Choose Your Own Adventure Eighth Grade Witch

by Andrew E.C. Gaska, E.L. Thomas, Valerio Chiola (Illustrator)

The first official Choose Your Own Adventure graphic novel!

From the hit Choose Your Own Adventure® novels comes a newly adapted graphic novel taking readers on their own visual adventure! Enter a ghoulish world of nightmares, witches, ghosts, and dreaded the eighth grade as Rabbit, the new kid on the block! As Rabbit, readers will get to choose which adventure--or nightmare--they'll embark on. From learning about the mysterious witch Prudence Deadly, to trouncing through spooky graveyards, to meeting ghostly ancestors or channeling some witchcraft with classmates, no one path leads to the same destination.

Will you choose a path that leads to the light? Or will the path you choose lead to a gruesome end? You get to decide!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Middle Grade, Childrens, Horror, Comics, Juvenile

144 pages, Paperback

Published August 24, 2021

About the author

With two decades of experience in the comics and video game industries, author Andrew E.C. Gaska is the Senior Development Editor at Lion Forge LLC. Having previously freelanced for Lion Forge’s Labs division as a script, pitch, and proposal writer, he now generates original IP for the brand, developing both comics and animation projects while working closely with creative teams to guide their vision to fruition.

He is founder/creative director of the guerrilla integrated-media studio BLAM! Ventures, and for the past three years has worked as a freelance franchise consultant to 20TH CENTURY FOX, writing series reference bibles, maintaining continuity, streamlining in-universe canon, and creating detailed timelines for the legacy franchises of ALIEN®, Predator®, and Planet of the Apes®. He was also a sequential storytelling instructor at the School of Visual Arts in New York and for seventeen years served as a visual consultant to Rockstar Games on the Grand Theft Auto series, Red Dead Revolver, and all other releases.

Known as ‘Drew’ to his friends, his online sci-fi and sociopolitical essays on social media and at rogue-reviewer.com draw controversial debate and discussion from all sides. His graphic novels and prose works include Critical Millennium™, Space:1999™, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century®: The Draconian Fire Saga, Conspiracy of the Planet of the Apes®, Tales from the Forbidden Zone: The Unknown Ape™, and the upcoming novel, Death of the Planet of the Apes®.

Drew resides in Gulf Breeze, Florida with his affectionately glutinous feline, Adrien. Find out more about his upcoming projects at www.blamventures.com

Reviews

[Shannara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a great choose your own adventure book!! There are so so many fates available that you can almost guarantee that your story will be different each time you read this. I personally ended up dying a bunch of times!!

The art was really great and so vibrant. I liked how you only rarely saw “yourself” as it added to the experience.

The supporting characters were very animated and entertaining. I laughed out loud multiple times and just had an overall good experience. Even though I kept kicking the bucket. There were a few mildly violent scenes, but nothing terrible. I recommend this as Middle Grade and up, especially those into horror books. Just don’t expect to survive every read through!!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Oni Press for allowing me to read this for me honest and unbiased opinion!!

Check out my cover pic and more reviews on my blog @ https://shannarareads.com/?p=548
Thanks!!

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really tried to give this a chance, but it didn’t work for me at all. I think it’s a great idea and the story idea seems intriguing, especially as a middle grade novel. The actual design of the Choose Your Own Adventure aspect was majorly lacking.

I finished the story the first time in a matter of minutes. I had absolutely no understanding of what had happened. I failed to solve the mystery. I went back and tried again and again and again. Nothing made any kind of sense no matter which decisions I made or paths I took. I began to wonder if I would have liked this kind of thing better if I was in the target audience. The idea of a Choose Your Own Adventure book would have been appealing to me when I was younger. But this one? I think I would have lost patience and been fed up with it even then.

I felt bad for not having read the whole book at that point and wanted to give it a fair chance before rating it. I flipped through every page and hoped to piece together the storyline that way.

It didn’t work.

I’m still super confused about what was supposed to happen in this. Maybe it’s just me, though. I don’t know.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this arc.

[Mehsi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.


I am so sorry, but this book just wasn’t for me. Or well, the premise sounded good, there were some good things in there, but often the choices and the route they took were just odd and felt really off. At times I was confused as what the hell happened? Like when the girl goes back after that meeting and find her house dilapidated but we don’t know why. Or the security guard who suddenly goes in the basement and then comes out half-dead???

I tried reading this book, I tried doing other routes, but I am still so utterly confused. I am still not even sure what happened 80% of the time. I did get that the main thing was the house and the witches, and Astrid being highly sus. But other than that… nope. It just didn’t work out for me.

Which just made me sad as I really really love these kind books. I love Choose Your Own Adventure books. Read plenty of them. Love making maps with routes. I love it when they are spooky and scary and creepy and OMG, what will happen next. I love that this one is a graphic novel, most of the Choose Your Own Adventure books I read were normal novels. But this one needs some serious work. Better routes. Showing clearly why x happened because often it just made zero sense when you went into a route. Less convenient things (like the phone not having a lock or anything). A better understanding what the main route is.

The art though, I quite liked that one. So I am giving the book half a star more.

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

[Camila Lobianco · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a book, it's an experience. It's like a game, you make some decisions and this will decide what ending you should get. The main idea is that you’re the son of two ghost hunters and is now moving to your new house. I can’t say much because the book is basically the experience.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read a book like this, I would surely recommend this for my friends, I really liked a lot of the idea (and also liked the endings)!

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Choose Your Own Adventure: Eighth Grade Witch' by Andrew E.C. Gaska, E.L. Thomas And C.E. Simpson with art by Valerio Chiola is a graphic novel version of the famous book series for a new young audience.

You are Rabbit, a young girl who has just moved in to a new, and presumably haunted house with your parents. Things in the house are not as they seem and there are all kinds of suspicious characters around, including the mysterious witch Prudence Deadly. Your choices may end well or badly for you, so choose wisely.

It's great to have this series back. There are quite a few possible endings, some better and some worse. It's definitely on the creepy side and might disturb some really sensitive young readers. The art is pretty good too.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Oni Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[Teresa Gardner · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me early access to this unique graphic novel.
I thought it really great concept and loved the idea. I loved the artwork, it had such a unique concept and creepy artwork which added to the story. I reread it multiple times to try a variety of stories and outcomes.

I felt like with some of the outcomes there was no explanation as to why that was happening or anything, it was random. I didnt like how simple it was, or how short some of the outcomes were.
I'd have rather less outcomes with each of the being longer to have more story.

I enjoyed the concept but felt like it was missing something and some of the stories were lackluster

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept of this book is a really fun and interactive that allows for the reader to follow the path that interests them most. I enjoyed the fact it is a graphic novel. This is my first choose your own adventure book it was a reading experience I haven't had before which was fun. I think I must have got one of the shorter outcomes that left me slightly confused, so I'll definitely be returning to go down different paths so see what happens.

This book is definitely something I'd be recommending to younger people or adults who want a different read.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me early access to read this. I really enjoyed it.

[Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks you to NetGalley for the ARC of Eighth Grade Witch: Choose Your Own Adventure by Andrew E. C. Gaska, E. L. Thomas, and Valerio Chiola (illustrator), based on the original work by C. E. Simpson.

Eighth Grade Witch was a really fun read and a great concept. The format of this story reminded me of the 80s text-based computer/video games.

There are so many different endings (or fates!) so you are guaranteed a different adventure each time you read and make new choices!

I also really enjoyed the illustrations. The artwork throughout was really pleasing to me and that counts for a lot when I am reading a comic or graphic novel.

[Momo · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 A fun quick read with good art.

I tried to read all of this and find all the paths but there's maybe a fourth that I couldn't figure out the path to but I enjoyed what I did read and I think this would be a perfect read for elementary-middle grade readers.

There were quite a few plot holes throughout the different endings but that's to be expected from this kind of story so I didn't mark it down. I loved how quick this was despite me going in and reading as many paths as I could.

Disclaimer: I read this arc on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. I was a big fan of these growing up and always looked forward to checking them out of the library, so when I saw that it was being created into a graphic novel, I jumped at the chance to read it. The storyline is fun and I really love the art. Looking forward to reading more of them.

[Holly Letson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got the "ghost hunters" ending. It wasn't that exciting. I feel like I would have enjoyed the CYOA book it's based on much more than this GN version.

[Jules Inman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so happy to find a choose your own adventure graphic novel. This was so fun!

[Lizz (Beer, Books and Boos) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy this but it wasn't my favorite. Maybe I didn't read it with the right format and I might pick this back up later on.

[Theediscerning · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the official "Choose Your Own Adventure" books were way inferior to "Fighting Fantasy". There was just something missing, that meant they were more lightweight and a lot less collectable. Still, this is a comic adaptation of one of the more recent titles, pitching you and your folks together with a haunted house and the neighbourhood witches, and perhaps more. I say you, for this tries very hard as usual to keep the second person voice up, to the extent we generally only appear as our hands, or our trainers, or just nudging into frame from outside. Our speech bubbles are mid-image, with no tail. It's a concept that is done quite well once you get used to it, which isn't a long process.

But the book will, like its forefathers, be a stepping-stone en route to greater things. Once more there is the unconvincing choice, the ill-thought tree of the book providing for a less than fabulous arc. Mapping this so I could see where everything went where, to make sure I had all the options covered in a sensible order, I got to two sudden halts that were, rather than "the end" as the caption had it, just the beginning of the story. Someone vanishes mid-conversation, the end. Someone gets slimed, slugged and spews out ants, the end. I could go in to how the regular prose books are much easier to scroll through and find the right bit without spoilers than a visual thing such as a comic (and this is very, dynamically visual) but the problem is the book only really has the one main path, and the rest is just a means to present a bit of interest in the narrative which serves as a full stop. At one point the story goes completely bampot stupid, only to snap out of it all of a sudden, and throw us into a scene that actually happened the night before. That's forgivable, what's not is that the copy I saw is inherently broken, to a point where I doubt every other review that doesn't mention that.

I drew the tree of the book out in full, going down every branch. And I did this twice. I know, I need a life. The map left me with a whopping 28 pages – a fifth of the whole thing – with no access, except a typo that meant I should have been sent to yet another silly death but instead got to see the final page. D'oh. I think you're supposed to get to page 117 and wake up from a dream (which would be a good thing considering how bonkers some of this gets), before trudging through a few more hoops to one of the two win-type endings on offer, but I looked and looked and there is no legitimate way to get to page 117. So this hot mess cannot be recommended, as seen by these eyes. It's a hot mess because it breaks its own rules, with some characters being either good or bad depending which turn you make, it's a hot mess because whatever the right path is, it proves to be a short, jerky one that still doesn't know if you're a witch yourself, a demon-hunter or a scaredy-cat, and it's a hot mess because it is irrefutably unplayable.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

If there’s one thing I love it’s choose your own adventure books, they are so much fun and inventive that it’s impossible not to fall in love with them, this graphic novel it’s all of that and more, the art it’s really well done and complement perfectly with the story.

Rabbit it’s a 13 years old girl who just moved to a haunted house with her parents who are Demonologist, she’s not very excited with this change and right on the beginning strange things starts to happen, a creepy boy searching her parents car, suspicious kids on the neighborhood who seems to be up to something.

This graphic novel has a little bit of everything, ghosts, lizard monsters, zombies, witches and so many secrets it’s for sure a fun reading.

The only thing that annoyed me was the rushed endings I was left wishing for a more detailed story and that could’ve been achieved if there wasn’t so many different endings, it says on the cover it’s 28 but I think it would’ve been better if there were only well done 10 or less.
Either way, this is a perfect read for Halloween.

Thank you Netgalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Jennyfer · Rating 4 out of 5]

8th Grade Witch is classic Choose Your Own Adventure - in a graphic novel format. I grew up with the Choose Your Own Adventure books, so this brought back a whole lot of nostalgia for me, but the new format will definitey appeal to younger readers.

In classic CYOA form, you are the main character, Rabbit Hawthorne (so the graphics are from your POV), and you have just moved in to a haunted home.. The local witch coven is out to get you, and you must decipher the clues in order to survive. I died far too often, but that's half the fun of these books. It is creepy, and spooky and overall a fun read!

I will put a caveat though: the CYOA books work best in paperback format, for ease of flipping to the necessary pages without spoilers. It did lose a bit of its magic in digital form, but that's a minor quibble.

Many thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

[Sassy Sarah Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. This was a lot of fun and I've never done a Choose Your Own Adventure graphic novel before, but I enjoyed it. Review to come.

[G · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an 80's kid, I have to say the CYOA books were simply THE BEST, and I still have a major soft spot for this kind of book. I really wanted to love "Eighth Grade Witch", and while some of the storylines absolutely were fun, there were others that felt a bit... lacking, or, at the other end of the spectrum, rather convoluted. This wasn't helped by the artwork, which I found too busy at times as well as hard to follow -- I think the book would have benefitted from a simpler, "cleaner" approach to actually get across what was happening to whom. (There was a line of CYOA graphic novels aimed at kids a while back, the "Twisted Journeys" books, which handled the graphic aspect a lot better, IMO.) While I wasn't too wild about the "eeeeew" factor of some of the storylines, I'm sure 13 y.o. me would have been delighted; still, these might be a bit much for certain kids. I loved seeing a friendly bull terrier pop up, as I really love these guys, but... it felt kind of pointless, I guess? Also, the Deadly Nightshades -- what was up with those girls? They got just the one storyline?!? I for one would have loved to spend more time with Fang (and a tad less with over-the-top Astrid).
One *major* issue I had, and of course it's a lethal one for this type of book, was the fact that the ARC suffered from some broken links; I usually map the progress I'm making via a tree structure so I don't miss out on any of the endings (yes, I'm that person), and sadly there were some dead ends as well as sections that simply could not be accessed by following the offered links. I'm specifically talking about the "Great great great grandmother" storyline (which did not make sense to me AT ALL), the "Three doors" (where did those come from? I had a really hard time making sense of the artwork), and the Zora/"Teacup, you smell like lavender" bit. These can only be read if you leaf through the book chronologically, which of course is not the way to do it.
There's also an obvious typo on p.55, where it says to turn to page 131 when in fact it has to be page 101. Also: page 36 should link to page 106 instead of p.136. I really, really hope these issues will be fixed by the time the finished book is published, or there will be some fairly unhappy readers out there.
All in all, I found this a great choice for the R.L. Stine crowd (as long as the issues mentioned above are fixed); maybe they'll even be able to figure out the artwork.

[Donald Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

1st line: "Wake up, Rabbit! We're here ..."

Prose (Story): The first official graphic novel, based on the popular Choose Your Own Adventure series of books we all grew up with, is here! Rabbit, newly-arrived to town with her ghost-hunting parents, finds eighth grade a bit hectic when it starts off with a possible haunted house (hers) ... a local witch from the town's dark past who seems determined to come back from the dead ... and the gaggle of witchcraft-practicing girls - fellow students of Rabbit's - who seem determined to help her! With 28 different endings possible, it's up to YOU, the reader, to decide Rabbit's fate (or fates) in this spooky, entertaining supernatural mystery for fans of the orginal hit novels!

Don's (Review): Though not obsessed with the Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid, I did enjoy them - even when seemingly-smart choices got me killed faster than a spider in a bathtub. I think it was pretty brilliant, for this first oficial graphic novel based on the books, for the writers to actually choose a CYOA story that was already part of the canon: this tale is based on the original by C. E. Simpson, which means that even in a slicker, more ... well, graphic ... graphic novel format, the action and story itself very much retains the flavor of the original novels we loved growing up. It's also nice having visuals with each scenario, now; whether you choose well and delve deeper into story subplots and new characters, or get turned into a giant bug by your third go-round and are out of the game, here it's displayed in richly colorful, old-school comic book-like illustrations (though painted and colored with strong, more modernized tones that add depth) by artist Valerio Chiola. The graphics, while certainly not adult-rated, don't let up, either; if you ,as Rabbit, choose wrong and die (or when/if any other character buys it, for that matter), very little is left to the imagination depicting their fate. I made sure to go through every ending and every page of this clever bit of nostalgia, which somehow feels timely today yet very reminiscent of when these books were in their hey-day, and can definitely label this a "must-read" for fans of the original series - and a "should-read" for anyone else wanting to have a little fun at controling the narrative of a spooky, witchy story ... even when it kills you! Very nicely done. (Available August 24) 4.5/5 stars

NOTE: I received a free ARC of this title from NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited when I came across this book while volunteering at the library last week. Once a month, I clean the children’s graphic novel sections at two of the branches that our library has in town, and when I came across this graphic novel, I immediately snagged it up. This book brought back so many memories of reading the smaller paperbacks of Choose Your Own Adventure stories with my own children when they were younger. I really had high hopes for this graphic novel. Unfortunately, this book didn’t work for me.

I was totally lost in this book, I mean really lost. I started it multiple times and took many of the different options that were offered within its pages, but it still didn’t make any sense to me. I even backtracked and thought that perhaps I had landed on the wrong page and had read the “If you want …… go to page XX” wrong but nope, I was just lost. It felt that when I page hopped, there was no connection to the previous page that I had just read, which was unfortunate.

I liked the storyline as I thought it could have lots of different possibilities. Thirteen-year-old Rabbit has just moved into a new city, into a new house, that has been rumored to be haunted. From day one, things are a bit weird and I’m not sure if she’s a witch or if she’s not but that’s just one of the questions that she’s confronted with. There seems to be a lot happening in Rabbits new surroundings, bits and pieces that I tried to put together, but it was the illustrations that drew me in. The illustrations were great, and I liked the variety of text fonts that were used throughout the book as they made the scenes pop.

I remember loving the original Choose Your Own Adventure books in fact, I still have some of the books that I used to read with my own children. I will try to find another one of these graphic novels and try it again, as perhaps it was the story itself that I couldn’t follow. Perhaps I am better off imagining these books in my head instead of seeing them in a graphic novel. This book, I’m not a fan. 2 stars

[D.K. Hundt · Rating 4 out of 5]

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE: EIGHTH GRADE WITCH – by Andrew E.C. Gaska, E.L. Thomas, & C.E. Simpson

‘This book will be different from others you’ve encountered ….’

‘For here, YOU, and YOU ALONE, are in charge of what happens on your adventure into the witchy world located on Cherry Tree Lane …’

Your choices may lead you to a thrilling magical ending or a disastrous deadly consequence with the turn of a page. But don’t fret! You can go back and make another choice, alter the path of YOUR story, and change the result.

My adventure begins as Rabbit; I’m thirteen years old and with my parents at our spooky new house on Cherry Tree Lane in Graves End, Brooklyn…on the day before Halloween! *Creeeeeppppy!*

‘Isn’t this Great,’ Mom said.

Inside, the house is dark, dirty-looking, and in disrepair. White dusty sheets are draped over the furniture.

‘It just needs a bit of love and care, that’s all,’ Mom said.

‘And a whole lot of elbow grease,’ Dad adds, with a sigh.

This place is huge, much bigger than I expected. As I pick out my new room, something doesn’t feel quite right—which is perfect for my ghost-hunting parents.

As I look out my bedroom window, I see a strange man opening the trunk of my parent’s car… That’s when things start to get really weird, and my adventure begins…

Let’s just say, I did I not choose wisely, and was met with a tragic end—more than once. *sigh*

I’m going to keep reading until I can figure out what the story is behind Felix and his seemingly twisted sister, Astrid.

P.S. Don’t forget to feed my, I mean YOUR cat, Teacup, between adventures. ;)

‘Will you choose a path that leads to the light?’

‘Or will the path you choose lead to a gruesome end?’

‘You get to decide!’

Thank you, NetGalley and Oni Press, for providing me with an eBook of CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE: EIGHTH GRADE WITCH at the request of an honest review.

Reading age: ‎ 12 years and up
Source: NetGalley eBook (Archived) Paperback/Own
Published: Oni Press

[Amethista (Witch in Antwerpen) · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of the book was great: an interactive ghost story set in a haunted house. Unfortunately, the execution is, well, quite chaotic.

Perhaps it's because it was provided to me as an e-book, but when trying it out the first time, the only feeling I got when skipping to the high-numbered pages to continue the story based on my choices, was the feeling of missing-out. I skipped through all these gorgeously illustrated pages with intricate details and storytelling, only to find out my initial choices only left me with some ten pages left before it telling me this was the end of my specific story. Were it not an e-book, or a graphic novel for that, I would not have had this feeling.

However, I do like the story the book starts with. I tried a few other storylines, and they're all vastly different. And I do admire that kind of depth!

In all honesty, I do like the idea of this book. But for it to be more enjoyable for me, it would have had to have a bit more longevity to it. Some more pages (most stories don't even reach twenty pages), some follow ups (what DID happen when the protagonist got possessed and was presumably ordered to tp their house?!), and perhaps a bit less storylines to choose from to balance it out a bit more.

I think it still would be a great gift for teenagers who are into scary stories (I know I would have been interested when I was younger!), and definitely as a real copy instead of electronic, so I would still recommend it for the right audience. Too bad that didn't include me!

*Review based on an e-ARC provided to me by the publisher and NetGalley.

[E. Marie Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

"This book will be different from others you’ve encountered… for here, you, and you alone, are in charge of what happens on your adventure into the witchy world located on Cherry Tree Lane."

TW: Violence. Blood. Death.


This choose your own adventure book follows Rabbit, a middle-schooler, who’s just moved into a new house the day before Halloween. The house is not all it seems, and neither are the new neighbors, all of whom seem to know the mystery of Prudence Deadly, and some who may be helping the ancient witch! This choose your own adventure book contains several twisting storylines, from a graveyard jaunt to the exploration of a creepy cellar.

I received an advance review copy of the book, and so I expect the version I read will not be the same as the one available for print. With that in mind, I found several of the numerous storylines seemed to end very suddenly, and often unsatisfyingly. However, there is a great variety in the possible pathways and I found it very entertaining to attempt to find all the endings. The artwork itself takes a few pages to get used to; it tries very hard not to show Rabbit, but rather through their eyes, but I think it all comes together nicely in the end.

I did find it to be rather violent, with a girl getting her head popped off by a spider in one scene , but I don’t have children so I can’t recommend an age group.

Overall, I found this to be a fun way to pass a few hours, and I hope the final version is even better!

[Leila]

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review

This was a very fun comic. I think chose-your-own-adventures are always a lot of fun, and I always try to find all of the possible outcomes.

I would definitely recommend this to kids who are interested in witches or similar spooky themes.

I found a lot of the paths to be pretty abrupt. However, I can see that being fun for many readers even if it was not my personal favorite style.

I did have a few issues with this book that I hope will not be present in the final copy. However, I do feel like it is important to share the issues that I came across. First, navigating this choose-your-own-adventure book in a digital format was very difficult for me. I found it difficult to remember which pages I needed to return to in order to try to get a different ending, and found myself starting the whole story again just to find the right page number. It looks like there is a plan to include a map in the final book, so hopefully this makes that process easier.

I also think there was a typo with the page numbers in at least one scene. My reason for thinking this is that there is an important page that leads to many different endings (page 117), but I could not find any path that led to this page being an option. If this is a typo, I hope it gets fixed, because the endings that branched from this section were very interesting.

CW: Violence, Blood, Death

[Wafflepirates · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review*

Most people are familiar with choose your own adventure books, and this first jump for the brand into graphic novels is a great addition to the series. The main concept revolves around Rabbit, an eighth grader whose ghost hunting parents just moved them into a super haunted house. The house allegedly belonged to a notorious and rather villainous witch, and with the book set around Halloween, there's a lot of spooky events that take place. The book features a ton of different endings, a mix of bad, good, and neutral, though it seemed like the bad ends outweighed the others. There's two things that the creator did that I really liked: for most of the action, the main character is out of frame, forcing the reader to look at things from their pov. I felt that this provided a nice layer of immersion. Also, all of the ends can be read together to form an overarching plot. Some provide crucial information that impacts how you may choose in a different plot line, and reading through all of them will help readers find the 'truth' of the story, though I wouldn't say any one is the true ending. Overall, this was an enjoyable read, many of the endings were sufficiently creepy and there was enough of a connecting plotline to make seeking out all the endings compelling.

[Paulina M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are Rabbit, an 8th grader who has just moved to a new house in a new neighbouhood! It is trick night and the possibilities for tonight are endless!

How will our night go? Will we learn about the mysterious witch Prudence Deadly, explore spooky graveyards, meet ghostly ancestors or channel some witchcraft with classmates!

Choose Your Own Adventure Eighth Grade Witch is the perfect book to get your middle graders and teens in the mood for Halloween!

I read this book with my 9-year-old, and we both had a lot of fun. So far, we have done two adventures to the end and can’t wait to explore more! I’ll be picking up this book when it’s released!

I just wanted to take some time to praise the graphics! They were fun, vivid, atmospheric, and diverse!

I never considered a “choose your own adventure” as a graphic novel - but it works! It will be hard to go back to just text now!

Disclaimer: I first read it as an ARC. In exchange for an honest review, I am thankful to Oni Press, Andrew E.C. Gaska, E.L. Thomas, C.E. Simpson, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of Choose Your Own Adventure: Eighth Grade Witch.

#ChooseYourOwnAdventureEighthGradeWitch, #NetGalley, #OniPress, #Horror, #Chooseyourownadventure, #graphicnovel,

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to love choose your own adventure books as a child so I jumped at the chance to read and review one for Netgalley. This is a graphic novel so it’s a lot different to what I read in the past.We begin as Rabbit as she moves into her new house and have to decide the choices she makes. Does she follow that trail? Does she stop the evil?

I enjoyed this book, I liked the idea of it being a graphic novel. I read it a few times, trying to find all the endings and I still can’t stop myself from wanting to read more, try a different path. It’s an intriguing story, with a few threads to follow. Sometimes you might have an abrupt ending as is the case with the choose your own adventure books, other times you’ll go down a weird path. It’s a fun book and it’s got me hooked on these adventure books again.

Note: I did find some errors, the page I was sent to did not follow on the story, I'm guessing this is because it's an uncorrected proof copy. But the format and the mistakes did let the book down, hopefully the mistakes will be corrected before it's published.

[Leigh F · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this graphic novel through netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

When I stumbled upon this on the netgalley website I thought to myself 'why not give it a try and see if they truly are as amazing as you remember.' I was not disappointed. From the moment I began reading this graphic novel I was taken back by how amazing the artwork is and how it just makes your eyes flow from panel to panel waiting for what is coming next. Intermix that with the choose your own adventure style of the story and boom you have a combination for success.

Absolutely loved the story and being able to choose how I wanted the character to react. I found myself completely absorbed in the story and the characters.

Highly recommend this for anyone who was a fan as I was of the choose your own adventure novels, and anyone who is just wanting to read something that is visually striking and also immersive.

[Amy (novelteahappyme) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Witches, middle-grade drama and Choose Your Own Adventure! What more could a reader - young or old - want?!?!?

My excitement knew no bounds upon opening this graphic novel update of the original 80’s Choose Your Own Adventure tale about witches, small towns, and dastardly decision-making. The illustrations were perfectly spooky and added a great visual element to the somewhat simple story although created unwanted spoilers when “flipping” to the page that revealed the outcome of my story choice and decision.

Ultimately I wanted to love this graphic novel re-incarnation much more than I did. However, I don’t believe there is any fault on the author or illustrator here. It’s wholly a matter of personal preference and for me, the Choose Your Own Adventure style just plays more effectively in novel form.

Sincere thanks to Netgalley for an advanced readers copy in lieu of an honest review.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great! I've read a few Choose Your Own Adventure books before, but I never thought that reading them in a comic/graphic novel style would make them even better — I'm glad someone thought of it!

I reread this story many times, each time changing decisions I made in my previous runs. It felt like a new story every time. Some leading to spooky endings, mysterious endings, or just normal endings.

What makes this book so great though, is it feels super immersive. Since most of the panels are drawn in a way that makes you feel like you are the main character. I loved this the most out of the book, and I never knew I needed this when reading a Choose Your Own Adventure.

Overall, I really loved the story and artwork. It's definitely a book that you can reread and each time you sit down to read the story it will never feel stale. I can't wait to read more books with this set up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for the ARC.