The Dysasters: The Graphic Novel

by P.C. Cast, Kristin Cast

Adoptive daughter of a gifted scientist, Foster Stewart doesn’t live a “normal” life, (not that she’d want to). But controlling cloud formations and seeing airwaves aren’t things most eighteen year olds can do.

Small town star quarterback and quintessential dreamy boy next door, Tate “Nighthawk” Taylor has never thought much about his extra abilities. Sure, his night vision comes in handy during games, but who wouldn’t want that extra edge?

From the moment Foster and Tate collide, their worlds spiral and a deadly tornado forces them to work together, fully awakening their not-so-natural ability - the power to control air.

As they each deal with the tragic loss of loved ones, they’re caught by another devastating blow – they are the first in a group of teens genetically manipulated before birth to bond with the elements, and worse… they’re being hunted.

Now, Foster and Tate must fight to control their abilities as they learn of their past, how they came to be, who’s following them, and what tomorrow will bring… more DYSASTERS?

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Young Adult, Comics Manga, LGBT

128 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 25, 2020

About the author

PC was born in the Midwest, and grew up being shuttled back-and-forth between Illinois and Oklahoma, which is where she fell in love with Quarter Horses and mythology (at about the same time). After high school, she joined the United States Air Force and began public speaking and writing. After her tour in the USAF, she taught high school for 15 years before retiring to write full time. PC is a #1 New York Times and #1 USA Today Best-Selling author and a member of the Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame. Her novels have been awarded the prestigious: Oklahoma Book Award, YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers, Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Prism, Holt Medallion, Daphne du Maurier, Booksellers’ Best, and the Laurel Wreath. PC is an experienced teacher and talented speaker. Ms. Cast lives in Oregon near her fabulous daughter, her adorable pack of dogs, her eccentric Maine Coon, and a bunch of horses. House of Night Other World, book 4, FOUND, releases July 7th, 2020. More info to come soon about the HoN TV series!

Reviews

[Therese Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great concepts that perhaps got lost in translation between the book and the graphic novel version? To me, it felt like you got just a bit less than needed to completely understand the plot lines and primary and secondary character’s motivations and choices.

Total disconnect between the cover and interior art.
The interior art wasn’t very consistent, in that the male characters’ faces frequently looked different from panel to panel. Not as much of that problem with the female characters’ illustrations. I did like the black and white interior drawings with only the flash of red for the female lead’s hair standing out.

I’d say this is a good one for a middle schooler, minus use of profanity. But, probably not worse than they’re hearing on the school bus, unfortunately.

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[Beatrice Moulin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a little choppy and the pacing was off, but it was entertaining.

[trufflebooks · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at page 38/120. Not a fan, artwork wasn't great, everyone looked way older. The dialogue was so cringy and everything moved way too fast.

[Stephen David Munley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Graphics were cool. Concept was cool, I think? Not sure what this book was about. Every page felt like a mysterious intro to a different book.

[Blue · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Dysasters tells the story of Foster, who has lost her adoptive father five years ago and has been kind of on the road with her adoptive mother for the past year. She has no idea why, until her 18th birthday, when things change drastically. She's left alone in a hostile world with nobody to trust, but a high school jock she just met.

The premise of the story is interesting, though the science behind it is very dubious (I am a geneticist, so I may be biased.) There are some considerable plot holes, like how someone's retired bio teacher grandpa can come up with explanations that hit the nail in the head with very little to go on (and considering the fact that the science they're guessing at is very unlikely...) The family dynamics of the core four with their father/creator is interesting, yet underdeveloped. There is some very juicy potential in the father=daughter relationship that's not only left unexplored, but has little bearing on the story (but it really should have had a big influence, no?) There is diversity in characters, but the trans character's story line seemed forced at times (i.e., the conversation with her mother would certainly be awkward and unpleasant, yes, but maybe not so "trans issues 101" by now).

Overall, the art is dynamic and complements the action well. Everyone seems to be very attractive in the classical Ken and Barbie sense. The only color in this graphic novel is red (Foster's hair being "strawberry"). As such, my attention was drawn to the red things, but sometimes these had no bearing on the story, so they were just distracting. For example, a tag in be waist on someone's jeans was red, the only red thing in a panel...

Recommended for those who like tornadoes, surfing, levitation and safe rooms.

[L.A. Shine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly the artwork of the faces was kind of creepy and I wasn’t into it at all.

Tate’s artwork also looked nothing like what it did on the cover at all.

The story was interesting but the comic was very fast paced it was hard to keep up without reading the actual novel this is based on.

There was no real slow down. A few short introductions but mostly just characters thrown in for two or three panels and then not mentioned again.

I believe this is Wednesday Books first graphic novel and I do think graphic novels are one of the hardest things to publish because if you miss a few panels the story is too fast and if you add too many the story is too slow. It also requires great dialogue, great artwork, and the writer and artist being able to really work together. I didn’t really see that here.

I do look forward to seeing if Wednesday Books continues to publish graphic novels.

[Haley C. · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could leave this half a star, or a quarter I would. The story is the same as the book, badly paced and plotted. The art is this book is just straight up bad. Everyone has giant lips, nothing looks natural, and our lead who is supposed to be an All-American Handsome Man TM is shown with very weird bone structure and a giant nose. The African American characters present you can barely tell are African American. The book is done in black and white with only bits of red so they have white skin. The only features marking them as black are a wider nose, lips so pouty they look like they got injections, and dreadlocks on a couple of the women. The paper is pretty poor quality, not glossy but cheap.

[chandlersinquiry · Rating 2 out of 5]

The magic was confusing. The romance felt a little too fast (even though the book is like a 120pgs oops) but it also felt like I was supposed to know these characters and what was going on already and this kind of story would be better as a novel. I looked more into it and… it is a novel and it should’ve been kept that way. If you’re like me, someone who picked up the graphic novel not knowing that it’s kind of supplemental, you’re going to get a very lackluster story. I would like to read the book to better understand the characters, the world, and the magic. But based on the reviews on it… it’s seeming like the lackluster trend is apparent in the book as well 🌝. I feel like this could have potential with a possible rewrite and some editors.

[Rachael Arsenault · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is an incoherent fever dream of a comic. There are basically no transitions, what little exposition exists is terribly conveyed, the art is at times stiff and others comical, and the pacing is atrocious. I didn't think it possible for an adaptation of the novel to be worse, but it absolutely is.

The best comparison I can make is that reading this is like watching a movie at 2x speed. It's too fast, the rushed pace makes things incoherent and at times comical, and if you aren't already familiar with the story you're going to be completely lost.

Negative two stars, were that possible.

[Nikole (dreamingofreadingx) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was pretty awful…
First the artwork was pretty weird. Their faces (especially Tate’s) were kind of creepy. The artwork doesn’t even remotely resemble the cover. That aside, the plot was confusing. Or more so it felt like 1/2 the book was left out. I had to keep checking the page number to make sure my copy wasn’t missing any pages. And it wasn’t.
The only thing I found kind of cool about this graphic novel was the fact that some of it takes place in Oregon. Which is where I live.
I would definitely skip this one. There are so many other graphic novels out there that are so much better. This one just felt so incomplete.

[Shani · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rushed adaptation of a decent book.

I was not a fan of this graphic novel. Much of the quality dialogue from the book was lost in the adaptation to graphic novel. There were abrupt shifts in the plot ruining the momentum of the story. There was often no background information provided on characters decisions, it felt like things just happened. I was disappointed that for the sake of a slim novel, the story had many holes.

The art beautifully captured the characters emotions in the moment. But I found the style of art a little creepy with how realistic the characters looked.

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up from Dollar Tree based on the authors ( I really liked their House of Night series), got home and saw that it had bad reviews.

I thought the story line was pretty good. There are people with weather based super powers! Of course there's a bad guy trying to use this to his advantage. I felt bad for the characters who lost their parents and for Eve, who's kind of trapped in her position.

I see what other reviews mean about the art style, but it didn't bother me too much. It's a quick read and I'd read the actual book.

[Trav · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just wanna say I hated it.
It was cringey, scattered, the plot was terrible and the art is even worse.
P.C. Cast and Kristen always try to add diversity to their books whether it's portrayed with sexuality or race, but they always end up butchering those characters.
In this one to be exact, the issues the characters face feel very forced and as if they were pulled from Wattpad.

[Oak · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was fine, even though it jumped around some. Some of the emotional continuity was weird: Tate and Foster not each grieving longer, Foster falling for Tate right away after despising him, Tate taking the lead and Foster clinging to him in disaster when she’s independent, etc. The facial expressions in the drawing were also a bit strange - stuck in expressions that didn’t make sense for a page or two, etc. But the storyline itself was fine.

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting premise and story with such a unique take on elemental magic / powers. The unique art was interesting and helped build on and expand the story. The overall plot felt a bit rushed at times but I’m hoping that was because of it being adapted from a full length novel. I am very interested in continuing with the story / series and will be diving into the novel soon.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I dint know if the adaptation is bad, or the novel blows too, but this has issues with character development, the art is a bit weird (everyone must be super into lip plumpest) and the characters on the front don’t resemble the ones inside. And the story is just goofy. Also it feels like some panels are missing from the last 10 pages or so that would make the final battle make sense.

[Raina Ruckman · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at page 77. I found this book at my local Dollar Tree...now I understand why it was there. This is, quite possibly, the worst graphic novel I've ever read. I can't imagine how awful the actual book is if this is that awful. The writing is cringy, the pacing is nonexistent, it jumps from one scene to the next without any breaks or explanation, the artwork is poor...just pass on this.

[Cyndi · Rating 2 out of 5]

The people are drawn beautifully, but the story itself is weak. Starts off really boring, but then it moves so fast. A lot of it feels forced. The plot is like Michael Vey but way simplified/rushed. The final battle was all about cussing each other out. I was glad this was a really fast read.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably a fun read for teens, or middle school. Not really heroes, but maybe Super Sauvies, nope, they are The Disasters. Elemental controllers, with a crazy doc in the background. How are they all connected? Can’t wait for the next one...

[Stephani · Rating 1 out of 5]

This just wasn't for me. The black and white graphics with the pop of red just aren't my style. It would have been much better if it matched the cover art! The story seemed so rushed and didn't hold my interest. I pretty much just skimmed through the second half.

[Lynda Lightsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I think I should have read the novel before attempting the graphic novel because it seemed like it would jump scenes and miss a lot of info or details. The art was great I just feel like the story was so disjointed. Kind of like when you get a preview of a movie.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story has a lot of potential but is very scattered and rushed in the graphic adaptation. Sadly, I was also not a fan of the art. Character emotions seemed extreme and unrealistic.

[Raven Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

Modern teens, modern attitudes. The Planeteers for the 21st century.

[Lizzie the Book Hoarder · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I enjoyed this story I liked the novel better. I enjoyed seeing the characters but did not feel it told the whole story.

[Crazy_catlady · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[MizzyRed · Rating 2 out of 5]

I preferred the illustrations in the book version.

[Maryjo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Choppy and rushed story! Not for me.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher for a book award committee.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy YA read with so-so art. Would not recommend

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn’t really my cup of tea

[Val · Rating 1 out of 5]

Una pérdida de tiempo.