I don’t know if there was an issue with my downloaded version of this or if the story just jumps around a lot. But as I was reading I couldn’t keep up with what was happening as it kept changing so quickly?

Ultimately I DNF’d this book as I could not tell what was going on.

What holds in an interesting story about the quick, everchanging nature of friendship and romance, accountability, and the usual tribulation of live a queer teenager, is ultimately chopped up into past and present moments that disorient, too many point-of-view switches and too many settings to get you settled into the story.
I appreciate the throughline that the paper planes create but it felt both too convenient and overdone in the end.

Even the best of friends need to set boundaries.

Dylan and Leighton have been shipped off to In Bloom camp for troubled youth due to "the incident." During their time here they must participate in camp activities in order to receive a good evaluation so they can move past the incident and go to high school with the rest of their friends. We see the story of their friendship through flashbacks brought on by passing paper plane notes back and forth, leading up to the incident. As Dylan and Leighton work towards passing their evaluations, they are evaluating their friendship in turn. Will this friendship pass or fail?

Overall, the artwork was beautiful and the story was enjoyable. However, I still have some issues appreciating the ending; that nothing was ever really accomplished and certain parties never took responsibility while the other took the blame for everything. But what I can truly appreciate is in Leighton setting boundaries with Dylan relationship-wise, with regards to their sexuality (asexual). Sometimes when we are younger, we never feel comfortable with confrontation or letting our friends down, especially those we care for, but when Leighton accepts who she is and sets a hard boundary for Dylan to accept her the way she is as well I cannot help but applaud.

I liked this however felt like it lacked context at the start and then ended abruptly. Hopefully that means there is a second one coming.

This is a great coming-of-age graphic novel. It's super bittersweet and it shines a light on tough topics that young teens worry about.

Queer Rep: Asexual, Non-Binary
Themes: Summer Camp, Friendship, Wealth vs Poverty, Tennis

This was perfect start to finish. Heart wrenching and sweet, this story tugged at all the heartstrings. I loved our main characters, Leighton & Dylan, they both had such strong personalities and a wonderful connection. I’d love to read more about them in a future volume, maybe one set a few years later, or after high school. We learn about their lives, families, hobbies, place in community, this truly covered all bases and fleshed out the story well. Despite switching between timelines, the story was easy to follow and I was eager to know what would happen on the next page. The artwork was clean, crisp, and the colours helped us tell which timeline we were in during the story.
Overall a fantastic graphic novel and I would love to pick up other works from these creators.

I really enjoyed the book and you can read the book in one sitting, what I loved. The art style is beautiful and I loved the color theme. The book had also really great queer rep. There was a non-binary and an ace MC’s in the book!

Beside that I have to confess that throughout the book I was a bit confused. I think this was because I missed a sort of introduction of the story. The books jumps immediately in the plot and story, instead of explaining just a little bit of where we are or what the context is. The story and the MC’s were a bit superficial and lacked depth.

I was so excited to read a graphic novel with aroace and nonbinary representation, and overall I really enjoyed it. The flashbacks worked really well by relating to the neighbouring scenes and giving us more information as it applied, and I appreciated them being in different tones. There was even back-and-forth internal narration that was clearly depicted by different signals for each… I’m not sure I’ve seen that in a graphic novel before.

There were also many themes and side stories in this and it was a little heavier than I was expecting, and my one wish was that it had been a little longer to accommodate them all. I wasn’t a huge fan of the bully acting that way because they had a crush on their victim, I would have appreciated more of a satisfying conclusion to Leighton’s story (it ended before the book did and I wanted to make sure she was okay), and it was kind of hard seeing the protagonists being mean/bullying others. Cricket ended up being one of my favourites and at times got some uncalled-for remarks. But overall I really enjoyed this as a whole and I hope there will be more in this universe.

As a big fan of all kinds of books, I’m not sure why I’m still surprised that I like graphic novels as much as I do. Or that I can really get sucked into a teen/YA read as much as I can. But then I remember it’s really about the story. And a good story is relatable to anyone, no matter the form it takes.

Paper Planes by local author Jennie Wood introduces us to Dylan and Leighton - two best friends who are both struggling to live the life that’s expected of them and not the ones they actually want.

As they spend time at a camp for troubled teens (the consequences of an event that’s explained later in the book), the reader is taken back and forth in time to show how and why their friendship has changed and the consequences of living a life that’s not your own.

The art is fantastic. Thanks to NetGalley and Mad Cave Studios for the digital arc. The book is set to publish on May 16. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I have been reading a lot of LGBTQ+ graphic novels this year, so I was really happy to get an ARC of Paper Planes. In this story, Dylan and Leighton go to a summer camp for troubled youth together which puts their friendship up to the test.

I loved the representation in this book. One of the main characters is ace and the other is non-binary. I thought the story about Dylan, the non-binary, was especially well written. I also really enjoyed the art style.

The main storyline and side characters lacked some depth. I thought the fight between Dylan and Leighton was confusing and the timeline did not make it easier.

In Paper Planes we follow the story of Dylan and Leighton who go to a summer camp for troubled teens after a life-changing event.

Throughout history, we get small clues about what led to the event that made them end up at that summer camp and about how their behavior and respective final evaluation could change them for the rest of their high school path.

I found interesting these two LGBTQIA+ characters relationship (in this book we have non-binary and asexual representation), the way they deal with who they are and how their different personalities and perspectives translate into a friendship that is constantly put to the test by prejudice and social pressures.

I confess that it was painful to see how their friendship evolved and it hurt at some point to see how someone we love could become an emotional trigger to/in us. It turns out to be a duality of emotions that shouldn't be together, but often are.

Paper Planes was a 4 stars book for me and I honestly hope there's a sequel, because I just don't accept that this story stops here.

Regarding the ilustrations, I loved that the tones changed from the present to the flashbacks making it easy for us to realize whether we were in the present or the past.

Paper Planes is a book written by Jennie Wood and illustrated by Dozerdraws and will be published on May 16, 2023.

Thank you to the publisher @madcavestudios for providing this book via @netgalley in excharge for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Mad Cave Studios for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Paper Planes follows the story of Dylan (non-binary) and Leighton (asexual), two friends attending a summer camp for troubled youth following an incident with one of their classmates. Within its unassuming 216 pages, the graphic novel explores themes of class disparities, race and how people sacrifice their heritage to pass as white to fit in a more privileged work, how parental expectations can stifle individuality, and so much more I'm certain I'm missing because of just how gracefully those themes are integrated into the story itself - they all feel very natural, lifelike.

Although the story starts at the camp, in flashbacks we are shown how Leighton and Dylan's friendship developed over the years, juxtaposed to the scenes in present day where they're slowly drifting apart from each other. While I know some readers prefer more linear narratives, I really appreciated the shifts in time, especially how they had different color codes.

The struggle between meeting society's expectations for you or rejecting them in order to find and establish your own identity is in the core of the story, and is the driving force of the conflict between Dylan and Leighton, with the former following a more unconventional path while the latter does her best to conform. It is this difference in their goals inevitably ends up hurting them both.

I really felt for both characters throughout the story, Dylan in particular while I was reading it, Leighton more in retrospect when I thought more about how she did her best to conform to her parents' decisions at all times, constantly sacrificing her friendship, her interests and her identity to fit in their picture-perfect world, her actions hurting Dylan as well, who is ostensibly the more nonconforming of the two (though that also might be due to the fact that they are under less pressure from their family).

What I find particularly well done is the subplot where Leighton finds out about her maternal grandfather, a black man, and is critical of how her mother rejects part of her identity in order to better "pass" as white, and yet throughout the whole story she hides her own asexuality from her parents, going to the school dance with a boy to please her mother and spending time with boys even though they have no common interests.

Another moment that stood out to me was how Leighton and her family found Dylan's cat, Daisy, and decided to keep her - at no point through the story was Dylan shown as being incapable of caring for their pet, and for Leighton's affluent family to take her in felt especially insensitive to me (ostensibly a weird thing to nitpick about within the story, but I digress)

The one thing I didn't particularly appreciate was the ending, which came a little abruptly to me, though that's not necessarily because it didn't fit the narrative, but rather because I was really invested in the characters and wanted to see more of them. That being said, I'm also not certain a sequel would truly benefit the story that we were told, but I trust that if one is in the cards, I trust that Jennie Wood will do it justice.

I finished this graphic novel in one sitting - and really enjoyed it!

The start of the story was a bit jarring for me; I thought Leighton was going to my our main character, so when the story transitioned to more of Dylan's perspective, it was a bit confusing. However, I overall enjoyed the juxtaposition of their current situation and the progression of their friendship.

I also really enjoyed how their identity development was part of the story - without being the sole focus on it. We are able to see characters with different identities and how those identities impact their daily lives - without that development/discovery being traumatic and overshadowing other plot points.

The ending was sad, and yet hopeful. I think it was realistic, but it did leave you wanting more of a conclusion for our characters - particularly as it relates to their relationship to one another. However, I thought this graphic novel was thoughtful and a great read.

It's refreshing to see a non binary and ace protagonists. The story felt real and emotional and the artwork is absolutely beautiful. I'm glad the ending isn't what was expected and instead portrays the complexity of relationships and how they change, especially around that age.

This was powerful yet cute. A tale of friendship, hardship, trauma, and struggles to fit in.

Queer rep (ace and nonbinary).

A beautiful tale that twists and turns and ends on a lovely note.

This graphic novel follows Leighton and Dylan; two teens on the road to self discovery. Leighton is ace and Dylan is nonbinary. It was so nice to see both be represented. This book is a split time line. Jumping from the past to present day. They're spending time at a summer camp for troubled youth over the summer. In hopes that their time there will allow them to return to school and expunge what landed them there from their permanent records. Paper Planes focused a lot on what it means to be different. Not only based on gender/romantic identity, but financially as well. It also show cased how it's okay to grow apart from those that we love. I found it really healing in that aspect. The story was so emotional, but also validating. Definitely one worth picking up. It's beautiful.

Trigger Warnings: Bullying, cursing, underage drinking, rehab, violence, graffiti, auto theft, car crash, injury, hospital

Representation: Nonbinary, asexual

Paper Planes is a graphic novel about former best friends Dylan and Leighton who are sent to a summer camp for troubled youth. If camp doesn’t go well, they’ll be sent away from their regular high school come fall. While participating in camp activities and chores, Dylan and Leighton rexamine the events that led up to the incident that sent them to camp, the incident that threatens their futures and their friendship with each other.

Another great queer graphic novel! I loved the illustrations and this book has a great plot! I thought the author did a great job exploring the complexity of gender and identity. I also loved the range of characteristics found in the supporting cast. Like most graphic novels, I wish this could’ve been longer, which would have allowed us to delve in deeper! Overall, the story is a quick and easy read, with great artwork and a very fun plot!

I had high hopes for this one and while I did enjoy it and thought it was good it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for and had a less than satisfying ending for me. Loved the representation and general storyline.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mad Cave Studios for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A pleasant surprise! Dylan and Leighton’s story is so much more colorful and interesting than the cover lets on. Paper Planes is a painfully beautiful story about two queer teenagers with a long and complicated relationship who are going through a transformational time in their lives. In this graphic novel, we are immersed in their journeys of understanding themselves and each other. The story unfolds simultaneously into the past and into the future, and Jennie Wood nails the story’s pace. The artist, Dozerdraws, has rendered a visually profound narrative, and the subtle color shifts effectively move the reader back and forth in time. I love the whole cast of characters—especially Cricket!—and would totally read a follow-up to this if the creators ever decide to revisit this story.

My gawdd i finished it in like half an hour 😭💕 it's about this kid who's discovering their gender identity and sexuality, aand tackling several other challenging things in life. It was so wonderfully illustrated and written.And i love love love the term gender euphoria🥹