This was one of the most beautiful reads in a long time. Makes me realize how and why graphic novels can be a powerful tool for experiencing cultures and lives beyond your own purview. It's a rare occasion that you get to read about such bravery from such an honest and beautiful soul. While I glided through the dialogues, it was the artwork that caught my attention several times. I needed to read this too, especially during such a difficult week.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, First Second, for sharing a digital advance reader's copy with me.

What a powerful read.

For a debut, Deb JJ Lee's demonstrates an amazing knowledge of the craft of the graphic novel creation that is mostly seen in illustrators with semi long, less seasoned works.

She conveys her childhood, adolescence and reflections with honesty and tries to not shy away from representing the struggles she faced with mental illness and how, sometimes, or dare i say, most of times, teens struggle to understand and be there for the friend that's suffering. This felt so real to me 'cause i've been in Deb's side when her best friend retreated little by little and never quite forgave Deb's actions when in a very vulnerable moment.

I liked the art very much and the watercolor style was ad hoc with the vibe of this story.

In Limbo is a pastel work that brings you into the personal conversation of Deborah Jung-Jin Lee's teenage years.

A Graphic Memoir written and artwork created by Deborah herself was an amazing read that broke my heart on several pages but gave me hope on the ending page.

TW: Self harm, Attempted Suicide, Bodily Harm

The memoir opens us to meeting Deborah in her high school year where she struggles to grow past the micro aggressions she's forced to endure as a Korean living in America. After being born in Seoul, her parents moved to New Jersey where Deborah grew up in, spending ample years of her adolescence.

I felt so close to Deborah, I can't say her story is similar or even a percentage close to mine because we all experience different things in our growing years. But I understand how she felt, feeling out of place. Having friends but not having close friends at the same time.

Watching your friends grow and expand and you feel like they're leaving you behind.
As an African, I understood the expectations to do extremely well academically. Deborah being born to Asian parents that will do everything to make you attain their expectations was so relatable.

Deborah finds herself floating from schoolwork, to orchestra practice, back to her house. Rarely hanging out with friends. She wasn't given the liberty to act stupid, or make mistakes. Because there's an unspoken rule that because of your race, because of who the world perceives you as, you must change that narrative no matter what.

Deborah finds herself drawn to her creativity, she wants to make art and she's good at it.
Slowly time goes by and she's in senior high-school where she meets Quin who becomes her friend. Finally, someone who sees her more than her stereotypical Asian features everyone has seen her as.

Someone who was kind, listened to her, watched studio Ghibli films with her and walked with her in school. I don't know how to explain it but I walked in Deborah's shoes when it came to friends. I had a lot but I had a miniscule amount of friends who knew me. Who understood, who I could be naked with about what I'd struggle with.

When you've watched your life from a window, not as the main narrator, when you finally see someone who makes you feel seen, who you want to show that part that makes you hurt. You'd do anything not to make them leave.

So when Quin began making friends with other people, hanging out at parties. Deborah found herself feeling she was being dumped by Quin. God, I get her so much. I've been friends with people for decades because I was scared of being alone and lonely that I would rather be the background character or the funny friend just so they'd say I was their friend.

Then Deborah feels herself spiralling, she goes back to her pattern of self harm and eventually attempts to unalive herself again. I cried at this part because Deborah's artwork is so immersive and has this soft pastel texture you almost feel yourself flowing into the story and becoming the main character.

Deborah talks about the difference with being unalived through suicide and being a suicide survivor. A suicide victim is often romanticised by the public, people share RIP posts, host memorials, share memories about that person, try to catch clout off the trending conversation. But if you're a suicide survivor, you either become the centre of micro aggressions and passive statements or become invisible.

Deborah felt invisible. Afterwards, the rebelling started. Her mother agreed to let her study art but not without the subtle comments of wasting her life, of becoming a starved artist.

Afterwards she starts seeing a therapist.
Then Deborah graduates and goes to South Korea where she stays with her grandmother and aunt.

The sentence that will forever stay with me is what Deborah's dad said to her when she was in Korean. "Growing up is about being sad and angry sometimes."

As a young adult, that journals so much and tries to be self aware, I don't think any sentence has made me feel seen so much. Being in your 20s doesn't mean you have anything figured out. You're going to be sad and angry 90% of the time but like Deborah's therapist said to her, you sometimes need to expand yourself, expand your horizon, meet new people, have tough conversations, get a therapist to talk about eveb the smallest struggles and remember that you don't have to have it all figured out.

This Graphic Memoir is such a reach story that starts a conversation about the struggles of Diaspora communities whether African or Asian or Latinx. And the struggles of mental health that a lot of young adults develop from trying to be perfect to attain parental expectations, to fit into society, to be the best.
Sometimes, I think we out to allow ourselves to self forgive our failures, to forgive ourselves for not being able to attain so much but still be happy.

Thank you First Second Books for this amazing ARC and to Deborah Jung-Jin Lee, thank you so much for sharing your story for other people to find hope and happiness and feel seen.

The art in this graphic memoir is just as intricate as something you would see in real life. This book did an amazing job talking about the authors experience with racism, and also with friendship. It tackles subjects like parental abuse, bullying, depression, and more.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

(TW: Suicide attempt.)
This was a beautiful graphic novel memoir that I could not put down when I started reading it. The author shares with us how was her life as an American-Korean teenage girl and all the issues that come with it. The continual feeling of being alienated due to the different shape of her eyes, cultural identity and her korean name. As a human her need for belonging is fondamental and it is not an easy task for her with all the pressure that comes from high school, getting good grades, your parents being always on your back and facing troubles with friends, so Deb starts to feel overwhelmed by a big mental distress.

By the end, Deb shows us that with her love for art and a great deal of self-care, she was able to recover and discover herself.
I'm really impressed by the author for turning such a difficult moment of her personal life into art. I hope that it will inspire a lot of readers that went through such hard situations to see that we can heal ourselves and live a better and more productive even inspiring life.

The art is beautiful and so is the story. At a time when mother-daughter relationship memoirs are having a moment, this book is well-placed. Our main character is trying so hard to be okay. She is under enormous pressure-- and so are her parents, They all make devastating choices.

It's a book about anger, fear, love, and hope. It's tragic and beautiful. So much is unsaid and the subtext rings as clear as the images themselves.

REVIEW BELOW WILL BE SHARED 7.02.2023 ON GOODREADS

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<i>I received this ARC thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.</i>

<b>"Just be careful. 'Cause when you apologize that much, it all becomes white noise and loses its meaning."</b>
At the beginning I want to point out, it's one of the most realistic coming of age stories I've ever read, illustrate as a beautiful graphic novel. I do know parts were changed due to privacy reasons, or clearer plot, but the trauma and message behind it was there. I can't say I associate with complications with being raised in different country, shamed of ones race, but when it comes to part of feeling alone and left out, weighted with all these problems that shouldn't be thrown onto teenagers arms, it all made it look like I was looking through my younger self diary. It can be a way to grief times that won't come back, that we can't change or forget, but in the end we got through them and that's the only thing that matters.
<b>"The farther I ran, the more I wanted him to catch up with me."</b>
I know these are the memories of the author herself, but I loved how not everything worked out in the end, and how Deb sticked to her own decisions in some of the outcomes. I never found myself as strong to stay so mindful of relationships I've long lost, and as she tried to make way back to some of them all I could do was take notes. As this novel can be counted as a great life lesson for oneself too. Worst thing that could happen, is to realise we've lived our life just watching it happen through a window, without finding a way to go out there and take part in it.
<b>"Having more worlds, circles like these means you have pillars to support you if one of them falls."</b>
I'm grateful for the author for bringing this story out in this world, as I'm sure it'll be a huge comfort read to some, eye opening experience to others, and after all a story of a girl who remained in limbo, but above all the obstacles found her way out.

This was a beautifully illustrated graphic memoir about the author's high school years and her struggles with mental illness, racism, and difficult relationships with friends and family. While I found her story moving, there were often points where storylines broke off or seemed underdeveloped/unfinished, and I thought she tried to cover too much without diving into any theme very deeply (e.g.--high school friendships, abuse, mental illness, beauty standards). In a note at the end, the author mentions that her original draft was much longer and more specific to her experiences, whereas the final version was cut down and generalized, so perhaps the weaknesses in the text were due to the editing/condensing of her story? That said, I still found her story--especially the sections about high school and female friendships--to be powerful. I look forward to seeing what Deb JJ Lee publishes next.