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Family Pets
Ever since her parents died on her fifth birthday, Thomasina has been daydreaming that someday something amazing will happen in her life to make up for the hurt she's been through. But after turning sixteen, Thomasina begins to accept that her life will remain unremarkable... But when she wakes up one morning to discover that her foster family has been turned into pet animals and her favorite pet snake into a dashing young man, her ordinary life will turn into an extraordinary adventure!
154 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
About the author
Pat Shand
651 books80 followersPAT SHAND writes comic books (Robyn Hood, Family Pets, Charmed, Angel) and pop culture journalism (Sad Girls Guide, Blastoff Comics). He lives in San Diego with his girlfriend and their veritable zoo of cats.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
October 20, 2015
3,5 stars.
In this graphic novel our main character Thomasina found herself in a weird situation. The house she lives in is full of unfamiliar animals. Yet, a strange and cute boy is in her house. It turnes out the boy is her pet snake Sebastian and those animals are her family members. Thomasina has to find out what kind of magic trick is involved in here...
I think this was a good graphic novel.
I had some good, laughable moments while reading it.
The story itself is interesting and it contains some likeable characters.
Unfortunately, Thomasina was not one of them. I think she was rude at times. Beside behaving that way, she was brave and smart. She found the answer in the game of playing guilty before I even considered that person.
My favorite cheacter was Boris. He was funny.
I also liked Thomasina's grandmother Abuela.
Sebastian was okay but I didn't fond him as much as I wanted to.
As for the other characters, it felt like they were there for the sake of being.
Although this graphic novel is aimed for teenegers, I can't help but feel that it would be appreciated more if it was aimed for children.
Note: I want to thank to the publisher for providing me an arc of this graphic novel via Netgalley.
In this graphic novel our main character Thomasina found herself in a weird situation. The house she lives in is full of unfamiliar animals. Yet, a strange and cute boy is in her house. It turnes out the boy is her pet snake Sebastian and those animals are her family members. Thomasina has to find out what kind of magic trick is involved in here...
I think this was a good graphic novel.
I had some good, laughable moments while reading it.
The story itself is interesting and it contains some likeable characters.
Unfortunately, Thomasina was not one of them. I think she was rude at times. Beside behaving that way, she was brave and smart. She found the answer in the game of playing guilty before I even considered that person.
My favorite cheacter was Boris. He was funny.
I also liked Thomasina's grandmother Abuela.
Sebastian was okay but I didn't fond him as much as I wanted to.
As for the other characters, it felt like they were there for the sake of being.
Although this graphic novel is aimed for teenegers, I can't help but feel that it would be appreciated more if it was aimed for children.
Note: I want to thank to the publisher for providing me an arc of this graphic novel via Netgalley.
October 27, 2017
The main character, Thomasina wakes up one morning only to find her foster family members all turned into animals. She then goes on a short quest to sort things out, accompanied by her pet snake that is now human. Weird, right?
Despite the constant references to Harry Potter, this was still an OK read.
In fact, the many quirks of Boris the Russian made me chuckle more than twice :)
Despite the constant references to Harry Potter, this was still an OK read.
In fact, the many quirks of Boris the Russian made me chuckle more than twice :)
May 14, 2015
This was the first graphic novel I've ever read, and honestly at the beginning I wasn't liking it so much. Books give you more time to get into the story, to start caring about the characters and to start knowing them. With graphic novels the time is shorter and you know if you're going to like the story or not since the beginning.
But this story? It gets better in the end. So much better that it made my heart melt and it took me a 5 star rating.
Thomasina lost her parents when she was five, and at sixteen years old she lives with her grandmother, who wants to be called Abuela, her uncle and aunt and her cousin. Even if she has the love and the support of her Abuela she still feels like no one understands her, except for her snake, Sebastian. One day he turns into a man, and this is where the story begins.
Thomasina is just a sixteen-years-old-girl that has seen a lot of sadness and suffering in her life, and I understand her feeling so alone. But I liked even more when she starts to realize that she doesn't need anyone to make her stand up, because she can stand up on her own feet and for herself.
This is a very funny story that I liked so much and that made me laugh so many times! My favorite character was probably Snake/Sebastian, I loved him because he has the same sense of humour that I have, so I was able to relate to him. And Boris, oh he was the funniest one! The other characters were kinda flat and I didn't like them so much, but they were still funny.
As I said before this was my first graphic novel, and even if I had some problems to start this genre and to start understanding and liking it, I think that sometimes soon I will read another graphic novel.
Thank you NetGalley for sending me this eARC!
But this story? It gets better in the end. So much better that it made my heart melt and it took me a 5 star rating.
Thomasina lost her parents when she was five, and at sixteen years old she lives with her grandmother, who wants to be called Abuela, her uncle and aunt and her cousin. Even if she has the love and the support of her Abuela she still feels like no one understands her, except for her snake, Sebastian. One day he turns into a man, and this is where the story begins.
Thomasina is just a sixteen-years-old-girl that has seen a lot of sadness and suffering in her life, and I understand her feeling so alone. But I liked even more when she starts to realize that she doesn't need anyone to make her stand up, because she can stand up on her own feet and for herself.
This is a very funny story that I liked so much and that made me laugh so many times! My favorite character was probably Snake/Sebastian, I loved him because he has the same sense of humour that I have, so I was able to relate to him. And Boris, oh he was the funniest one! The other characters were kinda flat and I didn't like them so much, but they were still funny.
As I said before this was my first graphic novel, and even if I had some problems to start this genre and to start understanding and liking it, I think that sometimes soon I will read another graphic novel.
Thank you NetGalley for sending me this eARC!
April 1, 2019
This book is good
July 1, 2015
Possibly because right now I'm reading (listening to) The Magician King, but likely just because of this book itself, I wasn't all that impressed. The story was sort of puppy love + Harry Potter pre-Hogwarts goes sideways.
The authors seemed rushed to get the story out, which resulted in a whole lot of telling and very little showing (even though it was a graphic novel...shouldn't this make showing easier?) and a bunch of characters I couldn't really care much about, but then it didn't really say anything unique, tell a new story, or even tell an old story a new way. The art is pretty, although a lot of the characters look very, very similar (Thomasina, her female cousin, and her mom are identical, even though I'm pretty sure Thomasina and her mom are Hispanic and her cousin is supposed to be Caucasian). Also, I wish it were in color. This is obviously a personal preference. I'm just not that into black and white graphic novels.
I'd really only recommend this to kids who have run out of Harry Potter graphic novel read-alikes. And even then, pretty much any fantasy graphic novel tops this one. It's just so...meh.
The authors seemed rushed to get the story out, which resulted in a whole lot of telling and very little showing (even though it was a graphic novel...shouldn't this make showing easier?) and a bunch of characters I couldn't really care much about, but then it didn't really say anything unique, tell a new story, or even tell an old story a new way. The art is pretty, although a lot of the characters look very, very similar (Thomasina, her female cousin, and her mom are identical, even though I'm pretty sure Thomasina and her mom are Hispanic and her cousin is supposed to be Caucasian). Also, I wish it were in color. This is obviously a personal preference. I'm just not that into black and white graphic novels.
I'd really only recommend this to kids who have run out of Harry Potter graphic novel read-alikes. And even then, pretty much any fantasy graphic novel tops this one. It's just so...meh.
September 21, 2016
Read this Graphic Novel I think back in June. It was ok, nothing crazy different. A girl learns that magic is real when she wakes up and her foster family has all been turned into animals. She has to follow the magic so that she can change them back. But her pet was just turned into a human and doesn't want to go back.... a fun little book for kids third grade on up looking for a fast light read.
May 12, 2015
This the normal kind of graphic novel that I read but I thought the synopsis sounded weird so I was really interested.
The whole book was a little but it wasn't really boring. I liked the art a lot and I think the length was about perfect.
Family Pets would be a really good graphic novel for young kids or someone looking for something fun.
The whole book was a little but it wasn't really boring. I liked the art a lot and I think the length was about perfect.
Family Pets would be a really good graphic novel for young kids or someone looking for something fun.
August 16, 2015
I thought I'd like this comic a lot more than I actually did. The artwork wasn't that great and the story had promise, but wasn't fantastic. I typically like my comics just a little darker, but I thought I'd give this one a shot. Unfortunately, it just wasn't my style.
April 2, 2020
My Review: This book has been on my wishlist forever, so I figured it was time to pick it up. I love the art style in the book but was disappointed to find it all to be black and white. The story was fun and quirky, yet a little gut punch of emotional turmoil. It was quick, it was fun, I maybe would have read more in the series but am pretty satisfied with the way it concluded.
May 6, 2020
I believe I got this from my 4th-grade teacher as a gift for the "end of the school year" thing, so I've had it for a pretty long time. I always like to go back to it for a quick emotional and fun-filled story. :)
July 9, 2018
This was pretty cute. A little too young adult safe for my liking, but had enough plot and twists to carry the thing through and be entertaining. Would love to read more, especially about Sebastian.
January 24, 2021
I enjoyed the story, I just wish the illustrations had been in color.
Want to read
April 16, 2021Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
June 30, 2015
Family Pets by Patrick Shand is a graphic novel with a simple plot but some good takeaway life lessons. Our heroine, Thomasina, was orphaned at age five and was raised by her grandmother. Experiencing a bit of financial challenges, they moved in with Thomasina’s aunt, uncle and cousins – they are the ones turned into animals. Thomasina is a fairly normal, bummed out teenager with only two friends – Smitty, a French horn player, and Sebastian, a snake who becomes human.
Thomasina thought when she was young that due to the tragedy of her parents’ death that something magical was going to happen to make it worth the pain and sacrifice. By age 16, she has given up hope. Then one day she wakes up to find her snake is human and her family, all except her grandmother, are pets. Sebastian leads her to Smitty at school where she learns her only human friend is a wizard and it was his spell that changed the people and animals in her life.
Smitty brings her to his “world”, a term that kind of bothered me as it makes it seem like he’s an alien and not just a magic wielding human. There’s a magic portal that takes them thru the “Dreamscape” a place where a person could fall asleep forever and where Thomasina sees her parents. Once in the world of wizards, Smitty and Thomasina seek out help to reverse the spell. The wizards at the college where Smitty is applying took the role of overbearing adults and weren’t very helpful but more threatening. Meanwhile, Sebastian snuck into the wizards’ world and was immediately recognized as being a snake and was being arrested. Unfortunately, we don’t know why the wizards were so against snakes – other than the obvious reason that snakes are creepy. (Personally, I really wish Thomasina had a pet bunny or even a gecko. I hate snakes but was able to read this thanks to it being a drawing of a snake and not too many of them.)
Looking for more help, Smitty takes them to see Borris. Borris explains how to break the spell but it is going to cost Smitty his French horn to do it. Sebastian escapes the police and with Thomasina goes back to our world to find Smitty’s French horn, as it needs to be broken to break the spell. When the time comes for the horn to be broken, Smitty is there willingly letting Thomasina break the horn even though it could mean he wouldn’t be able to get into the college he was trying so hard to enter. It also hurt Sebastian, as he liked being human.
During the whole story, there are side tangents that make a person laugh, like the grandmother getting her granddaughter the cat to dance so she can record it and post it on Youtube. Also, a mishap at a flying carpet store where the magic word was “tacky” sent all the carpets flying about.
Besides the amusing moments, there is a potential love triangle between Thomasina, Smitty, and Sebastian. Multiple times the boys try to protect or rescue Thomasina. However, she doesn’t need their protection or help and I love how that was just natural. One of the best takeaways from this story – not all heroines are damsels in distress needing a rescuer!
The family learned a life lesson about keeping secrets. This was, in part, the reason they were turned into animals. Each had been keeping a secret. I’m not sure why the snake was turned into a human though. So a takeaway could clearly be to share your thoughts and feelings. Doing so could lead to alternate solutions that would make everyone happier.
The third big life lesson was learned by Thomasina. She realized she had been waiting her whole life for things to happen to her. However, after this adventure, she had finally dealt with and accepted her parents’ death, recognized her family loves her, and was moving forward with her life with an attitude that she was going to make thing happen.
Overall, I found the story to be simple and charming. I really like the takeaways. The drawing was well done. I hate snakes and thus wish that Sebastian were anything else. There were a few things left unexplained and there was definitely room for a sequel. I was a little disappointed that Thomasina wasn’t also magical but the life lesson was probably worth it.
I was given a copy of this via Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors.
Thomasina thought when she was young that due to the tragedy of her parents’ death that something magical was going to happen to make it worth the pain and sacrifice. By age 16, she has given up hope. Then one day she wakes up to find her snake is human and her family, all except her grandmother, are pets. Sebastian leads her to Smitty at school where she learns her only human friend is a wizard and it was his spell that changed the people and animals in her life.
Smitty brings her to his “world”, a term that kind of bothered me as it makes it seem like he’s an alien and not just a magic wielding human. There’s a magic portal that takes them thru the “Dreamscape” a place where a person could fall asleep forever and where Thomasina sees her parents. Once in the world of wizards, Smitty and Thomasina seek out help to reverse the spell. The wizards at the college where Smitty is applying took the role of overbearing adults and weren’t very helpful but more threatening. Meanwhile, Sebastian snuck into the wizards’ world and was immediately recognized as being a snake and was being arrested. Unfortunately, we don’t know why the wizards were so against snakes – other than the obvious reason that snakes are creepy. (Personally, I really wish Thomasina had a pet bunny or even a gecko. I hate snakes but was able to read this thanks to it being a drawing of a snake and not too many of them.)
Looking for more help, Smitty takes them to see Borris. Borris explains how to break the spell but it is going to cost Smitty his French horn to do it. Sebastian escapes the police and with Thomasina goes back to our world to find Smitty’s French horn, as it needs to be broken to break the spell. When the time comes for the horn to be broken, Smitty is there willingly letting Thomasina break the horn even though it could mean he wouldn’t be able to get into the college he was trying so hard to enter. It also hurt Sebastian, as he liked being human.
During the whole story, there are side tangents that make a person laugh, like the grandmother getting her granddaughter the cat to dance so she can record it and post it on Youtube. Also, a mishap at a flying carpet store where the magic word was “tacky” sent all the carpets flying about.
Besides the amusing moments, there is a potential love triangle between Thomasina, Smitty, and Sebastian. Multiple times the boys try to protect or rescue Thomasina. However, she doesn’t need their protection or help and I love how that was just natural. One of the best takeaways from this story – not all heroines are damsels in distress needing a rescuer!
The family learned a life lesson about keeping secrets. This was, in part, the reason they were turned into animals. Each had been keeping a secret. I’m not sure why the snake was turned into a human though. So a takeaway could clearly be to share your thoughts and feelings. Doing so could lead to alternate solutions that would make everyone happier.
The third big life lesson was learned by Thomasina. She realized she had been waiting her whole life for things to happen to her. However, after this adventure, she had finally dealt with and accepted her parents’ death, recognized her family loves her, and was moving forward with her life with an attitude that she was going to make thing happen.
Overall, I found the story to be simple and charming. I really like the takeaways. The drawing was well done. I hate snakes and thus wish that Sebastian were anything else. There were a few things left unexplained and there was definitely room for a sequel. I was a little disappointed that Thomasina wasn’t also magical but the life lesson was probably worth it.
I was given a copy of this via Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors.
July 10, 2015
More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/
Family pets is an enjoyable, if somewhat flawed, story perfect for the YA genre. We have a feisty female, angst, boy trouble, and a bit of family issues and magic thrown in as well. But like so many YA stories today, it is greatly in need of a very good editor to strengthen plot and fix continuity errors. So while I enjoyed the story through to the end for its snarky humor and punchy dialogue, it's not a story that stays with you very long after.Story: 16 year old loner Thomasina lost her parents at an early age and now lives with her grandmother and uncle's family under one roof. They are quite eccentric but that's what gave her such a distinct personality. She secretly likes a guy at school and shares her woes with her pet snake, Sebastian. When she comes downstairs one day to find her family turned into pets and her snake now a person, she will have to track down the source of her weird day's magic and fix it so she gets her family back. But does Sebastian want to be turned back? And what's the connection of her crush, Smitty, to what happened?
The artwork is quite interesting though a bit inconsistent at times. The book is black and white with clean and strong illustrations that do a decent job of telling the story. The style is reminiscent of Disney meets Final Fantasy but it works well.
Story wise, there's nothing new here and it does feel very rushed. As Thomasina runs around trying to find a cure to her family's state, we get glimpses but little more of the settings around her. From magic university to high school to even her home, neither art nor storytelling build enough of the world to ground our characters.
Issues like the one above combined with several scenes where new characters enter a scene and know everyone's names inexplicably (or jump to really illogical conclusions) do bring down the title a bit. Pacing is also off - Sebastian's (very random) British slang usage often gets tedious/overmuch and some scenes drag that should zip. It feels like it is trying to hard to be snarky/funny at many points. But at the same time, I really enjoyed the art, especially the moments with Sebastian as a snake interacting with Thomasina.
Admittedly, this did feel like a Buffy The Vampire Slayer/Whedon homage - with Sebastian being Xander and Smitty being a male Willow to Thomasina's non-martial Buffy. But more unique characters such as the magic university dean and abuela added some extra fun into the story.
This is a solid 3.5 stars for me but I did enjoy it enough to round up to 4. Despite its flaws, it was a quick read that made me smile at times. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.
September 10, 2015
More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/
Family pets is an enjoyable, if somewhat flawed, story perfect for the YA genre. We have a feisty female, angst, boy trouble, and a bit of family issues and magic thrown in as well. But like so many YA stories today, it is greatly in need of a very good editor to strengthen plot and fix continuity errors. So while I enjoyed the story through to the end for its snarky humor and punchy dialogue, it’s not a story that stays with you very long after.Story: 16 year old loner Thomasina lost her parents at an early age and now lives with her grandmother and uncle’s family under one roof. They are quite eccentric but that’s what gave her such a distinct personality. She secretly likes a guy at school and shares her woes with her pet snake, Sebastian. When she comes downstairs one day to find her family turned into pets and her snake now a person, she will have to track down the source of her weird day’s magic and fix it so she gets her family back. But does Sebastian want to be turned back? And what’s the connection of her crush, Smitty, to what happened?
The artwork is quite interesting though a bit inconsistent at times. The book is black and white with clean and strong illustrations that do a decent job of telling the story. The style is reminiscent of Disney meets Final Fantasy but it works well.
Story wise, there’s nothing new here and it does feel very rushed. As Thomasina runs around trying to find a cure to her family’s state, we get glimpses but little more of the settings around her. From magic university to high school to even her home, neither art nor storytelling build enough of the world to ground our characters.
Issues like the one above combined with several scenes where new characters enter a scene and know everyone’s names inexplicably (or jump to really illogical conclusions) do bring down the title a bit. Pacing is also off – Sebastian’s (very random) British slang usage often gets tedious/overmuch and some scenes drag that should zip. It feels like it is trying to hard to be snarky/funny at many points. But at the same time, I really enjoyed the art, especially the moments with Sebastian as a snake interacting with Thomasina.
Admittedly, this did feel like a Buffy The Vampire Slayer/Whedon homage – with Sebastian being Xander and Smitty being a male Willow to Thomasina’s non-martial Buffy. But more unique characters such as the magic university dean and abuela added some extra fun into the story.
This is a solid 3.5 stars for me but I did enjoy it enough to round up to 4. Despite its flaws, it was a quick read that made me smile at times. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.
May 31, 2015
Opinião em português no blog Pepita Mágica: http://pepitamagica.blogspot.pt/2015/...
I received a digital arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I love graphic novels, comics, manga and all that jazz and I love pets. So “Family Pets” sounded like a great choice for me. And I was not wrong!
“Family Pets” is a story about Thomasina, who is an orphan and lives with her Grandmother and other family members. She thinks she doesn’t belong anywhere. She only has two friends: Smitty, a French horn player, with whom she never talked, and Sebastian, her snake. One day, her entire family – except her Gramma – is transformed into pet animals and her snake became human.
Sebastian, the human-snake, was by far my favourite character, not only because he was British, but he was hilarious and the most active character in this story. Abuela, Thomasina’s Gramma, was also a really good character. She had a webpage, in which she wrote quotes from her granddaughter, uploads videos, and she didn’t act or think like an “old woman”. In spirit, she was younger than her granddaughter.
I didn’t know much about the plot of this graphic novel. I decided to face this book as an unknown thing, so I could be amazed by it, which means I wasn’t expecting half of what happened. I was so hooked to the plot that I decided to ignore my friends and just keep reading. (Sorry, guys!) Smitty was an interesting character, and somewhere in the middle of the story I thought he could have been something else. As I said, Sebastian was my favourite character because he was the “comic character” of the book; he had really good lines and was, probably, the character that was closed to me. He was always making nerdy references, which was awesome! Sebastian is my spirit animal!
Since this is a graphic novel, talk about the art is really important. I didn’t know any of the authors of this book. It was the first time I read something from them and I liked it. The story was nice, funny and interesting – it really had a good ending, some kind of “girl power” mixed with “I need to find myself and I don’t want to be defined by other people”. And the art was nice as well. All the facial expressions were there, we could understand what was happening just by looking at the drawings. It had a soul – for the lack of a better expression. It’s a really good mix of drawing and story.
I received a digital arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I love graphic novels, comics, manga and all that jazz and I love pets. So “Family Pets” sounded like a great choice for me. And I was not wrong!
“Family Pets” is a story about Thomasina, who is an orphan and lives with her Grandmother and other family members. She thinks she doesn’t belong anywhere. She only has two friends: Smitty, a French horn player, with whom she never talked, and Sebastian, her snake. One day, her entire family – except her Gramma – is transformed into pet animals and her snake became human.
Sebastian, the human-snake, was by far my favourite character, not only because he was British, but he was hilarious and the most active character in this story. Abuela, Thomasina’s Gramma, was also a really good character. She had a webpage, in which she wrote quotes from her granddaughter, uploads videos, and she didn’t act or think like an “old woman”. In spirit, she was younger than her granddaughter.
I didn’t know much about the plot of this graphic novel. I decided to face this book as an unknown thing, so I could be amazed by it, which means I wasn’t expecting half of what happened. I was so hooked to the plot that I decided to ignore my friends and just keep reading. (Sorry, guys!) Smitty was an interesting character, and somewhere in the middle of the story I thought he could have been something else. As I said, Sebastian was my favourite character because he was the “comic character” of the book; he had really good lines and was, probably, the character that was closed to me. He was always making nerdy references, which was awesome! Sebastian is my spirit animal!
Since this is a graphic novel, talk about the art is really important. I didn’t know any of the authors of this book. It was the first time I read something from them and I liked it. The story was nice, funny and interesting – it really had a good ending, some kind of “girl power” mixed with “I need to find myself and I don’t want to be defined by other people”. And the art was nice as well. All the facial expressions were there, we could understand what was happening just by looking at the drawings. It had a soul – for the lack of a better expression. It’s a really good mix of drawing and story.
November 13, 2016
Sweet goodness, this was sooo adorable and funny! I am most definitely falling in love with graphic novels.
In Family Pets we meet Thomasina, a girl who lost her parents at 5 years old and now lives with her abuela (grandmother), her aunt and uncle. She thought the universe would have given some magical powers or special abilities after taking that much from her, but she's a teenager now and nothing has happened so far, thus leaving her leading a normal dull life.
Until one morning she wakes up and finds that her pet snake has turned into a guy with a vest and the rest of her family is a bunch of animals. What happened? Can she bring everything back to normal?
I thought it would have been a fast, nice graphic novel that would have entertained me for a couple of hourse but I hadn't foreseen how much I would have ended up loving everything about it: from the latino/hispanic/mediterranean family backgrounds to Thomasina's sadness to the black and white art, which I was not expecting and found myself pleasantly surprised in loving it anyway!
Sebastian, the snake-pet-vest-guy, was my favorite, though. He couldn't stop talking and was hilarious, his jokes and sarcasm and irony melted me in a pool of giggles.
My only regret is that it ended too soon and the ending didn't exactly break my heart but left a mark, nonetheless. There are loose ends, which I hope will find a resolution in a second volume.
This graphic novel is more on the "childish" side; it is hilarious, but in an innocent and naive way, not the sassy and gruesome way of Rat Queens, for instance. However, despite I would recommend it more to a younger public, I loved it and felt all the feels and I'm 100% sure that anyone would enjoy it!
*thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this graphic novel*
May 18, 2015
People often think that graphic novels (and comics), only deal with superheroes or humor. While this story does have many funny moments, it also shows how grief and loss can put a survivor's life into a holding pattern. Thomasina loses both her parents in an accident when she is very young. She lives with her grandmother for a while, then they both move in with her aunt and uncle. At the beginning of the story, Thomasina is now in high school and still feels as if she is waiting for her life to start. She knows that in books and movies, when a child is orphaned, they later find out they have magical powers or some other awesome event takes place. That hasn't happened to her.
Then one morning she wakes up and her family has been turned into pets and her pet snake has been turned into a really cute teenage boy. Thomasina and her abuela are the only ones in the house still in their original form. With her former snake, Sebastian, Thomasina has to find out what happened and how to get her family back.
There are plenty of pop culture references that will make readers laugh and knowingly shake their heads. (I'm still not sure how Sebastian absorbed so much of this while he was in snake form.) There are also plenty of realistic details about how families wind up keeping secrets from each other and not bothering to communicate with one another. And for those who enjoy seeing how authors imagine the wizarding world in ways other than Harry Potter and Hogwarts, this has a new twist on the coexistence of magic and muggles.
An entertaining read for urban fantasy and graphic novel fans.
I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.
Then one morning she wakes up and her family has been turned into pets and her pet snake has been turned into a really cute teenage boy. Thomasina and her abuela are the only ones in the house still in their original form. With her former snake, Sebastian, Thomasina has to find out what happened and how to get her family back.
There are plenty of pop culture references that will make readers laugh and knowingly shake their heads. (I'm still not sure how Sebastian absorbed so much of this while he was in snake form.) There are also plenty of realistic details about how families wind up keeping secrets from each other and not bothering to communicate with one another. And for those who enjoy seeing how authors imagine the wizarding world in ways other than Harry Potter and Hogwarts, this has a new twist on the coexistence of magic and muggles.
An entertaining read for urban fantasy and graphic novel fans.
I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.
September 20, 2015
A wonderful, funny, touching coming-of-age story. Thomasina has always been waiting for some kind of magic to happen to her ever since her parents died when she was five years old and now that she's sixteen it has finally happened. But not exactly how she expected. One morning she wakes up to find her snake has turned into a human and her entire family, except grandma, have turned into various pets. This is the beginning of an amazing, magical journey to the realm of magic and the in-between. Thomasina meets wizards, crushes on two very unique guys (neither exactly human), learns to stand up for herself and in a true coming of age story learns to finally say goodbye to the sad memories that she has held onto for so long. A very well-written and touching story. Pat Shand is my favourite author over at Zenescope and I was intrigued to see he'd written something for a Young Adult audience. I really had no idea what to expect with this since it is the very first thing I've read by Shand that is not full of violence and, not shall we say very risque. He's shown here with this outstanding work that he is a talented author whether writing for adults or youth. Bravo! I also must mention before concluding that the artwork is well done. It's compelling and I really enjoyed the look. The concentration on facial expressions and minimalistic backgrounds helps tell the emotional part of the story.
June 26, 2015
Family Pets is the story of Thomasina, a young teen who feels alone and overlooked. Her main friends are her snake Sebastian and Smitty, a schoolmate who plays the French horn. One morning everything changes. Sebastian is now human, while her aunt, uncle, and cousins are now animals. Only her Abeula is still human, and she is more interested in making videos to post online than in helping Thomasina turn her family back. Fortunately Thomasina has Sebastian's help. She discovers that not only is her friend Smitty more than he seems, there is a magical world beyond her imagination.
Family Pets is foremost a magical adventure. At the same time it is a story of a girl finding her inner strength and reconnecting with her family. This graphic novel is perfect for pre-teens and teens. The illustrations are simple but expressive and work well with the story. Although it starts slowly, the story pulls the reader in as it progresses. Family Pets is suitable for all ages.
Family Pets collects all 6 chapters in one volume. It is available for preorder and will be released July 14, 2015
4/5
I received a copy of Family Pets from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
--Crittermom
http://muttcafe.com/2015/06/family-pets/
What would you do if your family turned into animals?
Family Pets is foremost a magical adventure. At the same time it is a story of a girl finding her inner strength and reconnecting with her family. This graphic novel is perfect for pre-teens and teens. The illustrations are simple but expressive and work well with the story. Although it starts slowly, the story pulls the reader in as it progresses. Family Pets is suitable for all ages.
Family Pets collects all 6 chapters in one volume. It is available for preorder and will be released July 14, 2015
4/5
I received a copy of Family Pets from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
--Crittermom
http://muttcafe.com/2015/06/family-pets/
What would you do if your family turned into animals?
September 19, 2015
'Family Pets' by Pat Shand is a strange tale involving a school of wizardry and a family that gets turned in to pets. It does have one of the weirder love triangles I think I've run across in a book.
Thomasina lives in the basement of her uncle's house with her grandmother. After her parents died, her other family took her in. They are nice enough but sort of disinterested. Thomasina is kind of unnoticed at school too, except by the boy that plays French horn. Thomasina's only friend would seem to be Sebastian, her pet snake.
One morning, she wakes up and everything in her house is strange. Her family has been turned into animals and Sebastian is now a young man. She takes an odd journey to try to set things straight and has to make some choices along the way.
The whole thing is just kind of average. Not a horrible story, but not that great. The art is about average. I've seen better and worse. I liked the characters well enough, but some of them acted a bit inconsistent. The life lessons were good, but it left me unsatisfied at the end. Maybe that was meant to mirror real life, but in such a crazy, often funny story, I wanted a more solid ending.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Silver Dragon Books, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
Thomasina lives in the basement of her uncle's house with her grandmother. After her parents died, her other family took her in. They are nice enough but sort of disinterested. Thomasina is kind of unnoticed at school too, except by the boy that plays French horn. Thomasina's only friend would seem to be Sebastian, her pet snake.
One morning, she wakes up and everything in her house is strange. Her family has been turned into animals and Sebastian is now a young man. She takes an odd journey to try to set things straight and has to make some choices along the way.
The whole thing is just kind of average. Not a horrible story, but not that great. The art is about average. I've seen better and worse. I liked the characters well enough, but some of them acted a bit inconsistent. The life lessons were good, but it left me unsatisfied at the end. Maybe that was meant to mirror real life, but in such a crazy, often funny story, I wanted a more solid ending.
I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Silver Dragon Books, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
May 11, 2015
*Thanks for the Publsiher who has provided me with an e-copy.
In this coming of age story, you see through Thomasina of her discovering of magic and dealing with her past, all after her family was turned into a school of animals.
Family Pats had a nice concept, good graphics, likable characters and a good conclusion. However, the most important aspect seemed to be missing; the story. What could have been a great adventure in an exciting new world got reduced to a success of rushed scenes, even somewhat incosistent they were at some points.
There wasn't much of world-building either, which is such an unfortunate occurance as the comic contained the good, classic kind of magic that I would have loved to see more of.
Probably the only thing that kept me reading was the characters. Thomasina was a quite cynical, but also very sharp girl to whom I could easily warn up. Sebastian I adored, too. His wit made the comic so much more fun. Then there were Smitty, the shyer type that every good book needs and Abuela, the delightfully quirky grandmother.
All in all, I wish the author had worked the story out more. It would have been captivating one. As it is, it gets a two out of five stars from me.
In this coming of age story, you see through Thomasina of her discovering of magic and dealing with her past, all after her family was turned into a school of animals.
Family Pats had a nice concept, good graphics, likable characters and a good conclusion. However, the most important aspect seemed to be missing; the story. What could have been a great adventure in an exciting new world got reduced to a success of rushed scenes, even somewhat incosistent they were at some points.
There wasn't much of world-building either, which is such an unfortunate occurance as the comic contained the good, classic kind of magic that I would have loved to see more of.
Probably the only thing that kept me reading was the characters. Thomasina was a quite cynical, but also very sharp girl to whom I could easily warn up. Sebastian I adored, too. His wit made the comic so much more fun. Then there were Smitty, the shyer type that every good book needs and Abuela, the delightfully quirky grandmother.
All in all, I wish the author had worked the story out more. It would have been captivating one. As it is, it gets a two out of five stars from me.
December 18, 2015
This was basically a cute, quick read and I think it would make a great introduction of graphic novels to the middle grade set. Though some misguided magic, Thomasina's family are turned into pets one night, while her pet snake Sebastian, ends up becoming human. Thomasina, Sebastian and a friend from school go about righting this wrong and along the way, Thomasina grows to appreciate her extended family even more.
The artwork in this book is good, but it is done in black and white and I think color would have greatly enhanced the reading enjoyment. Sebastian is a great character and it's amazing how much he looks like a snake, even as an adult. I had a hard time while reading this book remembering that Thomasina is 16 - it's easier to conceive her as somewhere in the 12-14 range.
If you like graphic novels or if you want to introduce a child to this media, this is a great place to start. I snagged it from the library which is where I get most graphic novels because I feel they are too pricey for something you can usually read in an hour or so.
The artwork in this book is good, but it is done in black and white and I think color would have greatly enhanced the reading enjoyment. Sebastian is a great character and it's amazing how much he looks like a snake, even as an adult. I had a hard time while reading this book remembering that Thomasina is 16 - it's easier to conceive her as somewhere in the 12-14 range.
If you like graphic novels or if you want to introduce a child to this media, this is a great place to start. I snagged it from the library which is where I get most graphic novels because I feel they are too pricey for something you can usually read in an hour or so.
June 18, 2015
I enjoyed this story - teenage Thomasina finds her life so boring, until one day she wakes up to find her pet snake as a human, and all of her family members as various animals! Turns out her best friend is magic, and his spell went horribly wrong. I especially liked all of the Disney/Harry Potter/LoTR references they threw in :)
But there were some inconsistencies that bothered me.
The artwork was fine, but it especially bugged me that at random times - usually if they were more in the background, or standing at an odd angle - the characters would have no noses. Like, what? You can't draw a nose on an angle, or small? It was so jarring to me!
But there were some inconsistencies that bothered me.
The artwork was fine, but it especially bugged me that at random times - usually if they were more in the background, or standing at an odd angle - the characters would have no noses. Like, what? You can't draw a nose on an angle, or small? It was so jarring to me!
February 7, 2019
Thomasina’s parents died when she was five. She moved in with her grandmother, then they moved in with her aunt, uncle, and cousins when money got too tight. Now she’s in high school. She’s not loving life. Her best friend is a pet snake. She doesn’t feel close to her family. But that doesn’t mean she’s okay with her family turning into animals, and she’s really not okay with her pet snake disappearing. Okay, kind of disappearing. (No spoilers, Skye!) Who cast the spell that did all this damage? And how’s Thomasina going to fix it?
There’s a lot of emotion here, but it doesn’t get too heavy. Dill has a lot of fun with character designs and expressions, and Shand keeps the story moving nicely. There’s a love/crush sub-plot with a little bit of rivalry, but nothing extreme. The snake provides comic relief, and it feels great when Thomasina’s family starts pulling together. Plus, Latina protagonist in a graphic novel, HURRAY!
There’s a lot of emotion here, but it doesn’t get too heavy. Dill has a lot of fun with character designs and expressions, and Shand keeps the story moving nicely. There’s a love/crush sub-plot with a little bit of rivalry, but nothing extreme. The snake provides comic relief, and it feels great when Thomasina’s family starts pulling together. Plus, Latina protagonist in a graphic novel, HURRAY!
May 10, 2015
Read as eARC from NetGalley
I enjoyed this. It felt a little bit slow at first, but, although a bit simple, I liked both the art and the story. I appreciate the positive messages and themes in the book, such as that Thomasina has to permit herself to grieve, but she has to move on with her life instead of waiting to stumble into some destiny. All of the teenage characters come to the conclusion that they have to take charge of their own lives and be true to themselves (after the figure out who they are). I was glad to see that Thomasina was a smart, strong character, and didn't end up with either of the two guys, or become a damsel in distress. The book also has a positive message, albeit tied up too neatly at the end, that families need to share their problems and difficulties for each other, since sharing burdens (especially grief and financial hardship) lightens the load.
I enjoyed this. It felt a little bit slow at first, but, although a bit simple, I liked both the art and the story. I appreciate the positive messages and themes in the book, such as that Thomasina has to permit herself to grieve, but she has to move on with her life instead of waiting to stumble into some destiny. All of the teenage characters come to the conclusion that they have to take charge of their own lives and be true to themselves (after the figure out who they are). I was glad to see that Thomasina was a smart, strong character, and didn't end up with either of the two guys, or become a damsel in distress. The book also has a positive message, albeit tied up too neatly at the end, that families need to share their problems and difficulties for each other, since sharing burdens (especially grief and financial hardship) lightens the load.
June 27, 2015
When a young woman worries about her life being stuck in a rut, she's perhaps not mistaken. She lives in a basement apartment with her grandmother below other family members, after losing both her parents as a youngster. She only seems to engage with her pet snake. But when she wakes up and it's turned into a dashing hunk, is this a wish come true? The truth behind the agency of the change is what makes this firmly a teen read, but it's a very good one indeed. Eye-opening black and white artwork, a conundrum for several people that is sustained comically over several diverse issues, and a fine plot all make this a really successful book. Perhaps things are taken just one convolution too far in the end, but the emotion and engaging plot run hand in hand on these pages. More like a four and a half star success.
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