Tara O'Connor

The dark graphics and limited color palette go far in both sharing and exploring the darkness that is the story unfolding as well as the emotions swirling around our leading lady, Dee. She’s suffered a terrible loss, and I admire her courage in coming back “home” to try and lend a helping hand to the search for her twin. Her home life wasn’t a walk in the park, but once the adults stepped out of their heads and into their hearts, they were able to come together enough to assist show more rather than resist. Speaking of resistance, it’s pretty much EVERYWHERE in this small town, from the disappearances to the big company trying to take over the pinelands and the severe lack of support the townspeople have in fighting them; it’s a battlefield that once was a town. Add to that the strange disappearances, occurrences, and things that go bump in the night, and you’ve got a mystery you didn’t know you were taking on...with the potential for DIRE consequences!

I was taken aback by the strong environmental messages that ran right alongside the story because they made clear the changes that needed to be made while at the same time nature (and something darker) was whispering the same message for change. I was befuddled as to the motives of those involved because money is one thing, but I just knew there was something more sinister lurking right before our eyes. I appreciated the myth/lore brought to life with a greater purpose, as well as the yin and the yang represented. I agree with the tag line on the book...monsters aren’t always who or what they appear to be. The SCARIEST of them all can be sitting right beside you and you may never even know it...


**copy received for review; opinions are my own show less

“Everyone always tries to blame the worst parts of society on something beyond themselves… As if there’s some larger cause responsible, but the truth is, child… humans are rotten.”

Love the spotlight on (teen) activism, fighting against pipelines, and the body diversity, but the story felt very flat and erratic to me. I do like the twist on the monster though.

A timid iteration of the monkey paw/careful-what-you-wish-for trope. I was sort of getting drawn into the mythology and characters and might have gone for a three-star rating if not for the abrupt and nothing ending. If the characters are going to halfheartedly shrug things off, why shouldn't I as a reader?

In the wake of a divorce, Tara O'Connor crowdfunded the creation a book about her journey to Ireland to research her family roots. Turns out she's not much of a researcher, and her travelogue/graphic diary turns into Eat Pray Love 2: Irish Boogaloo, essentially an Instagram of her eating, drinking, and getting laid as she tours the country.

It's not bad, but I just couldn't care.