The art style was insanely beautiful! I was truly distracted the whole time reading this! This book could have no words and I'd be so hypnotized by the images! But this book was pretty good. I read it in one sitting! The relationship between the two main characters was addicting. One thing I was a bit confused on the pacing and the world building while reading this sometimes.

I am once again saddened to have to DNF an arc but I just can’t force myself through this one anymore, and we have rolled over to the summer holiday and I’d rather focus on other arcs.

This book has a strong visual identity and looks beautiful. But it is so slow and boring. I got about half way through and am totally univested in both the plot and characters. I normally fly though graphic novels and when I don’t I normally that that as a sign that the book is just not flowing for me. I really wanted to like this read but it is just not connecting with me.

The best things about this book are the characters and the concept. I liked Oberon and Kon as well as the family members. The drawing is really good even though at times it was hard to follow along with what's happening during the action scenes but the artist did humorous reactions very well.

Strange Bedfellows is a super PRETTY graphic novel! It has gorgeous art with a really nice dream-like color palette. Unfortunately, I just could not get into this story. There is a lot going on, and I never really felt connected to our 2 main characters. That being said, it is worth checking out for the art! Thanks to NetGalley, HarperCollins, and Ariel Slamet-Ries for the chance to read and review! My opinions are my own!

This was amazing. I rounded up to 5 stars from 4.5. The illustrations were wonderful, the color choices were perfect for what was happening now, in the past, in dreams, etc. The story was great. Once I got into it, I couldn't stop reading - I wanted to know what was going to happen until the very end. And what a beautiful ending.

While I was immediately drawn in by the vibrant, dreamy art work, it took me a little while to figure out what to make of the story and world building. The pay-off is SO good though! This makes for an imaginative sci-fi story that draws on romcom tropes in a refreshing way. I could very much see myself rereading this, because I feel like I'd enjoy it even more when I already know what to expect.

In the future humanity was moved on to another planet, one where kids born there often develop powers. Our main character, Oberon, develops his late in life at 19. He's lonely and realizes he can bring what he dreamed the night before to life. That's where an old high school boyfriend comes into play. He starts appearing in Oberon's dreams and Oberon starts bringing him into reality as his powers develop. Then towards the end we get some twists. It's not a bad story. It is overly long though at 275 pages. There is also an over reliance on new slang terms which drives me batty and keeps me from fully connecting with the characters.

Oberon is having trouble lately - getting out of bed, seeing friends, feeling ill. He has taken a leave from school, and can't seem to function. His family, all extraordinary and accomplished people, don't know how to help him. It doesn't help that he is the only "normal" one; he doesn't even have powers! But as things get stranger and stranger, Oberon realizes maybe he does have some kind of power, just one he doesn't understand and can't control. And when an ex from his past appears and tries to help Oberon before he loses his mind, things get a little twisted. Oberon has to figure out what is real, what isn't, and what he is going to do about it.

Oh, this book is divine! Absolutely stunning artistry that crafts a dynamic, sensory world on another planet. Oberon's such an engaging character. His queerness, his found family tendencies, his tenacity and ceaseless curiosity about life are all laced with a truly realistic portrayal of anxiety. The narrative does an effective job exploring the complexities of nerve wracking life changes and how that leads you to seek out the comfort of your past. When Kon comes back in Oberon's life, in his own complicated way, their dynamic is electric. They're the type of duo you cannot get enough of. One that encourages, ignites, and playfully banters. Towards the beginning there's definitely a learning curve in terms of grasping the worldbuilding, but, even still, you do catch on quite quickly. I also really loved how environmentalism was seamlessly woven throughout the futuristic story. I could read endless volumes of adventures in this world!

This science fiction graphic has an extremely intriguing concept. I liked the art style and was intrigued by the cycling color schemes. I did think at specific points the shifting between warm versus cool colors for effect was not executed properly, and led to our main character seeming white washed. This was only in a few individual panels, an example being on page 153, but it was something that had me pause. This book was definitely the kind where you're thrown into the middle of a plot/world and it does not take time to world build for you. The world is already built, the circumstances are known to all the people in the story, but you're trying to figure out how they got to where they're at and where that even is. It can be confusing, but it's definitely good for people who enjoy getting thrown in the deep end of a story and don't want to have the world building fed to them. I liked the way the story addressed the concept of reality and interpersonal relationships and how they affected our main character's sense of self. I'd definitely recommend this graphic novel to any sci-fi fans who want more LGBTQ+ inclusive stories in terms of MCs as it's a very queer normative world, and our main character, Oberon, is a trans man whose major love interest is a man named Kon.

This one caught me off guard in the best way. I’m docking just half a star because, honestly, the beginning is rough. You get thrown straight into the story with zero setup, and it’s disorienting—I didn’t know who was who or what was happening for a bit. But once you settle into it? Oh my god.

A trans main character. A queer romance. And that plot twist?? I nearly cried when I realized what was happening. It was beautiful and unexpected and hit me right in the chest. Queer love is so beautiful and so powerful, and this book does such a stunning job of honoring that. I wasn’t ready. But I’m so glad I read it.

‘Strange Bedfellows’ is an absolutely stunning genre-bending story. It was one of my most anticipated for this year and one that lived up to those expectations effortlessly.

With ghosts and gardeners and a futuristic magical society, the book takes you in untouched directions with a fiercely imaginative view. Our mc is a burntout trans boy who is going through A Lot. There’s dream magic and an atmosphere so gorgeous you’ll want to eat the clouds write off the page.

This story is so addictive and fun and hard hitting and fleshed out, I can’t wait to get a physical copy!

I received this DRC from NetGalley.

I really liked the art and color palette. It was all pastel and dream-like. I also liked the world building and the background of them having to move to this new planet, and how inadvertently, some of them got powers in the process. The twist in the end made some of the earlier parts make sense, and I liked the premise in general. What I didn't really like was the main character. He's just so self-involved and privileged. I find it hard to feel sorry for this kid who freaked out just because he had a boyfriend for a short amount of time that dumped him- and how people are having to reassure him that it's common to take a gap year and take time to find yourself or whatever it is that rich people do. I know that this society is set up differently, and they presumably don't have the economic issues like in the real world, but they make it clear that there are a lot of people who do remember the structure of the old world and who find it hard to change that mindset, so in that sense, they still do think of it in the same way as we would. All that to say, if the story had been tweaked there just a little, and Ob would have been more likable and less whiny, I would have enjoyed it a lot more. Kon was a much more sympathetic character, and I liked his part a lot.

I truly think I read this comic at the worst time. I believe stylistically it is 100% 5 stars. The illustrations and character designs are so unbelievably good, the color palette is so pleasing to look at. I absolutely adore the art.

Why I believe I read this at the wrong time:

I am going through 2 art thesis right now while worrying about graduation, jobs, and friendships which the stress Oberon is feeling feels way to real for me to be reading while going through similar things. I have a feeling I would have rated it higher if I read it while I wasn't feeling so miserable about my own life, it got hard to go through similar struggles while reading it at the same time.

The plot of the book is very interesting, it stands out from a lot of ones I've read previously. Somedays it feels like there's no original stories out there and that I'm reading the same stories over and over again but Strange Bedfellows is different is a good way. I love the idea of Oberons dreams coming to life and how ghost powers appear in different ways even within the same family.

I think sometimes I got a little confused plot wise, there was a lot going on all at once but I really liked where the ending went.

I thank the authors and netgalley for giving me the chance to read and review this book.

Beautifully emotional and gorgeously drawn. A heartfelt story with deep characters and stunning worldbuilding.

Really beautifully written and illustrated! I had some trouble understanding the magic of it all, but I really enjoyed this.

The art is so funky and cool. I loved the story and the way that the text speech bubbles were designed. Very happy with my read.

A very lovely story, with such a beautiful art style. I hope to see more from this author/artist either with independent projects or learning about this world more! Thanks to HarperAlley for the arc!

Ariel constructs a queernormative sci-fi world where our earthlings inhabited a planet our Oberon Afolayan was born and raised raised. Since the inhabitation of this planet, children have discovered superpowers and are referred to as "ghosts". Oberon, always known as an ordinary person, quickly learns he can manifest his dreams and desires into reality- beginning with his high school crush, Kon. The two spend their days trying to get Oberon's powers under control, since he keeps manifesting creatures of varying degrees of danger.

I absolutely adored the world Ariel crafted, and the trans rep was lovely to see. It was heartwarming to see how casual everyone was about Oberon's relationships and transition.

The plot was well paced and easy to follow. I liked how each chapter page gave a brief preview into what was next to come - even if I didn't fully understand how it related to the upcoming chapter yet. I was shocked by the plot twist and I didnt doubt a single thing Oberon presented to the readers. It was so much fun learning about Oberon, kon, and their struggles as ghosts.

The illustrations are beautiful, and i love how Ariel plays with the shapes of each comic panel when Oberon was newly woken up or running on intense emotions. It added context or emotion to the atmosphere!

My only criticism of this book is the color choices for the text messages. Some of the text colors were so similar to the background color that I had trouble reading it. Some of the font choices looked cool, but they were difficult to read when resized to something small (they were generally used to add world building details, so it wasnt vital to the plot). It probably won't be an issue if the print edition is big, but I can see people using phones or other small reading devices struggling to read those sections too.

I received an advanced copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
In a far-out future, on a distant planet, a Utopia of sorts is home to many different kinds of people. One day, Oberon, a college dropout, wakes up to having conjuring powers from his dreams. In those dreams, he manifests Kon, a crush from his university years. Yet, as those dreams become reality, so do the nightmares. What will Oberon do to save his family and friends from the darkest places of his mind?
This was a strange graphic novel, to say. The science fiction part had me a little lost, here and there. However, I did enjoy the storyline from Oberon’s perspective as he tries to overpower those waking nightmares of his. Very pastel-based on every magical page, and the whole world-building was incredible. I want to visit that Utopia: Meridian someday.