Snapdragon: Spoiler-Free Graphic Novel Review

I went to the library the other day and I picked up a copy of Snapdragon by Kat Leyh on a whim. I did not have it on my TBR, but when I saw it I had to pick it up and read it! The cover looked really cute and I have been craving graphic novels recently. They're easy and quick reads and the stories are almost always so relatable to me! Plus the artwork is gorgeous.

 

Snapdragon is an urban fantasy, and is about a girl named Snapdragon who has trouble fitting in at her school, and she is obsessed with witch movies. Her dog Good Boy goes missing, and she finds him in the house of an old woman who lives secluded from everyone in her area. Snapdragon thinks the old lady is a witch, and when she goes to her house to get Good Boy back, she sees the lady has skeletons of animals everywhere, and freaks out thinking the old lady will eat her dog. Luckily the old lady doesn't eat her dog, and Snapdragon forms a bond with her after rescuing some baby opossums from her school and gets her help taking care of them. The old lady--named Jacks--reveals that her actual job is to collect roadkill and preserve their skeletons and sell them on the internet to people. Snapdragon begins to help Jacks with skeleton preserving as well, and they learn more about each other and become close friends. Along the way, Snapdragon befriends a transgender girl named Lulu, who also shares her interest in witches. There is also an overarching mystery about a one-eyed fox, and Jacks also has some past connection with someone in Snapdragon's family. That's where I'll stop it before it gets into spoiler territory.

This was such a good book! I admit I did find Snapdragon kind of annoying at first, but once she starts opening up to Jacks and Lulu, she really evolves into a kinder, more understanding, mature person. The rest of the characters were great, too. My personal favorite characters were Jacks and Lulu. Jacks is really eccentric and serious, but also kind, and Lulu was so sweet. Snapdragon's mother Violet is also a great single mother. The emotional pieces later in the book tugged at my heartstrings, especially when we learn Jacks's backstory.

I gave this four stars out of five stars because while I liked the overall story and characters, I did not expect animal corpses to play a huge part it in. Talking about animal corpses can be gross to me, but that's the natural world 🤷. But there are plenty of live animals in it to balance it out, and there are also beautiful descriptions and illustrations of animal spirits and how they are all around us, so it works!

Oh yeah, and there is plenty of LGBTQ+ representation too. I already said Lulu was transgender, and I think Snapdragon is nonbinary, and two important characters are lesbians. 

Would I recommend this book? Yes! If you like urban fantasy with witches and stories about finding new best friends and lots of queer representation, pick up this book.