Thank you NetGalley and ABRAMS Kids for giving me access to this eARC other Harrowing by Kristen Kiesling, illustrated by Rye Hickman. All thoughts are my own.

This is a really interesting story about how to handle the horrible things that happen in the world. What if we could stop murders from happening? What does justice look like? How can you know what someone is capable of if they haven’t done the horrible things you expect them to do? These are questions that are asked by Rowan and other teens like her who have the ability to see a piece of the future where someone does something horrible to someone else.

I’m giving this 4 out of 5 stars instead of 5 stars because of the language used to classify the different types of people who might choose to comit acts of violence. I think that was done with intention to further the message of the book, but it still didn’t sit right with me.

I will definitely be recommending this book to anyone looking for a thought-provoking graphic novel!

4 out of 5 stars

I found this copy really pixelated and hard to read, unfortunately. The ARC version also didn't have color which made the reading experience feel incomplete - there is a note that the final version will be in color.

I loved the concept, the plot seemed interesting, and the drawing style seemed cute!

Oh I LOVED the story premise for this graphic novel. You follow a young girl Rowan, who discovers she has the power to see grizzly crimes that have not yet been been committed, just by touching a person. She is quickly kidnapped and taken away to a mysterious boarding school, where she and others are taught to use their gifts in order to apprehend would-be criminals.

I flew through this book and found it engaging the entire way through. The grahic style is lovely and expressive. I read an arc which was in black and white but I would love to see the full-colour published version.

The narrative was extremely easy to follow. Sometimes I find graphic novels can be a little wishy-washy and vague but this one was exciting and reads extremely well. I could easily see this being the groundwork for a full novel. I loved the ethical arguments that the grahic novel challenges you with, surrounding incarceration for a crime that hasn't yet been committed.

Thank you NetGalley and Abrams Fanfare for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

The Harrowing is Minority Report crossed with a standard teen superhero in training tale. I feel like similar plots have been around for ages. For a graphic novel, this was more violent than most. Still, this book might be okay for older teens that enjoy that a female superhero tale. 3 stars.

Thanks to Amulet Books and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

The ARC was very hard to read because I was constantly zooming in and it pixelated causing headaches.

An intriguing graphic novel about how organizations attempt to use powers for nefarious reasons, but disguise them as “helping others”. My ARC was a bit blurry on the NetGalley app, but I’m sure that won’t be an issue for the finished copies!

A thriller that follows a teenage girl as she discovers she has the power of premonition, able to detect when someone is fated to commit a murder. A stint at a sketchy boarding school and revelations about her lineage follow, solidifying her desire to become a "Harrow" - someone who works to capture would-be killers before they can act. I thought the first three-quarters were well done and properly tense/eerie, but the last quarter dropped the ball a bit. The resolution felt too easy given the horrifying revelations preceding it, and I feel it missed an opportunity to dive deeper into interrogating its core question (where do the lines of protecting people's safety and freedom begin and end?).

This story is a bit on the gruesome side, it follows a girl who lost her mother and her father fell into dispeer. Then she finds out that she can see when people are going to commit Murder just by touching their hand. She is sent away to learn to control powers only to find out a deep dark secret lurking in the walls of the institute. The art is this story really captures the tones of the story giving it the creep factor needed in certain scenes.

The concept was interesting and has so much potential, and the conflict felt very real. Dark, twisted, and gruesome - this graphic novel will worm its way into your head and make you question everyone around you, or, scarier yet, what horrors you may be capable of.

I very much enjoyed the Harrowing. I am excited to see what comes next. The artwork is ice and the story flows perfectly.

I didn’t love this. The artwork wasn’t my favorite, it was normal, cartoony artwork I’ve seen a million times before and the storyline was like every other superhero type origin story. The same tropes that are in every comic book. The person with powers who haas to hide! This was not unique and just not worth my time.

I greatly enjoyed reading this! The art style is amazing and the story is equally amazing! Was a quick and easy read, finished it within only two readings, it was that easy! Love that!

The story was quite unique and I really liked it. I really loved the concept of aura reading and stopping would be killers/murderers.

All the characters were really cool and I really liked them all. Really loved the powers of the harrows!

The ending was really awesome! Absolutely just loved it!

Highly highly recommend this comic! Might have to get a physical copy myself! 👀 Would be hella cool to have!

Thank you Netgalley and Kristen Kiesling for the ARC and chance to review this comic.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel and finished it in just a couple sittings. I’m not sure what the age demographic is for this one. The main character is a teenager but there is a lot of violence depicted so I would probably suggest this to late teenagers and older. Rowan is the daughter of a worm farmer but quickly after she is introduced, we learn that her father has been keeping secrets from her. About herself, her mother, and even the farm she lives and works on. Rowan, from a young age, was taught to wear gloves everywhere. She thought her mom was a germaphobe but when begins having headaches and premonitions, then is sedated and taken away from her home, she learns she has special powers. Then she must decide who to trust, the organization that has taken her in, her friends, or her own intuition. I definitely hope this one becomes a series as I’d like to read more about what happens after the ending 👀

Thank you NetGalley and ABRAMS Kids for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
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First off, unfortunately the ARC copy was in black & white and was a bit blurry, but this shouldn’t be an issue in the final copy. I’m not sure if it will be in color or not. I’m thinking it will, but maybe a limited color palette to go with the dark tone.
Oh my goodness! I loved the concept so much! Psychics who are able to tell if someone is going to commit a murder in the future when they touch. They are also able to tell if that murder is an impulse or a planned event based on the color of their aura. An organization collects these people and tries to use their gifts to stop future murders. However this organization isn't entirely good. I loved the thriller/mystery aspect to this and it was a lot more dark and gory than I thought, but it fits the story so well!
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I could definitely see myself picking this up again in the future!

Rating: 3⭐️

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an eArc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a lot darker and more gruesome than I thought it would be. The art style was good but I think it would benefit even more by being in colour. The concept of the story was interesting. The plot moved quite fast so there could’ve been some aspect explained a little better. I think this would make a really good series. That way things could get fleshed out more.
Overall it was a decent YA graphic novel that was easy to consume.

This is a story that can bring about important discussion on nature vs. nurture and what it means to be an "imminent criminal". The illustrations are simple, but allow the reader to immerse themselves in the story and characters. I'm looking forward to seeing what Kiesling releases next. This is great for fans of Death Note and Doubt.

I received a temporary digital Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was truly a deeper graphic novel than I anticipated. It really plays with the ethics of justice and retribution and the role that the protagonist plays in all of it. This supernatural suspense thriller expands on what Minority Report failed to do - discuss about the consequences of dealing with future crime. At first I thought that the zeal of the mysterious organization Rowan (the protagonist) worked with was too obviously corrupt but each character offers a different view or perspective that allowed me to expand my own. I love how colors are very important and it lets the art become a character in the story as well.

thank you to net galley for sending me an advanced copy of this as an e-book.

one of my favourite things about this is you actually get some information about the characters before the story starts. sometimes in books (especially in graphic novels) the story just starts and as a reader you find yourself yearning for more, who was this person before all of this? how did their life begin? what are the things that turned them into who they are today? this had all of that, you got to learn about the main character and her family dynamic, then the traumatic event that changed it all and the events afterwards that lead into the main story. It was super fun having all that extra info, it made the characters have so much more depth and made it easier to love them.

I really like the plot idea, having people be able to predict who will turn into a violent criminal is such a unique premise that i have never heard of before! I thought the extra detail of the colour coding system to see what kind of criminal they become was also so well developed and thought out- but i do wish there were more details, perhaps colours based on the amount of victims or type of violence? just something to flush it out just that extra bit to give you even more insight into the world. I adored the relationship between the girls, their found family learning to cope and bond together was super fun and added a lighthearted element to quite a deep book.

I thought the pacing was really good and the storyline was super fun! the only reason this isn’t getting four stars is the ending. I thought that entire idea of the “harrowing” felt kind of rushed, like we just learnt what it was and it was over before we got to truly understand it. for example, Simon’s entire personality change happened over four or five pages, which just wasn’t enough information to help us believe that the good guy was actually the bad guy. I wish it was slightly longer or the big reveal happened over a longer period of time.

other than this if you’re looking for a super unique, horror thriller with sweet childhood friends to lovers aspects then this is the graphic novel for you!

I loved reading this book now, but damn I would’ve eaten it even more as a teen. I am so happy a book like this is being targeted at teens and young adults because it’s not just this really fun adventure it’s also something that allows the reader to question morality a bit. I feel like when your young it’s easy to think of moral questions in a very black and white way. However, in this book things aren’t that way. What seems to be something that is of course very bad, will also show a grey area where what you do about it may be seen as good and bad.

Rowan is the perfect representation of this concept. She has very strong convictions about what is right and wrong and when she discovers her visions and Rosewood’s mission she is of course all for it. However, questioning begins when she thinks of why her mom had left in the first place and why everyone gives her all the easy answers. Eventually, things take a turn and she realizes that there is more nuance in the situation then she realized and that she may not be on the correct side.

I loved the little romance in the book. Rowan and Lucas being best friends from childhood and growing to realize they have deeper feelings for each other was adorable to read about. It ads a lighter tone to this darker story that I think it needed to create a balance.

I highly recommend The Harrowing! It is such a delight to read and it will have you questioning things from beginning to end.

The Harrowing tells the story of Rowan who learns that she can help predict who may become a murderer just by touching them. This was a really interesting premise, but the pacing felt off to me. Some parts progressed slowly, but then I felt like too much was happening too quickly towards the end. It almost could have been done better if the books were separated into two volumes. There was a lot of information to include and it felt like it was just very rushed.

I liked the characters and the plot. I hope the fully story is in color because color is essential to the plot and would really help highlight what's going on. I'm not sure if it was just me, but I had a hard time reading the digital version and it seemed fuzzy.