This is an incredibly fun graphic novel that blends gothic/early-19th-century romantic tropes and references with a contemporary satirical take on the multiverse and pocket dimensions. The main character was really fun (and I loved the attention to detail of her waking up in the new dimension with a matching satin sleep bonnet to go with her nightgown), and I appreciated her arc over the course of the story too. This seems like it would probably be fun for a nerdy subset of teens as well, so it would work for multiple audiences. (The reveals throughout were really enjoyable and engaging too--it kept me interested throughout and made it easy to read really quickly.)

Haley is obsessed with Gothic romances and is accidentally transported to a world strikingly like her favorite novels. She meets three brothers, a lovelorn housekeeper, a ghost, and a hermitess, and discovers the world of Willowweep Manor is a gasket universe preventing our universe from being invaded by “a force of penultimate evil” (aka The Bile). This book was weird and funny and delightful.

I don’t know if most of the YA audience will have read enough Jane Eyre/Wuthering Heights/etc-style books to fully appreciate all of the jokes, but even without a large knowledge base of gothic novel tropes, there is still plenty to enjoy and laugh about in this charming graphic novel.

Great for middle school/13+

(Review will be posted on IG @leavemetomybooks closer to publication day & the link will be added)

Very funny and entertaining original graphic novel that blends science fiction with gothic romance and laugh out loud humor. Haley is a gothic romance-obsessed teenager who accidentally falls into a pocket universe that runs on tropes from Haley's favorite genre. When that universe is invaded by malevolent slime that intends to first destroy the pocket universe before moving onto Haley's/our universe, Haley must convince the pocket universe's caretakers to defy their tropes and rewrite their own stories.