I really loved this book. The art and the story were amazing. The representation was great we had bisexual, non-binary, gay and people of charcters. I liked the art style that was to complicated. The love story was also pretty cute.

This story sees our main character Charlie transfer to a new school and join the basketball team.
I liked the inclusivity it promoted. Most characters are on the LGBT+ spectrum and it has more than the usual token black character.
I'm not a big sports fan myself but I found this entertaining. It is written from multiple points of view and executed well. There are parts from every characters I like but they are best when they come together which, as the idea behind the plot, makes it work reading. You are rooting for the team!
It has a good pace and illustrations that pop!

5 Stars, this was incredible!

Would recommend if you like the art style of Goldie Vance or the friendships in Lumberjanes.

We follow Charlie, who has just transferred to a new university. She meets Olivia who wants her to join the basketball team. The story focuses on friendship and dealing with your past. There's diversity when it comes to race, sexuality, mental health and gender.

The characters are truly amazing. Their personalities really came through, even in this first volume. They are all diverse in their own way. So far the characters haven't labeled themselves, so neither will I. There is definitely queer love in this. Two females characters are into females (but haven't said if they identifies as lesbians), one character has shown interest in both females and males (but haven't said if she identifies as bi or pan), and one character uses they/them pronounce. There is also a character who deals with anxiety and has had panic attacks in the past.

What I enjoyed the most about the diversity, was that it was just there. It didn't feel forced or made to be a big thing, which made it very natural.

The biggest selling point for me was that the characters where so different from each other, and their relationships.

If you enjoy colorful contemporary stories with friendships, then this is for you. I highly recommend getting yourself a copy when it is releases. I know that I will.

Absolutely adored this! A fun, diverse, and empowering read. Amazing art and colours too. Can't wait to see where this series goes,

If I was a tween girl, I'd probably love this. Alas I'm not, and this just seemed boring and pointless. It's about some girls in college who start a basketball team. That's the whole extent of the story, or lack thereof. It reminded me of a sports manga, but without any of the drama.

I received a copy of an e-arc from the publishers on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This comes out Sept. 3.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was stinking cute!! The art style in this is amazing. I’d recommend this to fans of Heartstopper, Lumberjanes, or Bloom.

In this story, Charlie transfers to a new college and is feeling a little lost when Olivia decides to recruit her for the college’s first women’s basketball team. They’re a rag-tag team of diverse girls who just want to have fun and support their teammates in everything they do.

I really appreciated how this normalized anxiety and panic attacks. I also love how there was a character whose pronouns were they/them! I love how common that is becoming in literature these days. (Also how the gay characters were just gay, no long backstory or explanation. Just a normal crush)

I CANNOT wait for volume 2!

TW: panic attacks

I loved Carly Usdin's Heavy Vinyl so I was excited to see this one on NetGalley. It's a fun read with a great ensemble cast. (Tiffany was my personal favorite, I loved how over the top she was written.) The cliffhanger got me - I wasn't expecting that at all and it certainly made me want to read more of this series.

Representation: trans girl, non-binary, queer characters, POC, anxiety & panic attacks

This was such a fun, diverse read. I was so invested in this story and the characters! What a great, diverse, queer story. I laughed so much during this and ah, I just loved it so much. I was rooting for all of the characters, especially the main character. It was such a pure, heartfelt story but it also talked about topics such as mental health and break-ups. The illustrations were my favorite part, they very colorful and detailed for every scene. I was fully immersed into the Avant-Guards world. I want more of Avant-Guard ASAP!

I love Charlie and Olivia! They are so cute. All of the characters are so diverse and eclectic and amazing. This whole story was so much fun. It ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, so I am really excited to get my hands on the next volume, even though it will be a while. This was honestly so great.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this title. I absolutely loved this graphic novel. It's a great sports story I haven't heard before due to it's great diverse cast of characters, adorable queer love story and badass ladies kicking butt in basketball. I would definitely call this more of a New Adult title than a teen title, it's more for college age people, but I'd recommend it to both. I also really liked that it featured a transfer student, which you don't see as much.

Such great artwork in this graphic novel! I am definitely looking forward to reading the next volume in this series.

There’s no way in hell I would usually pick up a book about Basketball – I’d have to be among one of the most non-sporty, uncoordinated, clumsy people on the planet. Looking at the cover of Avant-guards, you may be thinking that this graphic novel is just that, all about basketball. It’s not. This story delves into heaps of issues and to be honest, the basketball is like background music, you hardly even know its there. The art, the characters and the heart in this makes Avant-guards a surprising package which you should pick up.

When scrolling through a catalogue of graphic novels to review, this one immediately stood out, the cover is colourful and depicts a group of young people hanging out. The style of art used was really appealing to me as it was eye-catching, modern and fresh. This style is used throughout the graphic novel and made for not only and interesting story but one which was visually appealing also.

When Charlie arrives at the all-girls school, Georgia O’Keeffe of Arts and Subtle Dramatics, she’s not looking to make friends or join a group. The last thing she wants is to join another Basketball team but after meeting Liv, aspiring actor and basketball nut something in her begins to shift. Liv turns out to be very persistent and after finding out Charlie was a star player for her last school’s basketball team she becomes determined that Charlie will join her merry gang of misfit players.
Along the way we meet colourful, interesting and unique characters which make this story charming and takes the focus off basketball. The relationships built within the story are just adorable and ones you the reader totally invest all your hopes and dreams into. The fact that this graphic novel has LGBTQUIA+ characters as well as a non-binary character really adds to the overall vibe of the story.

This book was so great and one which I hope to continue with. The art, the characters and the heart makes this 100% worth picking up. I highly recommend taking a look and I know you won’t be disappointed 😊
Thank you so much to Netgalley and BoomStudios for this review copy – I give this one 4 out of 5 stars.

This review will also be available on www.thenerddaily.com in a few weeks.

There’s really not much to say about this one except for I loved it. It has what I’m after in a graphic novel - interesting characters, great art work, a story I can get into and not to much text to have to read to be able to follow it. I think the story might move a little bit fast, though - there’s not many days that’s passing, right? Still, an easy read, lots of smiles, LGBTQ rep and a chance to learn some basketball

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review!

/ Denise

this was way too cute.
the artwork is so pretty, the colors and the style. absolutely loved it. also: representation! race, gender, sx. preference, body types, mental health. just so great!

With sports, romance, being the newbie, and finding your groove and your group all as underlying themes, this book is perfect for teens or adults looking for sweet, positive, and heart-warming representation of young women of color and/or queer romantic relationships.

First thing first, the art style is so easy on the eyes. Super pretty, super cute and super fitting for the story.

I loved seeing such a diverse cast of females not only over multiple ethnicity's but also apperence's (plus LGBTQ rep). Every character is distinct, they have their own look and personality and they are all likable not only as a group but also as individuals.

Since this is only the first volume it did however go quite surface level. We don't get to know any of the characters that deeply, we don't get to know their aspirations or struggles. Which I hope we will see more of in future volumes.

I also really hope we get to see more of them playing actual basket. This is supposed to be a sport comic but still they only play for about one chapter. This is probably supposed to serve as their orgin story before they really get into the core of the story.

This is so cute, definitely recommend.

Representation: Representation: sapphic relationships (past/present); non-binary character (Jay); transgender character (Nicole); casual racial diversity

Content Warning: Panic attacks

A graphic novel about a basketball team that will endear even those who yell "yay sports", The Avant-Guards is a charming, fun, beautifully illustrated story that will leave you wanting the next volume as soon as you close the back cover!


What I Enjoyed


The dual point of view, from Charlie the new transfer to Olivia the leader of the Avant-guards, played out well. As the strongest personalities in this volume, their points of view set up the framework the brought the reader to the others, who brought a lot of joy and variety to the group.

I thought there was so much energy that played off one another. Tiffany, Ashley, Nicole, and Jay were separate entities that were still something of a family in this story. There were some "rough" edges, such as the romantic history between Olivia and Nicole, but these edges were still good in a way because it made for interesting interactions.

The basketball aspect is easy enough to follow for someone who isn't a huge sports fan (i.e. me lol) and whatsmore it's still enjoyable. The first game between the Avant-guards and their league opponent was fun and sportsmanlike. I actually look forward to seeing more action when generally I'm a "go sports" type person.

The cliffhanger is tricky because I thought it was good in terms of being what it was, but also I didn't enjoy it because now I have to wait until next February for the answer to that email? How am I supposed to do that? *weep for me*


What I Didn't Enjoy


There's not a lot to not enjoy about this! I suppose it was rather short, so there's that? :( I can't wait for the next volume, especially with that ending.

Avant-Guards is a charming sports comic with tons of queer people and an overall message of community, connection, and more. It is charming and the artistic style is IMMEDIATELY my scene. It's cute because not only are they trying to establish a basketball team, but each of them has their own individual personalities that anyone can quickly relate to. This is the perfect first introduction because it makes you care enough about the story and the characters before that cliff hanger! Talk about mutual support, dealing with our own journeys, and new experiences.

I loved every moment of it.
It was so cute and adorable.
I need more of it!
I cannot wait until we get next volum!
I want to see what happends with the team and Charlie and Liv <3

This was such an enjoyable and cute read!

What I liked:
The illustrations and the color palette were so beautiful and went so well together. The characters were so likable and so unique and you just couldn't help but love them and root form them. The diversity in the graphic novel was also really awesome!

What I disliked:
Though the plot was interesting, it did have some weak areas. It might be because it is the first volume, but I felt that the plot was quite repetitive and bland; since the cast of characters was so cool you didn't really notice it, which was what happened with me. But upon some pondering, I realized the conflict was kind of weak, and that the ending, which was meant to be a cliffhanger, didn't make me feel like I needed the next volume immediately.

Conclusion:
Since the characters were so well illustrated and written, I do look forward to reading the next volume. And even though I had my complaints I didn't really notice them while reading the graphic novel. It was only when I really thought about it that I found some weak areas. In the end, I really enjoyed myself and had some good laughs.

Happy Reading,
Jabnia