Blackwater by Jeannette Arroyo, Ren Graham

 
Blackwater by Jeannette Arroyo, Ren Graham
My Rating: ★★★★

I received a copy from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When Tony Price is drawn to a quiet guy at school, it feels like something is finally going right. Between his dad failing to pay attention to him and his lifelong best friend becoming more and more vicious, Eli Hirsch is the one good thing happening. At least that’s the case until his best friend bullies Eli, his dad continues to barely pay attention to him, and werewolf starts lurking in the woods. Everything happening at once turns his life upside down, but only one thing is making sense: Eli. 

This is an absolutely cute and heartwarming story with a little humor that pulls the heartstrings at times. I received a sampler of the book, but I did read the rest of the book on Jeannette Arroyo’s tumblr. When I first got to the end of the sampler, I was left on a cliffhanger as it ends at a pivotal moment. That’s when I decided to check out the author to see if they have published any other books and discovered the entire novel is posted on their tumblr. Even though they currently have it posted, I fully plan on buying the book because I absolutely love it.

We follow Tony and Eli, who are two teenagers trying to get through their last year of high school. As the story picks up, we learn that Tony’s life may seem to be that of a picture-perfect high school star, but he’s actually a little sad and forever chasing after the approval of his father. Meanwhile, Eli appears to be of the flaky weird kid when he’s actually lonely and living with an autoimmune disease that makes him frequently miss school. The more we get to know them, the more the target audience learns that not everything is as it appears on the surface.

While the overall message of the story is wonderful, the way it is told just brings these characters and the story to life. Other than the beautiful artwork, we’re presented a group of characters who each appear as a stereotype on the surface but are full of depth and not the stereotypes they appeared to be. They each bring a different piece of reality to the table and is mixed with a few paranormal elements. I love the way werewolves and ghosts are presented, though the werewolf lore is lacking.

The more we learn about the characters, the smaller details continue to echo life. Even though Tony and his father don’t have the strongest relationship, I loved both characters along with their family dynamic. We also don’t see much of Eli’s family, but his mom is certainly one of the unkind sides of the world.

Much of the story is hinged on acceptance, rejection, and the fear of rejection. I found this particularly realistic, especially based on the character’s lives and what they are going through. Tony teeters on the edge of accepted and rejected, and then there’s new realizations and circumstances that vastly tip in the direction he hopes it doesn’t go. It made a deep impression on me because it stirred up old feelings from when I was a teenager, so this book definitely touches on some important topics.

All in all, I loved the book and look forward to seeing what the author publishes in the future.