Death Sparkles and the Sacred Golden Cupcake

Death & Sparkles #2

by Rob Justus

Death and Sparkles are back in their second hilarious adventure! This zany yet philosophical graphic novel features a most unlikely pair of BFFs: Death, a grim reaper who's never had a friend, and Sparkles, the Last Unicorn, a celebrity influencer who is somehow immune to Death’s touch.

Death and Sparkles never imagined they would become besties for life . . . or rather, death. And they didn’t expect to get pulled into another wild adventure so soon. But when Sparkles’s horn begins to glow mysteriously and the pair discovers a message left by his unicorn parents, Death reluctantly follows Sparkles on a search to find out what it all means.

Sparkles is 100 percent sure the answer will be revealed through some hard-hitting, epic dance moves. Death wants to make sure there is minimal collateral damage. With nothing but golden cupcake bling as their compass, they embark on a journey into the depths of the sewers.

Wacky chaos ensues once again for the BFFs in this continuation to the Death & Sparkles book series as a unicorn, a grim reaper, and a group of vengeance-driven mole men hoping to steal Sparkles’s golden cupcake face off!

HILARIOUS BUDDY COMEDY KIDS COMIC: Move over, Wayne and Garth! Move over, Beavis and Butt-Head! Readers will love this spin on the classic mismatched buddy dynamic featuring two of the most powerful beings around: the guy in charge of taking everyone’s life when it’s their time and the most magical creature still in existence on Earth. Never have two beings been less alike or more adorable.

PERFECT FOR RELUCTANT READERS: With bright, vibrant illustrations; big, fun fonts; expressive sound effects; an irreverent spirit; and a heart full of cupcakes, this graphic novel will entice even the most skeptical of young readers.

BIG THEMES: Self-awareness, empathy, bravery, commercialism, celebrity influencers, and the courage to stand up for what you believe in, even if it's the hard thing to do—all these important themes weave throughout the book in subtle ways.

LIKE LIVING IN CANDYLAND: Rob Justus’s vivid, expressive art is an endless delight. With tons to see on every page and countless visual gags throughout, this book will delight graphic novel fans and bring new readers to the genre.

Perfect for:
Fans of graphic novels and comic books
Unicorn enthusiasts
Reluctant readers
Parents, teachers, educators, and librarians seeking engaging and funny kids' books
Fans of Hilda and the Troll, Steven Universe, Wings of Fire, The Dragon Prince, The Legend of Korra, and Avatar: The Last Airbender

Genres: Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Fantasy, Childrens, Graphic Novels Comics

368 pages, Paperback

Published November 28, 2023

About the author

Formerly an award-winning market researcher, Rob Justus is a self-taught debut author/illustrator who raised himself on a classic diet of comics and Saturday morning cartoons. His debut picture book,Kid Coach, was published in 2020; this is his first graphic novel. Rob lives and doodles near Ottawa, Canada.

source: Amazon

Reviews

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious as ever

[Amber Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. It was so cute. The art work was awesome. The story was so good. I just loved Death and Sparkles. I cannot wait to read more in the series. Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicles Books for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

[Robin Pelletier · Rating 5 out of 5]

What could be better than a graphic novel about a self-absorbed unicorn and their long-suffering best friend Death? A graphic novel with a unicorn and bestie friend death AND a dance quest AND talented moles AND cupcakes. That's what can be better. (and a funny short at the end with Death and taxes).

Sparkles feels different and convinces Death to take a day off to go on a quest to follow his horn to a magical dance off. Blinged out with a massive golden cupcake from his departed parents, Sparkles embarks on his quest with Death by his side. But once Sparkles finds his ancestral home and spot for his epic dance transformation, things are not as they are supposed to be.

In this graphic novel, not only will you be treated to a colorful quest, but you'll get the backstory on the moles and why they desire revenge on all of unicorn kind AND you'll be treated to a FANSTASTICAL dance battle.

I love the illustrations and art style. This series has a sense of humor up my alley (and down a very Mario adjacent drain pipe).

Highly recommend for anyone who likes a little death and sparkles in their lives... and death and unicorns.

[Marti (Letstalkaboutbooksbaybee) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you chronicle kids books for a gifted copy to review

I didn’t like this one as much as the first one. I didn’t like how mean two best friends were being to each other, and there were no real consequences for the bad guys

[Elizabeth Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the exact kind of book my kids would love. It’s silly and good natured, involves pranks, dancing, rump shaking, and rainbow vomit. Is there anything more absurd than a unicorn being best friends with death? And yet these two make it work. The artwork was engaging. The storyline hilarious.
Thank you netgalley for an arc. All opinions are my own

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conflict that is solved with an epic dance battle? Count me in!
Oh & the author uses the phrase, “for realsies,” in this & that’s a major selling point for me.

This story was addictive start to finish. Read it in one quick sitting. Very quick read. Felt like I was reading ann episode of Adventure Time. Even though I am an adult & this is a middle-grade graphic novel, I still enjoyed connecting to my inner child.
Lovely artwork.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, & the publisher for the copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dare I say I loved this even more than the first book?!?

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting graphic novel. It’s for second grade and above, and it starts out with a bunch of unicorns making friends with moles. However, as the unicorns age they keep leaving the moles out of things, or thinking that they’re better than the moles, and one day the moles have had enough and want to break free. Their plan backfires and the moles end up trapped underground for a very long time. The same time you’re reading this story you’re learning about Sparkles and Death who are the very best of friends. Sparkles knows he hast to get to a very specific dance party if, they want to become a Unicorn/Uniman proper. They are part of this that I don’t particularly like because it’s a version of slavery. And there’s nothing to acknowledge it at the end. It’s very now we’re happy, let’s forget the past. There’s no real bridge between the two time periods in the book. I did like it but it’s not a book I would recommend frequently. I liked the way the author told the story I love the illustrations and I think the flow worked. It’s the story that didn’t.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second in the Death and Sparkles graphic novel series. a light-hearted odd-couple comedy.

It's probably best to read the first entry before picking up this one.

Sparkles is a self-centered unicorn, and Death (or Dennis, if you prefer), is a by-the-rules grim reaper. Together, they are trying to figure out what it means to be friends.

This time they embark on a quest to figure out what the gold cupcake on a chain left to Sparkles by his parents means. On the way, they meet disgruntled moles and fall down a lot of holes.

The illustrations are fun, but while some of the jokes landed (I particularly enjoyed pink mole's dialogue), some didn't (not really a fan of butt jokes). However, I'm also not between 9 - 12 years old, so I'm not the target audience.

All in all, colorful silliness reminding us that friendship means listening, compromise, forgiveness, and unselfishness, and unicorns are awesome.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to start by saying the illustrations in this book are adorable!! I love the cuteness of it all. With that said, I don’t think I was a big fan of the story. There were parts of this book I loved, and parts that I really hated. I like that there’s a *somewhat* happy ending and the moral of the story is alright, but the parts with all the bullying and turning on each other was kind of too mean for my taste. I enjoyed the overall plot, just didn’t enjoy the mean pranks and such. I do want to read the first book now, as this was my first experience with sparkles and death.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun comic for kids. The art is soft and sweet like ice cream. Sparkles the unicorn and Death are best friends. Sparkles is the only unicorn left but in the past, unicorns were awful to some moles and now the moles are out for revenge. They are all after the Sacred Golden Cupcake. The moles in order to remove a curse, Sparkles because he thinks it has magical powers. The story is irreverent and fun.

[Sarahs Reads ToKids · Rating 3 out of 5]

All three of my kids read this graphic novel and kind felt meh about it.

If you read the first graphic novel of Death and Sparkles, you might want to pick the second one up. Or not.

If you ever read the Flying Beaver Brothers graphic novels, you might like this one. It kind of reminded me of that series.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars: I absolutely loved the first edition in this series, but this one wasn't as great. Not as funny, and I wasn't all that interested in the story. I still really like the illustrations, as well as the choice to have each character's dialogue written in a different color, rather than using speech bubbles.

[Shauna Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book #2 in the Death & Sparkles series was great. I love that Sparkles got to find out more about his unicorn heritage and that Death got to take a day off and have a little fun. I wonder if we will see more of the mole men in the future?

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably not as good as the first volume but still cute. These two are a great pair. There are some really funny moments (Sparkles in the red undies is hilarious!), others that are sad (Death being alone) and some really heartfelt moments as well.

[BookLoverLily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Death is a person-well.. he is Death. 💀 Whatever he touches DIES. Can you imagine that? You literally live a horrible life… but for Death, he’s got Sparkles, the use-to-be star! ⭐️ 🦄 Throughout this story, this book turns and flips. This book is amazingly good book.

[Kay S. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was so disappointed.

The first one was such a fun romp. This one was disruptively disjointed, random to the point of awkward, and trying so hard to be cute and funny that absolutely nothing landed. I almost DNF'd but kept hoping for a better end.

[Lisa Aguirre · Rating 5 out of 5]

This graphic novel is brilliantly done! Just loved it.

[Madelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good commentary on social class and empathy. Cute friendship.

[Raven Black · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you really liked book one, try this one. However, I have more questions than answers due to the Unicorn background story. What you see is what you get.

[Da bookie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A broken friendship?

[Cathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

sorry to say this wasn't very good, but then again I am not the target audience

[Brody · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked book one a little bit more, but this one was still really good and I really liked it. I really hope there will be more books in this series.
(Brody age 10)

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little disappointing after the first one. Definitely relies on the first book to flesh out the characters. Feels kind of hollow.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love this one as much as the first volume, but it was still a very fun read.

[The Loco Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had quite a fun time reading this one! Hilarious twerking at the end!

[trash nebula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but not as good as the first one

[Juliette Tuttle · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a funny graphic novel. just read it for fun. you aren’t missing out on much if you don’t wanna pick it up. but i don’t regret reading it lol.