So heart warming, wow!!! I sometimes find it’s hard to convey deeper feelings & topics w a graphic novel bc by design there aren’t many words, but this one nailed it! 

Really great art too. I was worried based on the cover + plot description that it would be way more melancholy in tone, and while  it was a little, that definitely wasn’t the bulk of it. 

As a biracial girlie, I loved this!!!! I love the focus on the multicultural/multiracial experience, and that the backgrounds of each character were all so different from each other, the stories were tonally also different: aka some focused on romance, some on family, some on internal growth, etc. We had recent immigrants & long-time Americans, different religions, some were queer, some were white-passing & some weren’t, etc. 

As always with an anthology, a few didn’t land for me but that’s ok! The majority absolutely did. The 2-3 middle grade stories did throw me off tho, I didn’t expect them since I thought this was YA. The first two stories almost put me off from finishing bc they were both so classically…..like moralistic/optimisitc? Like I didn’t want to read an anthology where the moral of every story was “we’re all diverse, we can learn from each other, let’s all accept each other, and that’s great!!!” which were the vibes of the first two. But the premise of the anthology was promising enough that I kept going and I’m glad I did! 

I appreciate what this one was trying to accomplish but it did not quite hit the mark for me. 

The relationship between Clem and Kye was hella rushed, I was shocked when they both proclaimed their love for each other. Based on what??? They hardly know each other. 

Also, I think graphic novels are not an ideal format for like high-tech sci fi, this is the second one I’ve read that’s been baffling (the first was Across a Field of Starlight). It’s hard to do world building + convey a story + have a  believable romance + other elements, in this case the parental abuse & AI ownership/ethics discussion. This was a good start into the latter point, but bc there simply aren’t many words in a graphic novel, it’s hard to deeply dive into such a nuanced & complex ethics/philosophical topic. 

The art was really good, and the little robot companions were super cute. I liked Clem the female protagonist, a young woman interested in robotics, pursuing an internship on another planet. I liked the diversity of the world too. 

It was an interesting premise but could’ve used another hundred pages or so. 

This was….not what I thought it was. I was looking for a diverse, fun, queer werewolf romance and while this is most of those things it is certainly not fun and much more dark than I thought it would be. I only made it through three chapters as a result. 

In the first two chapters, we see Tony dealing with his semi-absent, alcoholic father and he has a best friend that relentlessly bullies people, including Eli the other love interest. Tony sometimes says “that’s not cool man” but mostly watches from the sidelines and then asks Eli later if he’s alright. So I didn’t love that. Then, Tony admits to Eli in a moment of vulnerability that he has asthma and has to use his inhaler before track meets or else he can’t compete. And from that, Eli then STEALS his inhaler before a meet??? Tony has an asthma attack and instead of giving back the inhaler, Eli throws it in the woods, and the paramedics have to come help Tony. What???? Why!! 

So yeah, it was not a fun romance, I was not rooting for them to be together. Also the art was both kinda retro but also supposedly modern? The choice to do it in black & white didn’t help me determine the time setting, but it did add to the creepiness which I think is what they were going for? The artists switching between each chapter wasn’t as disconcerting as I thought it might be, but I still found it an odd choice. 

An intriguing premise that was perfectly executed. Full of heart, depth, and humor!! 

“I always saw black excellence around me 
and online but it didn’t feel like it was mine 
because I was not perceived as fully black. 
I felt queerness made me even less black. 

Being both black and queer, 
affirming that I exist, 
I am here and I have been here 
long before this moment,
the first people were black
and queerness predates its modern meaning. 
Queerness predates its derogatory meaning. 
Queerness predates, colonialism 
and Christianity. 
Queerness predates any hate attached to it.”