Publication: June 7th 2011
Publisher: FirstSecond
Pages: 221 pages
Source: Bookmobile
Genre: Graphic Novels, Fiction, Young Adult, Paranormal, Fantasy
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤⛤
Why don’t I read more graphic novels?! I’ve loved all the ones I’ve read, and I still don’t read enough of them!
Anya’s Ghost is a fun read about an angsty teenage girl named Anya who accidentally falls down a well on her way home from school, finds a skeleton in said well, and then befriends the ghost of said skeleton, Emily. At first Anya isn’t too happy to have a ghost friend following her around, but when she learns that Emily can help her improve her miserable high school existence, she immediately listens to everything her new ghost friend suggests.
I adore Brosgol’s art style. The characters are each individuals and different from one another, and their bodies and faces are so expressive in each and every panel. It was almost difficult to focus on the story of Anya’s Ghost at times because I was so distracted by the artwork of the novel.
And then there’s Anya. I loved her, I loved Siobhan, I loved Dima, I loved Elizabeth, I loved them all (okay, all except Sean) and I loved how they all came together and interacted with one another. Brosgol even challenges some of the typical tropes of YA novels by showing Elizabeth, who Anya hates because she’s dating her crush Sean, isn’t the typical mean girl expected in the genre. And Sean also isn’t the hunky heart throb hero Anya imagines him to be. Even Anya isn’t typical, instead of the nice, different, Mary Sue, heroine that is expected. She skips school, she smokes, she could be read as a “bad” kid from any other YA point of view.
Anya’s Ghost is a great read and perfect for Fall and Halloween. While it wasn’t as scary as I expected/wanted it to be, parts of it will still give you goosebumps.
Six Blue Marbles Book Reviews 