Cute! Not a whole lot to it; just a fluffy little tale about a gothic romance-obsessed girl getting swept through a dimensional crack into another universe where she has to fight an evil bile creature to save three brothers and a cute lesbian hermitess/housekeeper couple. Nothing deeper than that. Grumpy Laurence is my hero. ( )

A quirky take on a gothic fantasy, this graphic novel features Haley, our teenage heroine and gothic novel expert, battling to save a castle that is under siege by unknown evil forces. The world Garrity creates is strange, yet familiar and the characters are silly, snarky, and fun. ( )

A smart, funny, snarky, meta take on the gothic romance, with a feisty maiden, brooding brothers, ghosts, inchoate evil, and a pocket universe. So enjoyable! ( )

A farcical tweaking of gothic romance and steampunk that amused me with its nonsense and silliness. Amongst the many characters who become endearing despite their annoying personalities, the housekeeper is one to watch.

It sort of reminded me of Don Rosa's Uncle Scrooge books in looks and tone. ( )

Gothic romance novel fans or anti-fans will get a kick out of the satire and fun in this quick paced and original graphic novel.

Haley loves gothic romance novels and catches negative comments for it at school. When she dives in a river to save a drowning man, she enters a parallel universe...one just like her novels. While she's convinced, at first, it's her gothic romance dreams come true, things take a slightly different twist. Soon, she's not only dealing with rifts through the universe but an evil, which she has no clue how she can defeat.

Although I read the blurb, this read still was anything but expected. Haley is a wonderful character—overly dramatic, a true dreamer, and yet, a carries a bit of bite when needed. Her 'over-the-top' way of seeing life is endearing and funny, especially when the other characters flow in totally different directions of their own. Every one is ridiculous, and still, it's hard not to cheer for them the entire way through.

The illustrations are well done and make the tale very easy to follow. They add all the drama and settings needed to make this novel work. They allow the extreme moments and humor to wiggle its way into the drama nicely. I enjoyed flipping through these.

This is an odd tale and did make me raise an eyebrow more than a few times. So, don't expect normal because this is not it. The science fiction additions twist the satire in very original directions...and yet, it's addictive. Even when I really wondered about several twists, I didn't want to put this one down because I was curious what would happen next. ( )