As soon as anyone says witches I am there and in an academic setting, oh you are speaking to me! So I was really pleased when my request was successful on Netgalley to get to read this!

The plot really does get started on the first page, and the mystery of who has done this and what has happened really does keep you gripped. The characters and the school which here is a character itself really does spring to life on these pages and make you really root for them. A great cast of characters really work together to make you invest this story and make you care about Noreen and what has happened to her (the finale is so good!)

The art though, the art is beautiful, from the details in the clothes and beautifully pointed hats (I can't explain why something so simple here looks so good, but it does) to the school and grounds, the artwork is gorgeous and the characters? They feel so real thanks to how incredibly they are drawn in this.

I really liked this! I would love more from this school and the characters and I hope that happens!

Definitely the perfect thing for Halloween.

A fun, fast paced comic reminiscent of Harry Potter but with a well rounded and diverse cast. I really enjoyed reading this and flew through it; my only thing was the main character felt slightly prophetical. She sensed things were wrong without there being a real precursor to her feelings which was jarring at points because it felt like she was leaping to conclusions without consideration. It was hard to root for her when she was speaking to her friends for this reason.

That being said, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the comic too much! A read that’s perfect for the Halloween crowd this October.

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

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Over My Dead Body, by Sweeney Boo
★★☆☆☆
240 Pages


Sadly, while the cover was gorgeous and the blurb intriguing, the story just did nothing for me. It lacked the punch of an original plot, the excitement of a mystery worth solving, and – despite the really nicely done artwork – it was overall just a bit bland.

When it comes to the story, there are three major problems. It's:
1) predictable, right from the get-go
2) massively Harry Potter inspired/copied/related
and 3) lacking originality.

The HP stuff is so obvious that it was hard to overlook. The same terms/phrases, the same concept, the same designs/style, the same set-up. From the no-magics, the dastardly plot foiled by a bunch of nosy kids, the ENTIRE scene of Violet dobbing in the trio for breaking curfew, then being punished herself with detention. I mean, that one right there is ripped right out of HP. Violet was SO reminiscent of Draco, it was hard to see past.
It got to the point that the story felt more of a HP fanfic than an original story.

I gave the story extra props for the positive LGBT storyline, however it was quite secondary to the main plot. There were two FF plots, one historical and one contemporary, but only one was in any way fully formed within the story, and that was the historical, tragic one.
There was also some positive POC rep, which was great.

However, when it comes to plot points, there were a few things never explained (or maybe I skimmed that part, I don't know). Why does one character have her father as a witchy teacher, but there is a HUGE plot point about students not knowing who their parents are? If it was just one character, I wouldn't question it, but there were at least 2-3 others who talked about not knowing anything about where they came from or who their parents were. Why? This wasn't described as an orphanage for witches.

Also, the school is named Younwity, and there are at least 2 students – one past and one present – who have that name, both of whom claim to know *nothing* about their heritage. However, that's never explained. Is “youngwity” an actual family name, or is it a type of witch? Is it a super famous witchy family, or is it a surname given to orphans? There is NO explanation of any of that.

Finally, let me just mention the formatting – I got this from Netgalley, and it was *impossible* to read. The “send to Kindle” option had all the text outside the artwork pages. The phone AND tablet versions of my Netgalley Shelf app were so tiny and unreadable that I had to resort to reading on my laptop, which was super uncomfortable.
For one, the display was 2-pages – both on my phone and laptop – so that each page was half the size it needed to be, to make out the detail, and to be able to read the text properly. The font blurred on the coloured text box backgrounds, and only half my pages were in clear definition. The other half were low-quality and made it extremely exhausting to read.

In the end, because of the text issues and the story problems, I ended up skimming, just to find out what happened. And, honestly, it wasn't really worth it. It was too predictable right from the start.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'Over My Dead Body' by Sweeney Boo.

'Over My Dead Body' is a wonderful witch graphic novel. The story was fascinating and I was highly invested in the story Boo was portraying. The characters were the highlight of this graphic novel for me. It worked perfectly with the story but yet it added a sense of charm and it just worked perfectly.

I highly recommend this graphic novel when it comes out for the UK later this month.

A beautifully illustrated, fast-paced YA story with vibrant, likeable characters and a captivating setting.

Over My Dead Body takes place at the secret Younwity Institute of Witchcraft, where a group of friends embark on a quest to find a missing friend, Noreen. The protagonist Abigail takes the lead on the case, determined and willing to do anything for the girl she considers her family. However, the more Abigail dives into the case, the more disturbing it becomes.

This was a well-rounded, compelling tale of friendship, growth and revenge. Abigail's friends, Goldie and Enver, as well as Violet, her roommate with whom she has a complex relationship, are great multidimensional additions that flesh out the story and add depth to the motivations of the characters.

The story is wonderfully illustrated with excellent character designs and a pleasant colour palette.

However, at times it was difficult to read the proof due to its formatting, as the resolution was poor, and I could not read several speech/description bubbles - so I hope I didn't miss anything important.

Overall, this was a great YA story, so if you are into graphic novels, give it a go!

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read and review this publication!