The art style is lovely, the color palette is really adequate for the story and the settings, specially because it has this green palette for all the “life” scenes and a darker more grayish palette for the “dead”, which helps with context.
Overall the story was incredibly wholesome and even though it’s quite simple it has various moments of felling and emotions you can clearly appreciate.

I received a copy of this via Net Galley, and it has become one of my new favorite graphic novels. Adorable and beautifully drawn. I would highly recommend this for my friends with mid-grade to teenage kids.

An adorable and bittersweet love story between a forlorn ghost and a gardener.

From the gorgeous illustrations to the lively characters and poignant plot, Taproot was quite the delightful read. I loved the contrast in the colour palette between the world of the living and that of the dead with seamless transition between them. I also loved how the characters were all far from stereotypical: for instance, the gardener, Hamal, was big and muscular with tattoos, yet, he turned out to be quite the gentle soul with a passion for flowers and helping out everyone in need. I adored Blue and Hamal's interactions, their easy dynamic, and the way both of them were prepared to go the distance for the other. My one and only qualm with Taproot was the pacing; I was repeatedly confused at multiple occassions and had the lingering sensation that I have accidently skipped a page, but that was brief and did not interfere with my understanding of the overall plot.

All in all, Taproot is a cute and heartwarming tale complete with a beautiful setting, lovely art, and diverse characters.

A cute and unusual graphic novel but would have worked better with a better developed plot.

Hamal, a gardener, sees and speaks to many ghosts while he is working. One of these ghosts is Blue, who is also nursing a secret crush on Hamal. Meanwhile, something strange seems to be happening in the in-between world because of which Blue realises that Hamal might be in danger. Will Blue be able to save Hamal forms the rest of the story.

Pros:
👍 Queer love story that is handled decently.
👍 Art style is stunning. The gardens and ghosts especially are stunning.
👍 Loved the afterword by the author.

Cons:
👎 Insta romance that is sweet but rushed.
👎 I didn’t like the structuring. The plot development is quite haphazard. The story began in one place and ended in a different place altogether. The scenes switch very abruptly. There is no background to the characters. There is a lot of random to-and-fro in the timeline.

If you want to try a queer graphic novel with great illustrations, you can still give this a try. It would have been a must-read had the characters and their back stories been fleshed out more and the kinks in the scene changes been ironed out. You might like it as long as you don’t overthink it. A “go with the flow” approach will work best.

3 stars.

My thanks to Oni Press and NetGalley for the DRC of “Taproot”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

This is such a beautiful, gentle story. I am such a sucker for a story where there are seemingly insurmountable obstacles to love, but then authors are kind and our protagonists get what they deserve and everything ends happily. But also with ghosts, necromancy, reapers, and unsettled spirits. You know, all the good stuff. Also, the art is GORGEOUS. I’m obsessed with it.

I adore this graphic novel, it is such a sweet story. Hamal is just the nicest character ever. I adored the romance and the friendship and the humour. Utterly brilliant!

My Rating: 4.5

In the story we follow Hamal who can see ghosts and works at a flower shop. Our main ghosts are Blue, Joey and April. We soon find out that Blue is in love with Hamal, and that Hamal is in love with Blue as well.
Blue and other ghosts keep being pulled into this dark-other-worldly-scary-forest where Blue meets a reaper that questions him about a necromancer new to town.
This necromancer ends up being Hamal who has been taking flowers to Blue's grave, therefore, making him a necromancer without himself knowing.
After the reaper makes them a deal: Hamal is to restore the natural order, because whatever he was doing was affecting the mentioned above, dark forest. It is implied he was taking life from it and using it elsewhere. So Blue is sacrificed and becomes this GORGEOUS tree and we get all sad and sappy thinking that he is gone forever and the author plays an uno reverse. Cuz our best friend, the reaper, brings Blue to life, therefore, giving him a second chance.
Then they have this sort of couple business where they ward off spirits and supernatural happenings. So happy ending!!

I really loved the art!!! It was so rich and beautiful, especially the greens and the trees.
It was a really cute, quick-to-read, sweet story.

Taproot by Keezy Young is a graphic novel that follows a gardener who can see ghosts. This graphic novel as a whole gives me very much Cemetary Boys vibes. And fortunately, most people that loved Cemtary Boys would 100% love this. This is a gay romance between a necromancer and a ghost it's such a sweet book that has a happy ending and I would 10000% recommend it. I rated this book 5 stars. Thank you, to NetGalley for the free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you netgalley for an arc of the newly released edition! Really great graphic novel. I'm obsessed with this art style and the plot was really engaging. Very impressive how it got me attached to the characters with such a short page count. I have no notes.

Gentle gardener necromancer meets quirky playful blue ghost😆💙✨. I had my fair share of happy read with this one. It's sweet, heartfelt, adorable and very decently diversed!!

It teaches the need for balance, and sacrifices for the better good. The characters' golden hearts shine through their genuine interactions and touching dialogues.

Such a fulfilling short read, I'm glad this is available on Netgalley!!🙆🏻‍♀️🤍

The art quickly drew me in. I was eager to read this story of this gardener and a ghost. From the cover, I couldn't wait to see their story and I was not disappointed.

This was a short story, but it still managed to give us a good feel for their situation and the characters. It was easy to fall in love with them and be developed in what was going on with them.

Even though I was able to fall in love with them quickly, I did find myself a little upset with the shortness. Everything happened so quick and sometimes I would have liked it to linger on a few things to give more importance, build up and just explain things a little more.

The epilogue was cute, but because the story was as short as it was, it felt almost like a part two rather than an epilogue.

Overall, this was a cute graphic novel that warmed my soul. It's a nice fantasy story that was a quick read.

This is a lovely graphic novel that approaches themes of death and grief with compassion. It’s also a bit of a love letter to queer relationships with characters showing that love is love, and diversity is normalized and celebrated. The artwork is incredibly beautiful and the concept is unique for readers of all ages to enjoy, with more serious themes older readers are more likely to connect with but presented in a way that younger (midgrade, YA) readers could identify with as well. Had the plot/worldbuilding/lore been developed and expanded upon more I would’ve given it 5 stars but it's still a nice, quick read!

Oh my god, this was so damn cute! I loved it. This was an adorable love story and I loved the ending, I thought it was going to be sad, but it has such a happy ending! I am in love.

I liked this short novel. I mainly liked the romance between Hamal and Blue, the plot with the ghost/necromancer aspect and the colourful and beautiful graphics of the characters and the scenery.

A short and highly sweet story with a touch of darkness that might speak even deeper to those obsessed with plants and blessed with green fingers.
The story itself went by entirely too fast, almost a sketch of a story rather than a full one, but it was very enjoyable nonetheless. I would read a sequel or a longer, more fleshed out version of it any day.

Blue is dead. It’s a shame, but what you do? Death has been much better since he met Hamal: a gardener and florist who can see and speak to ghosts. And, ok, so he’s hopelessly in love with him. But that’s not an issue, ok? It’s not like anything can really happen between them anyway. Right?

This graphic novel is charming and optimistic. It had exactly the balance of comfortable affection and eerie drama that I was looking for. It’s relatively low stakes, and surprisingly cosy considering there are grim reapers and eerie otherworldly forests involved.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ½
Genre: Fantasy, Supernatural, Slice of Life
LGBTQ+ Representation: MLM
Trigger Warnings: Death, minor self-sacrifice, minor body horror
Would I recommend this? Yes
Would I read a sequel? Yes

Not only is this graphic novel visually stunning but the story is cute, queer, and engaging, making you fall in love with Hamal and Blue almost instantaneously. This fast paced graphic novel kept me engaged the entire time, and I think I can say without a doubt that I could look at Young’s illustrations forever. I read a fellow review that described Taproot as ‘’heartstopper’ with a dash of ghosthunting’ and I think this is the perfect summary of this graphic novel! The ghost-hunting/necromancy storyline made this story so unique and added an eeriness to an already visually stunning graphic novel. I hope this story becomes a series because I would love to see where Hamal and Blue’s adventures take them next! Pick this up if you want to engage with a visually stunning, wholesome, queer story, fall in love with Hamal (a gardener who can see ghosts) and Blue (a ghost himself) and see how Young pieces this story together to keep you wanting more!
Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for my review copy!

I got this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Meet Hamal, a gardener with a very special group of friends. They're ghosts!

This was such a sweet story. The details and colors of the illustrations are gorgeous! Some of the artistic choices got me a bit confused, especially in the scenes of the forest. I still don't know what was happening there.
Loved the relationship between Hamal and Blue, and how the plants are such an important part of the story.
I felt like this was a cozy queer romance that could evolve into a supernatural detective series. And I'd buy that!

The story about a ghost and a gardener, simple, beautiful, extremely cute and full of meaning about life and death and love. Beautiful queer love story, I will be getting a physical copy if this for sure.

Love love love this graphic novel. It was so cute and wholesome and well-illustrated. The color palette drew me in immediately and I fell in love with the main characters, especially Blue.

Hamal, the human gardener can see and take to ghosts, including Blue. The m/m romance made my queer heart sing and I would love to see more stories from Blue and Hamal. I took one star off because while I loved the set up and character development, the plot seemed a little rushed. I wanted to see their relationship play out a little long and in more depth, but I truly loved this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Keely Young for the eARC!