Review: "Ghost Roast" by Shawnelle Gibbs, Shawneé Gibbs, and Emily Cannon

Ghost Roast by Shawnelle Gibbs, Shawneé Gibbs, and Emily Cannon
Published January 2024 via Versify
★★★★

The last thing Chelsea wants is for her new, popular friends to find out about her dad's ghost-hunting business, but when a midnight adventure lands them in the slammer for the night, her secret's not just out—she'll be separated from her friends and working as a professional ghost-hunter all summer.

And there's just one other thing: while Chelsea's father's equipment can detect ghosts, he can't see them himself...but Chelsea can. And that's where things get complicated.

This graphic novel is wonderful fun—lively, with New Orleans flavor and a cast of entertaining characters. There are a couple of stories at play here, not just Chelsea's but the complicated backstory of the house where she and her father end up working for much of the summer. There are a couple of things about the illustration that took me a moment to get used to (the floating heads feel like something pulled from manga, though I'm not sure if I'm mixing up styles here), but overall the illustrations are beautiful, and I particularly appreciate the detail paid to Chelsea's braids.

While the book doesn't take itself too seriously, it also covers some harsh parts of history (slavery, more general racism, etc.) in a thoughtful manner. There's one dropped plot point that I wish had been returned to (one character wanting the old building open to the public; another character wanting to turn it into a boutique hotel and presumably turn a profit), but...oh gosh, how much fun would a whole series featuring Chelsea and her ghost-busting crew? With the whole of New Orleans to explore—and its rich and complicated history—there would certainly be enough adventures for them, and I'd love to see the main cast again.

Thanks to the authors and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.