I liked this so much more then I thought I would! I didn’t really know what to expect but it’s so wholesomely queer. It’s also full of emotions. The awkward pining in high school, not really remembering what happened but remembering the feeling. Also love the communicating, so many things get ruined because people don’t tell each other how they feel so it felt like a breath of fresh air to see olive and Tessa talk about everything. I would really recommend this!
Thank you netgally for letting me read this early.

Kathleen Gros’ *I Hated You in High School* is a heartfelt and relatable graphic novel that explores the complexities of personal growth, friendship, and reconciliation. With her signature style of warm, expressive illustrations and honest storytelling, Gros takes readers on a journey through the challenges of adolescence and the lasting impact of high school experiences.

The story follows main characters who reconnect years after high school, confronting old wounds, misunderstandings, and the awkwardness of facing someone you once couldn’t stand. Gros expertly balances humor with emotional depth, making the story both engaging and thought-provoking. The characters feel authentic, with their insecurities, regrets, and hopes shining through in their conversations and interactions.

One of the book's greatest strengths is its exploration of themes such as self-acceptance, forgiveness, and the evolving nature of relationships. Gros presents these themes with a light touch but never shies away from the deeper emotional struggles that come with them. The artwork complements the narrative beautifully, with expressive faces and carefully chosen color palettes that enhance the mood of each scene.

Overall, *I Hated You in High School* is a touching and insightful read that will resonate with anyone who has ever looked back on their teenage years with mixed emotions. Whether you're seeking a story about personal growth or simply enjoy slice-of-life graphic novels, this book is well worth picking up.

A cute and sweet graphic novel. I thought every character was impressively fleshed out for how quick of a read it was. I didn't mind that the main conflict was resolved easily and enjoyed the overall story.

3.5 stars

This was a really cute graphic novel with wholesome characters and good queer representation. The relationship between Tessa and Olive was nice but the enemies thing was very much one sided and was resolved pretty quickly since it was really only caused by miscommunication. I really liked the art style though and the side characters were all really sweet and likeable (Frankie was honestly the best part of this book).

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley & Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity to read this book! <3

“I hated you in high school” has all the ingredients for a perfect, light-hearted queer romance to read in one sitting.

I think the cover and the “enemies-to-lovers” promised trope mislead me into thinking it would be a cute romcom, but instead it focuses on interesting and important topics, such as school burn-out, all the trouble that comes from job hunting, feeling like you’re wasting your time, queerness and bullying.

Overall I liked it and would recommend it, but I’m not happy with the way things ended. I’m not spoilering anything, but: I feel like we went past the bullying way too fast, and the chemistry just wasn’t there anymore.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Tessa is a struggling 20 something artist trying to juggle party planning for her parents anniversary and having to come to terms with high school trauma while her ex friend/bully Olive lives in her parents basement apartment.
The rollercoaster that it was for Tessa and Olive to reconnect after so many years and to see from both points of view what was happening was eye opening at how situations can be complicated by misunderstandings. I really identified with Olive and her struggle to understand her budding feelings for another girl while in high school.
I really enjoyed this story and the art style was very refreshing. It was like reading a journal but in comic form. Definitely recommend!

*Received this for free in exchange for a review, this does not impact my thoughts and opinions at all*

I think this graphic novel was really cute and a very quick read. I think I would've liked to see more of the main characters and get to know more about their personalities a bit more, but overall, it was a cute read. I'd also be very interested in seeing a novel from Frankie's POV/about their life. I love the queer representation and how the cast was all seemingly some sort of queer or a really great ally. Especially in this time and political climate we need all the queer hope and representation that we can get.

I'm all for queer romance even if it's cheesy and cliche. So if you're looking for a second chance romance with WLW representation (one character is bisexual, and the other is lesbian I believe? There isn't clarity on that one so it's kind of left up to the reader to assume.) and nonbinary representation too then pick this up when it comes out!

3.75 ⭑

What a cute & fun story!!! I enjoyed the author’s art style and will certainly pick up any future works published. I love an enemies to lovers trope & the second chance romance trope is featured here too. An enjoyable and quick read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of I Used to Hate You in High School.

I'm not the biggest romance fan but this was a cute storyline! It seemed a bit unrealistic that someone would get paid enough to survive that long without a job but, whatever! It was a super cheesy, fun romance

Cute drawing style, bland story. I wanted more out of Tessa. They were just super blah. Their family was more interesting than them.

Olive had a good development and we all do stupid stuff in high school so I get it.

Frankie was the best part.

As sweet as it is, I Hated You in High School does not go far enough in depth for me. Tessa held a multi-year long hatred towards Olive for the pain and torment she caused, which is resolved almost instantly after one apology. The bullying seemed to hold no deep impact; not talked about deeply in how it effected her over the years or how it changed her in how she handled relationships.

Despite this, it has a great range of characters that hold interesting perspectives (that I would like to see expanded in possible further graphic novels) and its fast pace allows for it to be easily read in one sitting.

Thank you so much to Andrews McMeel Publishing and Netgalley for the advanced reading copy!

thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this wonderful graphic novel in exchange for an honest review!

This was so CUTE. Actually enemies to lovers. More like friends to enemies to lovers. And explored in a really fun way. I like the art style too. All around a good time.

This was a nice, light read that I got through in a single sitting! Honestly, I don’t think the cover does it justice; it feels a little… Wattpad-y? and slightly juvenile, while the story itself is geared towards older teens and young adults.

At first, I wished the illustrations were in colour, but I came to appreciate the green tint; it was a welcome change from standard greyscale graphic novels (though maybe I’m a bit biased since green’s my favourite colour). I also adored Tessa – whose fashion sense and general fears surrounding the job market and relationships are eerily similar to mine – and Frankie and their casual, open queerness. they both presented how they wanted and no one batted an eye about it (aside from the flashbacks to Tessa’s high school years), which was lovely to see. And oh, how I loved Tessa’s parents and the subplot surrounding their anniversary celebration!

I didn’t quite buy the whole enemies-to-lovers thing. to me, enemies imply both did something wrong to the other in an equivalent exchange, but Tessa was bullied by Olive in high school, giving them a really uneven dynamic that only required an apology from Olive and a lot of forgiveness from Tessa (who was very, very forgiving, far more than I would have been). The romance itself was sweet, if a bit rushed once all the story set-up was out of the way, and I liked seeing a snapshot of everyone’s futures in the epilogue.

Overall this was a lovely, quick little read and though the art style took a short while to get used to, it ended up growing on me quite a bit.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an EARC in exchange for an honest review!

“I hated you in High School” is a sapphic graphic novel about enemies to lovers with a dash of miscommunication.

The drawing style was nice and the story was in black and white and greyish colours. I would have enjoyed it even more if it had a few colourful highlights.

Normally I’m not a fan of miscommunication but I didn’t hate it in this story. I think it’s probably because it was a Graphic Novel.

The story was easy to follow and the pages weren’t overflowing with drawings. It was overall fun to read.

I didn’t really feel a chemistry between Tessa and Olivia but I liked the rest of the story and could connect with Tessa in some moments.

Thank you to NetGalley for this EARC!

"I Hated You in High School" is a quirky little love story about two girls who meet again after years apart. Their meet cute doesn't happen in a grocery store or at work--it happens because one of them is renting a room in the other's parents' basement.
Years after a traumatic event, Tessa returns home to help plan her parents' 35th anniversary party and learns that the girl who caused the traumatic event in high school is now living in her parents' basement apartment.
Both funny and tender, the two girls learn to navigate who they were back then and who they've become in the following years. The themes of queerness being something you need to figure out for yourself are incredibly important for young people who may be feeling the conflicting feelings of love for someone they previously knew as a friend. This explores that big feeling in an introspective and quiet way where neither party is necessarily wrong, but apologies are overdue for the sadness caused by growing pains.
I would recommend this adorable sapphic graphic novel to anyone looking for a sweet and fun friends-to-enemies-to-friends-to-lovers story.

What happens when you lose your job, move back home, and find out that your high school bully is living in your parent’s basement?
Tessa loses her job at the coffee shop but gets a severance pay that allows her to return home for her parents anniversary party. She finds out that her parents are renting their basement out to tenants and the current tenant is her high school bully, OLIVE.
Things were not always bad between Tessa and Olive. Originally Olive was just Tessa’s older sister’s friend, but then they vibed over stage crew in high school and became closer. Something changed during this time which led to relentless teasing and bullying by Olive. Can Tessa and Olive make amends? Could they even become friends? This was a cute queer enemies to lover’s graphic novel and I’d love to read more by this author!

#ThxNetGalley

<i>Thanks for the ARC</i>

I thought this was a very cute story about obviously growing and changing, but also just cute sapphic crushes against the backdrop of a gentrifying Vancouver. The art style was really cute and fun. I enjoyed it a lot.

I usually don’t like second chance romance, especially with bullying, but this one was done so well! l actually like Olive deserved forgiveness and I loved her dynamic with Tessa. I also found Tessa to be a very relatable character. The queerness was apparent on every page and I loved all the nuances like the rolled shirt sleeves and dyeing their hair in the bathroom. I think I loved every character, even the ones who didn’t get much page time, and the character development was beautiful. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

This was a perfectly okay graphic novel.

The art style was cute enough, although I do wish it had been in color. (To be fair, I feel that way about basically every adult graphic novel. I don't understand why we are so collectively allergic to including color in anything geared toward grownups.)

The main character, Tessa, was likable and had some great dynamics with her roommate, sister, and parents. Butch lesbian representation is always a win, too. It was Olive, the love interest, for whom I didn't particularly care, probably because she had been pretty mean to Tessa in high school. Even before she explained her behavior, it was pretty clear why she'd acted the way she did: she developed a crush on Tessa, became afraid of her own queerness, and took it out on Tessa before later coming to accept her bisexual identity. It's a tale as old as time, really. Maybe I'm just not as good of a person as Tessa because I don't think that would've swayed my feelings much. Your inability to confront and grapple with your queerness doesn't give you a pass to be horrible to me because I'm comfortable with mine. But, you know, to each their own. I'm sure Tessa isn't the only one who'd be willing to not only forgive someone for having done that but also rekindle previously held romantic feelings towards them. That scenario might not be true to my life, but I'm sure it's true to someone's, and that's cool.

I think that if I'd felt more chemistry between Tessa and Olive in their adulthood then I would've been better able to understand their newfound dynamic, but it seemed to me that they had more chemistry as teenagers (prior to Olive's change of heart and attitude). Their history was far better fleshed out than their present-day, and I wish that hadn't been the case.

I didn't hate, or even dislike, this graphic novel, but it's not one I foresee myself recommending or ever even thinking about again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was interested to see this book was a graphic novel/manga. I really enjoyed the drawings and the storytelling. The book itself was a nice quick short read. The story was very relatable.