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

This is such a good graphic novel! The first thing I noticed was that this novel is much longer than the standard graphic novel, and I am so glad for it. The length really gives the story space to breathe, in both fleshing out its characters and keeping up the suspense and mystery. Kat is the co-host of a podcast called Paranormal Texas, and after receiving an email tip about a mysterious small town out in the middle of nowhere called Estrella Roja, she goes to investigate. While Kat is on her way to Estrella Roja, the other main character, Mari, is headed there too. She is going back to Estrella Roja, the town she was born in, to attend the funeral of her Abuela. Both girls discover that the townsfolk aren't too keen on outsiders, and the Castillo family is downright hostile. I really enjoyed both main characters and how they were written! Kat is bubbly and loud, whilst Mari is calmer and quieter, but they work together in an excellent way. I do like that they're both opposite but similar at the same time. Watching them unravel the mystery of Estrella Roja was a treat. I also liked that while they both wanted the truth, they were for different reasons. Mari, to know the truth of her past and her family's past, and for Kat to know why Estrella Roja is how it is today. The ending was so good! I really loved the twists and reveals, and how it made everything that happened in prior chapters click into place. I also adore that a vast majority of the cast is queer! Being able to read a spooky paranormal story whilst also having a diverse and queer cast is so nice.

What a fun spooky sweet story!! I love the art style and color palette of this graphic novel and I’m a sucker for anything about local legends/lore. So enjoyed learning more about la lechuza, and the spin this author put on this legendary creature.

I rather liked this one! It was queer in a casual way, and the balance of spooky cryptid research to unfriendly small town that's not unfriendly in a racist or homophobic way was good! I felt like there was something everybody knew except me, and it was a driving force to find out exactly what that was. I feel like the relationship was a bit too quick, but I often feel like that with books aimed at teens!

I kind of wish I could have seen more about the family's history, and what exact events have led them to be so wary of passerby.

I loved the art, and I think the character designs were good!

One thing about me is when I hear about a spooky graphic novel, I need to read it. The Hills of Estrella Roja was such a good read. I loved the art and the heart that went into it. It was a good mix of mysterious and sweet! If you love queer graphic novels, this is the book for you!

Well, now I want to go listen to spooky podcasts and investigate those bumps in the night.

This is the story of podcaster Kat investigating strange phenomenon in the town of Estrella Roja. She receives a mysterious tip about the red lights that can be seen at night over the mountains of the town. However, when she arrives, the mystery turns out to be stranger than the lights or anything she could have imagined.

I enjoyed trying to figure out the mystery - is it aliens? witches? Just natural phenomenon and antisocial people? - and liked the reveal, though I would have liked more details. I also don't love the trope of the fight between the love interests to cause tension, which happened here, though it was resolved quickly and they went back to hunting for spooky stuff.

I really liked the art and the podcast vibes. It felt kind of retro and 90s, which I LOVED. This was a really fun book, and I hope there are more installments in this story so I can see the group investigate more cryptids and weirdness.

I really enjoyed this. This was so darn sweet! I loved everything about. The art style was great, the characters were extremely relatable and the plot was solid.
The one thing I would say is that the only real action or horror bit in this got resolved way to quickly. We spend almost 300 pages leading up to the climax and it was over in like 6 pages. I definitely wanted some more of that but that is really just me being picky.
The mystery in this book was also solid and I enjoyed working through it with the characters.
Also the family elements of this was really sweet. I especially loved the little sister. She reminded me of my sister and that made me just want to protect her.
Overall this was a solid book I would definitely recommend!

First and foremost I want to acknowledge my love for Mari, I rarely see characters that look like me and comes very close and I love her for that.

I also really enjoyed the way this reminded me of The X-Files, which I also found funny since I'm in the middle of rewatching that. The story was a bit predictable, but that didn't make it any less fun or spooky.

Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!

"The Hills of Estrella Roja" is a cute, lightly spooky graphic novel of two young women who meet under the stars of the Texas sky... sounds romantic, until you learn that those stars are actually something paranormal, and this small town is hiding a secret! The characters here are in college, with both being outsiders to the town: Mari is here due to the passing of her semi-estranged grandmother, and Kat is here trying to do research on the local phenomena for her podcast. Sparks fly, it's super cute, but also, why are Mari's relatives so mean to her? Why are the local townfolk so mean? And what's out there in the desert? Is it... dangerous?

"The Hills" doesn't reinvent the wheel; it's plot is fairly predictable, which isn't a bad thing. I wanted a cozy little spooky graphic novel with a cute romance, and that is exactly what I got. The art is appealing and the color palette is gorgeous - so many purples and oranges and reds! I'd recommend this one to anyone who enjoys a good YA graphic novel.

85%

I really enjoyed the usage of space and the artistic renditions of different interactions and concepts - for example, pages depicting road trips had a road winding across the page with typical road trip moments (snack stops, almost hitting a rabbit, etc.), another page showed a really cool interaction with a computer screen and how things were "clicked", etc. The desert was beautiful, as well - people often think deserts are wastelands, but there's a quiet beauty to them that was seen in these drawings. The story was also pretty interesting, too!

I adore this book! The plot moves quickly and the art is bright and vivid.
Kit is a freshman in college and is a queer paranormal podcaster and cryptic investigator. Her best friend is non-binary.
She wants to investigate the mysterious “devil lights” in a tiny Texan town called Estrella Roja and goes on her own.
No one in the town is friendly or helpful with her investigation, except a visitor who used to reside in town but returned for a funeral. This is Mari, a high school senior, who is suspicious of how the townsfolk are treating her the same way they are treating Kit even though she grew up in the town and isn’t an outsider.
It’s spooky but not too spooky with investigation of witches and lechuzas.
A friendship develops and later something more.
I can’t wait to see more from this author.
I would recommend this to fans of “Fly by Night,” “Another Kind,” and “Blackwater.”

When college freshman Kat Fields receives a mysterious email urging her to visit a relatively unknown Texas town with a history of witchcraft and “devil lights”—glowing red stars that appear above the town’s hills every night—she ditches her plans for spring break and takes a solo road trip to Estrella Roja to investigate for her podcast, Meanwhile, Marisol Castillo, is also headed for Estrella Roja to attend the funeral for her abuela whom she hasn’t seen since childhood. Feeling lost and bored, she decides to help Kat uncover the dark legacy that the town was built on.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel a lot. It's creepy, it's funny, the characters are great, the plot is very well developed, it's everything you could want. I loved Kat and her chaotic energy, her excitement was contagious. I also loved Mari, she is a bit skeptical at first, which plays a role in the story and it’s something that helps to develop the relationship between her and Kat, as well as the plot. I liked the dynamic of the small town, the family, the friendships, etc. The plot had me hooked from the beginning and although it is quite a long novel, I never got bored.

The art style is very expressive and dynamic. The colors are vibrant and fit the story quite well. Overall I would say this is now one of my favorite graphic novels and I definitely recommend it.

Thank you so much Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC of this wonderful graphic novel!

As a Texan native I was instantly curious of this story which takes place in a small middle-of-nowhere town, a type of vibe and life i'm very familiar with! This graphic novel does not disappoint! It has wonderful artwork and I love the artists use of color in many panels to help convey the emotions and feelings of the characters.

Kat is incredibly fun and her desire to hunt in the darkest corners for cryptids and stories for her paranormal podcast makes me absolutely sure we would easily be great friends. She has a fantastic energy that comes across well in the art style and dialogue.

Mari is just as amazing. Her feelings of not belonging and not understanding herself are so real and I love that despite her worries and personal struggles shes still a kind person with a strong heart and care for her friends and family.

The story has just the right amount of spooky and builds up quite well to get from point A to B. I definitely would love a second installment to give us a little more details of Mari's family and the history behind it all but it explained it well enough for a one shot. Highly enjoyable and a quick read!

This was a really fun spooky little graphic novel! It follows Kat on spring break as she goes to investigate a town for her supernatural podcast (which she hosts with her friend Clem) after she receives a mysterious email about the strange goings-on in the town.

If you like the various spooky works of Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej, this might just be right up your alley, at times cute, spooky, and funny.

The art style was also very fun for this book and added a whole lot to the humor and the scares. There was a great balance of things being cute and scary while keeping within the style. Also, the various expressions that Kat makes throughout the book were priceless.

I definitely recommend this as a quick, fun, mysterious, and spooky graphic novel!

This was excellent! I was a friend on Instagram read it and had to check it out for myself. Definitely would recommend to anyone.

"The Hills of Estrella Roja" is a wonderfully spooky novel about a paranormal podcaster named Kat Fields receiving a anonymous email to come and check out the eerie lights above small town Estrella Roja. Meanwhile, Mari Castillo and her family head over to the same town to attend a funeral for her grandmother. Both girls get roped into the creepiest investigation of their lives.

It is an engaging story and the art is lovely! (Especially since spooky paranormal tales are right up my alley!) I'm looking forward to more of the author's possible work in the future.

that was really interesting. Kat, one of the host in a paranormal podcast, got a mysterious email reporting the mystery at Estrella Roja. It was a small town and when she tried to talk with the locals, they brushed her off (can't blame them, if I were the local I too would be annoyed if there's a stranger poking their nose around my town). until she met Mari. they tried to investigate together until they got the truth.

this was spiced up with queer romance and family drama. overall I enjoyed this

Thanks to Netgalley for the e-arc!

Oh man, where do I start?? This was AWESOME! I loved it. It had mystery, paranormal, queerness, a bit of the X-files, and Unsolved Mysteries all rolled into one!

Kat, an avid yet amateur paranormal investigator and podcaster, is contacted by a mysterious person about the town of Estrella Roja and its mysterious goings on and the so-called "devil lights." At the same time, Mari and her family hear about the passing of her abuela, and return to Estrella Roja where they are originally from. The town is everything you hear about small town America. Everyone knows everyone and they are very suspicious and unwelcoming to outsiders. Kat, while investigating and being turned away by everyone, runs into Mari who is more than welcome to talk to Kat since she is getting the same hostile treatment from her family. From there, a friendship and then something more, is born. They fall into the deep dark secret of Estrella Roja that has links to the paranormal goings on and even to Mari's family.

I freaking loved this book. I was full invested right away and loved the relationship that Kat and Mari started to have. Queer love, it's something great.

This was a really enjoyable and creepy graphic novel. I loved the artwork and the story was easy to get hooked on. The end left it open for potential sequels and I hope that there will be more.

I received an advanced copy from Netgalley for an honest review.
In this haunting tale of magic and family, and with queer representation, The Hills of Estrella Roja brings two teen girls together to find out more about the supernatural town. Kat works for her college's radio program, all about the paranormal, but when she gets a note about Estrella Roja's witchcraft town, she's intrigued. Mari visits her childhood home during her grandmother's death and sparks fly when she meets Kat. Together, in a town of skeptics, they both try to find out the dark secrets of the small community before it's too late.
In this large, 400-page graphic novel, I was absolutely blown away. I felt for Kat, trying to emerge herself with the locals, even when they wanted to kick her out of town. Or how Mari deals with her aggressive relatives. The paranormal twist brings in this fresh take on the "monster" that dwells within the fields of Estrella Roja. Beautifully drawn out, witty dialogue and a sweet slow, burn romance, this graphic novel is perfect for fans of the supernatural.

This book was so, so awesome! Loved it, both me and my tween!
My daughter was utterly mesmerized by the story and the drawings. She was hooked, she was interested, and she was slightly scared, but she wanted to keep reading and find out what is happening next. I was kind of worried that it might be a tad bit too creepy at some points, but nope. She loved it and enjoyed every page of it.
What we both loved even more about this book: the length. 400 pages? Wow. Turns out, 400 pages is absolutely the most perfect length for a gripping graphic novel.
There are many levels to the story. There is the one that you see at first – kids having fun, exploring the world, all their adventures. But then there is a deeper level of exploring their own identities, but it is not overwhelming.
One more thing I want to point out that I loved about this book: art. Unique art. The drawings are absolutely perfect for this story. Quirky, fun, relevant, and very artsy. Superb, really.
We both, I and my daughter, will be looking forward to seeing more, much more from this artist and author!