I'm not sure how I feel about this one. On the one hand, it was endearing, relatably cringe-y at times, and ultimately heartwarming. On the other hand, I found myself wanting more out of each vignette, sometimes flipping back and forth between the pages and thinking "wait, that's it?" when an episode ended sooner than I expected. This story covers a lot of territory, including everything from tween fashion to an eating disorder. While some like the former were fine as brief anecdotes, I'm surprised more time wasn't spent with the latter and a few other topics.

I don't think this story is going to stay with me for long, but I'm glad to have read it and I'm glad we'll have a copy at my library. I think this graphic novel's strongest point is the non-linear process of her coming out as gay. She makes decisions that confuse her friends, comes out multiple times, has plenty of awkward dating experiences, becomes more comfortable with her own style, and finds joy in a relationship. The envelope imagery was especially effective, and I think that in particular will resonate with others.

The Times I Knew I Was Gay was even more heartfelt and uplifting than I expected. It focuses on the author's journey to figuring out that she's gay, but this story is relatable to anyone. It deals with feeling weird and different, trying to change yourself to fit in, and just the horrible and confusing time we call adolescence. As the author alludes to, it is really difficult to go back and try to remember that pain and struggle because we block so much out once we're on the other side. But, she does a great job of depicting scenes that really bring it all back, like totally loving your bra and then finding out that it's not "cool" and not a "real" bra, and the moments of triumph and recognition like watching Willow come out on Buffy. The author is able to use humor without clouding the pain or lessening the seriousness of how hard it all was to get through, while still showing light on the other side.

This is a genuine, vulnerable illustrated autobiography about one woman's journey with her sexual identity, perfect for young adult readers and adult readers alike. Ellie Crewes tells stories from throughout her life that ended up being significant once she realized she was gay, such as her childhood obsession with Willow from Buffy, her struggle to fit in at school, and her relationships with boys. Crewes speaks about her journey with dating boys and having sex in young adulthood in a very honest way. She chronicles her long coming out process, which involved steps forward and steps back, and it was so refreshing to read a coming out story that was not primarily about a romantic relationship, as coming out stories in fictional media often are.

What I loved most about this book is how Crewes emphasizes that coming to terms with her identity, coming out, and dating women was a long, non-linear process. Unlike some, she didn't just know, somehow, that she was gay—it was a long process of realization—and even once she had realized, she still struggled to come to terms with it. As a queer person who has struggled with my own identity, I was really touched that she shared this part of her story. This is definitely worth a read.

Loved this heartfelt graphic memoir about the author’s process of understanding that she is gay. She illustrates, in simple black and white pencil drawings, how coming out was not an instantaneous event but rather a journey.

The author vividly captures feelings of isolation and unhealthy coping mechanisms such as preoccupation with weight and appearance. This book could be a lifesaver for a young person grappling with being different. As an adult, reading about the author’s teen struggles gave me compassion for teens navigating the world of changing bodies and feelings.

Highly recommend!

Ohhh this one was very dear.

“The Times I Knew I Was Gay” by Eleanor Crewes tells– well, kind of what it says on the tin. It gives us Ellie’s journey (so far) as she comes out, comes of age, becomes. It’s about how a struggle with one thing in yourself can be the insidious seed for more struggles with yourself. How difficult a place to be your own headspace is if you’re so vehemently denying something you don’t even know what you’re denying.

I found this really heartwarming. Heart wrenching as well at parts. There’s a huge focus on process, and needing to process. At some point - after having come out to her friends once already - she’s turning the thought over again in her mind, time and time again, and she says, “It wasn’t such an epiphany as last time ... it was more like small moments of clarity. Like I had to test the words, allow them to settle inside me before speaking them aloud to anyone.” As someone who needs about a week to process any minor decision this is an extremely recognisable feeling. I especially also really like the focus on transitional places in this graphic memoir about change - this particular moments on the London Underground.

I really liked how we get both the narrator Ellie and the narrated Ellie’s thoughts - we see how they differ, and how she reflects on herself at the time. It’s one of the thing that makes autographies such as this very appealing to me, the aspect of direct revisiting through the author’s own art. Ellie switches to her present-day self at significant moments, rethinking her own thoughts out loud (or, on page), taking us with her in her thought processes as they develop and have developed.

Overall I think this is an accomplished, well narrated and drawn, but most of all a wonderfully hopeful book.

Thanks to Scribner and Net Galley for sending me an early copy of this to review! I always love reviewing graphic novels, even if they aren’t in their final stages at the time of review. I like seeing what they turn into for the final edition. It’s such a fun process!

This is an honest and personal graphic memoir, showing that most times, LGBTQ+ individuals don’t just pop out of the closet. It’s a process of learning and realization that can take time to get comfortable in your own skin. This is something that I think we need to see more of in LGBTQ literature, especially in the YA realm. It’s important to see this process of coming out, and by being so personal about it, I think a lot of teens and young adults will connect with this story.

I also really enjoyed the art style throughout, for the most part. I think I’d like to see what it looks like in person, as it’s quite minimal at times. This also means that the book reads a bit like a journal or a diary, which complements the story really well. It was engaging and real, exactly what you want a graphic memoir to be.

Overall, this was a great graphic memoir that I think will connect with a lot of people!

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

This memoir examines the often complicated and confusing process of coming out. Coming out is not a one and done situation. There are times where you yourself can doubt your own sexuality, never mind having to tell other people about it.

I really enjoyed this book. It was very sweet and understated, but did a great job of explaining what so many queer people go through. I also really liked the simple illustration style. I think it really showed the author’s personality

I went into this only knowing about the content based on the blurb and was blown away. This was so much better than I thought it would be. The fact it is a graphic novel just makes it that much more engaging. I appreciate the author being brave enough to put their journey into a story for everyone today to read. I wish I had something like this to read when I was younger. I believe it will be helpful for youth today. I am going to struggle with my verbiage in this review as I enjoyed it more than I can really put into words.

I received an advanced copy of Times I Knew I Was Gay from NetGalley so that I could share my review with you!


Times I Knew I Was Gay is a relatable and frank graphic memoir chronicling one young woman’s experience of coming out. For most of her life, Ellie felt as though there was a secret she was keeping from herself, waiting until the time was right to learn who she is. It was like she was carrying around an envelope with a secret truth, but she couldn’t open it until she’d proven she was worthy of knowing what was inside. Because of this, Ellie spent many years wondering why her relationships just didn’t feel right. Years later, Ellie is able to reflect on the many times she probably should’ve known she was gay.

You can get your copy of Times I Knew I Was Gay on October 6th from Scribner!

One thing I really enjoyed about this book was the way it explained coming out as a process, rather than as a one-time event. So often, the coming out experience is viewed as a single moment, after which you are “officially” out of the closet. This is rarely the case. Instead, coming out exists as an ongoing chain of conversations with the people around you and with yourself as you discover what it means to be a part of the LGBTQ community. In this way, I felt that Times I Knew I Was Gay was a very successful graphic novel!

My Recommendation-
If you enjoy reading graphic memoirs, Times I Knew I Was Gay should be on your to-read list! This was a quick and light read dealing with sexuality and self-discovery, so if you enjoy books on those subjects, Times I Knew I Was Gay would be a good pick for your next read!

I loved this graphic memoir! As someone who struggled with their sexuality for so long, I felt how Eleanor was feeling throughout certain times in her life. I think the graphics were wonderful and obviously the story was interesting with some funny moments.

Overall, this is a great memoir that I think a lot of people should read even if they aren't struggling with their sexuality or part of the LGBTQ+ community.

a quick, easy coming of age graphic novel. I was able to relate to a lot of this and enjoyed the art style. I do wish there was a little bit more "meat" to this but overall, I still enjoyed it!

The Times I Knew I Was Gay by Eleanor Crewes invites you to tag along on the author’s road to embracing her sexuality. I really appreciated that, unlike many coming out stories, she clearly shows that it’s a winding path and not a single realization or event. We experience the journey through the eyes of a whimsically drawn character that is desperately trying to figure out who she is.

In the introduction, the author wrote that one of her goals in writing this story was to help anyone who is on a similar quest . . . which would be everyone. Who has not struggled with their appearance, their body, their relationships, their jobs, and their future? This book has something to offer everyone not just members of the LGBTQ+ community.

However, there are a few minor suggestions that I would make:
1) It was occasionally difficult to distinguish the main character from the other characters. I struggled with this the most when her hair was shoulder length. So maybe give her something that’s even more distinctive on those pages.

2) On page 178, the dialogue reads, “It’s so stupid that they’ve given me class the day before hand-in.” While I think I got the gist of what she was saying, I’m wondering if there might be a word missing from that sentence.

3) I was confused on page 203. We see the main character and her girlfriend through a bus window pointing outside. The narration, about their potential future together, does not seem to match the illustration. I don’t understand how that setting depicts that conversation. Are they pointing at the scenery or the car behind them or something else? What does that have to do with their relationship?

4) Page 224 is just text explaining how she came out to her house. Then the next three pages are illustrations of what we just read. It would make more sense to me to sprinkle that narration throughout the illustrations. Having a large block of text then multiple pages of illustrations feels redundant, but if they were together, it would just feel descriptive.

5) I would encourage the publishers to crop the digital version of this book so that there is less white space around the drawings/text blocks. With more than three hundred pages, the huge borders often made me feel like I was doing more scrolling than reading. (FYI, I was reading it on my Kindle Fire.)

All that having been said, I still think it’s a great little book, and I would definitely recommend it.

I was super excited to read this because my daughter loves queer memoirs and I jumped at the chance to read one from NetGalley.
I’m not really sure who the target audience is for this one. I’m fully supportive of my gay daughter (who came out in junior high) but I wouldn’t have wanted her to read this when she was in elementary school. It’s written like it’s intended to be read by preschoolers but it talks about sex with high school boyfriends and eating disorders. I requested it hoping it would be like the memoirs she enjoys. I guess I didn’t realize it was like a young child picture book. The things she talks about as a child could have been about anyone. Wearing pants to a first communion doesn’t make you gay. It means you want to be comfortable. My non-gay kid wore grey sweats to dance class when everyone else was wearing frills and tutus. Being emo doesn’t mean you’re gay. I didn’t want to have sex with any of my high school boyfriends either but I’m very much into men.
It was just flat and disappointing for me. The title held a lot of promise.

I loved this book. It’s similar to many coming out graphic novel memoirs, but/and I never get tired of them.

I love the art, I love the story. No notes.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for this advanced reader's copy of The Times I Knew I Was Gay by Eleanor Crewes.

I really enjoy graphic novels and this was no exception. The illustrations were charming, with details that helped the reader understand the author's story even more clearly. Certain details, like the author's hairstyle as it changes from age to age, aid the reader as they follow along on the journey from childhood to adulthood in visualizing the reality of the illustrations. I loved that the story relied more on the illustrations to carry the plot than on narration.

Overall a really solid read, especially for graphic novel lovers.

What a wonderful, honest portrayal of someone's coming-out story (or stories, as it were). I found this to be a really quick and easy read, accessible and light-hearted, but still serious when it needed to be. It was relateable at the best of times, and heartbreaking at its lowest. The artwork is cute and fun, very stylistic.

content warnings for eating disorders and homophobic slurs!

it's always really hard to rate memoirs and graphic novels, but especially memoirs because they're so deeply personal. i really enjoyed this one though because i could easily relate to the content, being a lesbian myself, but also because the art was really cute!

this graphic memoir included a lot of experiences that i think are common for lesbians to go through, and it was really validating reading about someone else having a lot of similar experiences that i had growing up and discovering i was a lesbian.

i also really enjoyed the art style! it's simplistic yet still adds interest to the story telling element.

This book was a really great and fast read. I think readers will find it relatable, interesting, and cool. I really loved the art style too.

As a child, Eleanor Crewes tried to conform with her friends and date boys but nothing really clicked for her so she began to wonder if she was gay. She came out to her friends several times and they were always supportive but she still felt like she should try to conform. I thought this graphic memoir was a great peek into what it’s like to struggle with sexuality.

A very lovely coming out/coming of age story about the author. The book follows Ellie from childhood to adulthood as she deals with coming to terms with being gay and covers the rather messy process of coming out. For those who haven't read a memoir like this before, it's a great view of how the process of coming out and realizing you're not straight can take a lot longer and require a lot of introspection. While the book doesn't say it directly, the effect of compulsory heteronormativity and how it affects Ellie is pretty clear and harsh to watch.

3.5/5 as it rehashed a lot of familiar concepts to me and I didn't particularly feel that the art (which was cute) did anything to make the story more or less profound. I would have been just as happy reading this as a short essay over a graphic novel.