Member Reviews

Thank you to NetGalley for granting this ARC, and fast read. The plot was interesting and the story was cute.

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This is a very cool book that reminded me of the Goosebumps Choose Your Own Adventure books. It’s just the right amount of suspenseful and creepy.

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Choose Your Own Adventure Eighth Grade Witch was a confusing mess. I thought I was getting and interesting, interactive story, instead what I got was this... It read more like a first draft of a graphic novel than an almost final version.

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Super cute and a lot of fun. Choose your own adventure has always been my favorite type of childhood/middle grade books. It’s nice to see them come around. Gives me those old school “Give yourself goosebumps” vibes. I also love a good witch story and it’s especially nice to see it in middle grade or childrens books. That way it exposes children to witchcraft, which I practice. It’s nice to show that witches aren’t always the evil bad guys.

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This was a really fun read! I haven't gotten into any choose-your-own-adventure book/show/game in a long while so I needed a little time to adjust to 'having choices', lol, but the book is written for easy transfers to the next phase (or go back when you've met your end!) so it didn't bother me at all.

As for the story, I guess I can't review the plot in one go because there really are a variety of scenarios with a number of villains (sometimes, you also become a somewhat questionable hero?). What I liked a lot is how this didn't hold back when it came to some gritty and gory endings. It shocked me the first time someone actually died a horrible death, but there are also choices and paths where everyone is safe. ;)

I highly recommend and I'll probably reread this again to relive some of my favorite outcomes.

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That Was Fun!

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE: EIGHTH GRADE WITCH – by Andrew E.C. Gaska, E.L. Thomas, & C.E. Simpson

‘This book will be different from others you’ve encountered ….’

‘For here, YOU, and YOU ALONE, are in charge of what happens on your adventure into the witchy world located on Cherry Tree Lane …’

Your choices may lead you to a thrilling magical ending or a disastrous deadly consequence with the turn of a page. But don’t fret! You can go back and make another choice, alter the path of YOUR story, and change the result.

My adventure begins as Rabbit; I’m thirteen years old and with my parents at our spooky new house on Cherry Tree Lane in Graves End, Brooklyn…on the day before Halloween! *Creeeeeppppy!*

‘Isn’t this Great,’ Mom said.

Inside, the house is dark, dirty-looking, and in disrepair. White dusty sheets are draped over the furniture.

‘It just needs a bit of love and care, that’s all,’ Mom said.

‘And a whole lot of elbow grease,’ Dad adds, with a sigh.

This place is huge, much bigger than I expected. As I pick out my new room, something doesn’t feel quite right—which is perfect for my ghost-hunting parents.

As I look out my bedroom window, I see a strange man opening the trunk of my parent’s car… That’s when things start to get really weird, and my adventure begins…

Let’s just say, I did I not choose wisely, and was met with a tragic end—more than once. *sigh*

I’m going to keep reading until I can figure out what the story is behind Felix and his seemingly twisted sister, Astrid.

P.S. Don’t forget to feed my, I mean YOUR cat, Teacup, between adventures. ;)

‘Will you choose a path that leads to the light?’

‘Or will the path you choose lead to a gruesome end?’

‘You get to decide!’

Thank you, NetGalley and Oni Press, for providing me with an eBook of CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE: EIGHTH GRADE WITCH at the request of an honest review.

Reading age: ‎ 12 years and up
Source: NetGalley eBook (Archived) Paperback/Own
Published: Oni Press

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Die Illustrationen sind eigentlich wirklich toll… doch ich finde für diese Altersgruppe sind die dargestellten Tode/Morde viel zu graphisch. Selbst ich als Erwachsene musste bei einigen Bildern schnell die Augen schließen. Ich finde nicht, dass dieses Buch für Kinder geeignet ist.

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Choose your own adventure has been a perennial favorite and this graphic edition is fantastic for continuing the tradition in a way that new readers are excited about.

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As a kid, there's nothing I loved more than "choose your own adventure" books. I had practically every iteration your could find. This book is definitely another hit for the genre. This continues with the typical "choose your own adventure" style. The main character of rabbit is a black 13 year old boy who's family has just moved into a new town to find out that his house might be haunted. This book contains many different endings with different possibilities, including learning more about the ghosts, more about his neighbors, and more about his own family. I read multiple endings and every one was fairly unique. Overall, this is a sold 4 star novel, and I definitely recommend it for fans of the series.

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This is so fun! I haven't done a choose-your-own adventure in ages. The choices start right away and are fun to make. I love the art, and the writing style is fun too.

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Choose your own adventure books are so fun. This was a great addition to the canon. Purchase where witches, graphic novels, and choose your own adventure books are popular. Would recommend!

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Enter a ghoulish world of nightmares, witches, ghosts, and dreaded the eighth grade as Rabbit, the new kid on the block! As Rabbit, readers will get to choose which adventure--or nightmare--they'll embark on. From learning about the mysterious witch Prudence Deadly, to trouncing through spooky graveyards, to meeting ghostly ancestors or channelling some witchcraft with classmates, no one path leads to the same destination.
I have always loved Choose Your Own Adventure books, and this was a true blast from the past. A great story perfect for young readers with beautiful illustrations and so many options to choose from there is no way you can know how the story will end. Some endings are quite abrupt and I would have liked to have had more time with the characters and their stories but it would be a brilliant way to get younger readers interested in the genre.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

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This was a great modern flashback to the original Choose Your Own Adventure books from when I was younger! Even though I do enjoy graphic novels, I wasn't sure how I'd like a CYOA graphic novel, but I really enjoyed it! Will definitely look at getting copies for each of my schools!

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I was so excited to see a new Choose Your Own Adventure book! This one is a graphic novel, making it even more fun. If you haven't read a CYOA book before, you get to make different choices throughout the book that lead you to certain different paths and outcomes. It was fun when I was a kid and is still fun now. This one, in particular, was well done but not stellar. I loved the premise, and the spooky/scary atmosphere. The artwork was good, not too cluttered, plenty of color. The story got a little vague at points, but it was still fun to keep flipping around and trying different paths. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

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'Choose Your Own Adventure: Eighth Grade Witch' by Andrew E.C. Gaska, E.L. Thomas And C.E. Simpson with art by Valerio Chiola is a graphic novel version of the famous book series for a new young audience.

You are Rabbit, a young girl who has just moved in to a new, and presumably haunted house with your parents. Things in the house are not as they seem and there are all kinds of suspicious characters around, including the mysterious witch Prudence Deadly. Your choices may end well or badly for you, so choose wisely.

It's great to have this series back. There are quite a few possible endings, some better and some worse. It's definitely on the creepy side and might disturb some really sensitive young readers. The art is pretty good too.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Oni Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

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I love Choose Your Own Adventure books. I grew up with them when they originally released. I can still remember my trips to the book store and being excited to see if a new one had released, so I knew if nothing else Eighth Grade Witch was going to be a wonderful trip down memory lane. And indeed nostalgia hit me hard while going through this graphic novel. While I am no longer the target age demographic for the series, I still enjoyed running through the stories, making choices that shape the ongoing narrative, The artwork is excellent and I think in the interactive world we live in this is a great way to get kids interested in reading. I'll definitely be recommending this to my nieces and nephews.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RE40M21HBTF86?ref=pf_ov_at_pdctrvw_srp

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/choose-your-own-adventure-eighth-grade-witch-andrew-ec-gaska/1139436728?ean=9781620109410&bvnotificationId=16144604-0dbd-11ec-9ca7-0a7bb13812b3&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=gmail.com#review/186669255

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I really tried to give this a chance, but it didn’t work for me at all. I think it’s a great idea and the story idea seems intriguing, especially as a middle grade novel. The actual design of the Choose Your Own Adventure aspect was majorly lacking.

I finished the story the first time in a matter of minutes. I had absolutely no understanding of what had happened. I failed to solve the mystery. I went back and tried again and again and again. Nothing made any kind of sense no matter which decisions I made or paths I took. I began to wonder if I would have liked this kind of thing better if I was in the target audience. The idea of a Choose Your Own Adventure book would have been appealing to me when I was younger. But this one? I think I would have lost patience and been fed up with it even then.

I felt bad for not having read the whole book at that point and wanted to give it a fair chance before rating it. I flipped through every page and hoped to piece together the storyline that way.

It didn’t work.

I’m still super confused about what was supposed to happen in this. Maybe it’s just me, though. I don’t know.

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I have loved Choose Your Own Adventure novels for decades, and I was not disappointed with this one. The graphic novel was a super fun new way to approach this type of book. I did enjoy that the reader is Rabbit, an eighth grader with a lot of spunk, but we never really see her face which adds to the immersion. Amazing story threads and the artwork is super fun. I will be handselling this one for sure!

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1st line: "Wake up, Rabbit! We're here ..."

Prose (Story): The first official graphic novel, based on the popular Choose Your Own Adventure series of books we all grew up with, is here! Rabbit, newly-arrived to town with her ghost-hunting parents, finds eighth grade a bit hectic when it starts off with a possible haunted house (hers) ... a local witch from the town's dark past who seems determined to come back from the dead ... and the gaggle of witchcraft-practicing girls - fellow students of Rabbit's - who seem determined to help her! With 28 different endings possible, it's up to YOU, the reader, to decide Rabbit's fate (or fates) in this spooky, entertaining supernatural mystery for fans of the orginal hit novels!

Don's (Review): Though not obsessed with the Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid, I did enjoy them - even when seemingly-smart choices got me killed faster than a spider in a bathtub. I think it was pretty brilliant, for this first oficial graphic novel based on the books, for the writer to actually choose a CYOA story that was already part of the canon: this tale is based on the original by C. E. Simpson, which means that even in a slicker, more ... well, graphic ... graphic novel format, the action and story itself very much retains the flavor of the orignal novels we loved growing up. It's also nice having visuals with each scenario, now; whether you choose well and delve deeper into story subplots and new characters, or get turned into a giant bug by your third go-round and are out of the game, here it's displayed in richly colorful, old-school comic book-like illustrations (though painted and colored with strong, more modernized tones that add depth) by artist Valerio Chiola. The graphics, while certainly not adult-rated, don't let up, either; if you ,as Rabbit, choose wrong and die (or when/if any other character buys it, for that matter), very little is left to the imagination depicting their fate. I made sure to go through every ending and every page of this clever bite of nostalgia, which somehow feels timely today yet very reminiscent of when these books were in their hey-day, and can definitely label this a "must-read" for fans of the original series - and a "should-read" for anyone else wanting to have a little fun at controling the narrative of a spooky, witchy story ... even when it kills you! Very nicely done. (Available August 24) 4.5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

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This is fun, but not phenomenal. The story, centering on a family moving into a house and Rabbit, an eight grader going on adventures, is a great idea, but a lot of the paths switch settings very abruptly, and end just as quickly as they began. All part of the format, but doesn't lend itself to much immersion or really getting to know any characters. There's a little bit of everything happening, ghost, witches, zombies, the whole lot, but the rushed convoluted storylines took a lot of the enjoyment out of it for me.

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