Cover Image: Nightmare in Savannah

Nightmare in Savannah

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Member Reviews

This is a twisty, twitchy tale of four teenage Fae changelings who find themselves, and their powers and natures, while navigating the usual teen and high school angst. It isn't written as a "realistic" story. It is dark and strange and jumps from incident to incident as it follows various narrative arcs.

The project has a jazzy, disconnected feel. We switch back and forth from action to quiet moments of reflection. The tale is punctuated by the occasional excerpt from some sort of Fae hunter guidebook that serves as an info dump, a pause in the action, and narrative background to the story. That sounds disjointed and a bit disorienting, but it works and it adds to the energy and strangeness of the material.

The art takes some getting used to. It is all sharp lines and edge, with an impressionistic feel when the action or the emotions ramp up. It's sometimes hard, at first, to tell some of the characters apart, but once the reader warms up to how they are being represented the characters become easier to follow and more recognizably expressive.

The book streams along and is a quick read even though there's a lot packed into it. There are lots of cuts and jumps and sharp turns that the reader has to pay attention to, but that's what makes it so intense and compelling. It's a wild ride, and I enjoyed it.

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The artwork was nice, but I felt the story was weird, the pacing was not well done, can make the reader confused about what is happening in the story.

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An interesting premise that should have been fleshed out with a limited-series run. Containing it to a single volume did the team a disservice. As it stands, this graphic novel is a rushed, cliched version of The Craft with faeries, down to the awkward new girl, edgy outcasts, and someone going off the rails with newfound power.

The art is fun, although felt rushed at times as well - certain pages seemed sloppily done - and I liked the muted color palette that lent itself well to a shadowy, twilit vibe. Unfortunately, I never got a sense of the characters beyond surface traits and what felt like diversity bingo. It is decently queer, which was appreciated. Overall, this isn't adding much to the urban fantasy lexicon.

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This graphic novel isn't the typical Savannah narrative you would expect to read/see. Instead of the ghost stories that Savannah is known for, this graphic novel focuses on a different folklore: the fae and their ability to create changelings.

Alexa moves back to Savannah to live with his grandfather after her parents are (assumed) arrested for embezzlement. At first, the novel follows the typical new girl trope: teacher introduces her to the class, mean girl finds out her parents backstory and bullies her, teacher connects it to The Scarlet Letter, a band of misfits offer friendship to Alexa. Then things get weird and a little disconnected and jammed together.

What I loved: the color palette, the Gothic inspired illustrations of the characters: it was very Blair Witch Noir vibes, the no hesitation in killing off key characters.

What I didn't love: the thrown in pages of a journal on faerie lore and the abrupt ending.

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I found the story hard to follow in some points, like it seemed to jump topics and break the flow. I also didn't really feel for the characters and wish it would have been explained a little more about why they were Changlings and what the lady that was dating her grandpa was doing. I'm assuming the author was setting up for this to be a series.

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I love the artwork in this graphic novel, it wasn’t my normal genre however I really enjoyed where the story was going.

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Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher/author for providing me with an e-copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was exactly what I wanted it to be! I loved it. I will make sure to check out other books by this author. When I requested this I was just intrigued by the concept of it and I loved how it turned out. This story had a great plot and if you have read this and enjoyed it, This was so much. It was such a great story. I would say give this one a try. I will continue to follow this author. Way to go to this author for not letting me down.

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The story wasn’t terrible, but it has definitely been done before in other forms. I wasn’t feeling the artwork at all. Maybe that’s just me and my tastes. I can’t recommend this one.

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A short, quick, read about Alexa rebuilding her life in Savannah. Her past is easy to find, so she joins a group of outsiders and soon finds magic.

The graphic novel is a quick read, so the quick transitions can be jarring and disrupt the story flow. I try to keep in mind the medium, but sometimes the plot went a little too fast and plot threads that should have a bit more weight are dropped in favor of the bigger plot. The art is not to my style, appearing unfinished, but it does match the story style. All in all, a good graphic novel, but no worries if you miss it.

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I love any story set in the South, especially those steeped in Savannah folklore and Savannah history. I love Savannah, GA.

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The style and colors of this graphic novel were new and exciting. The story is creepy and so much fun for a new way to tell a scary story.

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Alexa moves in with her grandfather to live with him, forcing her to start a new school in the midst of the semester. She immediately makes friends, only to discover that something unusual is going on.
I chose this one because the cover reminded me of the Courtney Cumrin series, of which I have read the first book and intend to continue reading. The narrative of the comic reminded me a lot of the Craft as I read it, but this is not a criticism; despite being predictable, I had a lot of fun reading it.I didn't like the sketchy art style at first, especially gazing at the hands, but I became accustomed to it and recognized how expressive the images are. It's neither realistic or anatomically precise, but the artist excels in conveying emotions and atmosphere, which matches the narrative perfectly.
With this one, I believe it comes down to personal preference. You either enjoy the picture or you don't, and you either get tired reading the same thing over and over or you want to read this one because of it.
If this description appeals to you, go ahead and try it!

The publisher provided the arc.

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I liked the book and where it was heading until it just ended. The illustrations were appealing and gave off the gothic dark vibes. The premise of the Fae was interesting and the characters were well portrayed. They were interesting as they were morally grey and add to that the obnoxiousness of teens, and we have got ourselves a mess. The main problem was that the different fractions of the comic did not add up sometimes and it felt like there was a disconnection between panels. That being said, I did have a good time reading but I would have loved it if the plot would have been more coherent.

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Honestly I don’t have an interest in reading this book anymore and I want to be more selective with what I request.

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The new girl in town with a troubled past finds her tribe of fellow outcasts at school, and it turns out the have something magical in common. Things get creepy as they learn more about their powers, and start to get ugly as one of the girls gets power hungry and vindictive. When someone dies, the tribe starts to crumble, and things come to a somewhat rushed head at the prom. Don't get me wrong, the ending was bittersweet, and I'm totally here for the romance that developed and how that storyline ended, but the rest still felt a bit abrupt. The overall story was good, though - I enjoyed how the Fay were portrayed, I liked how the characters developed, and the romance was just *heart eyes* and squee-worthy. I liked the art, I felt it suited the story well, added eerie/creepy vibes, and the colors helped set the mood. I would recommend this!

#NightmareinSavannah #NetGalley

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2/5 I had download problems with the file provided and I remember not being able to fully finish this so two stars out of five because I didn't absolutely hate it but I didn't give it a full chance. Just like with other books some will love this but there are also people who won't and that was me.

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Alexa must move to Savannah to live with her grandfather since her parents are in prison. She becomes friends with a group of rather unusual girls, who turn out to be fairies and not the sweet fairies either. These fairies are of a darker sort. As more and more unusual things start to happen, Alexa realizes that she must take a stand and do what she thinks is right in order to save the people she cares most about. I wanted to enjoy this book, but I did not.

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It was good until the barely resolved abrupt ending.

The premise is interesting but the story and conversations happened out of nowhere as if the book is starting from the middle. What little history shown was intriguing and the art style is nice.

As for the characters, I liked that they're morally gray and wreaking havoc. There was a side character, Lucas, who annoyed me so much. He kept flirting with Alexa when she wasn’t interested really and not leaving her alone (yes, he was trying to be nice but he’s forcing himself on her when doing so). He was such a hypocrite too with him asking her to choose “her people, who fights for you” (aka him) after just watching Alexa get bullied and he was just standing, not doing anything.

Overall, the story was okay but would have been better if there was more background and the ending not being so abrupt.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy for an honest review.

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Thank you Netgallay and the publisher for this eARC.

Trigger Warnings: bullying, death, manipulation, murder, slurs.

Nightmare in Savannah by Lela Gwenn follows Alexa who moves to Savannah with her grandfather after her parents get arrested. She start going to Lovewood High School and meets Fae, Skye and Chloe. After a night out with them things start to get weird, and physical changes are happening to them. They realize that they are not as normal as they thought they were.

The story is fast paced, has an interesting plot, and diverse characters. It definitely has some of that spooky vibes that’s perfect for October.
Unfortunately, I don’t feel like it was executed properly.
The pacing was off, and the dialogue felt awkward and forced most of the time.
Couldn’t get any real connection with the characters since there wasn’t time to get to know them or for any development.

I’m also not a fan of the illustration style and felt like it could have been improved.

I didn’t want to dnf it because I wanted to review it properly.

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'Nightmare in Savannah' by Lela Gwenn with art by Rowan McColl is a graphic novel about why it's important to choose your friends wisely.

Alexa moves to Savannah to escape the criminal past of her parents. When she tries to make new friends, she finds out she can't escape her past that easy. That leaves her making friends with the outcasts, but the outcasts have their own nasty secret: they are fairies with an evil streak.

I didn't mind the story, but it feels like a retread. The story is better than the weak art and color.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Maverick, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

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