**Thank you to Netgalley for providing an e-copy in exchange for an honest review**
I'd seen this graphic novel once on tiktok and immediately wanted to read it, I loved the cover and was very intrigued by the story since I only knew it revolved aroung gardening and ghosts.
Taproot tells the story of Hamal a gardener who can see ghosts since he's been a child, and Blue one of his ghost-friend. Blue starts seeing a kind of dark dead forest and doesn't know what's happening, until he meets a Reaper looking to strike a deal.
I loved this graphic novel, the flirting, the drawings and the story that was sweet and adventurous at the same time. I almost cried at one point of the comic but things went alright afterwards just as I like it !
I definitively recommend this graphic novel, it's not at all scary or anything as well what with speaking about the dead, it just feels wholesome and sweet :)

I really enjoyed Taproot - a lot more than I thought I would, initially...

I thought it was going to be obscure - a ghost and a living person falling in love - and I thought we were missing some context in the beginning... but all will be revealed!

The art style works so well with the story and it was a pleasant, quick read!

About a guy who can see ghosts—and the ghost that falls in love with him—this one is a quick read, beautifully drawn, with just the right amount of humor.

The art style was absolutely stunning, and such a beautiful book to read. The story was not only heartwarming but the creepy element and queer representation made it so unique, and honestly one of the best queer graphic novels, I have ever read.

If you took Cemetery boys and Heartstopper, moshed them together and they had a baby. Well you would get Taproot!

Blue is anything but normal. For the past year he has been living his "life", if you can even call it that. as a ghost.
Enter Hamal, a loving gardener who just wants to give dying plants a second life. When Blue meets Hamal he can't help falling in love for the compassionate horticulturalist, but Blue is being hunted, by what he doesn't know. As time goes on the two discover Hamal's power to see the dead may be more than they seems, and might just be what is hurting Blue....

For fans for adorable love stories and cottage core vibes, Taproot encompasses all the feels.

This was adorable! I loved the ghosts and necromancers, Hamal and Blue were adorable, and the reaper is surprisingly a great wingman. It was cute and queer, and I loved it!

Loved, loved, loved this graphic novel! First of all, the art work is beautiful. The style goes perfectly in hand with the plant themes of the book. The love story between Hamal and Blue felt very natural and I'm excited to see a gay couple get the spotlight. Such a great story and I recommend this to anyone who wants to read about a ghost, a boy and plants.

This is an extraordinarily sweet and spooky little story. Blue is a ghost, who is in love with a gardener, who also happens to be an unwitting necromancer. Their friendship blossoms into a cozy little romance as they confront mysterious supernatural entities and phenomena. The writing is efficient in a sweet, low-key way: the characters. even in conflict, have an easy comfort around one another that is very welcoming. And the art! The color palette, soft blues, greens, and yellows, is similarly calming. This book is a nice, warm little safe haven that provided some much needed respite from the outside world.

This was such a cute little read, which fortunately didn‘t break my heart!
I went in expecting the usual ghost-and-human-fall-in-love-story-only-to-be-separated-by-death-in-the-end, but the little twist around the middle of the book gave way to a wholesome (and not tragic!) romance story.
It fulfilled all my expectation I had from reading the synopsis:

✅Cute Gardner
✅Cute Ghost
✅The artwork??

I give it a 3 stars because it was just that: a wholesome and fast read. It didn’t have much substance, plot or character development beyond that, which I understand wasn’t the author’s intention, but nevertheless I recommend it to everyone who is in search of a fast read, likes plants and graphic novels.

This graphic novel is an artistic and literary delight. A great story with wonderful characters is brought to life - and death - through sublime illustrations with perfect colour and detail. The characters each have unique mannerisms and their personalities emerge through sharp and witty dialogue. I loved this novel and when finished read it through again immediately, there is so much to see in each page. My favourite page (I read this arc online so may be different in physical format) is page 95 where Blue's transformation takes place in a full page illustration. I would absolutely recommend this book for young teens through to adults and will certainly be ordering it up for my school library.

Utterly wonderful. This is a gorgeous graphic novel with stunning artwork, beautiful use of colour and a tender, moving story at its heart.

I received this for free via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is so cute😭😭😭 like Keezy said in the footnote, it's hard to find LGBT+ romances that don't have sad, angsty undertones with some sort of unfortunate ending. I'm happy to see it, and the art is so cute too. This is wonderful. I love the art style so much and I went into this expecting to love this book, And my expectations were met and then some! I will definitely read more from this author.

Taproot is a masterpiece in queer romance, lovingly woven into a story about life and death.

Taproot's vibrant cover and description drew me in. With plants, queer characters, and a hint of magic - I knew it would be the perfect book for me. The graphic novel focuses on Hamal, a young gardener who can see ghosts, and his relationship with Blue, a boy who is lonely in the afterlife.

There simply isn't enough space for me to describe everything I adored about this book. Hamal's gentleness with plants was perfectly aligned with Blue's kindness towards other lost ghosts. I loved how the main characters meshed perfectly with one another to create a sweet and simple romance. While the stakes were high, it read like a fairytale with the perfect ending. I loved the addition of the 'one year later' scene that showed Chloe learning about Hamal's gift and Hamal and Blue's happily ever after.

The only critique I have is that it was simply too short. I would read a handful more graphic novels about Hamal and Blue. The art was stunning and could easily be full color prints or a separate art process book.

It was a five star read from page one. I simply adored this and plan on purchasing a copy for my shelves so I can reread it time and time again. I cannot wait to seek out Keezy Young's other work, because Taproot ensured they are now one of my favorite graphic novelists.

A variation of this review will be posted on my social media during the week of June 28. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Oni Press for providing me with a copy to review!

A delightful graphic novel about a gardener and a ghost. Hamal can see ghost, and one day a young man named Blue follows him home and becomes his best friend, along with the other ghost he brings. Blue finds himself in love with Hamal but knows there is no point in saying so, being as he's already dead and Hamal is very much alive.

Blue realizes that Hamal may be in danger because of his gift, and he decides that he loves him so much he is willing to do anything to save his friend, even leaving.

As a ghost story this is wonderful, but add in the love story and make it a Gay love story is just the icing on the cake.
So beautiful a romance you can only sigh. The artwork is beautiful as well and I'm grateful I had the chance to read this. I am looking forward to more adventures of Hamal and Blue.

Thanks to @netgalley, Oni Press, and Keezy Young, for the opportunity to read this eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Taproot was a cute and sweet story about a ghost and a gardener who fall in love.
I found the story really interesting, the concept was amazing, I love cute ghosts stories and I fell immediatly in love with Blue and Hamal, especially Hamal because is different from the "classic" protagonist, is chubby and not/white, sweet and shy.
I found this graphic novel really atmospheric, the artwork is amazing, I loved how the author designed Blue and Hamal, but especially I love the colours and how was painted the nature and the backgrounds.
Unfortunately I wasn't convinced by the progression of the story, some choices I didn't quite get, but overhall I liked it and I found it a cute lgbtq+ story, and God knows how much we need them.

This was such a charming story with some of the most beautiful illustrations! I thought the color scheme really complemented the theme of life/death. As for the plot, I thought it was the perfect premise for a short read such as this one. I do wish we had seen a bit more of Blue and Hamal’s relationship and its progression. The resolution also felt a little rushed, but I really enjoyed the flash forward to what their life looks like a year after! I think I would definitely read this book again when I’m in need for a cozy, magical read.

First off...............THE ART IS GORGEOUS!!!

OMG, I love the colouring, the character design, everything!

Okay, now that I got that out of the way, this story was so cute and the reaper is such an awesome character. The twist was hilarious and had me gagging since I was not expecting it, lol. It was a short cute read and has the potential to become a series as evidenced by the last part of the novel.

This is a fun read and I recommend it!

Taproot follows Hamal, a young gardener who has the ability to see ghosts. He spends his days working at a gardening shop where his crew of ghost friends hangs out with him. One friend in particular is named Blue. Blue and Hamal and very close and may even have feelings for one another. Blue starts getting sucked into a mysterious forest and things take a turn when he meets a reaper.

This was just so so cute. I do feel like we are just getting introduced to the characters and I’m really hoping we will get to see more of them and have this story continue on to more book. Even if that doesn’t happen this was still such a great book. It’s has a slightly creepy aspect for a small part of the story, but once you get to the root of that it’s beautiful and meaningful.

The characters in this book were everything. I loved Blue the most. He’s so pure and loving I wish I had him as one of my friends in real life. The reaper was also amazing? I was definitely scared of them at first but they ended up being the highlight of the book.

Overall this was such a sweet, cute, & quick read that everyone should pick up!

Taproot is a cute graphic novel, perfect for fans of "The Tea Dragon Society" or "Sheets."
The art style and soothing color palette is exactly what you need on a cozy weekend afternoon, looking for some sweet queer love between a gardener and a ghost. The two main characters and the cast of side characters paint a picture of comfortable existence in their word where a gardener becomes an accidental necromancer.

The mood shifts about halfway through with the introduction of a few slightly darker elements, but not to worry, the story continues on with a careless breeze and pops of humor throughout. The ending will leave you wondering what's next in store of these characters.

While I enjoyed the story, some of the dialogue felt a little stiff and juvenile, and the plot had a few too many almost endings for my taste. It's difficult to tell if the characters are 14 or 25 years old. And there isn't quite a climax, more like the first half is one story, followed by some short stories.

Overall, it was a pleasant and cozy read, great to slip back into reading after a longer break.

Special thanks to Oni Press for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 3.5 stars!
**My full review will go up on my blog closer to pub day**

Well, this went in a direction that I didn't expect and although I was pretty confused about what was happening at the halfway point, I still really enjoyed this graphic novel. It's a cute and funny story with a sweet queer romance that I think readers who enjoy stories like Mooncakes and the Tea Dragon Society would like!

I liked the artwork and thought it fit the cute and magical vibe of the story. The colours were bright and captured all the flora and fauna that surrounded this town really well. The author did a great job in capturing the expressions of the characters as well—it wasn't exaggerated but it was soft and sweet, much like the story itself. I think this probably could've done with some kind of chapter or section break to indicate changes in scenes and events. A lot of the events move very quickly and it left little time to process what happened before another big event occured. Towards the middle there were several events that happened which I thought altered the tone of the story considerably but the story moves on so fast that it was hard to take in. Obviously, we have a character who can see and speak with ghosts but the elements of death and magic that were thrown in as the plot were a little unexpected. It wasn't 'bad' unexpected but I wish that it had been done better because as it is, it felt like it was just "plopped" into the story. I liked the slight comedic touch to our "friendly neighbourhood death" character though which was a pleasant surprise!

I'm not sure if this is will be part of an ongoing series because if it is then I think that'd be interesting (to see the different ghostly shenanigans that Hamal and Blue get up to)! It's okay as a standalone too but it does feel a little underdone. I enjoyed the sweet softness of the story though so I'm glad that I checked it out :)