzy every time something didn't work for her rub me the wrong way. Now Izzy is another story I do like the supernatural aspect of the story because of izzy losing something very important to her and using that supernatural part to make it up for being able to play music. But not telling other what happen to you ( which I understand why because wouldn't understand or wouldn't care but still telling others would help alot) it would help so people would get mad at her everytime goes wrong. They think it her super hearing, but it was something else. That is why she was able to stay in the band for long until now with Delilah and Geraldine.

I do like how everything came full circle and every start to communicate with each other. But they should have done that from the beginning it would have felt a lot in the story. I really did enjoy this story. I wish it was long to see the girls on the tour.