So unsurprisingly I love everything Ngozi Ukazu does :) This YA graphic novel follows our main character, Chi-Chi, as she attempts to reverse the "Freaky Friday"-esque situation she finds herself in with her crush, Flip. It explores themes of identity, belonging, and self-worth. I loved the ending, although I admittedly would've liked a little bit more of an epilogue! (And to find out what happened to a specific character who didn't get much of a resolution.) I think many teens will relate to Chi-Chi's feelings, especially anyone who faces marginalization. A wonderful story and I am so thankful to NetGalley and FirstSecond for the ARC!!!

I really loved this story! I honestly laughed out loud a couple of times because of some of the ridiculous things that happen. I also love that amongst the silly premise, there is a lot of learning about respecting each other's family and lives. There's a lot more depth here than I expected. I also appreciate the conversations about consent while each of them are in the other's bodies. It's a cute story that offers more commentary on family relationships and respect than you would expect. A cute story that I will definitely be recommending to mature readers (simply due to some language that is a hard-sell in our high schools right now).

Ngozi Ukazu has crafted another fascinating and perceptive story for teen readers, one that I'll be recommending widely. Chi-Chi Ekeh is a huge nerd, and somewhat invisible in her school, but still endlessly having intense crushes on impossible boys. Her current crush is Flip Henderson, and she pours over footage of him to craft the perfect promposal video for their senior prom. UNfortunately, she winds up sending that video to him and he accidentally plays it in front of their whole class—and turns her down for the prom. Chi-Chi runs away in horror (understandably), and trips and hits her head, just as she wishes Flip liked her. The next day... she wakes up in Flip's body, and Flip is in hers! The two keep flipping back and forth, spending longer and longer in each other's bodies, and while they are digging into the mystery of what's happening and how to stop it, they also learn so much about themselves and each other, and how they might be able to heal. It's a very funny story at times, but also delves into their mental health struggles, and what it's like for Chi-Chi to be one of the few Black girls at her boarding school. I especially appreciated the author's note, contextualizing Chi-Chi and Flip's story of self-worth for readers, both with other literature and with the author's own experiences growing up.

Another absolute 10/10 from Ngozi Ukazu. I've loved her artwork for a long time, so it's no surprise I think the art throughout this entire graphic novel was extremely well done. I love the way she shows emotions on the character's faces and the way she uses stylistic changes for humorous bits (Page 250 made me have a giggle fit.) You can certainly see the inspirations that influenced her in writing this story, but it is fully her own and the deeply personal aspect of it which she mentions in her author's note is evident throughout. Chi-Chi is a Black teenage girl whose rejection by a rich white boy brings her to a spiral questioning her self-worth and leading to the two body swapping back and forth, each time increasingly longer. Chi-Chi's exploration of identity and the way her self-esteem has been tied to external validation, particularly from well-off white men, is the central catalyst. Ngozi also does an amazing job of giving personalities that really stick with you even to the least screen time side characters. I can honestly say I felt the purpose of every character and that each one felt distinct. I'd love to see this world again, especially with the supernatural element lingering in the background that these things just sort of... happen at this school. Chi-Chi herself is full of contradictions and flaws and insecurities alongside passion, intelligence, and love that she gives away freely to others- often those who haven't earned it- but not to herself. This book isn't a romance, but it is a love story, "She has always been something else" is such a strong visual depiction of catharsis. I look forward to being able to recommend this book to everyone I know once it's out.

I seem to be an outlier here based on the reviews so far, but as soon as Chi-Chi started messaging an AI bot, it was over for me. While the concept is cool, I could not connect with Chi-Chi or Flip and was not rooting for them (together or separately). This bummed me out because I love to see a swimmer in books! The art in this graphic novel was well done but the story was a miss for me. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

This graphic novel managed to be funny, insightful, and a little scary/suspenseful all at the same time. I adored Chi-Chi as a protagonist, and the friendship/kinship that developed between her and Flip felt authentic. There are lovely side characters with their own depth and personality. This will definitely be in my classroom library once it’s officially out. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I love Ngozi’s work and this Freaky Friday spin on body switching was a great take. The art is superb and the story is intriguing. 10/10 would highly recommend.

Wow wow wow

Chi-Chi is a perfectly imperfect main character, and I am obsessed with this book. The story is a unique take on Freaky Friday and is so worth the read. From chatbots to fan edits, this book has all the relevancy. I loved that it's Chi-Chi's point of view with flecks of Flips. The eye switching to differentiate was great and easy to comprehend. The friends felt like real people and not just fluff to push the plot forward.

Ukazu packs this fun book with nuances and big conversations. I will recommend this book to every person I come across. I can't wait to hear how big this is in a year!!

Flip by Ngozi Ukazu is a sweet, funny tale of body swapping. Chi-Chi Ekeh is a great student experiencing her senior year with her two best friends. Unfortunately, she has a major crush on Flip, one of the most popular boys in school. When her promposal video accidentally gets played, and she nearly (literally) dies of embarrassment, she finds herself bodyswapped with Flip, Tons of hijinks ensue, but at its heart, both Chi-Chi and Flip experience a lot of personal growth. This was laugh out loud funny at parts and also tugged on my heartstrings as I related to both characters. A very fun read.

I am a fan of Ngozi Ukazu's Check Please series and was looking forward to this new graphic novel. The main topic of self love / self acceptance was done really well. I really felt for Chi Chi and and her journey to self acceptance. It really takes the expression of "walking in someone else's shoes" and puts a Freaky Friday twist on it. The message is one that I think many young people (and adults) will connect with.

I chose to read this book because I liked other books I had read by this author. This was no exception. The characters were diverse and well fleshed out without feeling forced. I was able to empathize with almost every character. The characters had interests, families, and complex traumas and lives. It tackles some intense topics in an unrelatable way (body switching isn't real lol, but learning empathy is!) with super relatable characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy of this book.

I used this copy to screen the book for inclusion in my school library media center collection. My rating of five stars indicates that it meets our colleciton development criteria and that we will likely purchase this book in the fall.

We have many students who are fans of Check, Please, so I am excited to offer another book by this authors -- especially because the premise of this one is such a fun one, and it will be easy to "sell" to students.

This is an odd one for me. I want to like it; the idea is solid. But I don't... I don't know why I didn't connect. Maybe its just demographics...

I’m going to be honest and say it took me much longer to finish this than it normally does. I didn’t connect with the characters at first and wasn’t sure why. I considered DNFing, but I’m glad I didn’t, because by a quarter of the way in, I was sucked in.

Chichi and Flip have an interaction that doesn’t go well and the effects of it send them into a spin that gives Freaky Friday vibes. They begin to switch bodies. Each time they flip, it’s for a little while longer and they don’t know how to make it stop.

While this is definitely about seeing themselves through the eyes of another person, seeing as how both characters deal with crippling anxiety and living up to their familial standards, I was less focused on that and more on the hope that they would get together. They grew close throughout the book and Flip even joined their friend group (he kind of had to in a way). It made me have an even better experience hoping for that spark by the ending.

And just when I thought we got it… the book ends. 😭 So now I’m left with unanswered questions. So I need a quick epilogue, pleaseeeeeeee!!!!🫠

A really head-spinning take on the trading-places genre that looks at teen challenges with belonging, accepting yourself, and looking forward. Fans of Check Please will find some of the feels but it has very different vibes. I feel like I'll need to read it at least one more time, it's so complex. A great companion to the new time loop book "You and Me on Repeat" by Mary Shyne.

Librarians: you know that full body thrill you get when you realize you're reading a book that your teens will LOVE and you can recommend widely, but also contains super important messages? I felt that thrill from cover to cover while reading this, and I can't wait to start handing it to teens in September.

"Flip" is Freaky Friday meets The Bluest Eye, with a giant dose of BTS' Love Y0urself era thrown in. Flip and Chi-Chi start off as classmates and near strangers - Chi-Chi is infatuated with Flip and what his whiteness and privilege represent, whereas Flip's orbit doesn't include Chi-Chi at all. Through a mishap with a chat bot (maybe? I love that the reason for the switch wasn't completely spelled out), Flip and Chi-Chi begin to switch bodies, at first for just a couple of hours, but the time between switches increases with each swap. Though starting out as near strangers, they develop a friendship and mutual respect while working together to find the cause of the body swapping. Can they stop it for good?

Spoiler: This is the kind of love story all teens, and adults honestly, need more of: the journey of learning to love yourself. I was so thrilled that this book didn't end with Chi-Chi and Flip developing a romantic relationship. Chi-Chi's path to seeing herself through the eyes of someone else (literally) and recognizing her own beauty and worth is something I wish more books focused on.

As someone who also learned to love myself through messaging from a k-pop boy (thank you, Kim Namjoon), this book hit close to home, and I know it'll hit for the teens at our libraries too. Thank you so much to First Second and NetGalley for the review copy, and a giant thank you to Ngozi for this gift. I'm so excited for readers to start seeing themselves in "Flip"!

I read Check Please, and have been meaning to read the author's other work; when this crossed my path I could not resist. I am so glad I grabbed this book, all the characters had depth (I was not expecting Flip's best friend to be as involved as he was, it was nice) and face the consequences of their actions. I really liked that depression was shown as being physical instead of an 'it's just in your head' condition like so many people like to pretend it is. I will admit that I did have questions by the end (like what DID happen to "Sarah"?), but ending it like that was consistent with the story, and it gave me something to really think about. I need to pick up more of her work.

Flip is a retelling of Freaky Friday. Concerns with the current climate. Comments were made about not touching a butthole or a dick, leaving my vagina alone. I would l not purchase this title for my library in the current climate.

"The Bluest Eye" meets "Freaky Friday" in graphic novel format! This was a blast to read, despite the disheartening feelings both Flip and Chi Chi experience throughout the book. I appreciated the author's choice to illustrate not just the struggle that Chi-Chi goes through as a young black woman, but also the struggle that Flip goes through even as others see him as living the perfect privileged life. I found the rich development of the main characters, and most of the side characters as well the often hilarious quest to fix the unexplained "curse" that forces them into each others' bodies, to be engaging enough to speed through this one. But by the end, after many laughs, the reader arrives at a powerful message: as Ukazu writes in the author's note at the end, "Some do not have access to their own self-worth". The power of friendship gives us perspective about ourselves. We just need to borrow the eyes of another to see ourselves for who we truly are.

I went into this graphic YA novel thinking it would be a fun beach read, and I do recommend it for a light read, but it also deceptively includes deeper concepts of self love, class structures, racism, depression, culture, and educational privilege. I thoroughly enjoyed Flip! I laughed out loud at several parts, and was stricken by some of the implications of flipping places.

I recommend this book for anyone who questions the legitimacy of graphic novels. I would argue this story could only be told in graphic medium. The author and illustrator, Ngozi Ukazu, did an amazing job of portraying who was speaking even if it was Chi Chi inside Flip's body. On one level, she changed the eye color. Ukazu also shaped Flip's expressions as more cheesy and less confident when he was Chi Chi. And to truly make the point, there were times when Chi Chi spoke directly to us either through captions, or as herself, with a mask of Flip's face lifted up. Literally, she took off the mask to speak to us, as in literary tropes. Genius.

Flip as Chi Chi also showed quite a transformation. When Chi Chi's body was inhabited by Flip she looked cold, stern, and angry. And her eyes were blue. Not the European-American blue with iris and pupil, but a glowing orb of blue like she was possessed.

The afterword, where the author describes her own life and experiences that shaped this book were eye opening. I was intrigued to learn that she was inspired by The Bluest Eye by Toni Morisson when writing this. I plan to read that as well, so I can fully appreciate the story.

I highly recommend this book for schools and libraries.