Overall, I loved the story, the musical elements, and diverse characters. This was a good one! I would definitely recommend.

I'm a grown punk. This book didn't hold my interest. The art style is frenetic and colorful, but very busy. Hopefully this is published in a larger format book. The queer, found family aspect of punk is dead on, though.

This was cute and fun. Overall I love the themes of the story. We have a found family, some commentary on people in powerful positions abusing their power, and a bunch of punk rock. Though I loved the artwork, I found myself having trouble following the story sometimes. I would get a bit lost and have to go back a few pages to figure out what I missed. I did enjoy this book though and I think a lot of people will REALLY love it. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys music or grew up in the punk scene.

Thank you to Penguin Teen for sending me an e-ARC of Punk Rock Karaoke!

This one didn’t hit as hard as I wanted to — but it was fine. The art style, although wasn’t something I necessarily liked, was perfect for the book’s plot & setting. I spent the majority of the graphic novel not really vibing with the story — but when it got to the ✨friendship✨ & revenge resolution, I did start to care a lot more. As mentioned, this graphic novel is perfectly fine & I do recommend to readers who are really into the punk scene!

This was such an amazing read! The artwork was stunning and fit the story perfectly. Speaking of the story, I loved Ariel, Gael, and Michele’s friendship. Even though they were starting to be pulled in different directions after high school and away from their band they had each other’s backs no matter what. Of the characters, I did find myself wanting to see more of Gael. They seemed to be a bit more in the background compared to Ariel and Michele. An aspect I enjoyed was all the musical elements to the story. Some of the songs mentioned I knew, but I did find a few new favorites.

i'm always down to pick up a graphic novel when it's the last few days of the month and i want something that's quick to get through, when a written novel will take me too long. punk rock karaoke was no exception!

i definitely breezed through this story, even though i found it a bit difficult to get into at first. while i love the colors and vibrancy of the art style, i also found it personally a bit difficult to actually read, being dyslexic. so a bit of a fair warning to my fellow readers who have trouble when the art is busy! you might struggle a tad to follow through the panes.

but, once i got a handle of the layout, i did find the story mostly interesting. it's a slice of life story about these young adults, in the summer before they are hoping to start college. they're figuring out friendships, relationships, and trying to be in a band together. i think some of the topics definitely maybe could've been discussed in more detail. but i would totally love to see a follow up story of them a few years down the line.

First of all I want talk about how exceptionally well the art style complimented the Punk Rock fire of this novel. Absolutely stunning.

This graphic novel is a love letter to the punk scene, and aspiring musicians. It's an accurate look at BIPOC artists, and the struggles they face with stolen art, as well as misogyny in musical communities. I thought both subjects were navigated very well.

I had friends when I was a teenager who were in bands, and we would hang out in green rooms and back stage as they "opened for the openers" and there was a lot here that really felt so genuine about those experiences. Right down to the pancakes after a gig.

This was a lot of fun to read and the art style was simply beautiful. Thanks so much to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the advanced copy for my honest review.

an adorable and epic story of found family, community, queerness, and what it means to be punk. The plot was simple but deep and the art was expressive and unique. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

I had such a fun time getting to know Michelle and the gang! I thought the art and friendship were great, and enby love so cute!

Ariel and their two best friends are trying to balance family, school, jobs, and their punk band all the while worrying about their uncertain future together. Full of musical references and. punk music, and teenage angst, this graphic novel tackles heavy topics like racism, misogyny, sexual harassment, and being taken advantage of in an accessible way.

It took a while for me to get invested in the plot and in the characters (about halfway through), as I was a little distracted with the art style and the color palette. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed this queer story of true friendship and belonging in community.

(+) Black NB author and illustrator, mostly QPOC cast

I wanted to love this book. A graphic novel punk rock book about friendship, female empowerment, and romance sounded amazing, but the execution was not what I expected. The artwork was good, but the storyline was difficult to follow which made it difficult to determine which of the characters were thinking and feeling which thoughts and words. The diversity was wonderful and I'm glad that there were so many different types of people recognized.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this title as an Advanced Reader Copy.

Punk Rock Karaoke was a fun ya graphic novel about the band Baby Hares (love the name btw), freshly released from high school and eager to spend the summer making a name for themselves.

Our central protagonist is Ariel Grace Jones (name is so dope, are you kidding?) and we explore how Ariel navigates her bandmate Michele's constant lateness and/or disappearing acts as well as a white, cis male punk elder from the band Rat's Breath that's been lingering around.

This graphic novel is a coming of age story that felt like it was about that murky, gray area between being a teenager and having the same solid group of friends and becoming an adult with responsibilities that mean that everything is going to fundamentally change - priorities are rearranged for money and for family, friendships drift off, etc.

This is a book about how much we want to give versus how much we're able to give while also doing what we need to do in the world. It's about making a place for yourself and about not letting the world take the things that you don't want to give.

Felt very punk to me. I really loved this one.

A massive thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!! I really enjoyed this book; definitely something I will tell my friends about!

Absolutely loved Punk Rock Karaoke. First of all I loved the art. It was very on point with the punk scene. Reminded me of being a teen and going to punk shows with friends. All the diversity is wonderful. I’m just wondering if we can get a playlist of all the music mentioned lol.
I will definitely be buying several copies and gifting to friends.

-Thanks NetGalley and Penguin Group for the arc-

This was definitely a little bit of a change of pace for me, but one that I enjoyed! Bianca Xunise has created a full story of coming-of-age interwoven with elements of punk rock, and uniquely expressed through the book’s art style. Xunise’s storytelling is fully implemented into the art itself and the way the characters are drawn from panel to panel and I can appreciate the full integration despite it being outside of the normal styles I typically look for in graphic novels. The story itself flows well, there are a few elements that feel kind of removed from the overall story, I think that’s just part of understanding the full story a graphic novel is trying to tell. Even if, like me, you have basically zero familiarity with the punk rock scene, I think that this book and its story is very accessible and a fun romp. It takes some classic young adult novel conventions of the coming of age story and presents them in a slightly new context that’s worth checking out!

This was a really great coming of age story. I enjoyed the premise. I thought there were a lot of storylines for such a short book and I wished there was a little bit more time to explore them all.
And while I appreciated the artwork - I found the panels a little crowded and hard to follow at times, but that is a total personal preference and was made more prevalent because this was a digital copy and not physical.
But I definitely recommend this one - especially for those into punk.

This was such a fun and colorful way of looking at some real issues that teens deal with. I loved the way they set things up for her to meet the singer she liked, and to learn from him about some important life lessons. Excellent art and excellent story!

Full of Punk Rock vibes!
The art style compliments the story so well, you can really become immersed into this coming-of-age graphic novel about finding yourself and where you fit into the world.

Overall, I loved the story, the musical elements, and diverse characters, but I did find the coloring to be a bit distracting.

Definitely recommend giving this one a try!


Thank you PenguinTeen for the e-ARC to read and honestly review.

This graphic novel is so fun. I definitely liked the artwork it definitely has punk rock vibes. The MC friends are there for her no matter what and I love that so much

An adorable book with characters students will connect with, especially those who might not have a group of people to hang with--the others.