Cute and nostalgic I love a good enemies to lovers. It’s going to do it for me everytime. I would definitely read more by this author.

thank you netgalley for the earc

this story was really cute and i really enjoyed it
loved the art style

This was such a cute sapphic enemies-to-lovers graphic novel! The art style was minimalistic and refreshing. I enjoyed the story and loved that it placed a focus on communication! The characters were likeable, and I found myself rooting for Tessa and Olive! Lighthearted and fun read.

Oh, this was such a lovely little read. I picked "I Hated You in Hight School” without knowing anything about it beforehand. And I'm glad I did.
This story is about Tessa, when she loses her job it comes with an unexpected opportunity to fly home for the first time in a couple of years and celebrate her parent’s anniversary. What she completely forgot is the fact they are renting out the cellar to an old friend of her big sister. Who also happens to be an old nemesis of hers. Well, one thing leads to another, she is forced to get to know Olive once more. And try to remember how they went from friendly to enemies.

And yes, it’s predictable. But sometimes that’s everything you need. A warm queer hug of loving parents, siblings and friends. And a love story on top of that. I love queer stories where the main story isn't about being queer or not. Tessa is fully supported by people around her and has been out since forever, even if that’s not the case for everyone. I especially loved the bits where Tessa shares pictures of her old diary with her friend back home. The graphic novel format works really well with this blend of digital communication and an old paper diary.

I enjoyed reading this book. The art style was very cute and I look forward to finding more things from this author and can’t wait for it to come out and print!

thank you netgalley for the earc

this story was really cute and i really enjoyed it
loved the art style

Thank you Andrews McMeel Publishing and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this one. All thought are my own!

This was such a cute graphic novel with a really lovely kind of second chance romance.

I loved the way Tessa and Olive talked about their past, the way Olive really owned her bad behaviour and Tessa was willing to forgive her and move on. It would have been valid of her to stay mad, of course, but I liked that she was willing to give Olive a second chance because she understood people change as they grow up.

I liked the use of Tessa’s teenage journals to tell her and Olive’s backstory.

I also LOVED Tessa and Frankie’s friendship. It was so lovely and wholesome and wonderful.

The more graphic novels I read the more I realize that they can absolutely pull on your heartstrings while still remaining cute and fun to read. This is the absolute perfect example of such. I liked how the tone was more mature, and the characters themselves weren't super young. I absolutely loved the band of characters as I thought they were all very charming and felt exceedingly realistic.
I thought the art design was cute and thought it was done really well overall!

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for a copy of this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

Tessa hasn't spoken to Olive in years, and remembers how horrible Olive was in highschool. When she returns home after years away to find Olive now rents a room from her parents, they will have to confront their past.

This queer graphic novel is a beautifully illustrated storynof past hurt and potential future. This story was so sweet that I could not help but read it in one sitting. The characters were self aware, knowing their issues and recognising that people can change. I loved watching them connect, while the value of friendships was also highlighted.

Highly recommend this one if you like a sweet story.

4.5⭐ rounded up
After losing her job at the coffee shop, Tessa is freed up to go home to Toronto for her parents 35th anniversary; on arriving home she discovers that her high school friend turned enemy, Olive, is renting their basement room. Olive seems a lot nicer now, but forced into close proximity, can they get past bad high school memories?

This was such a cute read and felt so true to life. Lots of classic romance tropes with a sapphic lens. I enjoyed the art style which can make or break my enjoyment of graphic novels.

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing for an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. This book was published on 4/15/25.

When Tessa finds out that her high school nemesis Olive is living in her parent's basement apartment, she is overcome by a wave of bad memories and feelings. Why doesn't everyone remember how terrible Olive was to her? How is Olive so close with her parents? However, when Tessa returns home to help with her parents' anniversary party, she rereads her high school journals and realizes that her feelings for Olive were more complicated at the time. As they spend more time together planning the anniversary party, Tessa finds herself in a new place with Olive. How does she feel now? Does Olive feel the same? Enemies to lovers with some great conversations about friendship, career development, and young queer love.

This was a straightforward read. It wasn’t particularly angsty, and there weren't too many conflicts in the present timeline.

The artwork wasn’t particularly impressive, but the shading was visually pleasing and made things easy to follow.

The story itself was a mixed bag. Some parts were really enjoyable, but others felt kind of meh. I wasn’t fully convinced by the backstory and the eventual resolution. It felt like the past issues resolved way too easily.

Despite these flaws, it’s an okay read if you’re looking for something positive, simple and overall warm.

A quic and delightful read that was relatable and honest. I really enjoyed the illustrations and the complexity and reallness of the chacters. <3

I Hated You in High School was a nice quick read! I wish there was more of a conversation/apology around the two main characters' past relationship and how that ended. It felt like such a major part of Tessa's misfortune in high school and it didn't feel like it was treated with the same impact by Olive (or Tessa's family). I did like how Tessa and Olive's relationship progressed though after the initial rekindling and in the future!

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing and Netgalley for this eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I absolutely love Kathleen Gros' work. I loved her Anne and Jo, and I'm excited for her upcoming "Carousel Summer" this year as well. But I'm also happy for her doing a story with slightly older characters, and I hope she makes more in the future. No notes, 5 stars.

I wasn't a big fan of the art style for this one, but I enjoyed the section where we got to see the past through diary entries and how the art was utilized to depict it a lot. I was a bit mixed on the pacing of the relationship between the main character and love interest. I thought the flashbacks were cute, but the level of memory loss surrounding a friendship that seemed pretty intense followed by continual bullying didn't make sense to me, especially since our main character seemed to remember a ton of the details outside of the journal entries. I liked the ending outcome, but did find it was a bit rushed. I think the characters felt very realistic though in terms of their flaws and need for communication.

Would you like to read a graphic novel that feels like if "Fleabag" met "Heartstopper" at the sound of Chappell Roan and support Canada at the same time? Then let the depressed, formerly gifted lgbtq millennials and Gen z's who did not meet expectations have a seat. The first row is reserved for those who went into the arts and haven't done art in ages.
.
This isn't the most disruptive, genre-defying story ever, there are no supernatural villains or colourful scenes to grab your attention. Tessa has a great support system, normal dating woes and the same existential dread everyone is living through.

Tessa's parents are so perfect and she has such a loving community go out to lunch and talk. This is a middle-class fantasy for me. Or maybe happy families are just like that and I'm so below the poverty line and traumatized that I can't even imagine such a thing. But I also love that a happy marriage is being celebrated.

There is something so fresh and hopeful in these pages. I can't wait to see what this author will give us next because I devoured this in one sitting and immediately went to look through her backlog.

I was unsure about the art but it quickly grew on me, particularly the flashbacks over the notebook pages as Tessa read through her teen diaries. One star is just for that actually.

This is one of those projects that captures a shared living experience so well that you know it could only be the author's own too. Everything, from the haircuts to the clothes, to the body diversity was so lovingly captured by the female gaze and that didn't restrict itself to the drawings but the dialogue too.

If you are a queer woman you will recognize a lot of Tessa's struggles. I for example was reminded that I don't have a single original experience in my life because I too delete my lgbtq memories, get drunk and make bad decisions.

Sadly, I would rather eat glass than support this couple. I don't like bully romances and always distrust the "enemy to lovers trope" because there isn't a power on Earth that can make me root for this relationship. But everyone is so original.

I don't care that this book has one of the most beautiful love declarations I have ever read. I don't care I loved how the author wrote their most intimate scenes. I don't care that the author tried to show us the best of Olive. I refuse to be convinced, even less when she tried to make it look as if Tessa had ever done anything wrong in her life, ever!

Not only did I love where we left these two, but the author gave us an epilogue too. This would be an amazing movie or limited series. I need a powerful Lesbian to pick this up and make it happen.

Thank to NetGalley, Edelweiss and Andrews McMeel Publishing for this DRC.

GO CANADA!!!

Struggling 20-something Tessa has a dead-end job as a barista and the dream of a creative career that never quite seems to take off. When the coffee shop where she works goes out of business, she's able to visit her parents for the first time in years. Arriving at her family home, she discovers that her parents have rented out the basement apartment to her high school nemesis, Olive Virtue. Old wounds resurface during Tessa’s stay.

Not hard to figure out what comes next, a enemy to lovers start if ever I saw one.
This is an incredibly sweet story that brings back so many memories of being young and having the unobtainable crush on someone in high school. I think we all,regardless of where on the rainbow flag we sit, have been to this dance. Some ended with kisses and so many with tears.
What if you saw them again? Would you confess that young obsession? Would they see how they had felt the same? Oh the missed opportunity! Lmao!!! Made myself giggle at the thought.

Anyway, awesome story that has beautiful illustrations. Kathleen Gros is quite talented and should go very far. I look forward to seeing what comes next and maybe an update on that group of friends and loves of Tessa.
Highly recommended. Expected publishing date April 15, 2025

Thanks to @netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity to read this eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I Hated You in High School is a friends to enemies to lovers graphic novel about a queer twenty-something struggling artist named Tessa who reunites with her high school crush/mortal enemy on a trip home to celebrate her parents’ wedding anniversary.

The realistic portrayal of the characters’ relationships is the highlight of this novel. Tessa and her best friend Frankie tease each other, have inside jokes, and call each other out on their flaws in a way that only best friends can. Their history and affection immediately translates, and it’s easy to fall in love with their dynamic and feel like part of their friend group.

Tessa also has a realistic relationship with her sister who she both resents and loves in a very true sibling way. They also have their own inside jokes, like how they address each other as “sibling” and “brethren”, and they share an affection for their very loving, accepting parents who are great side characters in their own right.

Another refreshing aspect of this novel is that these characters are adults who talk to each other! There’s no contrived miscommunication here. People actually say what they’re feeling! They talk through their thoughts with their friends and family and then they directly address the issues at hand. It makes the characters feel responsible and likeable even when they aren’t all perfect people all of the time.

The art style is nicer than I expected as well. The simple cover art does the book a bit of a disservice. The actual illustrations are quite careful and detailed. There’s a lot of comedy in the structure of some of the drawings as well. Both the writing and the drawings are very competent and make great use of the graphic novel as a medium in tandem.

Overall, this is a good book about forgiveness and friendship and finding your way in the world. I really enjoyed it.

Awesome characters, great sapphic story! I loved how it has an adult looking back at their past- particularly in the queer community at what could/should have been. I great read!