This story was sweet and beautifully written! I enjoyed that it dealt with hard topics but also had the fun spirit of a graphic band novel I was looking for. It was quick, but the design was absolutely beautiful— and the message is perfect for youths dealing with difficult topics and adjusting socially. Other added bonus: the song recommendations for each chapter! Well done!

The friendship the boys forged was uniquely depicted and painfully sincere, despite their differences music brought them together. Jacoby's storyline was the one that truly tugged at my heart strings; Shapiro once again delivers a great read, one that would work well for yound adults, with an excellent choice of music that covers the range of emotions the reader goes through whilst reading this graphic novel.

Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this as much as I was hoping. The story and the art style have potential but it was so difficult to read without colour. I've seen light and shade used with great success in black and white graphic novels, but there just wasn't much of that success here. Ultimately I was left with some eye strain and vague irritation, and I wish it had been easier to read.

This was a fun graphic novel. Probably best for young teens or middle grade readers. I loved the art style.

Book Review
Title: The Stereotypical Freaks (Forever Friends Trilogy #1)
Author: Howard Shapiro
Genre: Graphic Novel
Rating: *****
Review: The opening to the Stereotypical Freaks was great, we are introduced to Tom, Dan and their other friends who are all into music and are part of a band. Tom’s favourite songs are Bara O’Riley and Ruby SoHo which are both amazing songs. Tom has a major crush on Jaelithe but given this graphic novel is set in high school she obviously end sup dating more on her social level which isn’t Tom.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the story, Dan suggests entering Battle of the Bands, but Tom points out that they are two men short of a band as they don’t have a drummer or lead guitarist. However, Dan says he knows of someone who plays the drums, his name is Jacoby a foreign exchange student, but even then, Tom is hesitant about doing it but goes with the flow for now. I really liked the facts that at the beginning of each chapter it recommends some songs you should listen to and all of them are amazing. Tom despite being a smart boy and a good hockey player decides to tutor another student who just happens to be his old best friend and star football play Mark or Marcell as he used to be called. While the interaction is strange it is nice to see that Marcell hasn’t forgotten they used to be friends and acted like a typical jerk towards him, a very refreshing take.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the story, Tom has signed up for the battle of the bands but only because Jaelithe’s current boyfriend’s band has signed up, but they still have the problem of finding a lead guitarist and a drummer, but this is soon resolved when Jacoby and Marcell agree to practice with them.
As we approach the halfway mark in the story, circumstances allow the four boys; Dan, Tom, Marcell/Mark and Jacoby to become a band but working out a practice schedule with the competition only three months away is proving to be a little hard. This is due to Jacoby’s medical treatments but only Tom knows about this so far, coupled with school, after school groups and practices none of the boys have much free time but I have a feeling it is going to work very well.
As we cross into the second half of the story, the boys decide to name their band the stereotypical freaks which suits them as they all fit a specific stereotype. However, we also learn the true nature of Jacoby’s illness and I wasn’t expecting it and it damn near killed me, but the band is something he enjoys and something he wants to do despite what he is living with.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the story, this story is turning out to be much deeper and darker than I first thought, and I was loving it. It tackles many things like being different whether that is race or religion. It also tackles bullying, peer pressure, living with terminal illness, coming from a broken home and so much more. Despite being a graphic novel about boys in a band it is so much more than that and it is so relatable.
As we cross into the final section of the story, the battle of the bands has arrived. The boys as expected performed very well but things take a dramatic turn after the end of the competition. I would highly recommend the Stereotypical Freaks and will be jumping straight into The Hockey Saint very soon.

This was quite well done. I enjoyed the graphics of this book. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

I've been devouring graphic novels like crazy in the last few months.
This one was short but sweet. Interesting story and quite emotional but I really disliked art style and couldn't get used to it so I couldn't give it 5 stars

This was a very quiet and sweet coming of age story about friendship. I really liked it. The art was simple, but excellent. And the story really sneaked up on me, and touched my cold, dark heart. Would especially recommend this to teen boys (you know, who it's written for) because it features an MC who is very in touch with his feelings and being honest with his friends, and we need more of that in Kidlit, and in life.

The Stereotypical Freaks follows four high school seniors as they form a band and compete in their school’s battle of the bands.
I think it’s advertised as a lighter graphic novel about friendship and music, but we really delve into some deeper things with one of the bandmates. I read this in about an hour and I will admit I got some tears on my pillow. It was so sad! But I also felt really touched by it.
Some complaints I have that could have bumped it up a star were the dialogue felt really juvenile. These characters are supposed to be seniors in high school, yet they spoke as if they were in middle school. I found that really unrealistic and kind of annoying but seeing as this is the first graphic novel in a trilogy, I’m hoping to see them mature throughout.
All in all, it was a quick and rather enjoyable read! I will definitely pick up the other two as I feel invested in the character’s lives now.

This is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher. It was another 'read now' offering from Net Galley, and while some of those really are gems that ought to be more widely read, too many of them are like this one unfortunately was - not really that interesting.

This seems to be the start of a series which features different characters in life-affirming stories, full of bon-mots and optimism. That's fine, but along with that, there really needs to be a story that draws a reader in and in this case, there was not. Set in high-school, in the senior year, this is the story of four guys who get together in a band. The problem was that there didn't seem to be any real reason why these guys would get together.

The worst part of this though for me, was that once again we had a story of young guys whose taste in music is curiously exactly the same as the older author's taste! I've seen this time and time again in novels and it really kicks the reader out of suspension of disbelief because there's no reason that we're offered for why these kids would like music which is so far from their peers.

Much of the music (at least those songs I looked up) was from decades ago, and it wasn't what I would describe as 'rock 'n' roll, although some of it was. If you want your young character to like it, fine, but you really need to supply a good reason as to why they stray so far from the norms for their age group.

There may well have been more recent music that I didn't take note of, and there are, without a doubt, kids who like music from earlier periods, but usually there's a good reason for that. Maybe there was in this story, too, but none was offered to the reader, so why these kids were together and why they all seemed to like this same 'antique' music was a complete mystery, the only explanation for which is that the author was writing what he knows and including his favorite music without giving any thought or regard to whether it would really be the music of choice for these particular high-school kids.

I didn't really like any of the characters. The author, who I understand does a lot of work raising money for hockey charities, a sport he's evidently very such into, did not flesh out any of them. They seemed, ironically, very much like Joe Pekar's artwork - sketchy and unfinished. The art was black and white line drawings, and some of it was so faint in my ARC electronic copy that it looked like it was only partially done: an initial sketch which never got fleshed out. Like I said, it was an ARC, so it may well have been unfinished, but I can only judge on what I see, not on some future promise, so I can't recommend this graphic novel for the artwork, either! The drawings were OK, but nothing special.

Although the author says, in an interview I read, that he doesn't like to write predictable stories, this one was very much predictable all the way down the line, including the ending. I didn't like the way the characters were pigeon-holed. We're told that the name of the band came from the characters being stereotyped by their peers in school, but this didn't have a ring of truth to it. For example, the 'smart kid's did not appear particularly smart. And how would he be stereotyped as a 'smart kid'? I don't think 'smart kid' is the term anyone abusing him would choose!

By that same token, the 'geek' was not particularly a geek and would more likely have been pigeon-holed for his weight or appearance than for being a geek. The 'star athlete' was a dick who let one of his jock friends - a stereotypical bigot - be truly mean and abusive to his bandmates without offering a word in their support or their defense. And what's with naming a sick kid a weirdo? He wasn't weird at all - just quiet. High-school being what it is, he would more likely have been abused for his ethnicity, which was Inuit, than for being weird or quiet. So in short, all of this seemed fake and false, like it was no more than an attempt to cover all demographics.

Overall I did not like this story. It felt inauthentic throughout, and it was stuck in a very traditional rut, so it did not appeal to me at all. I wish the author every success in his endeavors, particularly in his charity ventures, but I cannot in good faith recommend this effort.

love love comics. Theres something unique about the way they tell stories. The Stereotypical Freaks was a wonderful read. Most comics I read about heroes or sci-fi but this story as different. It's about friendships; four friends in a band to be exact. It also deal with cliques and high school BS. I love it! Seriously this story totally blew me away.

Great for kids who love to read comic books but maybe gobbled up too much superhero stuff. Or, a way to get kids to read when they would rather not. They create a band to participate in battle of bands. The main character has a crush on a girl he views is unattainable.



He rejoins with his old best friend from elementary school and the school's exchange student. Together they bond over creating music. It's light, relatable and kids will or probably have enjoyed it.



It's available for purchase :)

Okay so this is simply amazing. It is definitely my top favourite graphic novels. Story is just heartwarming. I laughed and cried a lot while i was reading it. It is about friendship, music, choises we made and life. I love the song recommendations parts. Whatsername is my favorite song too.

This book was not what I expected. I didn't like it all. The plot could have been better. The story could have been better. The graphics could have been. Overall I was looking for something more and this did not fit my expectations.

I don't read a lot of graphic novels but I did not expect to feel so much emotion and I thoroughly enjoyed the artwork. I definitely recommend this book to literally anyone. It's really empowering and moving!

Such a touching comic book. I was really moved almost to tears while reading this comic book. The comic starts with 2 friends in a makeshift band. They want to enter a battle of the bands and during the process of looking for new members, they form new friendships with people they would never have guessed they would. While practicing and becoming closer friends they find out something tragic about one of their bandmate/friend that brings them all closer together and they learn to depend on one another while being a support. This was a great comic book with a storyline that was so unexpected. The graphics were great and everything was put together very well.

I had trouble really enjoying this book - I could not really get into the story or enjoy the art.

I would have loved this story back when I was 16. It was such a great teen story. Unfortunately, I thought the art style was a bit lacking and could be improved on, which did take away from the overall reading experience. I would recommend it to anyone who loves a high school setting surrounding friendships.

4.5
OMGGGG. I don't know why it took me ages to review this book. I mean, I read it in 2016. 2016. It was one of my favorite books of the year and it made me cry at that time. EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT.
So, I am here to finally write my review.
The story begins with four friends who create a band for a competition. The members name the band "The Stereotypical Freaks" because they are constantly labeled as weirdos, however they are more than a simple label and each of them has their own story.
The book is amazinggggg. I never imagined reading a graphic novel without fantasy or action and just talking about simple life. Life as it is, complicated, even more when you are a teenager. I loved that this book was unique and realistic. The artwork is simple but beautiful, I was expecting colors but it was okay because the lack of colors made the story even more powerful.
I thoroughly recommend this book to everyone!! If it's your first time reading a graphic novel, read this one! You'll love it!!

4 out of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline of this book and it broke my heart. I almost cried. It was very impactful. The artwork was so simple yet it worked for the story. I really liked how there was recommended listening at the beginning of each chapter as well.