Poor Freddy Riley. She has caught the attention of the incorrigible Laura Dean. Unfortunately for Freddy, so have many other people. And Laura has no issue with returning their affections.

Freddy feels almost guilty about the life she leads. She should be happy to at least live in a society progressive enough that she can openly have a girlfriend, right? She chides herself for having life relatively “easy” compared to the challenges faced by gays in the not-too distant-past. But Freddy knows that this relationship isn’t working. The story is (loosely) framed by her letters to an advice columnist as Freddy tries to break free (and stay broken from) Laura. Freddy’s friends are not as easily charmed by Laura, and Freddy finds her fixation on Laura is starting to strain her other relationship.

A very discussion—worthy story with stunning illustrations. Although I was a bit guarded after This One Summer (quite good, but also quite heavy), I was lured into a false sense that this would be a fairly straightforward plot. However, Tamaki pulls quite a punch – and, while jarring, it felt authentic to the narrative. An excellent book and worthy follow-up in Tamaki’s GN career.



https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2879456202

I am a big fan of Mariko Tamaki so was eager to read this book. I loved the art, it was simple yet beautiful. The story was well-written and engaging. I work with 12 and under but I know that the teens at my library will really enjoy this book.

Per usual, the artwork is absolutely stunning and the story about friendship, self-worth, and toxic relationships will resonate with readers. Most definitely a must add for YA graphic novel collections.

I just... don't think I like Mariko Tamaki's stuff, despite the fact that the summaries always sound like I should. I've also read Skim and Saving Montgomery Sole, which both had a really similar feeling to this and both fell short for me. She has protagonists who kind of angstily float along in their own weird little worlds being completely passive. It just doesn't work for me.

I cannot review this title due to an unreadable format. I cannot review this title due to an unreadable format.

This graphic novel was one I wanted to read for a while and I am glad I did. While this book has a predictable plotline, I wasn't bothered because the emotion behind it and the characters were real enough that it felt like something new, highly recommend.

I love everything about this book- the plot, the characters, the flow. And the art was absolutely breathtaking. This is a must-read for high schoolers (or for anyone who has ever found themselves chasing the wrong kind of relationship).

Unfortunately the eARC of this graphic novel was unreadable. I thought that it was a problem with my ereader at first but it seems that everyone else had the same issue. I was really looking forward to reviewing this book. I did skim through the pages and the art and coloring are beautiful. I'll read the book once it is published.

I could not read the version that I downloaded. I was disappointed because it caught my eye! The premise seemed interesting and the cover looked so cool.

I was so excited to be approved for this. I love Mariko Tamaki and I was highly anticipating getting my hands on a copy of her next graphic novel. Unfortunately, I could not read the text in the file. From what I saw, the illustrations were well done and I look forward to reading it once my library purchases a copy.

This is a book that I am highly anticpating for the spring so I'm just shocked that the quality of this file was that awful.. I gave up. I'll most likely be purchasing the title for the library and will try to read it then but I just kinda can't believe that y'all thought that quality was a good idea???

I couldn’t read the text in the file I downloaded! I’m sad because I’m so excited to read this comic! I’ll try to download it again, and I hope that I can read it then.

Everything Tamaki does is magical, so I'm sure this will be a great. But as others have said, the text was illegible, and I didn't want to fight it.

Unfortunately I cannot give a full review of this title since the image quality is too low to read any of the text. I'm not sure why the publisher would do this.

I'm giving it 5 stars because everything Tamaki does is magic and amazing. The colourscape of black, white, grey, and coral is incredible. I can tell this is a deeply emotional, evocative story. As disappointed as I am, I'm excited to read it when I get get a real copy.

Giving this 5 stars to give the author the benefit of the doubt because the art looks beautiful and the story seemed great, from what I could gather. Unfortunately, as almost every other reviewer has mentioned, the text is COMPLETELY ILLEGIBLE. This is so disappointing as I was REALLY excited to read this, and couldn't. :(

The e-arc was such low quality that I couldn't really read it, but I loved this book so much. I love a book for teens (for anyone) that shows a toxic relationship where neither person is exactly a villain but it's still an unhealthy relationship. Even Laura Dean, for all her terrible girlfriend behavior, is a teen who clearly has her own abandonment/attachment issues to sort out. Also modeling what a toxic relationship is! I feel like a lot of young adult (and adult) books idealize unhealthy relationships, so it's refreshing to read a book that calls a spade a spade. It's not romantic, it's toxic. Love shouldn't have to be a constant struggle.

The art was beyond beautiful, and every little touch from the talking bear ring to the emails to Anna Vice was wonderfully done. The touches of pink in the beginning were great too.

I especially loved Doodle's story line, and I loved their friendship! I love how this book shows that romantic relationship shouldn't trump the other important relationships in your life. I love how Freddie was able to recognize that this wasn't who she wanted to be and how she was hurting others, and then worked to fix it! I recognize that I said love a lot in this review, but I loved this book!

Unfortunately I was not able to read the text in the format available for download, however I will most likely order it for our graphic novel collection, based on the drawings and the authors previous works.

I couldn't read the text of this graphic novel in the version that I downloaded, but from what I could see in the pictures, I loved. I think this is an important topic for teens to read, and I can't wait to get a physical copy in my hand so I can read the story along with the pictures.

This book explores a toxic relationship, self-love, standing up for yourself, and friendship. The plot didn't stand out to me and there was a lot going on. Overall, it was realistic and has an important message. Realizing that you're in a toxic and emotionally abusive relationship and leaving it is hard. It's important to be there for your friends when they ask for help. The illustrations were stunning.

As others have said in their reviews, the text was close to unreadable. I loved the story and the art so much though that I powered through anyway though and made my best guess on the words. Despite the blurry words and missing pages, I really enjoyed this. Losing yourself in a terrible relationship and becoming a bad friend in the process is an experience most teens can relate to, and I loved the queer rep. I've already purchased a copy for my library!