This story is totally in my wheelhouse.
It's got paranormal, coming of age, finding yourself both in ways that hurt and ways that show how amazing trusting the right person/people can be.

Plus FAMILY. So much of his books is about family and how important it is to know who's got your back and who's looking for a piece of it. (Chosen family included.)

Amazing and empowering story of the strength of black lives and communities; werewolves or not. Such a wonderful element to this story.

Would recommend this for a read that'll leave you feeling happy for where our main character ends up and still wanting more!

** Thank you to Lerner Publishing Group and Netgally for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. **

This is a very fun middle grade/YA graphic novel. It's sweet at times and pretty intense/scary at others, which makes a nice balance for a fairly lengthy comic. I appreciated Stephens' focus on family, found family, and community, and I loved that Artie was queer and had a girlfriend (and that this was just a casual thing and that no one was homophobic in the story). Content warning for violence, death of a parent (before birth), and brief racism (from terrible bullies).

At its core, this graphic novel is about family and a sense of belonging in one. The explanations behind vampires and werewolves are extremely well done and very unique. I wish the art was a bit more expressive in some panels but the illustrations were pleasant in general.

Overall, I enjoyed it but it feels like it left a few plot points unanswered or simply lacking enough closure.

A story about family, finding where you belong, and accepting yourself - even if you are, sometimes, a wolf. Artie (short for Artemis) doesn't really fit in at her school and doesn't have any friends. That begins to change when she discovers that her mom is a werewolf, and there is an entire werewolf culture that Artie belongs to, where she can find friends, romance, and finally start to feel like she belongs. There are one or two subplots that could have been developed more, but overall this was a good read that delivered on its messages.

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974

A great read and story line. The art is good and the cast was inclusive. I loved how the author incorporated being free from slavery and the bond between wolf and humans. Hope there will be more. I expect great things from this author.

The growing pains of a young werewolf in this comic nicely pitched at tweenagers. I mean it's racist as all hell – almost everyone's of colour except the school bullies who are of course white (and some other characters I'll leave to you to discover) - but apart from that it's pitched well. Our heroine, running from being given a boy's name (Artemis), doesn't even know her mother's a werewolf until spotting her transition back to woman one night – and certainly doesn't guess she's got a bit of the lupine about herself. Add to that her photography hobby that allows her to follow in her missing, presumed dead, human father's footsteps, finding out her family's history and her heritage, and falling for the wrong girl – there's a lot here to make it a rich, welcoming story. The artwork is reasonable, bordering on the needs-improvement in the action scenes, but generally there's stuff to like here. I just wish it had been presented in a more inclusive fashion. Three and a half stars.

This book was SUCH a fun and amazing take on werewolves!! I adored the way the author tied in Black culture/history with werewolf lore. It was so refreshing!

I reviewed a copy made available by the publisher via Netgalley - Thank you very much for that!

Artie and the Wolf Moon is about Artemis, a young black woman who finds out that she comes from a line of werewolves on her mother's side and from then on wins a new family, which consists of old friends of her mother, who help her to use her skills.

In addition to the everyday life of Artie, who is busy leading a typical teenage life in addition to her werewolf existence, the novel is accompanied by the story of her dead father - at the beginning Artie knows almost nothing about him, only that she likes to take photos - Just like he did.
Throughout the story she learns how her parents got to know each other, what kind of creative head her father was and how he died.

I love the fact that Olivia also built in an explanation for the existence of werewolves by letting Darius explain it to Artie, who by the way is such a lovely father figure - I also really love the art that comes with the explanation, it‘s simple but stunning - The illustrations in general are really lovely and very nicely colored.

3.5/5

This was a cute read, I liked the changes in werewolf/vampire lore from the classic stuff. It was a little campy, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit.

Thank you NetGalley and Lerner Graphic Universe for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Artie and the Wolf Moon is a beautiful book about friendship, forgiveness, rebirth, and breaking toxic cycles. It centers Black joy and community and was wonderful to read. As I got closer to the end, I found myself wanting more of Artie and her family's story, but the book ended on a very sweet and satisfying note. I was also happy to see an on-page sapphic/lesbian relationship. The relationship was shown as complex, and its ups and downs played into the overal story arc.

Artie and the Wolf Moon is the werewolf-vampire book I've been craving, and I'm excited to read Olivia Stephens' future work.