Una historia sencilla, muy bien dibujada y con brujas. No pido más. ( )

I was excited to see this because I loved the Courtney Crumrin books and wanted to meet a new Naifeh character. I liked Faye, and I would read another book featuring her, but I didn’t feel like I knew enough about the other characters, and I got confused when things happened to them. At Homecoming, for example, I was like, “O.K., that’s really mean, but who the heck is that?” I liked the circle scene at the end—the meaning for the kids and a teacher being included and needing Faye’s help too.
It felt very introductory, which I hope it is, because I think Faye Faulkner is pretty cool. ( )

Not a fan of the art style.

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss. ( )

I’m not sure how this graphic novel got onto my stack, since it wasn’t on my official TBR, but I’m super glad that I picked it up! Naifeh’s story follows Cody as she enters high school and is quickly relegated to the loser table - the bane of the lunchroom where the school’s misfits are forced to hang out until they find their own social group. Pro-tip: the nerd crowd is way more fun in the long run, something it seems no one in highschool knows except for the leader of the group and perennial loser, Faye Faulker. It doesn’t help matters that Faye wears a witch hat to school and professes to practice what she preaches, but Cody quickly falls under her spell of “too cool to be cool” and readers who recognize a fellow weird soul can quietly cheer the pair along. The moral of the story isn’t just about surviving highschool and making friends (even if they’re professed losers) though, and veers quickly into the realm of the supernatural that the title of the book promises. Being a shy and easily intimidated kid, Cody has fallen under the sway of Shy Shelbi, an online bully who is actually a Curse Creature - a being who lives to cause mayhem, destruction, and cruelty through manipulation. My generation of teens missed this particular supernatural creature, since we were just being introduced to the concept of online message boards and chat features, but they are all too common with the Gen-Z kids and have become an interesting (if terrifying) myth of the digital age. Naifeh’s story taps into a cultural subconscious that is recognizable for the new generation, and supported with strongly written characters and a perfect light-gothic art style he elevates his story to being a solid entry into the urban mythic genre. ( )

I liked Faye’s development. She kept trying to push people away but could never stop caring about them. The rest of the story felt rushed, maybe. I think there was an attempt to humanize Bryce, Cody’s sister, but she is just the embodiment of the worst of high school. Cody was a frumpy, sad sack with no spine who annoyed me, for some reason. I also wanted to know more about the Loser Table, but they dispersed rather quickly. I liked Elvira though.

All the bad parts of high school are here, and I wanted more understanding of the evil social media creature. The creature had its reign in an Instagram account and would instant-message teens to kill themselves or hurt others. but the creature couldn’t harm anyone physically without a vessel to do it, so what’s the drawback to blocking Shelby???

I just didn’t like anyone in this story. Everyone acted horrid, and I hated how the characters demonized Cody’s mom for having a mental illness. In real life, wouldn’t most people be coddling or feeling sorry for Cody? ( )