Northranger
Rey Terciero
Illustrated by Bre Indigo
HarperTeen
Published June 6, 2023
Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads
About Northranger
In this swoony and spooky teen summer romance graphic novel set on a Texas ranch, sixteen-year-old Cade Muñoz finds himself falling for the ranch owner’s mysterious and handsome son, only to discover that he may be harboring a dangerous secret.
Cade has always loved to escape into the world of a good horror movie. After all, horror movies are scary–but to Cade, a closeted queer Latino teen growing up in rural Texas–real life can be way scarier.
When Cade is sent to spend the summer working as a ranch hand to help earn extra money for his family, he is horrified. Cade hates everything about the ranch, from the early mornings to the mountains of horse poop he has to clean up. The only silver lining is the company of the two teens who live there–in particular, the ruggedly handsome and enigmatic Henry.
But as unexpected sparks begin to fly between Cade and Henry, things get… complicated. Henry is reluctant to share the details of his mother’s death, and Cade begins to wonder what else he might be hiding. Inspired by the gothic romance of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey and perfect for fans of Heartstopper and Bloom comes a modern love story so romantic it’s scary.
My Review
I really wanted to read this book when it came out, but my review calendar was out of control, so I bought a copy to add to my TBR stack, and was super excited to get to it finally. NORTHRANGER is inspired by Jane Austen’s classic Northanger Abbey, and like that novel, it features a main character who loves spooky stories. The lines between his favorite movies and real life begin to blur in some interesting ways, giving the story a suspenseful edge without any true horror elements. It’s got more of the fun, ghost stories by the campfire as a kid vibe to it.
I really liked both Cade and Henry as characters. They have really different personalities, and the panels show a lot of facets to them. I also thought the way the story showed the tension between Cade and his family because of his identity and how he internalized pressure and judgment from them was very well done.
It took me a while to finally get to read this one, but I’m so glad I did. Terciero is definitely an author I’ll be following for future books. I can see HEARTSTOPPER readers liking this one, especially the sweet M/M romance elements.
Content Notes
Recommended for Ages 14 up.
Representation
Cade is Latine and his stepdad and younger sister are also Black. Cade and another character are gay.
Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.
Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two boys.
Spiritual Content
None.
Violent Content
Cade hears rumors about a possible murder and coverup. Brief racist and homophobic comments appear in the book as well.
Drug Content
One character is an alcoholic and drinks in several scenes.
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Oh gosh—I had so many thoughts when this book came out, Kasey, and I just pulled up my review, and I’m slightly horrified because I gave *way too much* plot away! Thank you for having way more discretion in talking about it…
The queer rep in this book made me SO SO excited, especially since this was one of the first graphic novel romances I had read (I hadn’t tried Heartstopper yet).
I am still a little frustrated by the ending, especially when it comes to Cade’s response to another character’s mental health—it’s realistically imperfect, but I wish it pushed back and set a better example. I’m curious what your thoughts were!
I’m so thrilled someone else has finally read this book—I haven’t been able to rant and blather about it before! Thanks so much for your thoughtful review, as always, and enjoy your week!
Haha! It’s so hard to balance what you reveal in a review, I think. Especially if you have critique or commentary on story elements. I find that really tricky, too. Yes! I was excited about the queer rep, too, though I’d already read Heartstopper. You know…. I’m glad you pointed out the mental health response. I remember feeling weird about it, and I wish I’d done a better job processing that because it didn’t even make it into my review. Boo. I agree that it’s imperfect and realistic. I think sometimes authors hope that fosters discussion about mental health. And it’s unfair to pressure a writer to perfectly represent everything all the time in a story. I get that. But yeah… I find it frustrating when there isn’t at least someone saying, hey maybe this isn’t a great response? Something. Anyway. I’m glad you enjoyed the book! Hope you have a great week, too!