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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thanks to NetGalley &HarperCollins Children's Books for the copy in exchange for an honest review.
This was a tough read and even tougher to rate. The artstyle is GORGEOUS. And each character has a distinct design and no one feels "samey" in terms of design. However...the story is very lacking and in some ways, problematic. Plenty of uncomfortable slurs hurtled casually throughout the book. And it doesn't really get addressed by the target of said slurs, which leaves a bad taste.
There is a LOT being said in this graphic novel and it's almost very overwhelming with how many societal boulders it throws in your face. It's almost very heavy handed and fast-paced with how it delivers certain societal criticisms. They're not *wrong* technically, but it's just...never delivered in an organic way.
And some of the things the protagonist DOES work on, such as her surfing and parent problems, is sidelined in favor of stupid love triangle drama. I really liked her surfing and nerdy stuff but all of it took backseat to the societal criticisms being yeeted at the reader.
Doesn't help that every single character in the book except for the surfer girl and her own father is an absolute JERK to the protagonist. So it's really hard to enjoy.
Well, one thing I did like is how the book subverted the classic "first nerd you meet is actually the real nice guy not the jock" trope. I really enjoyed that, I will say. If the internet taught me anything is that the "nerds" are just as bad as "jocks" with misogynistic views and rampant transphobia, etc.
It still got bogged down by the fast-paced writing and lack of breathing room for the protagonist to grow as a person. I still think it's a decent enough YA graphic novel that it should be in the collection but I'll be hesitant in suggesting it due to the slurs.
This was a tough read and even tougher to rate. The artstyle is GORGEOUS. And each character has a distinct design and no one feels "samey" in terms of design. However...the story is very lacking and in some ways, problematic. Plenty of uncomfortable slurs hurtled casually throughout the book. And it doesn't really get addressed by the target of said slurs, which leaves a bad taste.
There is a LOT being said in this graphic novel and it's almost very overwhelming with how many societal boulders it throws in your face. It's almost very heavy handed and fast-paced with how it delivers certain societal criticisms. They're not *wrong* technically, but it's just...never delivered in an organic way.
And some of the things the protagonist DOES work on, such as her surfing and parent problems, is sidelined in favor of stupid love triangle drama. I really liked her surfing and nerdy stuff but all of it took backseat to the societal criticisms being yeeted at the reader.
Doesn't help that every single character in the book except for the surfer girl and her own father is an absolute JERK to the protagonist. So it's really hard to enjoy.
Well, one thing I did like is how the book subverted the classic "first nerd you meet is actually the real nice guy not the jock" trope. I really enjoyed that, I will say. If the internet taught me anything is that the "nerds" are just as bad as "jocks" with misogynistic views and rampant transphobia, etc.
It still got bogged down by the fast-paced writing and lack of breathing room for the protagonist to grow as a person. I still think it's a decent enough YA graphic novel that it should be in the collection but I'll be hesitant in suggesting it due to the slurs.
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I loved the art style! Very beautiful and I can tell a lot of work went into the illustration. The growth between the characters was very good! I like how both Mackenzie and Phoebe developed as characters. Some of the language I felt was a little too much I didn't like how the D slur was just thrown in.
The main concentration of this graphic novel was how the female interact with the patriarchy that's forced upon us. I wasn't a fan of either of Phoebe's boyfriends and I'm glad she didn't take either of them back. I liked how it started as Phoebe trying to fit in and turned into her being her authentic self. I was glad when Phoebe and Mackenzie made up and became friends again.
The main concentration of this graphic novel was how the female interact with the patriarchy that's forced upon us. I wasn't a fan of either of Phoebe's boyfriends and I'm glad she didn't take either of them back. I liked how it started as Phoebe trying to fit in and turned into her being her authentic self. I was glad when Phoebe and Mackenzie made up and became friends again.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Domestic abuse
I had so many issues because of the way that it was written. I did not like the way that it said talked about what a girl should be. Like they said that it was a problem that she was a nerdy girl and that she is expected to wear makeup. Then they drag her away from guys that she was friends with because it would make her look “masc”. And then they used the D slur. And then the scene that made me call it quits was that they said that if she wanted to date guys they had to learn how to deal with it. And saying that guys that force their hand up her skirts are not bad guys they are just boys. This has so many harmful messages that I could not look past. And the girls that came up to her it from the beginning felt like they had bad intentions for the main characters and wanted to change her into a different person.
This is the same old cliche high school popularity drama with shallow characters and shallow lessons but with a trans girl this time. If any trans person is looking for that basic ‘stay true to yourself’ plot line with a main character you can see yourself in, this could work for you, but I found it boring.
The art was appealing and fit the tone of the book well. The messages that being a girl doesn’t mean you have to fit yourself to misogynistic standards and you should be the one to define your own life are fine. But there wasn’t much else to it. All the characters were assholes to each other in the standard ways for their tropes (plus gender stereotypes) – the controlling queen bee, the white knighting nerd who’s quick to turn when rejected, the jock boys who ‘only want one thing’, the impressionable protagonist guilelessly falling into bad behavior before she comes into herself. It didn’t really get me invested; I just got sick of all of them and the payoff of the very typical lesson learned wasn’t worth it for me.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I don't know how to feel about this.
First of all, the art is gorgeous — absolutely no notes there. It beautifully captured the brightness of California and teenage girlhood alike.
However, parts of this felt a bit icky. I won't speak on how the trans rep was delivered here, as I'm not trans at all, but I do wonder how other trans women found it considering the author (iirc) is also not trans. I'm not sure I 100% liked how it was approached or delivered but I think that likely speaks to my discomfort on how womanhood in general was approached here as well as how the transphobia that occurs here is just swept over fairly quickly.
Of course I understood the point and the narrative trajectory: Mackenzie realising she was molding Phoebe into the patriarchial ideal of a woman however, it felt indelicately delivered to me. Besides the latent misogyny (which admittedly was somewhat dismantled by the main characters) I really really disliked the portyal of abusive relationships/friendships here. It was smoothed over way too quickly, and even at the end, treated with comedic effect.
Don't get me started on the use of dyke. Sure, as a sapphic author you can reclaim the slur but maybe don't use it in a derogatory way?? Multiple times??? And leave it unaddresed???
It wasn't all bad — toxic relationship aside, I grew to like the friendship between Phoebe and Mac. I liked that Macca got her own growth arc and that we got to see the process of that. Brief as it was, Phoebe and her dad's relationship was lovely.
I kinda just felt constantly uncomfy reading this which didn't bode for the best experience. Considering my various qualms (some unsaid) I wouldn't readily reccommend this to younger readers who are the target demo!! Some of the topics covered here just felt irresponsibly done, in my opinion.
First of all, the art is gorgeous — absolutely no notes there. It beautifully captured the brightness of California and teenage girlhood alike.
However, parts of this felt a bit icky. I won't speak on how the trans rep was delivered here, as I'm not trans at all, but I do wonder how other trans women found it considering the author (iirc) is also not trans. I'm not sure I 100% liked how it was approached or delivered but I think that likely speaks to my discomfort on how womanhood in general was approached here as well as how the transphobia that occurs here is just swept over fairly quickly.
Of course I understood the point and the narrative trajectory: Mackenzie realising she was molding Phoebe into the patriarchial ideal of a woman however, it felt indelicately delivered to me. Besides the latent misogyny (which admittedly was somewhat dismantled by the main characters) I really really disliked the portyal of abusive relationships/friendships here. It was smoothed over way too quickly, and even at the end, treated with comedic effect.
Don't get me started on the use of dyke. Sure, as a sapphic author you can reclaim the slur but maybe don't use it in a derogatory way?? Multiple times??? And leave it unaddresed???
It wasn't all bad — toxic relationship aside, I grew to like the friendship between Phoebe and Mac. I liked that Macca got her own growth arc and that we got to see the process of that. Brief as it was, Phoebe and her dad's relationship was lovely.
I kinda just felt constantly uncomfy reading this which didn't bode for the best experience. Considering my various qualms (some unsaid) I wouldn't readily reccommend this to younger readers who are the target demo!! Some of the topics covered here just felt irresponsibly done, in my opinion.