The Year of the Beasts

In THE YEAR OF THE BEASTS, 15-year-old Tessa starts the summer planning to explore her attraction to Charlie, but she is surprised when it is her younger sister, Lulu, who begins spending time with the handsome football player. Tessa has her own admirer in Jasper, a shy loner, but the intensity of her jealousy toward her sister grows unabated. Meanwhile, a comics story about the Greek gorgon Medusa and her curse of turning those she loves into stone offers tantalizing clues about Tessa's and Lulu's fates.

The Year of the Beasts is a tender, affecting, and hard-hitting tale of teen romance and jealousy. Cecil Castellucci ably captures the giddiness and angst of first love, and her depiction of the interplay between two competing sisters and their group of friends always feels psychologically honest. Nate Powell's illustrated sections comment obliquely upon the prose chapters, until everything coalesces in one devastating incident at the book's climax. The Year of the Beasts might upset some sensitive readers, but it earns its emotional ending.

This review was written by Michael Berry-commonsensemedia.org

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