Review by Karl Verhoven

Abigail is an orphaned child studying at the Younwity Hidden Institute of Witchcraft and aware she needs to improve her school results. She’s very close to her mentor Noreen, an older pupil, and when Noreen goes missing, apparently in the nearby woods, Abigail is frustrated that the school hierarchy aren’t doing enough to locate her. After all, pupils at the school are routinely warned off the woods with the story of another pupil who once disappeared there.

Any creator setting a magical fantasy in a school begins by placing a massive millstone around their neck as generations have grown up with Harry Potter, and unless there are marked differences other projects can come across as pale imitations. Over My Dead Body never entirely escapes that trap.

Where there’s no doubt about individuality is the wonderful art. The people have personalities and style, and design elements are paraded up front. The school uniform includes the traditional peaked conical witch’s hat, and Sweeney Boo incorporates them throughout, always in full, which provides a distinct visual motif. Beyond that the digital art really sparkles in creating the school atmosphere and the people, only diminishing slightly for the closing scenes where something a little more dramatic was needed. Boo makes bold colour choices also, ensuring the people stand out against the backgrounds, and the style as a whole adapts well to greytoned flashbacks.

Boo pitches Abigail as the one person keeping the faith when even good friends are warning her off, telling her “none of this means anything… You’re obsessing”. She’s the focal point for the reader’s desire to influence events, so willing her to ignore anything deterring her from her virtuous path.

The plot falls down in a couple of places. There’s a puzzle introduced and unresolved about foundling children being regular admissions, all given the surname Younwity, but why are there so many? We never learn. Also, while Harry Potter wasn’t the first children’s novel to feature a sinister teacher, it certainly perpetuated the idea globally, and Boo toys with similar ideas. The whole resolution is the weakest element of an otherwise engaging puzzle, as there’s a lack of credible motivation for actions in the past central to everything playing out, and, as noted, the art needed greater impact.

For many readers the accomplished, charming and atmospheric look will render overthinking about the plot irrelevant, and they’ll take Over My Dead Body to their hearts.