Review Detail

UNICORN BOY AND THE SLUMBER PARTY OF DOOM is an engaging graphic novel adventure about friendship and being true to yourself. Brian Reyes (Unicorn Boy) feels a bit different, and not only because of his unicorn horn. He is trying to find his place in the world. When he receives an invitation to a unicorn-only sleepover, he is both excited and nervous to meet others like him. However, things don't go quite as smoothly as he would have hoped.

What I loved: While this is obviously full of magic and fantasy, middle grade readers will relate to Brian well. They know the feeling of being different and trying to find your place in the world (even without a unicorn horn on their heads). Brian is a compelling character, and his story is engaging throughout. The former ruler of the underworld stuck in his stomach is also an entertaining character with some thoughtful points throughout the story. Other, new characters add to the fun of the read throughout.

The story is quite imaginative and magical with a great dose of humor and action/adventure along the way. It pulls the reader in from the start and keeps them hooked on wondering what will happen next and how Brian and friends will handle it. This reads like a superhero story with plenty of intrigue, problems to solve, and magical powers to do it with. The action scenes kept the story moving quickly. New settings in this book were very cool, particularly the library.

The graphic novel is very well done with lots of color and details in each panel. The characters are expressive and the images tell the story along the way. The dialogue is never overwhelming on any of the pages, and it is easy to follow along with. There's a fantastic use of color to set the emotions of the scenes along with the expressive characters.

Final verdict: UNICORN BOY AND THE SLUMBER PARTY OF DOOM! is an entertaining, imaginative, and relatable graphic novel that I highly recommend for middle grade readers who enjoy unlikely superheroes, humor, and magic!