When I initially read the description of Haphaven I was intrigued. A girl journeying to a world where she has to work around and remember all the superstitions she has been taught throughout her life in order to save her mother.

I really enjoyed the story in this graphic novel and was surprised by it. It had depth to it that was well developed. The layers to the story lined up beautifully and you find yourself going on this journey with Alex, understanding her hurts and her thoughts. The backstory that was created explained her motivation as well as her character and why she believes the things she does.

Overall this was a really fun story that was full of laughs as well as a daring adventure. I thoroughly enjoyed it and think anyone who likes stories with fantastical elements would also enjoy it.

Haphaven is an emotional trek through a brilliantly rendered fantasy world, filled with life lessons and battles against strange foes. The novel is a unique take on the grief of losing a loved one and the fight to overcome that grief to continue living your best life. Luck isn’t enough to live on, and through the many trials and tribulations of our heroine, we discover what it takes to keep the enemies at bay.

This is a deeply emotional journey, following a girl forced to come to terms with the loss of her father and the impending loss of her mother. She clings to superstitions because she doesn’t believe in herself, putting her fate in the hands of rituals that can’t save her. Her journey becomes more complicated as she tries to follow the rules of superstitions and instead discovers a more sinister plot. The author has done a great job showing this battle between luck and life, and the importance of believing in yourself when the going gets rough. The world itself is filled with magical wonders, including leprechauns in full fantasy battle gear, airships straight out of a steampunk novel, and anthropomorphic who rule the land.

The highlight of the novel is the intricate portrayal of the fantasy world, filled as it is with creatures and wonders aplenty. We see what’s on the other side of the rainbow, and it’s as bright and whimsical as it is dark and dreary. There’s a light and dark side to everything, and that’s an important aspect throughout. The artist balances between the deep story and the fun of a magical land.

Haphaven is sure to be a great read for kids and adults alike. You’ll find a story that’s thoughtful and well written, paired with artwork that perfectly portrays this magical land and its many mysteries.

Kick-@ss ~ Dynamic ~ Enthralling

tl;dr: Kick-@ss Alice in Wonderland (with a dash of Dorothy, the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) with a steam=punk, mad-max vibe

This graphic novel has it all, strong story, impactful illustrations, and awesome protagonist. A young girl finds herself over the rainbow in a dystopic world. She need to help those people, and if she does, her sick mother might live. The editor deserves praise, and the text is the perfect length. The illustrations are lovely, with a great balance of characters and setting. This is one of the strongest story remixes that I have read in a while.

*I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Alex Mills is extremely superstitious. Don’t walk under the ladder, don’t break the mirror, don’t cross the cat. Her family’s legacy is knowing how to tiptoe around misfortune, and Alex’s life revolves around following each rule —even if it means not celebrating her thirteenth birthday. This last leads to a harsh argument with her mother and, acting like the teenager she is, Alex intentionally steps on a crack. We all know how the superstition goes: “Step on a crack… break your mother’s back”. This is exactly what happens.

In the quest to fix her mother, Alex finds herself in Haphaven, a magical world from where all of Earth’s superstitions come from. Like all magical worlds, the place is full of mystical creatures, monsters, talking animals and… leprechauns. Many, many tiny leprechauns.

This book was fun! The plot was predictable from beginning to end, and the story could’ve benefitted from being a little longer, maybe split between two volumes. It read like a rollercoaster, quick and entertaining but without pauses to enjoy its otherworld. Despite this, I highly enjoyed the supporting cast and would’ve loved to see more of them. The villain, for his part, was cartoon-typical. Beyond his willingness to plot at length and bide his time, he didn’t stand out. I do appreciate the fact that he was truly evil, a traitor and a murderer, and that he gloated in victims’ miseries. Children and teenagers should learn that, though our world is mostly gray, these shades of unredeemable black also exist.

My favorite part of the whole novel, however, was Alex’s relationships with her parents, and their love for her. I won’t go into the details, because I don’t want to spoil the heartwarming scenes, but so often fantasy and fairy-tales rely on children wanting to run away, on being misunderstood. That’s not the case here. There are arguments, yes, but Alex’s parents love her, and she loves them, and that’s crystal clear throughout the whole story. More, this love is at the center of the plot.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the artwork, but it fascinated me all the same: strong, muted colors, harsh lines, almost grim-looking designs, monstrous in the right panels. I think, considering the graphic novel is aimed at middle-schoolers, that it will be a good opportunity for them to enjoy a story meant for them that doesn’t look kiddy nor childish.

Such a beautiful graphic novel. The story was dynamic, and the artwork was amazing. I felt that the artwork and story fit together perfectly. I love it!

Haphaven was a nice story about a very superstitious girl who travels to Haphaven, a world filled with leprechauns harvesting salt and clovers, who tries to find out where all her bad luck is coming from.

It took some time for me to get into the story, even as Alex traveled to Haphaven, but at a certain time its charm won me over and I especially enjoyed the last part of it. There was more to the story than I at first anticipated, which was nice. The art was nice too, but not something very special or memorable.

All in all, a very nice read.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks to the publishers for sharing this one. It's a fun, original graphic novel. My full review appears on Weekend Notes.

I try to find humor in superstitions nowadays, having grown up with a lot of superstitious beliefs. I don't believe in them anymore and indeed, it feels liberating .

Alex took superstitious to a whole new level and she was convinced she was jinxed. That she believed all these meticulous rules of luck but still remained a cheerful, spunky girl made her an engaging protagonist. It also made her open minded to the magical and without hesitation followed a leprechaun to Haphaven.

She meets many magical characters in Haphaven, including the notorious Jinx and the ruler of the place. Some of these characters were on her side, some turned out to be different from what she expected. Although the character designs were interesting, I didn't feel particularly attached to any of the cast. One character, Penny, the mohawk sporting leprechaun, seemed too conveniently placed as a source of advice for Alex when she was in trouble.

Her adventures followed the typical rules and were not that exciting at first. Then came enlightenment where she proceeded to blast bad luck out her system. This was when adrenaline kicked into high gear and the story twisted towards some unexpected but not entirely new territory. I like stories where characters hit upon the solution by looking at things at a different way and Alex certainly learned the hard way that she could win with any card handed to her if she played it right.

Haphaven is an enjoyable graphic novel with diverse characters, kick-ass battles and life changing light bulb moments. Recommended to everyone who wants to make their own luck.

P.S.

I received a copy of Haphaven from Diamond Book Distributors via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

SOUNDTRACK

Be Lucky
The Who
The Who Hits 50

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. It's about a family's love and doing what ever you can to protect your family. I really liked the illustration style. Full of color and very descriptive. The emotions and actions of the characters comes across clearly. The moral of the story is great. I highly recommend this graphic novel.

What a cute and original story! A young girl who grows up firmly believing all of her dad's superstitions loses her father, and as she is trying to cope accidentally breaks her mother's back by stepping on a crack in the sidewalk (yup). Desperate to help her mother, she teams up with a leprechaun and travels to the land where superstitions are created to find a lucky rabbits foot. Problem: it's still attached to the rabbit.
Throw in a guy who's a literal Jinx, a woman named Penny whose specialty is turning back luck into good and a black cat you REALLY don't want to cross and you have a fun read that will appeal to tweens and younger teens.

Witty and Inventive

Going in, this looked like it could be interesting; but premise is one thing and execution is another. I'm happy to report that, at least for me, the execution was even better than the premise.

The idea is that Haphaven is an alternate world that has an unusual connection to and effect on Earth. Things that are good and useful in Haphaven are "lucky" on Earth. (So, the four leaf clovers that are a food crop in Haphaven are lucky on Earth. You have to smack forest trees on Haphaven to keep them from grabbing you, so knocking on wood on Earth is lucky. You get the idea.) That may sound a little dopey but the whole alternate connected worlds set up comes into focus in a very satisfying and clever way. Each chapter of the book opens with a page of Haphaven history that eventually sets the Earth connection out clearly. And all of the Haphaven characters go in for monologuing and explaining, so there's lots of room for clever jokes and bits connecting Haphaven to Earth superstitions and folk wisdom.

All of that aside, we do have an actual plot and a big handful of engaging characters. In that regard we follow a Dorothy in Oz/Alice in Wonderland sort of arc. Our heroine, Alex, has to travel to Haphaven to retrieve a lucky charm that she needs to cure her mother. (Alex's Mom suffered a back injury after Alex became angry and stamped on a crack in a sidewalk). Along the way Alex picks up a variety of companions who are wise or brave or nutz, and they all tag along with her on her quest.

Lots of good things going on here. Most important, Alex is a great heroine. She's smart, funny, feisty, and totally up for and into her adventure. She's a bit headstrong, on a mission, and into making smart remarks. She also carries a wood bat carved with lucky totems. Who knew Bruce Willis would work so well as a middle grade fantasy hero, assuming he were thirteen, black, and female. As noted, the supporting characters provide excellent, well, support. And, there are lots of witty and clever bits incorporating superstitions and lucky charms and sayings into the world of Haphaven, where they have "real" meaning. Sometimes dialogue takes a back seat to art, tricky plotting, and action in books like these, but here the dialogue shines. It can be clever, or touching, or ripping, or rueful, or deadpan funny, but it is always apt and never tone deaf or clunky. I think that's especially important when you have a tale that turns as much on clever word play and attitude as it does on action.

All of this is held together with a fine approach to the art. All of the quiet scenes are crisp and clear; although action scenes occasionally can get a bit frantic and sometimes a bit hard to follow. Colors are generally muted. There's enough detail to tell what's going on but there's no special emphasis on splashy big scenes or big world drawing. Characters are especially expressive and are consistently and convincingly presented.

So, my bottom line was that this was a lot more entertaining than I expected, and it came together and worked way more than it probably should have. This was a nice find. (Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

The Madison Mega Marathon Goodreads Group January 2019 was to choose a book by it’s cover…so I thought I might pick up this comic from NetGalley, because the cover looked really really interesting; dark and creepy - but cartoony at the same time.

But -

Oh!

My!

God!

This book is amazing!

It’s intriguing. And hilarious. I am loving it so much.

When she first met Penny, I thought: “‘Find a penny, pick it up, all day long, you’ll have good luck!’ Just like my grandma taught me!” I mean, I don’t think she was really superstitious, it was just a saying. She also taught me, “Beans, beans, the musical fruit, the more you eat, the more you toot; the more you toot, the better you feel, so eat your beans for every meal!” Which, I think, does have some truth to it.

Anyway.

This story was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it. Check it out.

<i>Thanks to NetGalley, Lion Forge, and Diamond Comics for a copy in return for an honest review.</i>

Haphaven is a graphic novel full of superstitions and rules. Its one part fairy tale, and one part coming of age story. The series follows Alex as she grows up with superstitions, thanks to her father. Until one day she stepped on a crack and found herself on a desperate quest to undo the damage wrought.
This was an interesting series, on the whole. I originally became interested in it because of the artwork on the cover (which I promise you carries through the whole graphic novel). Though I’ll admit that the introduction was a bit off, and it took me longer than expected for me to get really into the story being told.
It was fun reading about all the different superstitions that Alex lived by. At first, we saw how difficult it would be; living in the modern world while driven to follow complex rules that may or may not be judged by society. Like feeling compelled to throw a stranger’s spilled salt over your shoulder during a family dinner…
It quickly becomes more fantastical though, as Alex rushes to save her mom after a sudden broken back – courtesy of the crack that Alex stepped all over. It gets a bit hectic and crazy from there, but the story hangs on to its cohesion and ultimately has an interesting point to make.

Alex Mills is superstitious. To the maxcore. Despite knocking on wood and doing all kind of bizarre stuff and rituals, she causes her mother to hurt her back.

She journeys to Haphaven, the world where all of Earth's superstitions draw their power. On the search for the lucky rabbit's foot to save her mom, Alex learns that breaking with superstition might be the key to saving her mom, even if it means she could get jinxed along the way.

I loved an intelligent storyline and simple, but beautifully delivered, art. Haphaven contains an exciting adventure, conflict and solution, humour, redemption, and love.

My only issue was with some panels that felt too busy and unpleasant to read.

Great read anyway.

ARC through NetGalley

There is a cool concept in this graphic novel for young adults. The art style is great too, especially the mood scaping.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book*

"Step on a crack, break your mother's neck." Even though Alex grew up with a superstitious, late dad, she didn't think that her mother's neck would actually break when she stepped on a crack after a fight.

With the help of a leprechaun, Alex has to travel to Haphaven, a sort of Otherworld, to save her mother and learn about her past and family. Will she be able to get the Rabbit's foot needed to save her mom? Can that be done without crossing a black cat?

I enjoyed reading this comic a lot. Alex is a cool protagonist, the story is well written, the comic beautifully drawn.

4,5 Stars.

actual rating: 3.5

It took me awhile to warm up to this title, but by the end I really enjoyed it. The story takes a little bit to get going and the art style - while not necessarily 'bad' - took some getting used to as well. Overall though it ended up being a fun story about a superstitious girl from our world traveling to the world where all these superstitions come from and ultimately figuring out how to take control of her own life. There were some great side characters as well and it was definitely a fun and unique read.

Haphaven is fantasy story centered around superstitions and luck. The story was okay, I don't feel like it worked as well as a graphic novel as it would have a children's cartoon. The art is kind of bland and would of been enhanced with some better color work. Alex is a strong heroine that works well in the story and is complemented well by the Jinx and the rabbit. My kids would probably enjoy this graphic novel more than I did as I feel it is more appropriate for middle readers. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from Netgalley.

Thanks for allowing me to try this one. Sadly, again, like another book I just tried, this one and I didn't connect. I disliked the MC. Her superstition stuff was interesting and fun at first but it quickly became annoying (and frustrating) and I wish someone would just step on a crack with her in mind. :| She even kidnaps someone named Penny. Because she has to pick up a Penny. Urgh, good grief girl. :|

The art... sorry, it wasn't for me. If the art was better maybe I would have struggled further but with both the art and the character being eh, I stopped reading.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review which has not altered my opinion of the book.

I didn't exactly know what to expect when I first grabbed this book, but I am very glad that I did! It was so different from any graphic novel I have read before, and I'm so glad for it. For one part, the representation was awesome (our main character is a 13-year-old mixed race girl with a black mother and a white father). There was talk of jinxes and curses, and there was the eventual take over of the original beliefs of being stuck following the rules that should not work.

Alex runs into a new world hell-bent on saving her mother and doesn't stop to try and understand what is going on around her in this world she knew nothing about. When she finally takes the time to understand what is going on, she is able to understand what to do. I love that because no one is perfect and this story is all about making your own luck.

I highly recommend this graphic novel. The art is unique and so different because it doesn't want to be all pretty and shiny, it is rough, but I feel like it reflects life as it is. Five out of five from me.