What I liked: the colorful, detailed, and consistent illustrations; the story’s premise; the Stonehenge setting; the characters at the start of the story

What I disliked: multiple endings lacked logic, a common weakness of “choose your own adventure stories” that the best ones of this genre manage to avoid. I was disappointed by most of the possible choices, but the illustrations were well done and at least one ending seemed more plausible than the others.

Middle-grade readers may still enjoy the pace of the story and the variety of story options in addition to the graphics.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I haven't read a CYOA book in easily 20 years, so imagine my surprise when I came across a graphic novel one! I was really excited to read this, but it, unfortunately, didn't live up to the hype. Many of the endings were lackluster at best and the ones that were "good" weren't really that good.

As someone who really appreciates old school choose your own adventure books and reads lots of graphic novels (perhaps way too many, even), I was intrigued by the idea of a graphic novel version of a choose your own adventure story, as the closest I've come to this are ones with the occasional illustration.

And I think this one does a fair job of showcasing that potential, even if I think the actual adventure could have used some fine tuning. You can read this one in the order as its written and more or less follow along the different endings.

My main issue is that the story divides neatly into two halves, depending on an initial choice you make. One path sees you tangling with a druid cult working to questionable ends with a magical artifact, another sees you end up exposed to supernatural beings.

Now, I think in execution the first path of battling a cult is ultimately the more interesting one, with more chances for your character to take action vs. the passivity the character has in the second half as they go around talking to supernatural beings.

My other note is that these two halves don't really mesh together well. I would argue they even contradict each other in small ways, too.

For example, a character in the first half of the book appears to be working against you, but you encounter this character more in the second path and they seem to have no such divided loyalties. What they were doing in the first half is never even touched upon, which feels disappointing to me after I started the second path hoping to learn more about their goals.

Also, the sickle that is the entire focus of the path after your first choice also doesn't really get any focus in the second path, the danger instead being more nebulous than a misused magic artifact. These two paths feel very much like two separate adventures smashed into one, compared to some of the more tightly written choose your own adventure books I've read.

Still, for an interesting new way to do a choose your own adventure I had fun. Bad ends include the mundane and the magical (teleportation and eternal imprisonment... actually one thing I'll give the second half is it had more "fun" and interesting bad ends.)

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. These opinion are completely my own.

I honestly completely forgot Choose Your Own Adventure was a series until finding this book on Netgalley and that's a shame because it's a wonderful series. I was double excited to see that it was a graphic novel because it really brought the story to life.

As someone who grew up devouring CYOA books, this was a great take-me-back book! I loved the main story line and all the possible endings. The first time through the story is always fun, but my greatest enjoyment comes from discovering all ways it could end. I don't know if I would rank this in my Top 10 CYOA story, but it will be up there for someone!

I enjoy Choose Your Own adventure books and thought the format change for this one was interesting. Some readers will certainly prefer it. It's a fun, somewhat educational, story. I didn't explore every single outcome, however, just to be up front.

The format made the book very difficult to navigate and get through. It was fairly frustrating and impacted my enjoyment.

I was so excited to read this Choose Your Own Adventure graphic novel for the nostalgia! The graphics were incredible and the story quickly drew me in. I do wish the story lines were longer. There were a few storylines where the ending felt too abrupt. Even with that drawback, I think children will enjoy this book!
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for letting me read and review this book!

This choose your own adventure book fell short for me. While I struggled already with talk of druids and mystical things, the adventure itself was not for me. Trying all possible combinations (to my knowledge) doesn’t give a ‘correct’ ending. Unless that is the point or I made an error. I would have liked it better if one path was correct and the story completed with all answers to the plot fulfilled.

YouTube Review: 04/03/2024
YouTube Handle: KeenCat

Forecast from Stonehenge is a graphic novel based on an original Choose Your Own Adventure gamebook of the same name written by R A Montgomery. The story begins with you visiting Stonehenge to meet up with a contact regarding Stonehenge’s missing Heelstone. From here you decide which path to choose and how the story unfolds.

The art of the graphic novel is very well done and it fits the subject matter. For the most part I enjoyed reading the various storylines that you can follow, what I believe to be the main (and true) storyline is very fun and you travel to various famous places around the UK.

My only real criticism of the story is that some of the story lines and their associated endings are a bit absurd and can also be a little bit abrupt.

The book is aimed at readers between 9 - 12 years and I think the book is a perfect fit for that audience. Older readers may also find it enjoyable if they are willing to accept that the book can be a little silly at times, due to its intended audience. I would love to see more of the classic Choose Your Own Adventure stories given the graphic novel treatment.

There are lots of hurdles—both mundane and magical. This is a fast-paced story with several outcomes that explore the history and mystery of Stonehenge while visiting some fantastic beings and locations from lore.

The tension felt palpable several times, and the outcome seemed uncertain. It was a complete story with several endings. However, none felt like a fulfilling resolution to the central conflict the reader finds themselves within.

This is enjoyable for young readers who like graphics novels. It could be just the right introduction to CYOA that cuts through the noise of manga and other fast-paced media options. Then, with any luck, kids will pick up a full-length CYOA novel for a richer and complete experience that is much more immersive.

I loved growing up with Choose Your Own Adventure books and it is GREAT to see it as a graphic novel! This will absolutely engage mid grade kids and the history is just enough to get them excited. It could get too magical/mystical for some kids but the joy of going back and choosing another path never gets old.

I loved CYOA books when I was kid. It's been decades since I read one, so when I saw this pop up in NetGalley I was SO EXCITED. Then I was also nervous...what if turning CYOA into graphic novels somehow ruined the fun of it? I needn't have worried. This is just as great as the CYOA books of my childhood. I had a blast choosing between the different options, and then backtracking to take a different path. One thing that has notably changed from the old CYOA books is the lack of endings that are some form of "YOU HAVE DIED" - there are no endings where you die. There are unpleasant and unfortunate endings, but nothing like the old books where it was often "You are crushed by an avalanche of rocks" or "You run out of air and drown" or "There is no way out of the pit and the tigers devour you." Ah, the good old days. (jk) And am I inordinately proud of myself for choosing a Very Good Path on my first time around? Yes, yes I am. :)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this eARC for unbiased review.

Choose your own adventure - Forecast from Stonehenge

YOU are the chooser here. YOU are the one directing this book. And YOU decide what happens to YOU in this action packed, choose your own adventure , graphic novel, full of adventure, fun , narrow escapades and the supernatural!!
YOU are a young traveler, going to the infamous ancient Stonehenge. Many secrets revolve this place , from secretive disguised druids to a golden scythe. But hey, it’s your story, and YOU are the one to decide What Happens Next.So what are you waiting for? Read this book right now to see if you can survive these treacherous tales!!
An amazing book!! I read few graphic novels/ choose your own adventure books, but never a book that was both !! It was super fun reading this, and it was a new experience altogether!!! 9/10!!

Thank you Netgalley for sending me this book ❤️

It's been some decades since I read a choose your own adventure book and I'm so pleased they are back for my children to experience.

This book was even better as it is a graphic novel. I found out after that it was an older choose your own adventure book made into a graphic novel. My daughter really enjoyed the book.

Based around Stonehenge. Great plot, one of the endings did involve death.

A great intro into different genres for younger kids, especially the graphic versions.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free Choose Your Own Adventure comic*

I remember reading these dense Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid before I had a computer and could play computer games. "Forecast From Stonehenge" throws you into a world of magic and very little is explained, which annoyed me a bit because I would've wanted to know more. Making choices and investigating Stonehenge was great fun though even though I seem to be a bit silly because "THE END" happened waaaaay too often.

4 stars because it was fun!

Excellent book. Absolutely loved how the story was in my hands and I could choose the direction in which I wanted to go. Great idea to do it in a comic book/graphic novel style.

The third outing of the tradmark branded "Choose Your Own Adventure" series has improved over the first one, "Sixth Grade Witch." Illustrator Dani Bolinho frequently illustrates the protagonist with their face obscured and panels that show things happening from the POV of the one choosing. It's an interesting choice meant to make the character more of a cypher for the reader, although the results are limited since you still see "You" on the cover. Thankfully they are willing to bend this rule to make the action comprehensible.

Like the books the graphic novel is based on, there's a non-linear plot that involves different choices made leading to good or bad ends. "Forecast From Stonehenge" keeps the weaknesses of its source material where some paths have almost no lead up or are randomly cut short, but there are at least four stories that have a fully plotted conclusion. The ones that seem to come out of nowhere are easily reset, like going from looking for the lost heelstone of Stonehenge to getting trapped while looking for Merlin is about a three page divergence.

This is a difficult concept to adapt and I don't think this series will win any converts who aren't already interested in the "Choose Your Own Adventure" brand, but I give credit to the writer, Stephanie Phillips, and the illustrator Dani Bolinho, for managing to pace it in a way that is mostly comprehsible. The art is clean and implies an older audience than the cartoony styles of many Scholastic titles, and the moments of page turning decisions do result in significantly different outcomes. Which is honestly the best choices they could make.

This was an okay nostalgic take back to choose your own adventure books I read as a kid, but I’d get to an end and it didn’t make any sense. Why when I gave the giant the right answer did I waste my wish like that? What happened to the fairies controlling me bc I ate their food? I went two routes and I’m done by the end. Maybe if I was a child and didn’t care about things having endings that made sense :(

I have previously read books in the “Choose Your Own Adventure Series” as an interactive game with middle graders. I was curious how a graphic novel would work in the format we “play” these stories. We read together and then make decisions as a group, often back tracking to make different decisions to see where the story would have gone with different choices.

The verdict from the middle graders was that it worked well. They loved the art and the story development, and we played through a variety of story lines to see all the different options. In that sense the experience is exactly what we were expecting, and what we enjoy from the text based “Choose Your Own Adventure Series”. The added bonus was that one of the reluctant readers was more willing to participate with the graphic novel medium.

The one challenge that we faced was that the e-copy document had slightly different page number than the book pages, which made it a bit trickier to find the right page (go to page 86 etc) and not accidentally see ahead or a different story line. I’m not sure if that is just always an added complexity of an eBook, or if that was because I had an ARC. But either way it wasn’t an insurmountable obstacle.

All in all, a book that makes for a good shared experience, we really enjoyed it.

3.5 stars

I really like the concept of Choose Your Own Adventure books! Here this concept is in the form of a grapic novel, which I hadn't seen before. I liked the artwork and how fast the graphic novel read. I wasn't a huge fan of the topic itself and it was a bummer that many of the endings were "bad" endings. It took me a few tries to get a happy ending. Overall, I would recommend this though!

*Thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.