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.

As someone who has read most of Jane Austen’s novels, I’ve gotten used to seeing retellings of Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma – but haven’t really seen anyone take on Northanger Abbey. I felt this was a spot on retelling with enough new elements that it felt fresh and unique. If you haven’t read Northanger Abbey the reading experience wouldn’t be diminished at all, but having read it makes it fun to see all of the mirrored events and themes.

That being said, I thought Cade’s story was compelling and felt authentic. Terciero obviously drew on his personal experience growing up, as he explained in the author’s note. Sadly what Cade and other characters experienced is still all too common an occurrence and I really appreciated Cade getting to speak his truth in the story and really dive deep into not just what may be experienced on the outside as a queer teenager, but also some of the internal struggles that are faced on an everyday basis. Trigger warnings for homophobic and racist language (though it is challenged).

I really enjoyed the overall story and loved the correlating points to Northanger Abbey. Though it was a story with a lot of heavy topics, it was still heartfelt and entertaining.

Happy reading!