I came into this one not knowing anything about Aqualad, so all of the information was new to me and some parts had me lost because I knew little to nothing about them.

Putting all of that aside, this one definitely grew on me. I’m trying for read more diverse books and this romance hit that spot. It wasn’t my favorite but I enjoyed watching it develop and bloom.

As for the Aqualad storyline, it was almost kind of frustrating how the mom wanted to hide everything, cover up the truth, and run away when it was found out. I kind of get it but it seemed really important to keep from her son.

This origin story of Aqua Lad is just not as good as some of the other new DC YA graphic novels. It's okay- there were some geographical mistakes and I just plain didn't like some of the characters.

Jake and his mom have lived alone in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico as long as he can remember. Far away from the ocean, somehow the water still calls to him. His mother regularly reminds him to play it safe and that his father died from drowning. With this best friend Maria, Jake the two plan for life after high school. The problem is Maria wants to be more than friends, and Jake is a closeted gay teenager unsure of how to tell his best friend who he really is. Jake falls head first into a relationship with Kenny Liu, Captain of the swim team and out and proud. In an act of defiance, Jake applies to Miami University. After Kenny finds out about Jake's sexuality, and the strange fact the blue marks on Jake's skin glow when in water, the two strike out to find out where Jake came from and how they fit into the world.

We've all seen the trope of the good female friend being heartbroken when she finds out her best friend is gay, but there's something smart about how author Alex Sanchez writes this story. The character act like real people, rather than tropes. While Maria is heartbroken, she shows her hurt but still is the best friend she can be.  I will say that for most of this graphic novel, I was waiting to figure out how Jake connected to the DC universe. The reveal is fascinating, so I won't ruin it for you here. I will say, pay attention to what's going on in the background. Julie Maroh's artwork is beautiful and she does great backgrounds. 

Alex Sanchez does a great job of writing a believable LGBTQ+ relationship, even within the bounds of a sort of super hero story. Maria is not just a trope, and Jake and Kenny interact in a way that feels like a solid relationship.

You Brought Me the Ocean is available from DC Comics.

This was a great origin story about Aqualad. The story deals with the complexities of learning about yourself at a young age and deciding who you're going to be in the world. The author and illustrator do a great job of expressing those emotions throughout the graphic novel. I knew of many characters in the novel but not of Aqualad before. Readers will be happy to see mentions of memorable characters that they're widely familiar with. I am excited to see what will be happening to him next.

I want to first thank NetGalley and DC Comics for making this ARC available to me.

The storyline is good and the characters are enjoyable. I'm definitely left wanting to read the next installment. Sometimes the pacing was a bit fast and interactions as a result didn't always feel realistic, though there were many scenes where the dialogue between the characters felt very natural.

The art is very well done, though it's not my personal favorite style it grew on me the more I read.

3.5 stars.

I was hugely anticipating the release of this book and I can't help but feel a little let down. I still enjoyed it, but it had some big missed opportunities that would have greatly improved this book.

Let's start with the good things. Jake, the main character, has a very loving but tense relationship with his mother. They clearly care for each other, but Jake's mom is overprotective and you can tell Jake is tired of it. His mom is keeping secrets, and the reason behind it makes sense. Jake has big dreams, but is afraid of disappointing his mom. I think this part of the narrative worked very well. His relationship with his best friend, Maria, started off wonderfully and I loved their fun teasing dynamic. I also enjoyed the relationship between Kenny (Jake's love interest) and Kenny's father. This relationship is a little more complicated, because Kenny is gay and out and his father is homophobic, but Kenny's father is slowly coming to accept his son and I liked that the comic was not afraid to deal with this kind of in between state (in most books I've read, parents are either completely understanding or on the edge of disowning their children). Jake and Kenny's new relationship is very sweet overall. Kenny is hands down my favorite character in this book, and I think his personality is the most solidified of all of them. As far as the plot goes, it was a very simple origin story that's easy to follow but interesting enough.

Now for the bad. I think this comic feels very dated. I don't recall anything outright specifying the date this takes place, and because of that I assume it's modern day. However, the dialogue, setting, and bullies felt straight out of 2005. At one point in this book the bullies say something like "all queers must die" in a classroom in front of a teacher, and she just sends them to the principals office. I know this is a small town, but I can't imagine someone saying that in front of progressive teacher and having them brush it off? I think Jake felt pressured to come out by Kenny, and I don't think that was confronted at all. I think this book tried to handle ambitious themes but nothing worked particularly well.

Lastly, the art style. I'm fairly new to graphic novels so I didn't let this affect my rating, but I did not enjoy this art style at all. It is very messy and inconsistent. There were times when the same characters don't look like themselves at all.

Overall, I enjoyed the story and relationships in this novel, but the missed opportunities were too big to overlook.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review. An HUGE thanks to DC comics for this free book. All opinions are my own.

TW: homophobia, homophobic slurs, physical assault

Jake Hyde lives in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, a city in the desert, with his overprotective mother, eager to keep him safe and away from the water, since his father drowned. But Jake is attracted to and longs for the ocean, he wants to leave his hometown where he feels suffocated and go to college on the coast, while Maria, his best friend and neighbour, wants to stay there and Jake's mom wants him safe and sound with her.
But Jake isn't safe, not when he starts to question his sexuality, not when he applies to Miami University without telling anyone, not when he's attracted to the swim team captain, Kenny, who is out and rebel and stick out in their hometown, bullied for being himself.
Jake's life is complicated and full of secrets, secrets he hides from others and secrets he doesn't even know about himself. When the time comes to face them, will he be ready?

I loved You brought me the ocean. I already knew Julie Maroh and Alex Sanchez and this graphic novel is simply amazing. The artwork is so beautiful and evocative, I was really in love since the first page. The plot is captivating and I was right away able to relate and connect to the characters and their struggles.
Jake feels trapped in his hometown and his eagerness to get away and explore the world and the oceans, his dreams, fears and secrets are drawn and written skillfully.

So his relationship with his overprotective and kind mother, with sweet Maria, with rebel Kenny. It was so sweet reading how slowly Jake starts to understand his own feelings and decided to be himself around himself and others. How Jake starts to question his "birthmarks" and his affinity for the water, how he discovers his powers and past.
I was able to feel how he felt, his being trapped and eager to explore, to move, to be true and honest to himself.
Maria and Kenny are also amazing characters, Maria with her secret feelings and the difficulty of being honest with herself and her best friend, Kenny with the fact he didn't want to conform to anything and pretend to be anyone, with his complicated relationship with his father, who is struggling to accept his sexuality.

It's beautiful and intense reading about Jake's journey, in discovering his identity, his sexuality, supported by his friend, love and family.

You brought me the ocean deals with a lots of important themes, like homophobia and bullying (since first Kenny then Jake too are bullied by the bigots of the town), coming out, the difficulties of following your dreams, the loss of parents, friendship issues, physical assault.
It's a book about the difficulty and strength in being true and honest to oneself, friendship and first love.

I recommend to everyone who wants to lose her/himself in a wonderful graphic novel about identity, love, courage and friendship.

You Brought Me The Ocean by Alex Sanchez was an interesting perspective on aquaman and the ways the ocean calls to him and how it plays a part in his life.
I really enjoyed the artist style, the pales and brights in different parts of the story were adorable.
I would definitely love to reread this once it's out!

I feel very ambivalent towards this one. I really really wanted to love it but it fell pretty flat for me. It seemed like there was a ton of ideas and themes that they wanted to include but not a single one was done well. From coming out, bullying, best friend issues, college applications, following your dreams, dead parents, and superpowers all of these things were included but none of them were developed. A lot of the dialogue felt stilted and dated, and many of the moments felt like I was back in the 2000s.

The only character that I kinda liked was Kenny, but even then I wasn't a huge fan about how he pressured Jake to come out.

I don't think it was intended by the author, but there was an overlying theme about how bad it is to keep secrets and that staying closeted is selfish. I don't think I need to explain how dangerous that rhetoric can be, especially in a novel meant as YA. We cannot force or pressure kids to come out when they aren't ready or if they don't have a safe space.

Then there was the fact that they living in the DC superhero universe and maybe it's my own dislike of superheros, but this didn't feel necessary. There is an evil villain who is played up and then nothing happens. He never actually appears and the book ends with no resolution or climax what so ever.

Also, in no school in America are kids going to get away with saying things like "kill the queer" and "all queers must die" in a classroom.

Overall, I'm disappointed in this one but I did enjoy the artwork enough to keep it at 3 stars instead of 2. Probably not going to be pushing this on anyone anytime soon.

*Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.*

Representation: Mexican side characters, Chinese Li, gay MC, m/m romance, black MC.

When I read the summary for You Brought me the Ocean I was ecstatic- a graphic novel set in Mexico about a gay main character, that is also part of the DC UNIVERSE. It felt like my queer nerd dreams were coming through.

For the most part my dreams did come through- the romance between Jake and Kenny was adorable and I loved Jake’s relationship with both his mother and best friend, Maria. I was intrigued with the way the story links into the DC universe and I appreciated that we had gay representation on page.

However, the artwork- while it is clear the illustrator is talented- wasn’t for me. Sometimes the characters features would change drastically and it annoyed me. Even with this I probably would have rated this higher if it wasn’t for the blatant homophobia. It was just too much. Did the villains really need to be homophobic assholes? ( okay I did like when they got their asses beat but still) It’s the DC UNIVERSE, couldn’t we have gotten a more interesting villain??

Overall- You Brought me the Ocean wasn’t bad. I appreciated the gay representation- by an own voices author and sapphic illustrator- I just wish, the homophobia had been toned down a notch. That being said, it was interesting and it had a happy for now ending. If there was a sequel I wouldn’t say no.

Content warnings: Homophobia, forced coming out, homophobic slurs, physical assault.

Alex Sanchez + New Mexico?! Ask me why I added this graphic novel to my tbr the day it went up on Netgalley. ☝️☝️☝️

After weeks, I didn't think I would ever get approved but I got the email a few days ago and screamed. I finished my current read and immediately picked up You Brought Me The Ocean. And... it wasn't exactly what I thought it was.

I knew next to nothing going into it the story except it was supposed to be set in New Mexico, gay, and had something vaguely to do with the ocean. New Mexico is one of my favorite places on Earth so I was a bit let down at the art and the lack of color. For a state that has a LOT of dirt, it's some of the most beautiful rainbow of dirt. It's not just brown. And the art itself was blocky and clunky. I didn't like it at all.

Then there's the story. After I realized it was connected to the DC Universe (even though I'm not a superhero fan) and I read a little of the book, I was intrigued. Aquaman meets Percy Jackson (ish). I want THAT movie! Unfortunately, it didn't really work well in this particular book. And I couldn't deal with the lack of communication between literally everyone. Also, what was up with all the homophobia? It's something I would expect to see in a Alex Sanchez book 15 years ago. Not now.

I'm still super excited I was approved for You Brought Me The Ocean, which makes me sad I didn't like it more. It had so much potential. :/

This was an interesting book. I knew it was a DC comic and that it finally featured queer characters but beyond that I knew nothing of the story. I feel the ending did not really end with much but I'm glad that a cmoic like this exists. I do feel that the art needed some work. More focus on the faces and making sure they were aligned. But i understand the grueling work that goes into a GN like this.

RATING: 4.5/5 STARS

YOU BROUGHT ME THE OCEAN is a lovely graphic novel with beautiful art. The story is simple but it brings a lot of emotion, as the characters are drawn very expressively. I liked that this was an origin story in the setting of the larger and familiar DC universe. This novel does not have that much "superhero action", but I enjoyed this aspect because it allowed for more of a focus on Jake's relationships with Kenny, Maria, Jake's mother, and Maria's family. The ending was satisfying but open-ended. I would love to see a sequel where Jake grows into his powers more.

A sincere thanks to DC Comics and Netgalley for providing an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Social: @_shelf.awareness on Instagram

I really loved the concept and plot of the book. The characters were easy to distinguish between and the art style and muted color palette really complimented the story. I do think that in some panels the font choice made the text a little hard to read, but overall a quick and enjoyable read.

This is another one that looked as though it would work, but felt as though it tried to hard. It is part coming out story, and part discovering your secret powers.

There is a sort of LGBTQ love story thrown in, and the girl who is a "friend" who doesn't realize that Jake is gay, but then, neither does he.

The story is a little slow to start, and when it starts to pick up steam, it ends too abruptly.

And although this is supposed to be set in the DC universe, it feels forced, as sightings of Superman and Aquaman are thrown in parts, just to make good.

Very odd graphic novel.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

I loved this story!!! What a powerful statement!!!! I loved the characters, setting, and plot! My attention was held the entire time!!!!! I couldn’t put the book down. 5/5 ⭐️

You Brought Me the Ocean is a great addition to the teen comics from DC! I can guarantee that once I tell my teens that the main character is queer, they are going to jump on this! As a cis-het white woman, I can't speak to the authenticity of the queer romance, but as a teen romance in general, it was well done. The truth of Jake's father was a twist I somewhat saw coming, though how it played out felt really fresh, so it was still enjoyable. If you have patrons who want more diverse superheroes, You Brought Me the Ocean is a must-purchase!

Love the concept, but didn’t feel like the romantic relationship was realistic. A bit insta-love; they had never really even talked before suddenly being in love.

I’m still all in my feels writing this review! A heartwarming, sweet, raw story told on the backdrop of the world of DC comic. A young black boy is dealing with all kinds of secrets in his life. Some of them - trying to figure out how to come out and except his own sexuality - are relatable. Others - he has birthmarks that look like scars along his arms that may or may not glow when wet - less relatable. With humour and heart, Sanchez brings this boy’s journey to life. I’ll be thinking about this book for a while.

Sigh. Yet another DC YA graphic novel that just feels so... redundant. Other than the diversity, there's nothing new or exciting about this story. Stereotypical storyline, zero charisma, lackluster ending... I didn't have any emotional response other than to roll my eyes a couple times. It doesn't help that the art isn't my style at all. I wanted to like this so much more than I actually do.

You Brought Me the Ocean isn't bad necessarily, it just feels like it's all been done before. The added diverse representation-- especially to a mainstream superhero character like Aqualad-- is important, but would it kill DC to come up with less derivative plots for these graphic novels??