I had trouble really enjoying this book - I could not really get into the story or enjoy the art.

I would have loved this story back when I was 16. It was such a great teen story. Unfortunately, I thought the art style was a bit lacking and could be improved on, which did take away from the overall reading experience. I would recommend it to anyone who loves a high school setting surrounding friendships.

4.5
OMGGGG. I don't know why it took me ages to review this book. I mean, I read it in 2016. 2016. It was one of my favorite books of the year and it made me cry at that time. EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT.
So, I am here to finally write my review.
The story begins with four friends who create a band for a competition. The members name the band "The Stereotypical Freaks" because they are constantly labeled as weirdos, however they are more than a simple label and each of them has their own story.
The book is amazinggggg. I never imagined reading a graphic novel without fantasy or action and just talking about simple life. Life as it is, complicated, even more when you are a teenager. I loved that this book was unique and realistic. The artwork is simple but beautiful, I was expecting colors but it was okay because the lack of colors made the story even more powerful.
I thoroughly recommend this book to everyone!! If it's your first time reading a graphic novel, read this one! You'll love it!!

4 out of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline of this book and it broke my heart. I almost cried. It was very impactful. The artwork was so simple yet it worked for the story. I really liked how there was recommended listening at the beginning of each chapter as well.

A unique highschool story where four boys differences bring them together to make what starts out as a simple band basement into much more. As time goes on and the bonds between the group become stronger, a member of their group is diagnosed just weeks before the goal they've all been striving towards.

This comic tells the story of four kids who form a band to participate in the battle of bands. The premise of the story sounded simple and interesting, which I really enjoyed.The illustrations are also amazing and so were the characters! I also found the song titles at the beginning of the chapters to be an interesting and great touch.The author did a great job on giving good background and info on school cliques and the stereotypes.

I was unfortunately unable to download this book to my kindle to review.

*thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

2 stars.
I just couldn't get into this. I dont think there was anything really wrong with it, but I found it too slow and not much happening. For that reason, I really dont have much of a review to give, but I am pleased I was given the opportunity to read it.

Great depiction of High School days and finding your way. Good plot and story line. Much more complex than it appears on the surface. Looking forward to more in this series with the Hockey Saint.

I had read a little background info on this book before I came in, so one of the main plot revelations had been spoiled somewhat for me before reading. That did absolutely nothing to lessen the gut punch effect of this story. The writing by Howard Shapiro is wonderful. The art by Joe Pekar is clean and well inked. The characters' facial expressions and body language are such a significant part of the narrative adding to and filling out subtext between the characters. There are silent panels without dialogue that tell a whole story by themselves.

Beautifully written and provides a true window into daily life (as I remember it at least) in a typical American high school, including the jocks, the brains, the 'unattainable' girl, the shy overweight kid. Sounds pretty stereotyped and the danger here of course is that this book -could- easily have been two dimensional and flat. It was emphatically not that. Wonderful storytelling, wonderful story, believable characters, and dammit, it made me cry.

There were a few minor (minor!) penciling typo/editing problems (I read an ARC, so they might well have been corrected before publishing), but one of the characters is spelled Marcel and Marcell several places in the book.

Final opinion: gorgeous powerful story wonderfully illustrated and not to be missed. This one will be with me a long time.

Five stars, wonderful work

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.

The Stereotyipcal Freaks tells the story of 4 guys who are all different from each other: a smart kid, a geek, a star athlete and a quiet weirdo, but they know that they are more than just these names. Together they have a band and are going to participate in a band competition. Everything seems okay until they discover something terrible...

The Stereotypical Freaks is such a beautiful graphic novel! I really liked the way they designed it, even though sometimes I missed some colour. The Stereotypical Freaks are a bunch of friends that love each other and that's something beautiful! I also liked the fact that there's music involved. I love playing guitar and reading books/graphic novels about music and playing an instrument is something that I really like!

I really liked this graphic novel, I even cried a little, and I cannot wait to read the next one in the series!

I'm rating this a 3.5, because there truly were some touching moments throughout this comic. However, overall, this felt more generic and full of tropes than anything else.

You have two non cool kids, who are best friends. One is a chubby boy and one is a tall, lanky kid. They feel outcast bunt high school stereotypes so that play music in their parents' basement. One of the boys used to be best friends with the star football player until he became so popular, and then he was cast aside for the sake of being "cool". They decide to form a band, regroup with the football star, find another loner, and viola. They have a band.

However, as they're getting ready for their school's Battle of the Bands, life happens. They're forced to see the world in a different light, and grow a little in the process.

So I mean, was it horrible? No. Did I like it? Mostly, I suppose. But it wasn't super memorable.

I picked this up as what sounded like a fun story but I ended up living it much more than I thought I might. What the story illustrates so well is the healing power of friendship and the healing power of music. It doesn't matter what you think you know about a person, it matters most how you can connect.

Book – Stereotypical Freaks (Forever Friends Trilogy #1)
Author – Howard Shapiro
Star rating - ★★★★★
No. of Pages – 140
Cover – Great!
Would I read it again – Yes
Genre – Young Adult, Comic


** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **


Personally, this was a tough one to read, so I have to start off with...

** There may be spoilers ahead. **

I don't know if what I'm about to talk about is meant to be a spoiler or not, so I'm being extra careful. The story deals with child/teen cancer and I found this difficult to read, having been a teenager with cancer. However, I can say that the topic was handled with care, sensitivity and respect. The way it was spoken about, dealt with and placed into the story was so realistic and genuine that I cried. A few times.

Beyond that, I loved the biographical format within the POV, leading us through the information we needed to know at the start, while delving straight into the plot and letting us know who the cast were. I also really liked the 'recommended listening' though I'm not so familiar with most of the bands/songs included. I'm more of a Classic Rock gal, so I wasn't really up-to-speed with the offerings or the favourite songs mentioned by the characters.

There were some small editing issues, but they didn't impede the understanding of the story or interrupt the telling.

Overall, this was a great story with a beautiful message. It made me cry multiple times, I loved the characters and the explorations of them, as well as the 20 year later Epilogue. It was a really well put together story that I just know kids will love, along with some brilliant illustrations.

I am a reader through Netgalley. This book has a lot of promise, was well written and a fast read. It was not a happy go lucky ending, and that was unique. This book was poignant and makes one reflect on what is important in life, perspective on what you put importance on. The characters could have been given more depth, it was as if in some areas it was hinted at but not shown. Overall I enjoyed the book, and look forward to more from this author, Strong and powerful message.

Easily my favourite graphic novel so far this year. This little book is so much more than I expected in every way.
The writing is simply beautiful, the story it tells is so easy to relate to, friends who have drifted apart as they grew older, the social caste system of school, the fear of putting yourself out there and so much more. The story of four teenage boys, the stereotypical freaks so to speak, who come together to form a band and end up forming a friendship that is so much more will tug at the heartstrings ,but will also tug your lips into a little grin now and then. Without spoiling the plot, the book has an emotional core that will break your heart in the best possible way.
On to the artwork, at first I was a little underwhelmed by the deceptively simple, almost sketch like style of the illustrations, but I came to realise that they fit the tone of the book perfectly, and now I couldn't imagine it any other way.
Finally the inclusion of a suggested play list is a touch of genius, and the next time I read this, and I know I will read it again, I will make sure to listen along.
Overall I loved it and can't recommend it highly enough.

I remember, when I requested The Stereotypical Freaks, thinking that it sounded really cool. Music has been essential to some tough time in my life, in a lot of people's lives I'm sure, and it brings the characters in this story together.

There was just a lot lacking in the book that the music theme couldn't bring back up from down low, little things that added up to one big thing: I didn't care for the book as much as I thought I would.

The Bad

*The scene breaks that happened between chapters were jarring and didn't make sense, like two mini-chapters got jammed together accidentally.

*The characters didn't flesh out more than their, well, stereotypes. Granted we were given insight into what their characters ought to have been, like the "quiet weirdo" who just wants to experience as much life as possible before the end, but that's all these moments were: glimpses, brief interludes into what might have been.

*I was never really sure what kind of music the kids were playing, which seemed weird given how big a part that was supposed to play in their story. Was their style meant to be like the musical recommendations at the beginning of the chapters or not? No indication either way.

The Good

*At the beginning of each chapter there were musical recommendations that were fun to search out on Spotify. It gave a little life to the book.

*The art was a clean style that I liked, not too much fussiness.

*It was a fast, easy read.

Summary

There was a lot of potential for this to be fun, but I didn't get that sense from reading it. There are two more books in the series, but I don't think I'll be continuing on. As dull as I found it, I both don't really want to continue and I also felt like this story was done, so I'm fine with where I left things.

I thought the characters were endearing, and thought the inclusion of a playlist clever and engaging. The artwork was simplistic and didn't add to the storyline.

While I'm sure this graphic novel will appeal to some, it personally wasn't for me. There was a lack of character for me. The plot itself felt like something that had been done many times before. I will say that if you like Archie you may like this as it has a similar vibe and likeness.

A nice enough graphic novel, but not something to my own personal taste.

This wasn't what I expected (I went in based on cover alone, didn't read the blurb). At first I related because Dan reminded me of a friend of mine in high school, but the story gained so much more depth as it went on. I enjoyed the interplay of the characters...

Minor annoyance...Marcell or Marcel? It flipped between both the entire time.