Fearbook Club by Richard Hamilton is a graphic novel about a four middle schoolers who are all assigned to the yearbook staff. Their faculty advisor is the school's drama teacher. The mystery in this book was why a student in every class for decades had disappeared without a trace and what did the abandoned school building on the campus have to do with the disappearances.

This book is definitely suited and geared toward middle school youth and does a good job of addressing the subject of bullying and trying to fit in to a new situation. Given the target age of the audience, a graphic novel is a good way to explore these issues, however, I found myself getting confused and lost in several of the sets of panels. Also, several places some of the panels appeared to be disconnected from the story and just sort of thrown in to fill space.

I received a copy of this graphic novel from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Whit Garcia is the new kid at school and he finds himself joining the Yearbook club. He starts to notice a strange phenomenon where at least one kid seems to go missing every year and no one seems to care. Whit decides to take on the mystery with his trusty camera and uncover the reason for all the missing students.

A quick and speedy read with a 90's feel to it. A paranormal mystery with special attention paid to subjects like bullying and the impact it can have.

Whit Garcia is a shy new student at school. He finds out that he must join a club in his new school. Whit is a shutterbug so he is assigned to the yearbook club. The yearbook club has a teacher and 3 students. They are Hester, Hillary and Press. The students haven’t done any work on the yearbook. Whit finds out about a student disappearing each year from the school. It hasn’t happened yet but it will, they assure Whit. The old school had a fire and it is condemned. Whit is starting to see ghosts in his photos that he develops. It scares him. This is only the beginning of seeing the ghosts as he now sees the ghosts in school. He tells the other kids in his yearbook club which will have them trying to see what the ghosts want. Will Whit and his friends succeed? What will they do?

The graphic novel is about overcoming fear and what is the right thing to do. It is a mystery of what and who is behind the missing students. I l enjoyed the surprise of Whit’s fear of the ghosts in his photos. The artwork is great. I liked how the emotions are shown in the story. The novel includes important topics such as overcoming fear, dealing with grief and finding yourself. It’s done perfectly as it kept me invested throughout the graphic novel. It is spooky yet not any violence in it and keeps the story in “reality.”

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advanced copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Fearbook club is a graphic novel about a new student-- Whit-- who takes photographs to deal with his dad's death. He finds himself at a new school and forced into the yearbook club. Unfortunately, he has started seeing ghosts through his camera lens every time he takes photos.

Parts of this story were really intriguing. The mystery was good and definitely threw me for some twists. I also liked the art style quite a bit. The yearbook advisor character was HILARIOUS. I totally loved him.... probably more than I was supposed to.

Sad to say, that's about all I enjoyed about this book. The story itself was pretty chaotic-- I had a hard time keeping up with what was happening and found myself rereading a bunch of panels to see if I had missed something (I hadn't). While the resolution of the mystery was pretty satisfying, the ending wasn't. I felt like there were a lot of unanswered questions and things that were glossed over. Additionally, the characters were barely one-dimensional. I needed a lot more character development to be able to genuinely enjoy this title.

I am not as found of the art style used. I loved the story though, I felt it was unique and a little touching. I liked the parnormal aspects of it. I also liked the different characters within the school. I felt this was nicely exrcuted and i enjoyed it.

This is great for middle school age children. This book touches on issues such as bullying and feeling invisible. The illustrations are great and the story is well written.

All thoughts and opinions are my own, and in no way have I been influenced by anyone.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for letting me read an arc of this!

sadly I didn't enjoy reading this. while it's a very fast-paced and easy read, I think that was one of the setbacks of showing the character dynamics along with setting up the horror aspect of what was happening.
the "bully" got a redemption arc by apologizing for bringing up the main character's past but never really showed much to him aside from being rude to everyone.
The mystery itself was.. something. the ending was the classic "I'll get my revenge" but the implications about everything else within the mystery was truly scary and I would've loved to read more of that.

a great graphic novel I enjoyed thoroughly.
Thank you to NetGalley and Publisher for providing me with an Earc of Yearbook Club in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the characters. Wish we could have more of their relationships over the summer, I'm sucker for romance so I wished we had something going on, but I thought it was fun anyway. I didn't liked the way things ended with the Director, but we can't always win.

Thank you NetGalley for granting me a copy of FEARBOOK CLUB by Richard Hamilton!

The thing that drew me in from the beginning was the title, cover and synopsis of this middle grade graphic novel. Anything with a paranormal, spooky aspect, you already know I'm down for a frightful time!

This was a very quick read. I sat down and binge read the entire graphic novel in about twenty minutes. I really enjoyed all of the colors and illustrations throughout the novel. The illustrator really brought the story and words of our Yearbook Club characters to life. The timely themes of feeling like an outsider, invisibility and bullying were prominent messages being portrayed.

Unfortunately, this wasn't my favorite read. I felt as if I needed MORE. More explanations, more background on our characters, rather than just scratching the surface, and more on why this creepy school is ultimately haunted. The pacing of the panels throughout caused confusion while reading because it seemed to be constantly changing. Time was just an unknown factor within this one because one panel would be present then the next would be seven months later... hard to keep up with from the readers perspective. I left the story having some unanswered questions; one being what happened to Principal Purvis.

I don't see myself recommending this one but I still had an enjoyable time reading it. 2/5 stars!

This one got my attention on Instagram since i do like a lot graphic novels and comics I couldn't let it pass.

It was pretty interesting the way it got the plot going I mean the disappearances and all where curious.

The characters where fine, I was more invested in knowing the why of the people going missing more than anything, I don't think they were utterly memorable for me or anything really.

It was an interesting read to pass a little time.

I enjoyed the story, but it took me a bit of time to realize the kids were supposed to be in 6th grade. I had it in my mind that they were in high school.

1st Line: " 'DUUUNCAAAN!' "

Prose (Story): Whit Garcia has just started 6th grade in a new school, and it's not going well. Shy and sleight in stature, the camera-toting kid finds himself almost immediately the target of a smart-mouthed bully, while his over-protective mother seems ready to teeter over the edge of panic whenever her son is out of her sight. Add to this an abandoned, dilapidated old part of his school, in which Whit's camera uncovers some very ghostly residents, and soon White has no choice but to join forces with his fellow Yearbook Club misfits to find out just what the heck is going on.

Don's (Review): I wanted to read this because the cover gave me such strong paranormal Scooby-Doo vibes, but wow was I surprised by just how much I loved this graphic novel! Whit and his fellow Yearbook Club members are all social pariahs at school - kids who don't really fit in - and between author Richard Ashley Hamilton's story and Marco Matrone's art I was immediately transported back to my own days of feeling both alone and lonely at that age, when you fit in nowhere and feel like you're not going anywhere. Whit is an exceptionally likeable kid - as are twins Hillary and Hester, and even former bully Press, the other kids forced to join Yearbook Club - and even as the gang learn that the ghostly threats at hand are all too real, we also have asides in which we learn more about Whit's story, and why his mother is as rattled as she is. The ghost story itself is the treasure though, further touching on the themes of fitting in and always having friends you can count on behind you, and Matrone's illustrations add the perfect level of spookiness to the story as more of what's going on is revealed.Very Scooby-Doo, but it also gave me the thrilling vibes I remember having while reading Hardy Boys books as a kid - again, all with a supernatural element expertly thrown in. Well - well - into adulthood now, from the start this well-written, perfectly-drawn graphic novel mystery, to me, felt like going home again to my childhood; simpler, happier times, where nothing mattered but the book I held in my hands under the covers, reading by flashlight late into the night to learn the solution of the mystery ... and to make sure these characters, now my new friends, came through it okay. I loved it. 4.5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

A quick fun read about a very deadly school! I will say I thought these kids were older than sixth grade as they looked and seemed like it.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

What a fun book! This graphic novel is about a new kid in school named Whit that gets volunteered to join the yearbook club because of his interest in photography. However, something is not quite right about the school and when Whit starts seeing ghostly figures in some of his pictures around campus, things get pretty weird! I think that this book has a good balance of horror and suspense. I also think that this story lends itself very nicely to the graphic novel format. Being able to see the pictures that the main character is taking and what they are all experiencing really enhanced my immersion into the story.

This was a fun read that turned out to be unexpectedly meaningful. The author did a brilliant job in highlighting bullying and its lasting impact through the lens of a horror story.

I enjoyed the 80s vibes and subtle nods to classic movies such The Shining. There was even a Joker lookalike. The book also reminded me of Stranger Things and Cabin In The Woods

While the story and execution didn’t wow me, what I loved best about this creative tale are the themes of embracing our individuality and standing up to our fears as well as the power of friendship and love.

Don’t miss the author’s note!

Thank you, Seismic Press, for the advance reading copy.

I am impressed with:

The cover.

The seriousness of the characters and the plot.

The plot actually involving books and mystery.


However, I need more explanations. It just felt like this is the first volume of a series.

The artstyle is good. However, the art sequence can be better I feel.

The characters are chaotic and I wanted to know a bit more about them.

But things end well.

The highlight?

There are some creepy moments which you do not see coming!

Fearbook Club is a surprisingly deep graphic novel about being different and coping with fear. I was impressed with the commentary that was made through the story and the overall moral that was driven home. I did find the plot a little choppy and hard to follow at times. From one panel to another things would happen so quickly that I felt as if I was missing something. All of the main characters were introduced one after another without much time to process the cast or what each person would offer the story. However, that also kept the comic feeling fast-paced, which was entertaining. I do believe that this book and its message will resonate with a lot of kids, and I’m happy for those who will find it when they need to feel seen.

Stilted writing, graphics were well done. Good coloring. Story was confusing, hard to follow along with the panels. Just not in my wheelhouse.

Review to come early February on blog (very full schedule) and around that time also on GR.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

I just love horror and I love it when the horror is in graphic novel form. So I just had to request this one!

I was quite interested in the Yearbook Club. I only know of the club thanks to YA novels and series. We never had something like that in high school. But it is something I do like reading about because it just seems so much fun to be part off. To make something for people and give them some fun memories. It was a bit of a shame that the Yearbook club in this graphic novel seemed to do not much. Mostly they seemed to just talk and have fun or try to get through the time they have.

But the peeps in there, well, except for some guy named Press, were fun. I especially loved the twins and I love how Whit just knew who was who which shocked the twins. I can imagine, haha. All this time everyone just confuses them for the other and then there is this new kid who just knows. The twins were just so silly, over the top, and fun, and I loved how accepting they were of Whit (especially if you look at Press' his reactions).

Whit was an interesting kid and I loved that he is so much into photography and then especially the old-school variant of it. With a dark room, a Leica, and all that. I loved that he didn't give up when he saw spooky things happening in his photographs, instead he went to find help and went to seek out the truth. I did like that while he was so brave, you could also see he was scared poopless. And I love that because really? Who wouldn't be scared when you see dead people everywhere? And you have no clue if they are good or bad? I was really rooting for him to figure things out and get the school free of whatever was haunting it.

The haunting stuff was good, though maybe it could be explained just a bit more and not just feel like a random grab out of the thin air. I mean, I had no clue about the culprit, and I still wonder what happened to them truly.

The art was pretty good, I liked the style. The ghosts were delightfully frightening and scary!

I was frankly very shocked that the school did NOTHING. I mean, for many many years, decades even, each year a kid just disappears. Just ups and vanishes. And no one does a freaking thing? No one thinks to just demolish that creaky old building? I mean, it was already on the brink of falling apart when Duncan disappeared, but 30 years later it is even more a wreck. It just seemed very odd, as if people did know something but just didn't care.

I also found it odd that only Duncan could be saved. I mean, he is from 30-ish years ago?? So that means between him and now are around 29 other kids that could potentially be saved. Then again, do you want to be saved? It seemed very painful for Duncan, but in the end he came out healthy and OK.

All in all, despite those two things mentioned above, I had fun reading this one! It was a fun and at times scary read.