Warm Blood Vol 1 by Josh Tierney

This book is definitely for the fans of the web comic, so if your students/patrons are not specifically looking for this title, go ahead and skip it.

Warm blood follows Penny, a first year student at Greenwood High who wants to become a video game designer.  She befriends a few classmates and seems to be privy to insider info on the weird happenings at her public school - most notably of which is a murderer on the loose. No one else seems to be that put-off by the murders that happen at this school.  Likewise, Penny tries not to make a big deal out of the fact that she sees weird things at night, like footprints she didn't make, or strange figures outside her window or in her own bedroom.  Rather, her days are more consumed with appeasing her friends, such as Eve who has a crush on her, or her two friends from elementary school who now attend an all-girls private school.  

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Tierney has each different scene illustrated by a different artist, and this jars the reader at the beginning of the book until some visual cues are standardized across artists, and readers can pick up on who is who in the story.  The choppiness of the narration seems unnecessary, as well as the amount of narrative holes.  Why is Penny the only one who can see certain things? even though she's having a slumber party of many other girls? Why is Penny unfazed by the boy who continues to confess to the murders of their classmates?  These questions may be answered in the web side of this webcomic, or they may not.  Regardless, they are distracting and detract from the storyline that could otherwise be really sweet.  This coming-of-age novel lacks in the expository elements that help readers care what happens when aliens show up or supernatural forces threaten the group of friends.

The publisher rating is 13+, which seems to adequately describe the appropriateness of this title.  There is blood, as you can guess from the cover image.

Sara's Rating: 5/10
Suitability level: Grades 7-12

This review was made possible with an advanced reader copy from the publisher through Edelweiss.

Tags: Rating: 5/10, Suitability: Middle School, Suitability: High School, Graphic Fiction, Horror, School Age ​