This book was my first ever ARC, and I really enjoyed it! It would really appeal to fans of similar supernatural tales, like Gravity Falls, while still being its own original story. It’s a very fun and funny read that’s appropriate for most ages. My only negative points would be that the name only comes into relevance 2/3 of the way through the book, which is a bit confusing, and that some characters can get a bit annoying at times. Overall, I really recommend this to anyone looking for a fun graphic novel read, especially those who have children/younger siblings to share it with.

A cute story about a teenage girl named Louie who's small town of Southborough in California is famously known for sightings of Bigfoot. Sadly, with new technology and less sightings, the town is loosing its tourism and being bought out by big tech. It's up to Louie to save her town and her parent's business from going under.

I enjoyed the art and the storyline was fun, but it seemed a bit superficial. Louie is supposed to be a senior in high school and acts a lot younger than she is. To me, the whole story seemed like it was written by a middle schooler who is portraying what they think high school would be like. That aside, it was fun and silly enough for me to enjoy.

Lovely story and art. I loved the bright vibrant tones and the cute character designs. The story didn't leave any loose ends, took some turns that kept the story interesting and moving forward while also providing a nice sense of closure. 

A nice comfort read to curl up with and escape with for a while.

*I received an eARC copy in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley.

A very cute graphic novel :) It is a quick, light read that I finished in one sitting. I found that the story didn't have a lot of depth, but there was enough going on to keep my attention. The artstyle is very cartoony and fun. The colour palette is not my fave, but the character designs are nice. I found the main character a little self-centered (sometimes she gets mad for no reason), but hey, she's a teen.

Absolutely loved this! So whimsical and fun. I loved the art style and the colour palettes. And Louie reminded me of the naive teenage determination that we find in all of us, that we can put the world to rights, and is ultimately flattened by adulthood. 

We should all be more like Louie.

Louie is a fierce, passionate high schooler who cares deeply for her struggling small town. Southborough is a tourist destination made famous by a sasquatch sighting decades ago. Businesses have depended upon the tourist income for survival, but traffic to Southborough has slowed in recent years. The town has become a target for a tech mogul who begins buying up businesses and properties as a future headquarters location. Louie’ dads own Squatch Burger, a local eatery, and the latest target of Start-up.com’s land grab. Louie makes it her mission to save her dads’ business, and her entire town, from disappearing forever. 

Louie is high spirited and has a pretty short fuse. There are several narrative montages that are a little hard to follow, like one of Louie trying out many pranks in order to bring back tourism. There are some pretty big leaps narratively speaking. Many of the threads get woven together by the end, but while it’s happening, the storyline seems a bit fractured. that contribute to a disjointed plot line. Regardless, this fun story has some really appealing elements, including quite a few 90s pop culture references, wholesome LGBTQ+ representation, and a positive representation of the charm of a small town. This title would be good for fans of Lumberjanes or The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. 

The publisher rates this book for ages 12+, which seems appropriate. Younger grades may still appreciate the basic storyline, but the references and allegorical jokes may be lost on them.

Sara’s Rating: 7/10
​Suitability Level: Grades 6-8

This graphic novel is hilarious, emotional and inspiring. The main character Louie sets out to save her town, famous for a sasquatch, from the greedy grasp of an upstart tech firm. 

Good bits:
- Louie feisty, fierce and passionate. Her personality is infectious and you come to really feel.for her. The other characters are well thought out and have depth to them.
- The artwork is perfect and compliments the story. It's bright and flamboyant and the expressions of the characters are captured very well.
- The plot is hilarious and heartening. It makes you think about what means a lot and how to find contentment. This is a book that affirms your dreams and encourages reaching for the stars.
- The little references to pop culture in the book made me smile.

What could have been better?:
- I need more! I read this in one sitting and then read it over again. I need more Louie and Southborough in my life!

Thanks to Oni Press and Netgalley for the E-ARC copy of Martian Ghost Centaur. This was enjoyable from start to finish. This was humorous and heart-warming. I enjoyed the family dynamics between Louie and her dads. The art style was was colourful and helped enhance the story. Cannot wait to read more from this author.

Louie lives in a quirky little small town called Southborough. The town is suffering an economic downturn and lack of tourism.  Tourist used to flock to Southborough to look for Sasquatch, but there haven't been any sightings  in years. Louie sets out to save her town and her dads' restaurant, Squatch Burger, from a techie who is buying  up properties for his start up. Maybe she can stage a sighting of a Martian Ghost Centaur and get her favorite crypid hunter television show star Para-Norma to come and see what's happening! She'll need to mend ways with her buddy Felix to pull off the stunt.

There is so much to love about this book!  Expressive art that jumps off the page.  Witty scenarios like Louie's scheme to make money by advertising her bedroom closet as an AirBnB spot. Relatable teen relationships with parents, friends, and employers. Suspenseful subplots including a storage building that the gas station  owner tells Louie to "stay away from and don't ask what's in there." 

Fans of Gravity Falls will totally get the humor of this snarky look at small town life and  the unexplained.

Martian Ghost Centaur written by Mat Heagerty and illustrated by Steph Mided is a not what I expected. The cover gave me some expectations for a sort of Scooby Doo meets Gravity Falls kind of vibe (and it did.) Kids hunting monsters and such. The plot is actually pretty different and was much different than my expectations, but that isn’t a bad thing. In fact it was a really enjoyable surprise.

The book opens up with a brief background on the town of Southborough, a small town in California that used to be a hub of Bigfoot sightings and cryptid tourism, but has since slowly begun to grind to a halt. We’re introduced right away to our main character Louie. She’s a spunky high schooler with a big imaginations and a love of Bigfoot, especially her Bigfoot.

Louie was a really refreshing character, at least for me. I am from a small town and I left as soon as a possibly could and have never looked back, but Louie is different than that. She adores Southborough and everything that comes with living in a small, close knit town. Her whole life revolves around her little town. So when the a rich tech start-up begins to buy out all of Southborough, including the restaurant her dads run, Louie feels determined to stop it at any costs.

Her world crashes in around her after she invites a popular internet paranormal sleuth to town who doesn’t have the same agenda as Louie for being there. She only becomes further crushed by learned her best friend wants to leave town to got college in LA. Louie is left to pick up the pieces and put them back together in whatever way she can to save her town and what pieces of normally she has.

The book is a quick, fun, and satisfying romp. You follow Louie as she tries multiple schemes to raise money and prove that Bigfoot is real. But the other story is Louie learning to deal with change and realizes truths that her imagination and naivety often blinds her to.

The pacing is pretty fast and the story only takes place over 1 summer. But considering this is a stand alone story in a graphic novel, the pacing doesn’t really bother me. The ending is a little… messy. It’s not bad, it’s just both too easy and a little complicated at the same time. It works ultimately, but it could have been neatened up a bit.

The story is really quick and I read it in a little over an hour. I do wish that there was more (which I usually do with graphic novels and comics.) The story, however, stands on it’s own from beginning to end. While I’d love more, I think the book does a perfect job. A story is always better if it leaves you wanting more in my opinion.

And the art style??

I LOVE the art style, the coloring, the characters, it’s to die for. The world of Southborough really comes to life on the pages. There are also some really fun jokes, visual and pop culture. This art style just really works for the story being told.

The ending message of the book was one that I really enjoyed. I loved Louie as a character, and I loved pretty much every character as well. Louie grows, changes and comes to learn more about herself over the course of the book. A lot of stuff happens really, but I don’t want to spoil anything! It’s really worth reading for yourself.

This action-packed graphic novel about a girl hustling to save her town after a Sasquatch sighting is revealed as a prank is a fun ride! Louie O’Connor, our awesome protagonist, starts out trying to prove a paranormal prank is real in the age of cell phone skepticism to save her weird little town from an impending tech boom. But when the sighting is revealed as a prank, everything starts to unravel: her town is changing - everything is changing! They need a new cryptid to save the day! But will it be enough to scare the techies away for good? This when-pranks-are-for-good tale is all about conspiring with friends and the goodness of wonder. I love the diverse characters and relationships, and the art is awesome - it’s really expressive and full of great, bright colors, perfect for fans of Faith Erin Hicks or Noelle Stevenson.

<i><b>CW/TW:</b> bullying, mean boss, threats of gentrification, language</i>

The beginning was good, if a bit obvious, the middle was a little harder to get through, but not bad, and the last 1/3 was the best part. Louie O'Connor is a fun character, she's hard headed and determined and she will not take failure sitting down. I love that she's so willing to fight for what she believes in and refuses to give up on her town and her family. When she needs to be grown, make touch decisions, she does it. 

The oddball town was fun, I especially enjoyed how two things that shouldn't go together were somehow put together e.g. The dentist/auto shop. We Stan oddball towns with oddball neighbours.

This book was so fun to read! I’m so glad I got to read it! Southborough was such a cute little town, and the whole time reading this, I was rooting for Louis and her friends to save it. I think my only criticism is that it took a while for the actual events of the story to happen, and then when they did, it didn’t last too long before everything was alright again. Though, I loved all the characters and the overall vibe of it and I’m so glad I got to read and review it before it was released. It was really good.

This is exactly what i needed.
A nice, funny, feel-good story about a girl trying to save her town and find herself in the process with mythical creatures and a lot of burgers.
So nice and well illustrated.
I cried actual tears, i'm not joking!

What a fun story. With a name such as Martian Ghost Centaur you’d assume this to be a fantasy story, well, it is a little bit more than that. This is a story about resilience, about the importance of family and community, a tale of how a cryptic and the culture that this creates can affect a community in the best way possible, and the ramifications of this in the long run. The art and colour schemes are beautiful, the characters are so diverse! I love the amount of body types, races, sexualities that we get to see in this novel. An amazing work that I’ll definitely recommend!

(this review will be publicly published on march 1st)

A graphic novel about family, friendships, and the uncertainty of growing up. 

This takes place in Southborough, a town made famous by Sasquatch sightings. Tourism has dwindled over the years, and many people are being forced to leave town due to financial issues. Louie defines herself by this town, and refuses to let it be taken over by a heartless techie.

I found myself really vibing with the art and little details in this one. For example, the late night talkshow host named “Bryan O’Conan”. There are a number of fun little nods to pop culture while also exploring small town culture.

Louie seems a little young (she is in her late teens), but I chalked that up to regressing because she is afraid of change. She alienates the people around her, and struggles to understand how other people’s passions could be different from her own. I didn’t find her totally unlikeable, however, because we see her grow. As a girl from a small area, I understand how hard it can be when your worldview grows beyond the town limits.

I’m looking forward to more from Mat Heagerty!

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for access to a digital advanced copy of Martian Ghost Centaur. Martian Ghost Centaur follows Louie, a tenacious teen who loves her small town and home of Southborough and believes in Sasquatch. When tourism declines due to waning belief in Sasquatch and a tech bro moves in and starts buying up property, Louie is determined to find a way save her family, friends, and town. I whole-heartedly recommend this book to anyone looking to harness the passions of their youth or looking for direction.

Martian Ghost Centaus is a graphic novel about a town - Southborough - and all the misterious creatures who "lived" there, and the city became a tourist attraction.
After 20 years all the mystery seem to be an old memory and now people are  losing interest even for the most famous creature of all: Sasquatch.
But - there is always a but - Louie want to save her beloved city from falling down, because someone is buying up most of the town places.

She teams up with her best friend Felix and prove that the Sasquatch is real! The "magic duo" is doing well... but Felix is thinking of leaving for college. And now Louie is mad and can't stop to think about her future.

A graphic novel about family, friendship, love for your hometown, growth, life's changing and secrets finally revealed.
I liked the art style, the colors and the characters! I couldn't stop to laugh sometimes and it gives me a moment full of happiness.

Many thanks to Netgalley and oni press for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really like this graphic novel, the art and the story were good.
The town of Southborough was a blooming town, after the sightings of sasquatch 20 years ago, it became a tourist attraction. However, nowadays the world has become cynical, and no one believes in sasquatch any more.
We follow Louie, a resident of Southborough, born and bred, as she trys to help her parents thought the tough time they and town are going through.

I received an eARC of this novel in return for an honest review - thank you to NetGalley, Oni Press and Mat Heagerty.

This story follows the main character on her journey of self discovery and saving the town she’s grown up in. 

Okay I adored this graphic novel, it was a quick read but super quirky, cute and a little wild. The storyline is full of twists and turns, there was a lot of development of friendships and I loved that the main character had two Dads (LGBTQ+ inclusion is always appreciated!) who were also a focal point in the story/her development. I loved the ‘monster’ ideas and how incredibly chaotic they were to the storyline, I always love the strange little traditions that come along with small town cultures. My favourite thing about this was definitely the message that it sent across at the end, encouraging people to do what they’re most passionate about in life!