It's alright. Kept forgetting it was in Graphic novel format and that's an entirely different media from books (which is how I'm used to receiving Charlaine's products). ( )

This story wants more telling -- and perhaps that will occur in the next couple of books, as Calexa regains her memory, but this installment is bare, repetitive, frankly kind of boring (which is an amazing statement given that there are satanists, murders, and a dreadful mystery of identity at the center of it) but even Calexa's sudden and mysterious powers don't really lend any oomph to her character or the book. ( )

A teen girl wakes up in a cemetery one day. She knows she’s supposed to be dead but she can’t remember who tried to kill her or why. She can’t even remember her own name. The girl eventually decides to call herself Calexa Rose Dunhill. Afraid to venture out into the world and ask for help, Calexa stays in the cemetery and steals just enough from nearby houses to keep herself alive. One night, she witnesses something she shouldn’t have seen, endangering her existence yet again.

I expected something like The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, which sets the bar awfully high. There’s a superficial similarity in the plot summary but that’s as far as any resemblance goes.

There’s plenty of action to kick off this trilogy but it’s action that doesn’t seem to be relevant to the main story. I didn’t know much more about Calexa at the end than I did at the beginning. She did drive me a little crazy in the way that girls in horror movies do. Where on earth is her common sense? In some ways she makes intelligent choices but in other ways, I had to wonder if she wanted to get caught.

The art was decent but I did feel that all the girls looked fairly similar, as did all the boys. That could be my fault for reading too quickly but I just looked through again and still feel the same way.

Overall, this was pretty forgettable. I won’t go out of my way to finish the trilogy but if I come across the second book while browsing the library shelves, I’ll pick it up. ( )

This wasn't what I thought it was going to be, but I did like it. At first I was a little annoyed at Cemetery Girl, but she worked it out in the end. Pretty quick read. ( )

Cemetery Girl#1: The Pretenders
by Charlaine Harris and Christopher Golden
2014
Ink Lit
3.0 / 5.0

This is a young adult graphic novelization of Charlaine Harris popular series. The cors and illustrations are really well done. For me, the story falls flat.
Calexa Rose Dunhill awoke in a cemetery, bruised and bloody, with no memory of who she is or who left her for dead. She lives in a crypt and avoiding humans. One night she witnesses teenagers commit a murder and vandalize the gravestones. The victims spirit rises from her body and possess Calexa and she is filled with the memories and visions that are not her own. ( )