This book really needs some content warnings. I had a dear friend commit suicide a few months ago, and this hit so close to home that I felt sick. You don’t want to harm your readers, so warn them before they start reading your content.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

Slip is a graphic novel about a teenage artist named Jade and her grief over her best friend's attempted suicide. Most of the novel focuses on Jade's struggle with her feelings over what her friend Phoebe did and that the two are separated because Phoebe is a treatment program. She works out her frustration through her sculptures at a summer art camp.

This book explores the grief of those who are affected by suicide and suicidal attempts. Jade struggles with her thinking about whether she was a good friend before Phoebe made the attempt. She also struggles with what kind of friend should be now to Phoebe in the aftermath.

There are some relationships that are introduced with various other artists in the summer camp, but Jade mostly struggles on her own with her thoughts. I found this a little problematic because essentially none of the relationships are flushed out or have depth. But in a way this mirrors the self-isolation that teen who isn't ready to talk about a traumatic experience would feel and act in real life. THe relationships don't grow because Jade doesn't allow space for them to grow. She doesn't get adult support because she doesn't tell anyone what she is going through. The main focus is on Jade and how she works through her pain and emotions through her art, of which...often has a mind of its own.

The illustrations were awesome. I tend to like more color rather than monochromatics. However, the use of red to indicate intensity of Jade's emotions and struggle was well done.

I think this is an important book to have on school library shelves because of the topic. It will strike up some good conversations, but I also hope it leads young adults who read it to seek help if they are experiencing the type of grief that Jade did.

I really enjoyed this book. The author did a great job of showing the main character's grief after dealing with an extremely traumatic experience.

This was a very cute graphic novel. I liked the art style and found the romance to be adorable. There's also LGBTQ rep with is always a plus for me.

teen/adult graphic fiction (TW: young queer ceramic artist at competitive summer camp dealing with friend's suicide attempt)
I loved how the emotions of the young artist really come through in the artwork, as well as the progression of her creative process, from the clayworking tools to the unpredictability of the wood kiln. And I loved seeing a young brown person featured in the beautiful illustrations by Aatmaja Pandya. More, please!

This YA graphic novel kind of just throws you into the midst of everything. You learn about Jade and Phoebe more through the flashbacks/vision Jade keeps having of their friendship. But I felt like, other than her love or and skill at ceramics, we don't find out much about Jade as a person. Her best friend is Phoebe, she likes girls, and??? I just wanted Jade's character to develop more and all her relationships at the art camp felt odd and not fleshed out. It just all felt like a very rushed plot that also contained magical realism, and just didn't know where it wanted to go.

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Netgalley. Trigger warning for suicide.)

3.5/5 stars

Days before Jade is to leave for a month-long summer art intensive, her best friend Phoebe survives a suicide attempt. Already plagued by self-doubt, Jade's anguish and guilt threaten to tank her art career before it's even started. How can she devote herself to her craft with Phoebe - fellow artist and Jade's biggest cheerleader - "locked away" in a hospital? And how deep can Jade's grief go, when she's falling for another girl?

The backbone of SLIP is Jade's relationship with Phoebe, and the growing pains both young women endure. But the story is definitely eclipsed by the book's more magical elements, namely Jade's ability to bring her art (drawings, sculptures) to life with the addition of fire. I'm a very literal thinker, so magical realism isn't always the easiest for me to grasp. I didn't love the more fantastical elements at first, but the longer I sat with these images, the more they grew on me. Ultimately, I think the magical realism works well here, especially in regards to Jade's tentative efforts to reach out to Phoebe.

I also found Jade's search for inspiration and efforts to uncover a theme in her work especially compelling.

The story contains a fair amount of craft-related details, which I mostly skimmed (though I did appreciate Jade's excitement over said details).

I mean it’s really good, would likely pick up a copy in the bookstore. But doesn’t scream out to me; if that makes sense. I enjoyed the plot line for the most part.

I thought this was a great book about friendship, mental illness, and growing up and (maybe) apart. The illustrations and color were beautifully done and brought a lot to the narrative. Jade's internal struggles--about her first crush, the intense art program she is taking part in, and her worries about her friend, all really come through well. I read it in one sitting and really enjoyed it for the most part. I think it could have done without the fantasy element/metaphor but I'm sure some readers will really enjoy that part.

Right before Jade is about to leave for a summer art intensive, her best friend, Phoebe, attempts suicide. How is Jade supposed to focus on herself right now?

Slip by Marika McCoola was an amazing graphic novel with beautiful art. The story line was terrific. The way the book handled fear and suicide was wonderful. I hight recomend this book to everyone who isn't triggered by suicide. I rated this book 5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautiful book both in art and story. It deals with heavy topics, such as processing big emotions, including a friend's attempted suicide. There's a touch of magic along with hard work and deep experiences. Characters are well developed, especially our main character. This book is an essential read and highly recommended for middle grade and up.

Thank you Algonquin Young Readers and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC.

I enjoy graphic novels lately. I liked this graphic novel. The illustrations I thought were good although I didn't really care for the colors. But that could be me because pink's not my favorite. I do think the topics of suicide and mental health are important topics with young adults. I think this is a good introduction of it. I can't say the story resonated with me very much but that doesn't mean it's not good enough for young adults and those alike that are interested and can relate. Overall, I thought I did a pretty good job though it didn't resonate five stars for me. The story did feel like there wasn't really a good pace or rhythm. I felt like it was kind of rushed.

Jade is a young artist who has the opportunity to go to an art camp and possibly get a scholarship to an art school. However, right before she leaves, her best friend, Phoebe, attempts suicide. Jade is reluctant to leave her, but Phoebe needs to go into treatment. Jade finds it hard to stop worrying about Phoebe and blaming herself for what happened, but when she reaches deep down for those strong emotions, she can make her best art yet.

Jade’s art form that she created was pottery. I took pottery classes for years, so I loved seeing all of the familiar tools. One tricky thing about pottery is that the creation is partly out of your control when it’s put in the kiln. Jade had to deal with one of her pieces ruining the work of another artist. It’s a tricky art form but can be beautiful.

I appreciated the portrayal of mental health in this graphic novel. Though it doesn’t show the perspective of the person who attempted suicide, we can see the way it affected people around her. Jade blamed herself for not being there for Phoebe and she didn’t want to enjoy her time at the art camp because of it. In this way, Phoebe’s mental health struggles were reflected in Jade.

Slip is a beautiful graphic novel with an important message.

Thank you Algonquin Young Readers for providing a digital copy of this book.

I was really disappointed in the execution of this book versus the concept. It has the opportunity to cover some important topics but missteps almost the entire way through. Honestly, if it weren't for the queer rep and the art I would probably knock this down to 2 stars.

I was okay. It was about art and emotion, but I don't know much about pottery and sculpture, so the information was so inconsistent that I couldn't follow the thread, and I did understand the art coming to life and what it meant. The art also made it hard to tell characters apart and the adults looked a young as the teens except they had glasses. The red to show emotion was a nice touch. The art was loose but intense. The skin tone shading was inconsistent, and all the characters except Jade and Phoebe are underdeveloped.

Content warning: This review contains discussion of suicide.

This is a YA graphic novel about Jade, who is preparing for her future as an artist by going to a summer art intensive. She knows this opportunity is make or break for her chances of building a portfolio, getting a college scholarship, and following her dreams. It’s a lot of pressure, but it’s also exciting and inspiring.

Just before she leaves, though, she gets devastating news. Her best friend, Phoebe, has attempted suicide and is now in the hospital. Phoebe and Jade have always been incredibly close, and Jade can’t even process this information. But Phoebe doesn’t want visitors and is concentrating on her own recovery, so Jade has nothing to do but go to the Art Farm, even though her art is now the farthest thing from her mind.

This is, unsurprisingly, an introspective and melancholy story. Jade is struggling to process all of her emotions: she’s sad and afraid for Phoebe, she’s angry, she feels betrayed that Phoebe didn’t tell her what she was going through, she feels guilty for her anger—and on and on. Now that she finally has this opportunity to build her portfolio, she has no inspiration for what to create. While the people around her make beautiful, thought-provoking pieces that intimidate her, she feels completely stuck.

The colour palette used is limited and muted: mostly blue, with pops of red. I think this style communicates well Jade’s state of mind: she feels disconnected and numb, and those flashes of red are the moments when she can really connect, especially with her anger.

There is a touch of fantasy or fabulism here as well. When Jade burns her drawings of Phoebe, they briefly come to life in the flames, and she can speak to her best friend to try to understand how she got here. Later, her sculptures come to life and fight back against her or run away—which, apart from making her feel like she’s hallucinating, also makes it even more difficult to complete her portfolio in time.

Meanwhile, she’s also beginning a romance with another girl at the art collective. Mary is upbeat and confident, and Jade quite abruptly finds herself kissing her. But this adds a whole new layer of confusion and guilt: how can she be happy when Phoebe is suffering? How can she be crushing on someone and flirting when her best friend is going through something so huge and awful?

This is one of those tricky books to recommend, because it’s not an upbeat or exciting read. It’s fundamentally about a teenager stumbling and raging and weeping through something really difficult. She lashes out at others. She makes bad decisions. Her journey through this is messy and nonlinear. But that’s also what makes this feel real and what made me feel for her so much.

I hope this is one that makes its way to classroom and library bookshelves, because I can imagine that a lot of teenagers especially will appreciate this honest portrayal of what it’s like to love someone who is going through a mental health crisis—the helplessness and grief and anger and every other tangled, overwhelming emotion that comes with it.

I was really disappointed with this graphic novel. Following a teenage girl who goes to art camp one summer after her best friend attempts suicide, this book had a lot of potential but fell so flat. The story should have been expanded upon - we barely see the romance at camp - and the illustrations were lackluster as well. The strengths lay in the reflections on the friendship and what signs she missed - but even this I wanted more of. This book could have used a good editor.

For a book about art and artists with fantastical elements, there was something lacking in the visual storytelling of Slip by Marika McCoola. The use of monochromatic pencil drawings interwoven with the occasional coloured panel did not have the narrative effect that it was attempting. The dialogue felt unnatural and stilted, the characters lacked chemistry, and there were missed opportunities to convey reactions and expressive emotions through facial expressions and body language. It was also interesting to centre a story of suicide on the best friend of the girl who was hospitalized. I'm not sure that I connected with the theme in the same way I might have if there was more offered by way of the tragic event. I was hoping to like this book more than I actually did. That said, I do feel it is still worth reading as there are many moments of internal turmoil that youth may relate to, and it deals with an important topic of mental health and illness with some diverse representation.

A timely story about best friends, Jade and Phoebe. Right before Jade goes to Art Farm, Phoebe tries to end her life. Jade leaves for the Farm, but as she arrives her feeling are all jumbled and she does not know how to deal. Using her art as a way to express her feelings, Jade works through her love, fear, hate, anger, and frustration that she is unable to express in words. A great exploration of how one's actions affect others and how sometimes we do not realize how much pain someone else is feeling or the stresses others are experiencing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC of this graphic novel. I was intrigue by the premise of this graphic novel -a coming of age of a young artist dealing with her best friend's attempted suicide, but the story and characters just fell flat. I did enjoy the illustrations and the way the artist differentiate between the present and flashbacks to Phoebe. Even though the book does not bring anything new to the discussion of mental health, it's still worth reading.