I enjoyed this. It was thick, but didn’t feel dense or like it was trudging along, which is important to me. Nothing takes me out of a book MORE.

I thought this was a really great representation of identity across the board: within your family, within your own skin, within your sexuality, within your culture and community, and in this case, within the greater high school experience as a whole.

It really hones in on how expectations can really mess with us and can sometimes hold us back from finding happiness.

I do feel the ambiguity at the end is mm, not my favorite.

I am the biggest fan of queer graphic novels. I've compiled lists for years and have been avidly ticking them off one by one. I was so excited to hear about Firebird, and waiting in anticipation for the release of the book. I ended up really enjoying the story and adored the premise. The characters were so engaging and I loved the portrayal of different emotions. The art was a little different to what I was expecting, but I still enjoyed it, and it didn't take away from the story. I would definitely read more from the author in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

It’s really sweet. I liked it a lot, even though I really wanted a different ending, but I appreciate that it's realistic and not pushed to have a conclusion that's all nicely wrapped up perfectly, but it's still hopeful and really just nice.

The cover art and story art are completely different, which is always a very mild irk for me. BUT I think the two-toned coloring works for this story and was done incredibly well. I loved how identity and representation played into this.

Firebird is a slice of life graphic novel following two young people trying to figure out friendships, family, and themselves. Caroline Kim is a sophomore in high school trying to be the perfect daughter by getting good grades and keeping out of trouble. But her outlook changes when she starts tutoring senior Kimberly Park. Kim is outgoing and adventurous, and Caroline becomes enchanted. As their friendship develops, both change in new ways.

Caroline and Kim are both interesting characters and I enjoyed seeing how their family lives effect their personalities and decisions. While I didn’t always agree with their choices, the storytelling allowed me to understand their motives and appreciate their growth. I also loved the simple use of colors - the graphics are mainly black and white with red accenting important moments.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel, it definitely wasn't perfect but it mostly kept me hooked and the art was beautiful. It felt a little too long, I think there are parts that didn't contribute much to the story, and the characters at times didn't feel fleshed out enough. I would have loved a deeper insight into Kim, we only really saw glimpses of her life. The art and the colour scheme suited the story perfectly and really emphasised the emotions on the page. I will definitely reread this again sometime.

Firebird is an inclusive graphic novel with a diverse cast of characters. Perfect addition to high school graphic novel collections. This book is full of great themes and is a great conversation start for some tough to start conversations.

ARC received by HarperCollins Children's Books, HarperAlley via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

EXCELLENT!

Lovely!

I am a huge fan of graphic novels, manga and comics. As well, I love a good coming of age story. Firebird by Sunni is such a beautiful story about what happens when you're journeying through a time of self-discovery and allowing things to occur naturally and synergistically. Thank you to HarperCollins Children's Books and NetGalley for this gifted copy. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Firebird is a really solid story about what ultimately happens when opposites attract. It follows two teenaged queer Asian-American girls who come together and build an unlikely connection. Caroline Kim, a sophomore begins to tutor very popular senior, Kimberly Park-Ocampo and they couldn't be more different. Caroline is struggling with the nuances of being a tenth grader with very little friends and hardly a social life. Kim, on the other hand is a charismatic lesbian that most everyone knows and adores. What results of their tutoring sessions is curiosity building on the one hand and an attraction that is sparking. As they begin to get to know one another, they begin to sneak off together at night and find comfort in their shared issues and later joys.

In addition to the beautiful images on display, I really enjoyed the themes that the author covered with this story: growing up queer, pressure from parents, friends, their communities, and also absentee fathers. I think they did a good job highlighting those themes while still maintaining the integrity of the story. I look forward to reading more from Sunni.

Thanks to NetGalley & HarperCollins Children's Books for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

"Firebird" follows two protagonists as they develop something more between each other as they navigate their chaotic lives.

I would rate this book higher if it weren't for the fact that it has no ending. Not even an unsatisfying ending, it just...ends, without wrapping anything up. Wasn't a fan of that. If it was a memoir I would've been fine since it's realistic but this is a fictional story with no ending...

I also feel like Firebird wasn't an appropriate title for the book either--maybe something more like Phoenix of Change or something similar? Since Caroline and Kim both undergo a metaphorical change by the end of the book. The cover makes me think it's a fantasy book but it's just realistic fiction.

This book was pretty good. The story and art style felt unique. I wish it was a little longer or focused on less plot points and done more with the ones not cut down.

I struggled to get invested in this one -- the pacing was a little off, and two-color comics don't always do it for me. I liked the setting and the characters though, and I think this will be well loved by many!

Sophomore Caroline tutors senior Kim in math. Over the course of the year they grow closer.

I liked the characters and the plot, although neither felt super innovative. The art style was fun and pretty unique. I liked the way it used color. I think that there either should either have been more of Kim's point of view or the entire book should have been in Caroline's. As it is, it felt unbalanced to me.

Sunmi's debut graphic novel is a coming of age story focused on Caroline, a sophomore in high school who is dealing with a number of identity issues and anxieties: her gender, her sexuality, her family dynamics, her friendships, and so much more. As the child of South Korean parents, she feels added pressure placed on her by her mother to be the perfect daughter. While mostly focused on Caroline, the story takes time to build the perspective of Kim, Caroline's tutee/friend/crush, as well as both Caroline and Kim's mothers. The black and white art style gives way to moments of color to emphasize particularly stressful moments. The intersectionality of many of the characters is just a fact of life and not always highlighted, which is a nice departure from some books that feel like anything that could be viewed as "different" needs to be hammered into the readers' heads. This is a solid story about growing up as a teenager for that audience.

As a queer, Asian American girl, this had so many aspects that I related to, especially reminding me of the stress that I went through in high school, being surrounded by other Asian American students pressured to be so high-achieving. The fear of feeling like a burden and being so scared to do what I want instead of what my parents would want or my other relatives would want me to do felt so relatable in the main character. I'd highly recommend this book to my friends who went to the same school as me, as well as other young Asian American students who can relate to Caroline's struggles.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. While I didn't /love/ the art style, that was just my personal preference, and I do think the author is really artistically talented. This book is very character-led and slice-of-life; there's not really a grand journey or real conclusion to the story, it just kind of...ends in a way that could be unsatisfying for some readers, but I personally didn't mind. The characters lives felt very full and it felt like reading a coming-of-age film. I can't put my finger on one extremely outstanding element, but it was overall a very solid book that I recommend.

CONTENT NOTE: authoritarian parental figure/abusive behavior from a parent, fat-shaming, homophobia, transphobia, anxiety, panic attacks

Firebird is a slow burn, queer vibes-rich discovery of the self while learning to cope with relationships new and old.

What Worked for Me:
A quick note: I appreciated the way this story explores immigrant family dynamics in it, and I would be really interested to hear from Asian Americans who have grown up with these kinds of relationships and what they thought about the book and the portrayal of these characters. I don't have the experience or knowledge to do these topics justice myself, so I encourage you to find reviewers who are able to do so!

I think it's particularly important to hear from Asian American reviewers on this regarding the dynamics between Caroline and Caroline's mother. I have my own opinions about their relationship that I share a little about, but I don't want to overstep my lane here as a white reviewer.

✦ I really loved the characters in this story! I enjoyed watching them as fully realized people with their own strengths and weaknesses and seeing how they grew and changed a bit throughout.
✦ The way Sunmi portrays anxiety feels very real and relatable to me. I have anxiety, and I definitely felt my experiences reflected in several spots throughout the book with Caroline's story. I appreciate this because I often feel like anxiety shown in media in general often get it wrong, so it was great to see a story get it right.
✦ I appreciated that Sunmi showed Caroline's mom's frustrations and difficulties as basically a single parent without trying to use it to justify the way she treated her child. I think a lot of stories I see try to do that, so it was a relief to not see this behavior portrayed as something we the readers and the characters should be accepting of.
✦ The art was really nice, too-- I liked the sketchy way Sunmi drew their lines, keeping it loose and easy on the eyes. And it's always nice to see a (mostly) black and white comic!
✦ Sunmi's dialogue was interesting-- they used a lot of what I think of as text talking in their balloons, and I loved it! It felt very natural, and it gave a sense of how each person spoke more than it would have with just standard formatting. A lot of drawn out sounds, tildes, and other playing with spelling and punctuation also helped to give it a younger feel in my mind, which I liked. Their lettering was also easy to read, which I always appreciate.
✦ Speaking of lettering, I also liked that we were given both the Korean and English versions of people speaking throughout the comic!
✦ I loved the subtle moments in the comic that Sunmi used for showing relationship dynamics, like Caroline thinking, "Phew, she's in a good mood" when the mother arrived home, giving us a lot of insight really quickly into what their relationship is like.
✦ The explorations of gender, sexuality, and presentation were all wonderfully done. I think Sunmi did a great job showing the tension that can come with a homophobic/transphobic family member when they pick up on the little signs that their child might not be cishet and they come down hard on those "deviations" from the norm \in response. I loved the way Caroline was shown dealing with the anxiety and repercussions of this and how Caroline, well, I don't want to spoil anything, but I like the way Caroline moves throughout the story!
✦ I loved getting to see some of Kim's story, too. It was really nice to see a well-rounded, mostly out lesbian character who was so loved by so many. While I liked seeing her so involved with her friends and family to a degree, I also appreciated the way Sunmi commented on the stress of having all of this work pushed on her and how it affected her as a child with so much responsibility so we didn't just see a superhuman person working tirelessly. We saw her getting tired. We saw her struggle.

What Didn't Work for Me:
✦ The story felt a bit aimless at times. I'm all for a comic that's just about vibes, but I felt that this one sometimes just didn't know where it was going, and it showed a bit on the pages. The characters are still engaging, so it made me want to continue reading anyway, but I do wish there had been a bit more cohesion toward the end of the story in particular.
✦ There were some moments that felt a bit forced throughout. For example, when we needed to know something, one of the characters would be thinking or talking the explanation a lot, which felt unnatural and took me out of the moment. I would have personally preferred just a simple narration box over a character explaining things to us by explaining things to themselves or each other that they already know.
✦ I think the end of the story is where it felt flat the most for me, I'm sad to say! I felt like the spot where it ended felt incomplete somehow. I still had a lot of questions that I felt should have been answered or at least been explored a bit more to give us a reason for why they weren't. I think the book is still worth a read despite this, but it is why I couldn't give the book a full 4 out of 5 rating.
✦ I could have done without the ableist language in the book.

Overall
I give Firebird 3.5 out of 5 speech bubbles, rounding up to 4: This was an enjoyable comic, and I think it's definitely worth a read, especially if you like books that explore the small and big moments that make up our relationships.

How to Read It
Firebird is available for purchase now, and you can order a copy from your local bookstore, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, or HarperCollins.

Read This Next
If you liked this, check out Made in Korea, Sixty Years in Winter, The Magic Fish, and Welcome to St. Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure

If you enjoyed this review, I have a monthly comic review series called More Comics Please! on my website with interior page excerpts and additional information not shared here on NetGalley. You can sign up to receive them in your inbox by subscribing to my newsletter Into the Bramble at jbeoin.com/newsletter.

I am a big fan of character driven stories but I was expecting more to happen. I was invested in these characters enough to want to know what happened but I'm just left wondering; it felt unfinished. I think colorful art would've added to the story as well.

Rep: fat questioning MC, lesbian LI

i am a big fan of this one! "firebird" is a YA graphic novel about caroline, a sophomore who has just started tutoring kim. the two become friends & maayyyybbbeeee something else as well!

i was a big fan of the expressive art style! it was mostly b&w though some spreads incorporated red which i ~adored~ so much. there are also major portions in korean with english translations, which is cool.

i enjoyed the flirting of the two girls getting to know each other. i did feel a bit... disappointed by the ending? as we didn't get to see them interacting happily once they had expressed their feelings for each other. i would've liked little... picnics and flirty stuff where they both knew the vibes!!!! i found this landed a bit between a slice of life and a full story arc,,, not really fitting into either one well, which threw me off a bit, if that makes sense.

i definitely do recommend this as a sort of sapphic heartstopper vibe!! i would loooooooove this even more if it were a series !!! (it ends abruptly sort of in the way the first heartstopper vol does??? like weird on its on but better in the series???)

also, this is SUPER personal & zero judgement on the morality of this in the story/in general, but for me reading about a sophomore/senior relationship in high school is... tough. and i feel as though the power dynamics at play weren't really explored. so that's something to keep in mind!

(thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this free eARC in exchange for an honest review.)