A group of weirdos forms a basketball team—the first ever NCAA Division IV League—comprised of girls from various arts schools, and tries to recruit Charlie into their midst.

Oh be still my heart!

This was damn adorable. So cute. Much queerness.

Charlie was awesome (although I wished that the army-green jacket and dog tags had meant she was a recently discharged soldier—that would have added some much needed for me nuance because I want to see women vets in everything!). Heartbroken, suffering from anxiety and struggling to get back on her feet after a brutal year at her old school, yet still hopeful for a second chance on the court. Even if she resists. A lot.

Liv was hilarious. A hyper-active Type A driven to excel at everything and I loved her so much. She's that person who goes big or goes home. The grand gestures and everything were awesome and just so bubbly.

Everyone else on the team was bursting with life, particularly as they stalked Charlie and tried to get her onto the team.

I also loved that this is a graphic novel about women in college sports—queer women and women of color and women of varying religions—and how they come together and are truly nice when competing (although that halftime show was an adorably low blow).

Fans of Check Please! are sure to enjoy this series, too!

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review – thanks so much to Netgalley for sending this to me!

This book was just so fun, and a solid set-up for a series I’m super excited for. I feel like this could be another Giant Days for me (Giant Days is my favourite graphic novel series EVER) and I am so ready.
In volume 1 of The Avant-Guards, we follow Charlie, a transfer student who is trying to find her feet at a new university and is almost immediately waylaid by Liv, a hugely motivated type-A student who is trying to recruit students to join her basketball team. Charlie fights it at first, but she can’t resist Liv’s charms, and is quickly pulled into the world of the Avant-Guards with all their silly antics and friendships.

I was drawn to this book by the art style, and I stayed for its heart. The characters are all adorable – Liv is a standout favourite, but I also have a soft spot for Tiffany, a witch who keeps trying to recruit people to her coven. All the characters have their own stand-out moments, and I can’t wait to see how relationships develop and to get to know everyone better. There’s also an adorable romance being set up that I am already here for – did I mention it’s sapphic? Because it’s sapphic, and who doesn’t need more sapphic sports romance in their life?

The plot of this one is very chill, but I enjoyed that. It felt very relaxing to read something with lower stakes and to hang out with these characters for a while. The art was lovely, and I’m definitely going to pick up a physical copy because I read this on my computer and had to zoom in a lot, which made the images a bit grainy. That was a huge shame because I really appreciated the art and I want to see it in its full, crisp glory! This isn’t a criticism of the book, though, I just think the graphics would have been even better if I could have held them in my hand and that[‘s exactly what I’m going to do.

Overall this series just gives me great vibes – it’s funny, friendly and sweet as pie, and I can’t wait for the next volume.

I really enjoyed reading this! The art was so colourful and fun and each of the characters were really charming and easy to root for. The story was simple, almost a little slice of life, but there was enough there to leave me wanting to find out what happens next. A really fun read!

The Avant-Guards is a great story about a bunch of girls who are just playing basketball to have fun. They're all remarkably different people and still manage to be friends, which is a great thing for kids to see. Though the characters are all in college, the series doesn't read too old and is definitely appropriate for any teen collection.

This was a great start! I loved the different personalities and how they complimented each other, even though none were the same. You also got a really nice introduction to the two main characters by following their respective point-of-views in the different chapters, not unlike reading a book with two main characters where the chapters alternate between them.

The story (and underlying themes) are cute and to the point. The art is great and I'd love to see more. It's fun to find another sports related graphic novel that's well done. If you like Fence for example, you'll probably like this as well. I'm definitely picking up volume 2 of the Avant-guards when it comes out!

I got an ARC of this book.

I knew nothing about this book going in. I kept seeing the ad for it in the back of the comics that I read on a regular basis. I figured I would give it a shot since the publisher hasn’t steered me wrong yet. Great motivations, I know.

This book didn’t disappointed. It was goofy and wonderful. The characters are pretty flat at this point, but even by the end of the first volume, some of them were getting depths. There were unresolved emotions, anxieties, and hints of more to come. I loved all of the growth and depth the characters were starting to get. I want to see how much further they will go.

The art is exactly what I needed for this story. It isn’t too cartoony and it isn’t too realistic. The colors pop, but don’t detract from the images or the story. The faces and reactions that the artist is able to create were spot on. There was one face near the end where there was a close up on Charlie. Out of content the shot doesn’t seem all that remarkable, still a great image, but nothing earth shattering. With the story though, that panel comes to life in a way that blew me away.

The story is the goofy part. It is about a basketball team that is being created at an arts school. They somehow are good, or maybe the other team is just really not into like they are. Either way, it was wonderful to see the team win and it be clearly weird about them winning without detracting from the feelings it gave the team.

Diverse, goofy, and pretty. Count me in for a second volume!

I really loved this book. The art and the story were amazing. The representation was great we had bisexual, non-binary, gay and people of charcters. I liked the art style that was to complicated. The love story was also pretty cute.

This story sees our main character Charlie transfer to a new school and join the basketball team.
I liked the inclusivity it promoted. Most characters are on the LGBT+ spectrum and it has more than the usual token black character.
I'm not a big sports fan myself but I found this entertaining. It is written from multiple points of view and executed well. There are parts from every characters I like but they are best when they come together which, as the idea behind the plot, makes it work reading. You are rooting for the team!
It has a good pace and illustrations that pop!

5 Stars, this was incredible!

Would recommend if you like the art style of Goldie Vance or the friendships in Lumberjanes.

We follow Charlie, who has just transferred to a new university. She meets Olivia who wants her to join the basketball team. The story focuses on friendship and dealing with your past. There's diversity when it comes to race, sexuality, mental health and gender.

The characters are truly amazing. Their personalities really came through, even in this first volume. They are all diverse in their own way. So far the characters haven't labeled themselves, so neither will I. There is definitely queer love in this. Two females characters are into females (but haven't said if they identifies as lesbians), one character has shown interest in both females and males (but haven't said if she identifies as bi or pan), and one character uses they/them pronounce. There is also a character who deals with anxiety and has had panic attacks in the past.

What I enjoyed the most about the diversity, was that it was just there. It didn't feel forced or made to be a big thing, which made it very natural.

The biggest selling point for me was that the characters where so different from each other, and their relationships.

If you enjoy colorful contemporary stories with friendships, then this is for you. I highly recommend getting yourself a copy when it is releases. I know that I will.

Absolutely adored this! A fun, diverse, and empowering read. Amazing art and colours too. Can't wait to see where this series goes,

If I was a tween girl, I'd probably love this. Alas I'm not, and this just seemed boring and pointless. It's about some girls in college who start a basketball team. That's the whole extent of the story, or lack thereof. It reminded me of a sports manga, but without any of the drama.

I received a copy of an e-arc from the publishers on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This comes out Sept. 3.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was stinking cute!! The art style in this is amazing. I’d recommend this to fans of Heartstopper, Lumberjanes, or Bloom.

In this story, Charlie transfers to a new college and is feeling a little lost when Olivia decides to recruit her for the college’s first women’s basketball team. They’re a rag-tag team of diverse girls who just want to have fun and support their teammates in everything they do.

I really appreciated how this normalized anxiety and panic attacks. I also love how there was a character whose pronouns were they/them! I love how common that is becoming in literature these days. (Also how the gay characters were just gay, no long backstory or explanation. Just a normal crush)

I CANNOT wait for volume 2!

TW: panic attacks

I loved Carly Usdin's Heavy Vinyl so I was excited to see this one on NetGalley. It's a fun read with a great ensemble cast. (Tiffany was my personal favorite, I loved how over the top she was written.) The cliffhanger got me - I wasn't expecting that at all and it certainly made me want to read more of this series.

Representation: trans girl, non-binary, queer characters, POC, anxiety & panic attacks

This was such a fun, diverse read. I was so invested in this story and the characters! What a great, diverse, queer story. I laughed so much during this and ah, I just loved it so much. I was rooting for all of the characters, especially the main character. It was such a pure, heartfelt story but it also talked about topics such as mental health and break-ups. The illustrations were my favorite part, they very colorful and detailed for every scene. I was fully immersed into the Avant-Guards world. I want more of Avant-Guard ASAP!

I love Charlie and Olivia! They are so cute. All of the characters are so diverse and eclectic and amazing. This whole story was so much fun. It ended on a bit of a cliffhanger, so I am really excited to get my hands on the next volume, even though it will be a while. This was honestly so great.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this title. I absolutely loved this graphic novel. It's a great sports story I haven't heard before due to it's great diverse cast of characters, adorable queer love story and badass ladies kicking butt in basketball. I would definitely call this more of a New Adult title than a teen title, it's more for college age people, but I'd recommend it to both. I also really liked that it featured a transfer student, which you don't see as much.

Such great artwork in this graphic novel! I am definitely looking forward to reading the next volume in this series.

There’s no way in hell I would usually pick up a book about Basketball – I’d have to be among one of the most non-sporty, uncoordinated, clumsy people on the planet. Looking at the cover of Avant-guards, you may be thinking that this graphic novel is just that, all about basketball. It’s not. This story delves into heaps of issues and to be honest, the basketball is like background music, you hardly even know its there. The art, the characters and the heart in this makes Avant-guards a surprising package which you should pick up.

When scrolling through a catalogue of graphic novels to review, this one immediately stood out, the cover is colourful and depicts a group of young people hanging out. The style of art used was really appealing to me as it was eye-catching, modern and fresh. This style is used throughout the graphic novel and made for not only and interesting story but one which was visually appealing also.

When Charlie arrives at the all-girls school, Georgia O’Keeffe of Arts and Subtle Dramatics, she’s not looking to make friends or join a group. The last thing she wants is to join another Basketball team but after meeting Liv, aspiring actor and basketball nut something in her begins to shift. Liv turns out to be very persistent and after finding out Charlie was a star player for her last school’s basketball team she becomes determined that Charlie will join her merry gang of misfit players.
Along the way we meet colourful, interesting and unique characters which make this story charming and takes the focus off basketball. The relationships built within the story are just adorable and ones you the reader totally invest all your hopes and dreams into. The fact that this graphic novel has LGBTQUIA+ characters as well as a non-binary character really adds to the overall vibe of the story.

This book was so great and one which I hope to continue with. The art, the characters and the heart makes this 100% worth picking up. I highly recommend taking a look and I know you won’t be disappointed 😊
Thank you so much to Netgalley and BoomStudios for this review copy – I give this one 4 out of 5 stars.

This review will also be available on www.thenerddaily.com in a few weeks.

There’s really not much to say about this one except for I loved it. It has what I’m after in a graphic novel - interesting characters, great art work, a story I can get into and not to much text to have to read to be able to follow it. I think the story might move a little bit fast, though - there’s not many days that’s passing, right? Still, an easy read, lots of smiles, LGBTQ rep and a chance to learn some basketball

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review!

/ Denise

this was way too cute.
the artwork is so pretty, the colors and the style. absolutely loved it. also: representation! race, gender, sx. preference, body types, mental health. just so great!