the art was beautiful. I loved the simple storyline. the characters were very sweet. I especially loved how the grim reaper was the good guy, I loved how he sent over the document to his phone I thought that was a funny touch.

This was so so good! I loved the illustrations and the plot of the story. The characters were so loveable too. I wish there was more to read, this was such a good book! I don't read graphic novels as much but I want to read more of them and this was such a great start to begin with. I'll definitely keep a look out for any more stuff by Keezy Young and will be buying a copy of this once it comes out!

This is a very soft story, with an art style that really works well with that story. Despite having ghosts, it's not scary or overly sad.

As a fan of horror, tragedy, and fluff (an oxymoron, I know), this book spoke to me on a spiritual level– pun intended. I also so very loved the body inclusivity, which is so rare in graphic novels.

Definitely a book I will be reading again and again, for the gorgeous art and for the beautiful mlm love story.

I'm reminded of the quote:
“You said it was a ghost story. It's not.”
“Isn't it?”
“It's a love story.”
“Same thing, really.”

Taproot is a delightful, wholesome, queer story about a gardener and a ghost. The artwork is beautiful. Beginning to end felt a warm hug on a drizzly spring day. Hamal and Blue are incredibly sympathetic characters, and each and every character is likeable. I will absolutely be reading again.

Thank you to Oni Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Wholesomeness at it's finest: a graphic novel about a ghost and gardener falling in love. An unbearably sweet story that had me in tears by the ending.

~★~ What is this book about? ~★~

Taproot follows Hamal, a gardener with an ability to see ghosts.
Blue is dead, and more than a little surprised to discover that Hamal can still see him. The two become best friends, and Blue eventually starts falling for him. Conflict arises when a reaper comes to town, threatening to end the their seemingly unbreakable bond.

~★~

Keezy Young’s colour palette and drawing style is just gorgeous. The visuals alone were enough for me to grant this a fairly high rating; I simply couldn’t look away!

Hamal and Blue were both incredibly sweet. I had the best time following their adventures, even when the plot grew worrying. I became so attached to their relationship within such little time, it’s no wonder I cried near the end. This was a beautiful graphic novel, for sure.

Keezy Young's Taproot: A Story About a Gardener and a Ghost is a tender and beautiful story of love, loss, and connection. Hamal is a gardener with a knack for plants—and talking to the dead—and Blue is a ghost who's taken a particular liking to him. Although they both feel a special pull between them, they both know that their circumstances mean they can never truly be together. But strange things are affoot in town, and it turns out that the two of them may be at the center of it all.

Young's illustrations are gorgeous, and the world of Taproot is immersive and breathtaking. I'd recommend this to anyone who loves a good supernatural romance with a grounded foundation.

Story and Art: Keezy Young
Lettered by AW's Tom Napolitano
Original Lion Forge Assistant Editor: Hazel Newlevant
Original Lion Forge Editor: Andrea Colvin
Oni Press Edition Editor: Desiree Rodriguez
Oni Press Edition Designed by: Kate Z. Stone

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of this title.
This is a cute romance between a gardener (who doesn't know he's a necromancer) and a ghost. The panels are gently colored like the flowers that are at the center of the story. The fantasy world is rich, if only really hinted at, and ripe for more stories. The sense of dread and suspense are surprisingly affecting given the overall cuteness of the piece. Highly recommended as an addition to the canon of queer graphic novels!

Taproot is a delightfully queer and wholesome comic with a splash of fun, creepy and paranormal that keeps you hooked. the storyline itself is fairly simple yet the subtleties in the worldbuilding are very interesting and well-thought out. the art style is adorable, akin to the likes of Kay O'Neill, which fits the overall vibe of the comic. cute, queer, and creepy - the holy trinity.

Thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for allowing me access to read this book.
I flew through this manga as soon as I got the book it was downloaded and I was hooked from the start to the finish, I loved the development of the two main characters' relationship and how they got together, the art style was absolutely beautiful from the style itself to the colour pallet; which is what drew me in. Although there was a little bit of a disconnect with the story being a little bit disconnected and some parts seeming unrealistic even for a fictional book which was kinda glossed over. Besides this, I liked the side characters and although this was short the development of the main characters was great, also loved how they interacted with each other and fully support the LGBTQIA+ community.
Overall I would say this was short sweet loving and adorable, I would defiantly recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an eARC of this book in exchange for a review.
This was a really quick and cute read.
The color palette and the art style were really beautiful and very much enhanced my reading experience.
The themes of love, life, and death we really touching. I loved the gardening bit a lot and I think it made the art even more beautiful.
Even though it doesn't much focus on sexuality, I still loved the queer rep a lot.
I'll definitely recommend this to everyone looking for short and cute reads and graphic novel lovers!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Taproot is the story about Blue and Hamal. Hamal is a florist who also has the ability to see ghosts, while Blue is a ghost himself. Blue has realized, that he's in love with Hamal, and Hamal just might love him back. But strange events start happening to the local ghosts and the town they live in, and it's up to Hamal and Blue to try and fix it. First off, I wanted to say how much I love the art style of this graphic novel. It feels warm and cozy and reminds me of the softness that Ghilbi films can have. I also thought the artist's style looked strangely familiar, then I realized I follow this artist on Tumblr! Had no idea they had put out a graphic novel! I also really liked the attention paid to the background of scenes; I feel like a lot of artists try to get away with never drawing backgrounds. (I don't blame them, backgrounds and perspectives are hard!) But I found myself stopping just to drink in all the little details. I also love the design of the town they are in! What a cozy town! The story itself I really liked. A florist who sees ghosts! A ghost in love with a living person! How interesting! However, the pacing felt a little...off? It felt oddly quick to me. I feel like that has a lot to do with having a certain page limit in graphic novels. The scene leading to the ending felt a bit out of place as well? I think it was supposed to be an epilogue of sorts, but it felt more like the story had already ended, but the author said "Wait we still have pages left!". Also, the relationship between Hamal and Blue is so sweet. I could honestly feel the connection between them and the resulting chemistry. I also love that even though they fight, they do reconcile and actually talk out their problems! None of the dumb misunderstandings for no reason! Thank goodness! I do like "Taproot", even though the pacing is slightly off. I'm a sucker for a good queer romance, and this is one of them!

I already heard a lot about “Taproot” before but I never had the time to pick it up but finally I got the opportunity!

My favorite thing about the graphic Novel were the colors. For me it’s always important that the colors look good together and that it’s pleasing to look at!

The story itself was good and interesting but it really felt like something is missing. Everything happened very fast. For me the book could have been a bit longer.

I still really enjoyed reading the story and looking at the pictures!

Thanks you to Netgalley and Publisher for this graphic Novel!

Thanks a lot Netgalley and Publisher for this graphic novel! I really liked the art, it was very colourful and smooth but the issues I had was the fast pacing of the guys relationship and I thought the character development between Hamal & Blue didn’t really stood out to me. I felt they were just there without any emphasis on who they are and what they were bringing into the story.

Look I read it all and again the art is cute so that i give props to Keezy Young for!

I've never had the chance to read Taproot before, and I absolutely loved it!!! It's so so cute, and the artwork is so warm and comforting. I really like the fact ghosts are in the story.

This was kind of strange but... I like it! An interesting mix of cute and creepy.

There's ghosts, bugs, a reaper, a gardener, a mysterious forest and an eerie house. The queer romance was lovely and I just wanted more of it! Really enjoyed the spooky storyline that played out alongside the love.

As I often find with graphic novels, I wanted more! They are over too quickly! I did find that some of the speech felt a little unnatural. However, this didn't really detract from my enjoyment as the speech has to be concise in this format.

The art is just gorgeous and overall, despite the supernatural themes, it's a very comforting, heartwarming read.

The illustrations in this comic are absolutely 5 star brilliant. The line art and coloring is perfect and the loving glances are practically leaping off the page. I could stare at each page for ages.

The plotting is fine, but it doesn’t quite live up to the lush atmospheric art. It feels almost like an outline for the story that’s supposed to match the illustrations. Like—it could be so much deeper and more fluid with a few revisions, and part of me was sad that it wasn’t.

i got the arc of this on netgalley and read it on my tablet in less than a day. (i wonder why they're rereleasing it?) i enjoyed the art style, light romance and characters like the reaper and various ghosts. this isn't a "deep" read. pleasant. not my usual go-to, and enjoyable. i love a good queer romance--make one of the MCs a ghost and i'm in.

what got me is, i did my customary search, and the author is a white human drawing/writing main characters of color. i don't think MC's actual racial identities are clarified, but they're brown. the book isn't written in first person, which is why i finished it, since i have qualms with reading books where white authors writing black and brown 1st person POV. is this story terribly unique and will i remember i read this in a couple weeks? probably not. was it pleasant to read? sure.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for providing a copy for review.

Taproot is a lovely graphic novel focusing on the relationship between Hamal, a gardener, and Blue, a ghost. The art style is beautiful, the concept is one that gives me the warm-fuzzies, and the execution is well-done. The pacing could definitely be improved upon, but I also think that's just me wanting more of the story! I enjoyed getting an extra glimpse into Young's process in this new edition, although it makes me wonder how I've missed out on this story for so long. I'll have to have another look at it once it's in beautiful, glossy print!

It'd be very self-centered of me to act as if this book was written for me but .... it feels very much as if this was written specifically with me in mind. The tender and tentative seemingly ill-fated love story, the gardening shop ft. ghosts of it all, the stunning illustrations with countless tones of blue, everything about this spoke to me.
I'd truly recommend this to all readers of graphic novels, young and old, and particularly to those enjoying the quiet, heartfelt whimsy of Kay O'Neill's graphic novels!