Review by Frank Plowright

Full Shift features a clever cover design. With lead character Tessa’s head central and the large bright logo, it’s intended to draw the focus away from something integral, and readers who don’t notice are going to be whole lot more puzzled at Tessa’s busy home over the opening pages. Any confusion will be brief as it’s revealed that Tessa’s part of a werewolf community, except not wholeheartedly. Her first transformation, or shift as its known, only occurred two years after her younger sister, and while hers is a world where many other supernaturals conceal their true state, she’s not entirely at home with the idea of being a werewolf.

Life outside the communal home isn’t much better. Tessa’s had a crush on Maddie for years and Jennifer Dugan ensures readers will realise what Tessa doesn’t when she gets a note from Maddie and jumps to the wrong conclusion.

All too human emotions are Dugan’s speciality. Readers will understand why Tessa makes mistakes and why she then compounds them, largely through embarrassment. The werewolf aspect plays a part in fantasy sections, but Full Shift is primarily a story about growing up and finding your place in the world, with lycanthropy a further complication. Tessa’s emotional state is complicated by having additional human factors to cope with, the biggest of which is dealing with her father’s death.

All the emotional turmoil is brought to life via Kit Seaton’s amazingly appealing art. She uses a broadly realistic style that certainly deals well with people, but it also makes scenes featuring wolves running through the scenery especially attractive. Thoughtfully, Seaton ensures Tessa can be recognised in her wolf form alongside other wolves. Being able to distinguish Tess extends to busy school scenes, where Seaton picks out the necessary people in bright colour, while presenting the background cast in neutral colouring.

Dugan builds toward two turning points around halfway through. The possibility of Tess’ other pack members discovering Maddie is a concern, but for a long while Dugan lets readers speculate about the reason Tessa wants to locate some hunters who’ve set up in the area. Meanwhile other pressures are building on Tess ensuring she can’t access her first source of help.

Excellent art, believable characters and a gripping plot ensure Full Shift sustains interest to the end, making this a great young adult graphic novel.

It’s becoming more frequent for young adult titles to include swearing, and if that bothers you, Full Shift is on the list.