Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me free access to the digital advanced copy of this book.

Taylor Barzelay is just your average teenager. They have their loving family, best friend, and life as a basketball star in a small town high school. The only problem is that Taylor is actually the Galaxy Crowned, and has been forced to live in disguise as a teenage human boy with a fake family. She lives in fear of being discovered by the people searching the galaxy for her, but she’s far more miserable being forced to live as a boy and not recognize any part of herself every single day. Everything changes when Kat enters the picture, making Taylor feel daring enough to reveal who she really is and start to live for the first time in years.

I absolutely loved reading this. We follow Taylor, the Galaxy Crowned from Cyandii, as they are forced to live in hiding. Every single day is one long and miserable adventure where she doesn’t recognize any part of herself or who she is because she’s been forced to live in disguise as a teenage boy or risk being found. Everything is perfect on the surface while a big chunk of misery behind the mask she’s forced to wear.

Watching Taylor find herself and the confidence to risk it all to at least recognize the person she is behind the disguise she’s been forced to live was absolutely wonderful. While it was hard to watch the fallout she experiences from the town, I loved the story and the characters, especially Taylor and Kat. I hope to see more come out from this story because I don’t think this is the end of Taylor, so it’d be very exciting to see how her story continues to develop in the event the story gets a chance to expand. It would also be interesting to learn more about Cyandii, especially since what we learn throughout the story is rather interesting as it is.

One of my favorite parts of Galaxy: The Prettiest Star was the punchy and vibrant colors that filled every illustration! The art style was very unique in a delightful way, departing from typical comic stylings to give the book a more alien feel. Jess Taylor, the illustrator for this book, did an amazing job bringing this original character to life!

There are very few graphic novels focusing on transgender protagonists, and I am so pleased to have had the chance to read this new addition to the canon! The way that the story brought body dysmorphia into a superhero context was clever and well-written. The metaphorical stylings of the story worked perfectly for me as a reader, too!

If a sequel to Galaxy: The Prettiest Star will coming in the future, you can sign me up! I would love to see where Taylor's story goes next!

This is such a perfect graphic novel/comic and I'm pretty surprised it was done by DC. The artwork is stunning and I immediately gravitated towards the main character Taylor.

Galaxy is a graphic novel with vivid colors, trans pride, and a lot of heart. This young adult story takes place in the DC Universe, and the experiences of one extraterrestrial refugee show how Earthlings don't roll out the red carpet for aliens just because Superman protects them. Taylor's not only an alien in disguise as a human teenager; she's also forced to hide her gender as an added layer of security. However, our princess is growing increasingly uncomfortable in the skin she's forced to wear, trapped in a gender expression and form that torment her.

In this story, we get to see Taylor stand up for herself, fall in love with a kickass girl, and explore how she expresses herself. In addition to the trans representation in Taylor, Kat brings a Black, sapphic woman with a mobility disability to the page. The two have a sweet, queer love story to balance out the salty situations Taylor must face in her fight to be authentic herself.

I don't know if this is intended as a standalone or as the start of something bigger, but I would love to see where Taylor and Kat go next and to see what comes of the intergalactic battle that brought Taylor to Earth in the first place. Thanks to DC Comics for my copy to read and review!

Galaxy: The Prettiest Star by Jadzia Axelrod and Jess Taylor is one of those graphic novels that stays with you a long time after you finish the last panel. It’s an emotional tale that resonates with anyone who’s ever felt uncomfortable in their own skin. It’s a gorgeous allegory for the transgender experience. It’s a heartfelt homage to David Bowie, a sweet love story and even a possible superhero origin story all wrapped up in one beautiful book. All this, and there’s an adorably prim corgi who just happens to be a robot.

This was an enjoyable read. I liked the illustrations but not as much as I thought I would. They had gorgeous coloring but just not my art style. The story was quirky and interesting with great representation.

I really enjoyed this! I'm going to assume anyone reading this review has also read the book description and has an idea of the storyline, because I'm not in the mood for a synopsis. The alien-disguised-as-a-human is a great metaphor for helping cisgender people understand what being trans feels like, or at least it helped me. Gender is a tricky thing, and and if metaphors can help me understand someone else's experience, I'm all for it!
There's a lot of stuff going on here - a trans story, coming-of-age story, a romance, an outsider story, and more. I liked the characters, I loved getting to see Taylor become Taelyr, and hated seeing the reaction she got when she revealed her true self to everyone (Speaking of which, this does take place in the DC Universe, so aliens and/or superheroes are at least somewhat normalized, and there isn't any panic and frenzy going on because of an alien being discovered, it took me a minute to figure out why the government and military weren't trying to kidnap her). The pacing is a little off, but just a little, not a lot. The ending is open, I don't know if this is it or if there will be more, but I'd definitely continue reading if more comes out. The art and coloring are gorgeous, and really bring the story to life. Absolutely recommended!

#GalaxyThePrettiestStar #NetGalley

This story is just wow. Taylor is a teenage boy who is not a teenage boy. Taylor is an alien named Galaxy hidden in a teenage boy’s body. And they know they’re not themselves as Taylor the human. They may play basketball, but they do not really fit in. They get picked on, they feel different, they are just not like everyone else. After a first glance of Galaxy, they want to be themselves more and more and more. What they are is a female purple alien princess. This story is amazing, the illustrations are powerful; they are colorful, they stand out, and they suck the reader in. When you think of DC you are usually thinking of superheroes, and yes galaxy is a superhero. She’s a superhero some kids need as they grow up not feeling like themselves in their own body. She is a superhero they want, someone to represent them and say it’s OK to be you even if it may be dangerous. Galaxy knows that if trouble wants to find you it will, but that you need to stand up to it and be who you are born to be. I loved absolutely everything about this.

The art is beautiful and it's amazing to see such a blatantly trans work at DC from a trans and nonbinary team. I'd actually like to see this as the first of a series, because the underlying plot about another alien race potentially coming to Earth feels tacked on,. But besides that, it's a good, solid story about being yourself no matter what.

Thanks to NetGalley & DC for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

Galaxy focuses on a refugee family from an interstellar war living in hiding from the elusive enemy that wiped out most of their race. The protagonist, Taylor, feels conflicted about what they--or who, they want to be and how they want to live the rest of their life.

Tay was a great protagonist and their internal struggle felt very relatable. Transgender representation is fantastic as well! The artwork was stunning and very "galaxy-like" which suited the story. The talking corgi made it very sweet as well. A must-have for any young adult graphic novel collection at a library!

Galaxy:The Prettiest Star is a coming-of-age story about Taylor, an alien princess trapped in the form of a human boy on earth. From the outside, it looks like Taylor has the perfect life: A starter on the basketball team, good grades, and a loving family - complete with an adorable corgi. But Taylor is struggling with hiding her true self, even though her life depends on it since The Vane are searching for her.

I loved this book! The metaphor for transness and the trans experience in school is so new and original. Taylor's and Kat's relationship is so heartwarming. I love the character development and the illustrations are absolutely stunning.

I definitely am looking forward to buying a physical copy of this!

*This review can be seen on Goodreads*

An endearing coming-of-age story about gender identity and teenage love through a sci-fi lens. Axelrod is a talented storyteller that gave depth and humor to both the narrative and the characters. Taylor's artwork is exquisitely created, perfectly matching the themes of the plot with their impeccable use of color and dynamic figures. The one issue I did have with it was the ending, it felt like the plot was cut off right before the conclusion. I hope that simply means there is a sequel in Galaxy's future.

I’ve been anticipating this book for a long time now and it did not disappoint. The art is beautiful and the story is a clear metaphor for the trans experience that I think will resonate even with those who have never felt a lick of dysphoria. It managed to make the main story about Taylor finding herself and being able to live as herself without feeling like that was at all low-stakes for a sci-fi or superhero story. Hopefully we will see more of Galaxy from Jadzia and DC in the future!

When I read the description of this book I knew it was going to be an important read, especially in context of all the current book challenges. I was absolutely right. The story follows Taylor, a young teen trapped on a foreign planet, forced to be in hiding from The Vane who are sworn to kill them. Taylor appears to be in your stereotypical American family unit, complete with an adorable corgi who's actually an alien robot who acts as Taylor's bodyguard since Taylor is the Galaxy Crowned Princess of Cyandii. What makes this new graphic novel so important is the conversations around gender and identity as Taylor presents as a human boy and has been living as a human boy the majority of her life. When the opportunity presents itself for Taylor to shed her mask and embrace her true self she learns just how trapped and lonely she's actually been living inside a body that doesn't reflect her true nature. Not everyone is open to Taylor embracing her true nature however and this is where we really see how the trans experience can play out in a high school where everyone suddenly thinks you're a monster. Part romance and all about coming into your own voice, Galaxy: The Prettiest Star is phenomenally well thought out and written and the artwork from Jess Taylor is literal magic. Definitely a graphic novel I would recommend all High School and Public Libraries to own.

Thanks to Netgalley and DC Entertainment for the ARC of this!

This was so adorable and I loved the diversity. I liked that it focused more on social issues and belonging than on fighting the “bad guys”. The doggie robot guardian was the cutest. I would definitely read more.

This was such a great graphic novel! Taylor seems to have everything, a loving family, star of the basketball team, and an adorable corgi. There's only one problem - Taylor has been hiding as a boy this whole time but she's really the Galaxy Crowned from the planet Cyandii. She is currently living on Earth hiding from an alien race that is hunting her. Everything seems to be going fine but Taylor isn't happy living a lie. Once she meets a girl from Metropolis, Kat, she sees that there is so much more to life than hiding.

This was a great graphic novel and it was so nice to see a trans book from DC Comics featuring a trans writer and nonbinary artist. I definitely think that this book should be added to every library.

I think YA readers that are looking for LGBTQ+ representation that deals with identity and belonging are going to love this. The storyline was great and consistent, didn’t feel rushed or too long. I loved Taylor as a character. The art style was incredible.

I really liked this comic. I loved Taylor and her adorable dog (?). Her story was great and heartbreaking. I just found it all to be very obvious and kind of slow for being a DC comic. This was a good start though and I definitely plan on continuing the series.

Galaxy is a wonderfully written and illustrated graphic novel that artfully tackles the subjects of identity and belonging. Taylor’s story is relatable to anyone who has felt like the person they presented daily wasn’t truly them.