This one was such a rollercoaster! The suspense was done very well, I couldn't figure out if it was actually going to go down the horror route or not until the twist was revealed. You could really relate with Cade and his fears about being queer in Texas and how it should be okay but how hard it is when it seems like you're the only one where you live. It deals with some serious topics like grief, depression, and homophobia, as well as being religious (from Henry). The characters felt so real and messy and it was such a great read with fantastic art as well.

I loved this graphic novel retelling of North Ranger Abbey. The story walks the reader through Cade’s experiences as a queer boy in Texas and how he pushes through his insecurities and fears with horror movies. Who doesn’t like a good horror movie as a way to escape? The romance between Cade and Henry is sweet, doesn’t take over the story. Experiencing the stress and anxiety Henry has being a gay young man comes across the page through both the author’s words and the illustrations, which i really liked! The acceptance of the boys by both the sisters was especially heartwarming. To have the support of family is super important. Students will definitely gravitate towards this book, just like they do with Heartstopper.

Thank you, HarperCollins Children's Books, HarperAlley, for allowing me to read an Advanced Reader's Copy of Northranger. Great commentary and story about growing up queer and feeling unaccepted.

Thank you, HarperCollins Children's Books, HarperAlley, for allowing me to read Northranger early!

An extremely beautiful graphic novel. I enjoyed it very much,

Thanks HaperAlley and NetGalley for this eARC, these opinions are my own. I enjoyed this graphic novel a lot! Cade’s parents insist that he works as a ranch hand for the summer and once there he meets Henry and Henri Tyler the ranch owners twin children. Ordinarily this would be a problem but Cade has a secret, he’s gay, and very attracted to Henry. But soon Cade will find out he’s not the only one with a secret, the Tyler’s have secrets of their own, and they may just involve murder. Can Cade figure out what is going on before it’s too late? Will his con toon to Henry get in the way of the truth? I love the mixture of rom com and horror that Rey Terciero combines in this novel! Both Cade and Henry are lovable protagonists and you have just he right mix of side characters to keep you guessing as to how it’s all going to end up! This novel as a little bit of everything, blossoming romance, intrigue, horror, homophobia, racism, loneliness. It would probably see like o much in one book but Rey manages to fit all the pieces to create a beautiful queer story, one the a lot of the LGBTQIA+ community can relate to! Bre Indigo’s artwork is also stunning! I can’t wait to read this again when it comes out!

Northranger by Rey Terciero is such an adorable read. This graphic novel has everything that you could want as a reader. It's adorable, it will make you smile, and the mystery of this story is going to keep you hooked until the last panel is read.

This novel is a reimagined Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen and although I personally haven't read that classic, Rey Teciero's story makes me want to discover that story so it will enhance my love of Northranger. This story is progressive as well as there are family conversations around gender identity, sexual orientation, and even difficult family relationships. This graphic novel is perfect for fans of Heartstopper and I know you will enjoy it! Check it out!

can't say I've ever thought I would read a gothic romance novel in graphic novel form, but it mostly works. It was a bit more cozy fireside than the horror story I initially thought it was going to be though, which was my biggest complaint.

Cade and Henry are enjoyable as protagonists, and their relationship may be frustratingly slow at times but it comes together nicely in the end. The rest of the characters verge from uninteresting to infuriating though. Someone needs to slap Cade's step dad and I'm still team fuck him even after the ending.

The art style is great, I loved the two tone sepia coloring. It adds a lot to the atmosphere of the book, and the character art had me nostalgic for the early 2000's.

My biggest complaint is that the horror is more ~vibes~ rather than horror. It's decidedly more on the romance side of a gothic romance, and one of the reasons I requested it was because it was filed under both lgbt AND horror. It's not the authors fault though, so I can't knock it too much for not being what I expected.

*ARC review*

3.5
Thank you NetGalley, HarperAlley and the author for the advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I enjoyed this graphic novel adaptation of Northranger Abbey. It fit well to update the obsession from gothic novels to horror movies. I liked seeing Cade and Henry’s relationship develop, and thought Henry had a more realistic/sympathetic arc than the character he was modeled on.

I really didn’t like Cade’s stepdad. I understand why he was portrayed the way he was but I did not find much to redeem him in the end after he apologized. I felt bad for Cade because it seemed like no one in his family was there for him throughout, other than his abuela. Maybe my kids are too close to his age for me to understand how parents could treat their child like that!

I appreciated the author's note at the end as well! It was nice to read his history with this story and why he was compelled to write it.

Northranger is heartache in a book. The whole while of reading it, my heart ached for the characters. And sometimes I got really frustrated with the protagonist, Cade. He could be a bit petulant sometimes and that can get old quick. But ultimately, it was a decent story with well developed characters and an intriguing plot. The artwork is lovely, too.

A great take on gothic romances! Loved the juxtaposition between the haunting and romantic elements.

This is a beautifully drawn YA graphic novel (that works great for adults too) that might break your heart a little bit, but it will fully put it back together by the end. It doesn't shy away from discussions and depictions of homophobia, as the opening content warning helpfully reveals, but it's ultimately a joyful tale, interspersed with a heavy not to Jane Austen's 'Northanger Abbey' and the comedy that that entails.

Reading Rey Terciero's 'Northranger' is like enjoying a mug of hot cocoa on your couch on a cold winter's night. It may not be the most original story, but its presence is comforting and warming all the same.

Cade is a sixteen year old boy from a poor family, working a summer job at a ranch to earn some extra money. At the ranch he meets Henry (and his twin sister, Henri), and is instantly smitten with the handsome farmhand who shares his love for horror movies. Unfortunately for Cade and Henry, rural Texas is less than welcoming to same-sex relationships, and their budding relationship is met with hatred. Henry also has a spotty reputation with some other farm workers, with rumors of him and his father having murdered his mother for her money.

In spite of the constant theme of horror films, the visiting of the gothic titular manor, and the rumors, 'Northranger' is light on any actual scares. There is one part of the graphic novel that does begin to veer into horror territory, which was probably my favorite part of the book, but it did not stick. I understand why the story didn't go there--Terciero wanted to tell an ultimately uplifting story about queer teenagers, but I felt that the pacing and the art (done by Bre Indigo, whose style makes me nostalgic for early 2000s webcomics in the best way) set a good mood that I think could be explored in a less 'cozy' book by this author/illustrator team.

While cozy queer romances are definitely more popular nowadays, they still aren't the most common things on the shelves of the YA section of your local library. And while 'Northranger' may not be a particularly daring book, I'm glad that it exists.

Inspired by Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey and the author's childhood in Texas, this two-toned graphic novel combines a lot of great elements! An unexpected yet budding romance is subjected to a significant amount of suspicion and suspense, providing a new spin on the old "will they, won't they" trope. I found myself hooked!

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC! Coming June 2023.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. My opinion was not affected by the free copy.

This was a very charming graphic novel that modernized Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. I'll be honest that I'm not a very big Austen fan. I just can't really get into her writing. I mainly requested this because the cover grabbed my interest and I like stories about ranches/farms. I'm prefacing this to make it obvious I haven't read the book this is modernizing, so I'm not sure how closely it follows plot beats and character growth.

I suspect that most of the issues I have with this either come from the source material, or are an unfortunate by-product of the genre this is trying to imitate. This isn't horror but it's supposed to have horror elements in it, so stuff like overhearing vaguely ominous conversations and things like that are expected. I just felt a little uncomfortable whenever the minor (Cade) was alone with the drunk man spewing hate speech. A lot of the misunderstandings that led up to the climax really could have been resolved-- especially concerning the drunk guy. The thing with Bella could have also been dealt with a lot better. The girl was throwing herself all over Henry and he made no effort to stop her, and there's no explanation as to why. Henri says "why don't you ask him" and I'm thinking "why don't YOU ask him?! You're his sister!"

Despite knowing this was a graphic novel, I do feel like part of the atmosphere is lost because of the medium. As readers, we're more separated from Cade as he becomes more paranoid and frightened, and I feel like a lot is lost because of that. Maybe the visual medium could have worked with this, making the scenes look more warped and frightening as Cade's emotional state was heightened. As it was, there was some disconnect between what I think the author wanted us to experience as readers through Cade and what was being shown to us through the visuals.

That being said, the art style is actually very nice. I thought it was laid out well and all the characters had good expressions. I also liked all the characters and how they grew through the story. As someone who is not a fan of Austen, I am a little tempted to read the original story now. There is a LOT of talking when again, the visuals could have helped more in telling the story. As I said, it is still charming and I enjoyed it a lot, but I do feel like more could have been done with the medium.

While I liked the premise of Northranger (a modern take on Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey), the execution of the storyline was a little clunky. It was hard to like the main character. The original novella is a send-up of sentimental novels popular during Austen's time, but the histrionics of Cade, the main character, start become grating when he struggles with his feelings for the rancher's son, Henry. The story had too many strands that did not feel like they belonged or strained the main story. I will still recommend it for my students who come to the library, though.

I have never read Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey but I definitely plan on it now after reading this graphic novel. Rey explains at the end of this piece that he decided to write a more modern day take on that story with the main character being obsessed with horror movies instead of gothic books. This book had a very sweet male/male relationship between the main character Cade and new friend Henry, who has met at the ranch he is spending the summer at.

The illustration style in this comic was stunning and it fit perfectly with the story. I loved the eerie feeling that we got from many of the scenes that went perfectly with how Cade was feeling at the time. Cade is dealing with having to be in a place that he doesn't feel comfortable in, a new relationship, and the homophobic/racist people in South Texas. Northranger was a great read that I highly recommend. This was an impactful book with messages that I connected to a lot even though I'm older than the target audience.

Also, I love that Rey has done other graphic novel retellings of classics. I own his Swan Lake: Quest for the Kingdoms book and plan on picking up his others.

This graphic novel was so good - the utter heartbreak you get from hearing both Cade and Henry trying to find themselves in the homophobic South of Texas. You can also see the racism that Cade experiences as well. The similarities between Northanger Abbey is pretty good - it takes all of the good parts of the Austen novel and makes it gay. I love it. The horror undertones that Cade learns from his horror movie obsession work really well into the piece.

5/5 stars! I loved this so much.

Short and sweet, Northranger takes us on a journey of love and heartbreak as we follow Cade, a gay Mexican boy navigating life in rural Texas as he goes to work on the Tyler Ranch to help his family finances, and Henry, the sweet but mysterious Tyler son who's obviously hiding something.

I really enjoyed this and finished it in about an hour. I loved the character designs; there was an innate sweetness to them and the setting that didn't distract from the overall themes. Cade and Henry were absolutely adorable, but also so messy and utterly human. My heart broke and mended right along with them. Their struggles are so familiar to any of us who have navigated being queer in the world.

I have no complaints except that it was so short. I would definitely read more of all of these characters anytime. Just lovely.

Cade’s story is surprisingly deep for a graphic novel, especially one that leaves you feeling hopeful by the end. Also being a queer kid from Texas with a dead dad, I felt for Cade during his journey through grief, navigating family dynamics, queerness in Texas, first dates, and discrimination.
I loved that Cade and Henry bonded over horror movies, it really set them apart from other couples I’ve read about.
Bre Indigo is a killer illustrator and the way they brought Abilene, the ranch, and particularly the firefly scene was beautiful and captivating. The firefly scene specifically captured the magic of a Texas summer in a way that I’m not sure I’ve ever seen before.

The visuals are clean and make a solid complement to an uncomplicated and sweet story. Author Terciero's inspiration is Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey and its tale of a hero who reads too many gothic horror novels and then mistakes everything for danger. But don't worry - this isn't a scary book in that regard: what we have isn't a horror novel so much as a story about a Latinx teen going through the angst of growing up gay in rural Texas.

Story: Cade feels alone - hiding his attraction to boys to make sure he isn't the victim of homophobic violence. When his stepfather takes him to spend a Summer working at a real ranch, Cade has nothing but disgust: no more trips to the movies to see old horror movies and instead spending his precious vacation days shoveling manure and lugging feed bags. But that changes when he meets the ranch owners kids: twins Henry and Henrietta. Henry especially stirs up feelings that Cade knows he should suppress; yet there is something mysterious about the other boy and especially his family and all the deaths surrounding them. Cade soon begins to feel that he has been sent to star in his own horror movie - one he may not survive!

The story is very lighthearted and has a feel-good vibe. I liked the diversity represented and some of the characters were very fun (love her or hate her, I found his little sister cute). This doesn't get as dark as Austen's Northanger Abbey and instead focuses in on the frustrations of rural life: the homophobia, racism, and general intolerances. Most of the story is set at the farm and about the budding relationship between Henry and Cade.

The illustration work is very clean and these are perhaps the most adorable horses you will ever see drawn. Ironically, that cuteness kind of killed any chance of believing the innuendos suggesting Henry and his military dad might have killed anyone. So it was an eye rolling set of moments at least alleviated by the solid illustration work. Most of the book is in a sepia color scheme rather than full color, giving a good tonality to the overall story.

In all, this was a very enjoyable graphic novel. It has a complete arc and ends on a good moment. If Love, Simon was a graphic novel, this would be it. And who doesn't love a good Jane Austen inspired story? Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.