I'd like to express my gratitude to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to review this book. Having read other Library of Doom books, I noticed a distinct change in the artwork for this installment. The illustrations exuded a unique blurred washed out style, offering an intriguing departure from the usual visuals. The shopkeeper's portrayal was undeniably eerie.

While the story was engaging, I found myself wishing for a bit more length to delve deeper into the narrative. Nevertheless, it was a quick and captivating read.

Absolutely love the graphic in this book and that it targets young kids. There should definitely be more graphic novels targeting all age groups. Wish those was longer though.

This reads as though there is more to the story and that I'm missing something. The story is okay, but not as creepy as indicated in the summary. The glossary for young readers is a nice addition.

This was a quick read but it provided just enough mystery, action, and storytelling to grip me from start to finish. I wish it was longer because I enjoyed it so much!

I love that the Library of Doom is doing graphic novels. The chapter book series is one of my favorite HiLos to recommend for kids of all ages. This graphic novel tells the story of a book known as the oldest trick and how Dace has to outwit the book to get back to real life. The story is short and simple, but highly entertaining and page turning. The graphic novel format just notches up the story for reluctant readers but maintains an easy or lower reading level, so it is good for any age.

His parents has gone shopping to find their son a dresser for him in an antique store. One day, he goes to open a drawer that is stuck. After pulling the drawer out, an old, strange looking book falls out. It is covered with odd looking symbols on the front of the book. He opens it and a mysterious black mass known as the oldest trick appears out of the book. Suddenly, everything seems to be going wrong for him. He tells the black mass to leave him alone but the mass won’t.. Why? Suddenly a man appears to him who is known as the librarian. The librarian advises him on how to be rid of it. Will the boy be able to do it? How did the librarian know what was happening to him? What is the oldest trick? Will the boy be able to do the evil?

The author has written a mild horror graphic novel that has unwanted adventures for the boy in the book. Its a story that gives the reader a message that lets you know that you control the power that is belong held over you. (Of course it helps to have someone help you.). I enjoyed the book with its colorful art work. I found the librarian to be mysterious and helpful, making me wished I learned more about him in the story. This book is part of the author’s series “Library of Doom.” The book cab be read and enjoyed without having read any of the books in this series. Read, enjoy and learn what the “oldest trick” is.

Thanks to the author,publisher and NetGalley for letting me review this book. I’ve read other Library of Doom books and noticed the artwork was different with this book. I feel like the pictures have a more blurred water color feel, which was an interesting change from the other books. The shopkeeper was definitely creepy looking. This was a quick read and I do wish it’d been a tad longer.

The Oldest Trick is a short, mysterious middle-grade book that follows Dace as he unfolds the Oldest Trick in the book.

This was a short, but interesting read. I absolutely adored the art style. It's beautifully done and adds a great deal of character to the story. However, it felt like the art style was single-handedly bringing the whole book up. The writing style wasn't very captivating, which is sad because the concept of the story was very interesting. However, it's still enjoyable, and I like that there's a deeper meaning to the whole story. I would recommend it to kids getting started on graphic novels!

Thank you #NetGalley and #StoneArchBooks for letting me read and review #TheOldestTrick by #SteveBrezenoff and #PatricioClarey

What a neat idea! This book would be perfect to put in an upper grade elementary or middle school library. The art is awesome and premise behind the story is enough to draw in anybody.

If you know of a younger kid looking to try out some manga, give this one a try. Very quite to read, not a lot of story but it is enough to draw you into giving future editions a go.

My oldest daughter has been obsessed with this series since we found it on MyOn last year. To be able to ARC read this was like a dream come true for her and she was NOT disappointed.

Unfortunately, she now wants me to get her a specimen jar and redo her diary cover to match the tome in the beginning of this story. I say unfortunately, but I love how much she took to the story. She's been writing and drawing the sigils/symbols from the tome all day. She was a huge fan of the Librarian character and compared him to a "Warehouse 13" meets "Nightwing" guy.

Very good, short read for any age.

My eleven year old wanted to help review a book. She is a graphic novel fan so we picked out The Oldest Trick. The unique art style and creepy cover drew her to this volume. Unfortunately the story itself was not as creepy as the cover. We think the interest level would be better placed at 3-4 rather than 3-6. The story is very short, great for readers who get overwhelmed, however, a child on the upper elementary end will find it too short and simple.

We would both like to see this concept be expanded to novel length as the premise is fantastic.

Thank you to NetGalley and Capstone, Stone Arch Books for providing this ebook for review.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I love graphic novel because it is fun and full of massage that they want to deliver to the readers. The illustration is nice and the monster looks so real. This short story you can finish in one sit. Suitable for key stage 2 and above. However, I felt that this story is too short. They should add on more chapters.

Don't be fooled by the illusion and always trust your heart.

I received an advance copy from the publisher. #TheOldestTrick #NetGalley

While I enjoyed the art and the premise, the book feels like you've started reading a story in the middle. There is virtually no setup for the Librarian or the Library of Doom except for a little blurb at the beginning of the book, yet they both seem to play important roles in the story, especially the Librarian. I think it would be far better if the book were a little longer and spent a few pages establishing what and who the Library and Librarian are and their importance in this world.

The story implies that there is something intriguing and interesting about the shop and shopkeeper, but then we learning nothing about them beyond providing a place that the mysterious book is found.

I don't know what the constraints were for the book, but the story feels like it should be 20+ pages longer and it was cut down to make it shorter. If that's the case, I think it really hurt the story. I love the concept and I could see an interesting series about the Librarian, but more needs to be done to establish his character to make anyone care.

A very promising story that is filled with adventure and discoveries, however way too short it felt like the story was not developed well enough.

The book is too short for my own liking, i knew it was short but it was too short for any development to happen. I cant even tell if i like the characters🫠😂..
The only good things is the artwork.

The Oldest Trick is part of Brezenoff’s Library of Doom graphic novel series. Each installment can be read as a standalone. In this installment, illustrated by Patricio Clarey, Dace and his family enter an antique shop looking for a dresser.

Each installment has one line–life lesson, if you will–that sticks with the reader long after they close the book. In The Oldest Trick, this line is “You control the power [something] holds over you.” In Dace’s case, it was a book, the Oldest Trick. But, this advice can be applied to anything, which is pretty powerful in a book written for third graders.

The only complaint I have about this series is that each installment isn’t long enough to satisfy my curiosity, but it is just the right length for a young, possibly reluctant, reader. I cannot wait for the librarian’s next book to collect.

Beautiful . I expected it to be bigger… But the story is cool and the art too. It would be interesting to have more volumes!

The Oldest Trick is an interesting graphic novel about a very dangerous book that somehow finds its way outside of the Library of Doom. I was definitely interested in learning more about this dangerous book but found that the books tale was wrapped up rather quickly. While I know that this is volume 1 - I couldn't help but feel that it ended a little too soon. That said - I would love to read vol 2. The graphics were bold, crisp and really drew me in. I loved the use of colour and contrast and the search-and-find clues at the end of the book that has readers go back to take a closer look at the book.

Thank you to the publisher, author and illustrators, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a digital ARC.

This graphic novel follows a young boy who finds a mysterious book in a dresser his family buys. The plot is short and sweet. I didn't think it moved too fast or too slow.
The art style is easily to follow and the color palette makes sense for the theme of the book. I thought this book was an enjoyable short read.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

The concepts around the dangerous library and the librarian were really cool but felt totally under developed. Even for a children’s graphic novel this felt like 1 chapter rather than a completed story.

Additionally, I think in its length is why it’s slotted for kids, and the fact that the protagonist is a kid but it doesn’t seem like a great fit. The hero is an adult and let’s be honest, is the coolest thing about this book. More importantly the illustration style is scary. It lacks the colorful rounded quality usually associated with kid’s comics and graphic novels so much so that at first I thought it was an adult graphic novel and that I’d read the categories incorrectly.

I wish there had been time to have character development or real storytelling for the Librarian and background as to how he got his job/title and why he chooses to keep it. It would be interesting to see this rebranded as an adult graphic novel with multiple chapters like this each covering a different book or disaster along the way.

Overall it was underwhelming because it doesn’t feel finished. But I’d like to see more. It has a lot of potential.