We love a cute, sapphic, friends-to-enemies-to-lovers story! The artwork in this book is adorable and I loved the variety of queer representation among the characters 💖

Thank you for the ARC NetGalley!!

I Hated You in High School was a really good and relatable graphic novel. The representation was highly appreciated. The way the author includes diversity, inclusion (all body shapes and sizes), AND I loved that she had the main character take her glasses off for intimate sessions. As a glasses wearer that representation matters. I highly recommend this read for everyone by especially for the #sapphic lovers that want something new be unique. I plan on purchasing this when it comes out to add to my collection #newbie #graphicnovelseries

A wonderfully light hearted, fluffy read! Easily done in one sitting and left me feeling better than when I started it, which is increasingly rare these days.

I love adult graphic novels so much. This one is low stakes and low angst ex-friends to lovers. Sapphic with nonbinary best secondary character. Midsize bi love interest.

Tessa loses her job and decided to head home for a few weeks only to find out her high school bully is staying at her parents converted garage/basement apartment. Forced to be around her, Tessa realizes she maybe doesn't remember all the details of high school and after finding some diaries, decides to take a chance

What a great, easy read! I found myself relating to Tessa's mid/late 20s existential crisis and her stress of where one “should” traditionally be especially when peers have already succeeded in these supposed life goals. The conversation between Tessa and Olive felt incredibly poignant and I found it a great example of how difficult conversations can be had in a mature and open way, though I felt Tessa forgave Olive too easily. Overall this was a fantastic read and could be great for those that loved Mimosa by Archie Bonglovanni.

Thank you Andrew McMeels Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review. This was a great, realistic reflection of high school relationships in your 20s. I loved the slow burn and the honest reflection of how the process of coming out and questioning your identity affects your relationships.

OMG this was just so cute! I enjoyed start to finish and loved the main love interests. I will be looking for more of their works in the future. Thank you for the early copy!

This was a cute, fun comic, and I loved the main characters and the growth that they had in this book. I loved the art style of this comic, and I also enjoyed the way the relationships unwound in the book, but it wasn't as memorable as I wanted it to be.

I Hated You in High School is a sweet graphic novel with a second-chance romance. I really liked the 2 main characters and appreciated that it did not lean to heavily into the conflict. I feel like I have seen this story line before, but it was still an enjoyable read with great art!

Thanks to NetGalley, Kathleen Gros, and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the chance to read and review! My opinions are my own!

It’s a very cute graphic novel, story was short and sweet and I can see young queer people relating to this. The story may have lacked some depth but for an “enemies-to-lovers” quick read it’s enjoyable. The style and artwork were nice and would read another graphic novel by this author.

Tessa finds herself back in her hometown and helping plan for her parent’s anniversary party after losing her job -- only to discover that her highschool “bully” is now subletting her their basement suite. Despite the messiness of the plot, we see that Tessa’s memory from highschool is also a little messy. I enjoyed the flashbacks and unpacking of the past. I also loved seeing all the references and illustrations relating to Vancouver! Overall, this was a cute, light read. Thanks Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the copy!

Thank you to NetGalley for the free eArc of this great graphic novel.
I loved this. Great artwork, great backstory and cute relationship in the present. I also really enjoyed this being set (half of it anyway) in Vancouver as I live there too. That wooden roller coaster in Playland is freaky as hell!
I got confused about the length of time since Tessa was in school. I thought it said four or five years in the novel and then the back of the book said ten. And is that since she graduated or when Tessa and Olive stopped talking? At first I thought it was really weird and unlikely Tessa would have forgotten why she hated Olive since it had only been a few years ago but I guess ten seems more likely. Not for me since I still obsess over things that happened in middle school like it was yesterday but that's probably not normal.
The side characters (Tessa mom and dad and Tessa's roommate Frankie) were great and I sympathized with Olive after hearing what had been going on for her in school. This is a poignant, fun and sweet sapphic graphic novel with a satisfying ending and a realistic look at what living in Vancouver is like.

All of this, from the art style to the plot, was a 5/5 for me. Tessa and Olive's reconciliation was so sincere and sweet, and didn't fall into any of the traps of a second-chance romance. I actually felt like these characters made up and moved forward in a way that 1. made sense narratively and 2. didn't seem like a cheap cop-out for a happy ending. All of the friendships were so good as well!! Frankie was such a good friend to Tessa, and I loved the way they coached Tessa through the awkwardness of those diaries lol.

And can I talk about the art style again? Tessa and Olive look so good, and I loved how unique and distinct everyone looked. Even the minor characters from Frankie's party had SUCH good designs - I immediatley thought "yeah that's a queer friend group."

Everyone should do themselves a favor and treat themselves to a cute little sapphic graphic novel.

After losing her job, Tessa travels to her hometown to help plan an anniversary party for her parents. Unfortunately, her parents have sublet their basement apartment to Tessa's high school nemesis, Olive. What started as an incredibly close friendship, ended in heart break when Olive started bullying Tessa at every chance she got. Now Olive is friends with Tessa's sister, and her parents, and Tessa's struggling to leave the past in the past, and accept that Olive has changed. And to make matters worse, Olive has the audacity to not only be really nice now, but also super hot.

I Hated You in High School is a low stakes, slice of life graphic novel about two women who reconnect after a tumultuous high school experience. The sapphic love story at the heart of the plot is both relatable, and a little heartbreaking. Ultimately there's happiness at the end of an awkward journey, but the story never feels completely settled to me. Despite being a romance, the relationships I enjoyed most were between Tessa, and her best friend Franke, and Tessa and her parents.

I thought the art style was fine, I didn't like it at first, but it did grow on me. I do wish there was a more color though, I think it would have helped differentiate the characters a little better.

More like: friends to enemies to lovers, with a bit of second chance trope. Not that it's disappointing, I do prefer friends to lovers anyways.

I only found it resolved a little too fast, given that the whole high school situation did hurt Tessa a lot. We might've only seen Olive's bullying through Tessa's diary, and I know people tend to exaggerate in diaries (as have I), still, diaries are a reflection of how one has felt in that situation, so technically doesn't matter whether it's 100% what has happened – the emotions are real. Rose-colored glasses of (rose-)crushes can make us weak, and perhaps that's exactly why Tessa has forgiven Olive so quickly.
I mean, it is realistic, and given the length, the characters were fleshed out really well, so I didn't necessarily expect it to go that deep. Plus, I'm also all for a happy end. Still, if the author knew they were going for a happy end and knew they couldn't slow down their relationship a little, toning down Olive's bullying would've been a good alternative.

(That one scene, “Was everything from the past few months a LIE?” hit home. Had a similar situation as her in middle/high school. Therefore I know more or less how
Tessa feels like – and if I were her, I would have not forgiven Olive. Not so soon, at least. But I’m also aro-ace and am not blinded by sexual desires...)

Haven't expected for the art to be monochromatic green; surely would've preferred the same style, color-wise, as the cover, but it's not too bad. Although the flashbacks and present could've been differentiated a bit more.

What I also didn’t like much how they were treating platonic feelings – completely erasing them and labeling them immediately as “omg that was definitely a romantic crush”. Like, yes, we know Tessa is alloromantic & allosexual, so it works for her. But I, as an aromantic, have often struggled with differentiating between platonic and romantic feelings – while I may have figured it out for myself now, society hasn’t, and immediately jumps to the conclusion that anything overly friendly or emotionally close cannot be platonic when the orientations match (i.e., a panrose man & heterorose woman, or two homorose women, etc). It’s just annoying. Because: newsflash! You can feel both attractions at the same time; being platonically attracted to someone doesn’t exclude romanticism or the other way round, or you can be platonically & sexually attracted. Or it may develop from platonic to romantic – that doesn’t mean that the entire relationship has been romantic from the start.
I’m pretty sure Kathleen meant no harm, it’s just a personal ick from me, especially because I could never be platonic with people cause everyone around me immediately labeled it as romance/sexual. It’s annoying.

Overall the comic/GN is really good though. The art style is cute, with a lot of characters who have fat and meat on their bones. It works well, wonderfully realistic for the stylization.

Lesbian, gay, bi, questioning and trans/enby rep. Frankie's pronouns (they/them) being used by everyone flawlessly without any drama was very heart-warming. No phobic behavior from the adults, which is a plus too. Tessa’s relationship with her mom was really sweet, in fact.

I also appreciate the conversation about masculine and feminine gender roles in dating life. Like, what butches and feminine bi-roses are struggling with sometimes.

~

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing for an eARC.

-04.04.25

I Hated You In High School by Kathleen Gros

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I snagged this ARC and y’all it’s too cute. I’m in the minority and I didn’t love Heartstopper (that’s the only other queer graphic novel I’ve read). But I really liked this.

The first thing I loved about this was how realistic it felt. Even though Tessa was out in high school she was still going through her own journey as a person and discovering who she is. I appreciated that each of them had their own baggage and owned up to it. Frankie was the perfect best friend back home encouraging Tessa to be an adult and talk about her problems but also setting boundaries when needed. They were exactly the kind of friend Tessa needed. And Tessa’s parent’s relationship with Olive? It was stupid cute.

Thank you so much to Kathleen Gros, NetGalley, and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

*Posted to Goodreads, will be posted to Lemon8, TikTok, and Instagram within two weeks*

3.5 ⭐️

this was such a cute read but also super realistic for someone in their mid 20s just trying to figure out life and unfortunately comparing yourself to others.

the reason for tessa and olive to stop speaking also felt so realistic. being queer in high school is so hard for so many people and the journey is always extremely different. i like that this showed a few different aspects of that journey.

thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!

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This was a cute and heartwarming graphic novel that had a friends to enemies to lovers relationship that was really well done. The conversations between the characters were so well done, the mending of past relationship problems was very mature and the characters took responsibility. I enjoyed this a lot, it was a cute quick read!

I received an eARC courtesy of Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing, all opinions are my own.

When 20-something Tessa returns home to help her sister with her parents' anniversary, she's surprised that her parents' basement tenant, is her former high school friend-turned-bully Olive, with whom she forges a new friendship and maybe (well definitely) something more.

I Hated You In High School charts the messy ways that queer people can hurt each other when they're scared and closeted. When Tessa first arrives home she can't even remember why she hates her, just that Olive treated her awfully in high school. Through flashbacks we learn Tessa and Olive formed an intense friendship with romantic overtones as techies for a high school theater production, but Olive messily rejected Tessa at the cast party, then bullied her afterward as a way to run from her own growing feelings and fears of ostracization.

Present-day Olive is delightful, though, and after talking things out the two of them form a grudging, then caring, friendship. There are a series of misunderstanding that get in the way of their budding romance, but it all works out with romantic comedy aplomb. There's a decidedly indie-movie feel, here that brings to mind 90's classics.

Gros' art becomes more assured as the book progresses, and lives in a visually "indie" space that invites comparison to other queer comic creators, especially evoking 90's and early 2000's era comics, with its two tone color style that evokes teen marker art.