In the thrilling, witchy sequel to Over My Dead Body, Abigail fights to clear her name as strange occurrences continue to plague Younwity Hidden Institute of Witchcraft—a spooky teen graphic novel perfect for fans of Wednesday Addams and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina!

Months after Abigail and her friends thwarted a dark magic ritual that threatened to destroy Younwity Hidden Institute of Witchcraft, new dangers and long-buried secrets bubble to the surface.

As autumn turns to winter, a mysterious rune-dotted fissure has appeared in the school grounds, and no one from the Coven is able to seal it—no matter how powerful their magic is. Even worse, it’s believed this fissure is the source of hazardous tremors that continue to rip through the grounds, threatening the institute’s very foundation. Abigail is certain this is all her fault and hatches a plan to seal the fissure herself, but when her ritual goes sideways, she awakens a long-dormant entity hellbent on revenge. To put things right, Abigail will need to unearth the true history of Younwity Institute and, just maybe, unravel the secrets of her own forgotten past along the way.

I’m so grateful HarperCollins Children’s Books/HarperAlley gave me a chance to read SPEAK OF THE DEVIL. I requested it on NetGalley solely based on the cover art, and am delighted to share that the haunting, creepy, and beautiful art of the cover permeates the graphic novel in its entirety.

What I did not do was read the description closely, which indicates this comic is a sequel. Oops. Because of this, it felt like I was missing out on a huge chunk of something special–characters mention it; it’s a precursor to the current events in the story–in other words, you need to read the first book in order for this one to be a completely fulfilling story.

Not that this book was hard to follow. It starts with a flashback to a Salem Witch Trials-adjacent town where a family is persecuted for witchcraft and a great tragedy leads to madness and a loss of control of powers, and…murder.

Fast forward to present day Younwity Institute, and there are a slew of significant problems plaguing this witchcraft school–earthquakes, flooding, and a mysterious fissure that has appeared in the ground that is causing students –a specific kind–to disappear. It ties to lead character Abigail, who is descended from the mysterious young woman who appears in the old flashbacks (like 1600s or so). Anyway, Abigail feels guilt for all of this stuff happening, believing it to be the result of the events in the first book, and she tries to close the fissure, but only makes things worse. In investigating what happened (including disappearing a student), this leads to mystery after mystery, including strange visions, and a haunting lullaby that appears and reappears.

Because I didn’t read the first book, there was some stuff (worldbuilding and character relationships) that flew over my head. So let me reiterate, you HAVE to read the first book, OVER MY DEAD BODY, to get a clear understanding of what’s happening and how deep everything goes.

Despite my lack of knowledge, I enjoyed this comic. I liked the familiars the characters had (Abigail’s hairless cat is particularly fun), and I liked that all of the magic had risks to it and was a little bit on the darker side. There is a rich history to this series that is touched upon here, but again, I think would come out fully if I’d read the first book. Which I’m running to do right now.

Due to beautiful art, a great mood, interesting worldbuilding, and likeable characters, I’m rating this book four stars. I hope I get the same wonderful experience reading OVER MY DEAD BODY as I had reading SPEAK OF THE DEVIL.

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Speak of the Devil by Sweeney Boo is available for preorder directly from HarperAlley or a wide variety of booksellers online (linked to at the HarperAlley site). It will be available March 2, 2026 in paperback, hardcover, and digital.