Cemetery Girl: Book One: The Pretenders (The Cemetery Girl Trilogy)

Five reviews up already on this book and all 5 gave one star because they thought it was a novel. Possibly, those people should just look at the pictures, they can't read! Unfair to give a book one star because you didn't read the description of the book. These unfair reviews are not based on the actual material. On to my review: Cemetery Girl is the first of three GRAPHIC novels that will be in this series. This first one sets the scene and introduces Calexa Rose Dunhill. Looking forward to the rest of this series because there is a lot of mystery here and although the first book wraps up nicely, there is a lot still to learn about The Cemetery Girl. A fun read that includes a moral to the story about choices and consequences There is some adult language in the book but I think this is fine for young teens (and adults that can comprehend this is a graphic novel)!

I'm admittedly not too familiar with Charlaine Harris' work. I mean, I know she's the author of the Sookie Stackhouse series, but I've not really delved into it too heavily, but I am extremely familiar with Christopher Golden and Don Kramer.

Naturally Harris is known for her novel work, not only with the Sookie series, but many additional series including the Aurora Teagarden Series, Lily Bard, and many others, and it's very cool to see her delve into the graphic novel medium.

Christopher Golden is another great author who has dozens of books and short stories to his name, but I primarily know him for his comics work with Mike Mignola, which includes a few Hellboy novels, the Baltimore series of novels and comics, as well a few other short novels, including Father Gaetano's Puppet Catechism, also with Mike Mignola.

Don Kramer is the artist here, and he brings fantastic work to whatever it is that he's working on, he's primarily known for his work at DC on books like JSA with Geoff Johns, Batman with Paul Dini, as well as additional runs on Nightwing and Wonder Woman. He brings a real great energy to his books and it's really great to see him on a project like this.

This is the first installment in a trilogy of graphic novels and if you are a fan of any of these three people you'll find something to enjoy here, despite it being a graphic novel, as opposed to a prose novel. It's got plenty of signature Harris' charm, while Golden is a natural at the comics game by this point, and it's all wonderfully brought to life by Don Kramer. So don't discount this one just because it may not have been what you were expecting, you'll be missing out, truly.

I didn't really know what a graphic novel is, but I love anything by Charlaine Harris so automatically preordered it. I guess kids would like it, but there really isn't much story to it. I'm fairly sure they could have fleshed out the story better in a real book. I do hope this isn't the way kids of the future will expect to get all their written material. Am I sounding too old?

I was so excited when I saw this, thinking we were in for a new novel series since I loved True Blood. I was so disappointed when I received my package today and opened it just to see it was a "graphic novel" which is just an overpriced comic book. Very unhappy! I returned it immediately to amazon.

Originally posted on The Canon! {[...]}

I'm not much of a graphic novel reader. In my Supernatural Lit class my senior year of college, I read The Sandman, but that's the extent of my knowledge. When I saw this book on the new shelf at the library, I decided to read it as my entry for the graphic novel category for my Literary Exploration Reading Challenge. Without a doubt, The Pretenders opened my eyes to a new genre.

THE CHARACTERS
Calexa Rose Dunhill has a lot more guts than I would in her situation. I liked her self-reliance and initiative. Almost immediately, she begins to pull herself together and explore her new surroundings. Her grasp on the potential risks and solutions was very clever; from the first page, she proves herself to be a capable, creative and innovative character. I really enjoyed her because she spent so little time wallowing in the 'why me' phase and kicked it immediately into 'How do I get home' gear.

Her support system slowly develops over the course of the novel. These two particular characters were my favorites. There was so much depth to each of them personally, but The Pretenders only hints at their stories - Calexa is the focus for now. I did enjoy how the support system went two ways - she was helping them as much as they were helping her.

THE PLOT
The beginning of the novel is creative and memorable, setting up the story for The Pretenders and the entire trilogy very carefully. Calexa's careful hunt for her missing past creates sympathy for a character that is only focused on survival. Once Calexa is drawn into the main part of the plot, she gains an identity that was missing in the first few pages. Bringing justice to the killers brings out a different sort of survival mode in her.

Calexa's supernatural talents are definitely a surprise. When they first appeared in the pages, I wondered if she had had these particular talents all along or if they were a part of her new life. I hope this answer lies in the future books - I'd love to discover the truth about Calexa.

THE WRITING
As I mentioned before, I am unaccustomed to graphic novels, so I won't go into great detail here. I became attached to Calexa more than I expected; she was impossible to not cheer for. The colors in the novel itself were fascinating - the different tones and shades to discern between reality and dreams really drew me in.

THE VERDICT
I'm not sure I'm a convert to graphic novels, but I am intrigued. The Pretenders was a pleasant surprise with an intriguing plot, strong main character, and a good set up for the next books in the series.

When I ordered this book there was no overt indication it was a hardcover comic book. Had there been such an indication, the item would not have been ordered.

I purchase many books and I don't need the added distraction of having to decipher whether it is an actual hardcover book or a hardcover comic book.

I am very disappointed in Amazon for not making it plain this was a comic book.

I guess I didn't realize this is a YA graphic novel. Very YA. Young tern or even preteen. If the graphics were more spectacularr it mihtt make up for the tin disloyal and very small segment of story uncovered. I could sum it up in three sentences, maybe two. This was an expensive mistake for me. Since I don't have a young person to gift it to it will be going right to the used book store. I am a huge charlaine Harris fan so this was. Double disappointment.

This is Ms. Harris's first release since ending the Sookie Stackhouse series and I have to say I'm really pleased. I enjoyed both Calexa and the story. I love how the art was dark and bright at the same time. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on book two. Cemetery Girl is a little bit Sookie and a little bit Harper mixing both the supernatural and mystery. With top notch authors like Harris and Golden you know you are in for a treat. A must read, I think fans of both these authors will enjoy this one.

I had to come back and re-read my order....nowhere in it does it say this is a graphic novel. While very pretty, I thought I ordered a Hardback book. This was very very poorly advertised!!

I just received my book on Cemetery Girl and low and behold it is a comic book hard bound.

I was disappointed was looking forward to read an actual book new series.