Many books and graphic novels use flashbacks and I often find it unclear when something happens in the present or in the past. However Paper Planes used many indications to make sure the reader knew a scene had happened in the past. I am so thankful for this! It made the story less chaotic for me.

I feel like Jennie Wood tried to make the characters unique, each in their own way. The way youth and any of the possible backstories were portrayed sometimes hit me close. I too often felt as if people expect me to act in certain ways simply because of my background. Yet some aspects weren't that obvious to me and this story helped me reflect about those. Sometimes I could feel a little ache in my heart because a part of the story hit me closely.

Also, the growth of the characters in this story is amazing! There was one character that I disliked so much but somehow throughout the story my heart melted, credits to the author! The character was simply dislikable because the personality would be something I wouldn't get along with in real life. If anything it was written in such a realistic way I practically saw this character as a real person. Near the end things changed but it didn't feel forced. It felt like a natural arc of growth one would or could go through.

I absolutely love how paper planes were a reoccuring theme throughout the graphic novel. It somehow helped with the closure of the story. Never thouhgt I would like paper planes this much (as in the objects)!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Jennie Wood for giving me a change to read such an inspiring and somehow hopeful story in exchange for an honest review.

This was a solid graphic novel but it wasn't great. I enjoyed the story and the characters but nothing about this was fantastic or unique. The art was cute and the story had a classic camp story. Even the back story about these characters wasn't unique or fascinating though I did find it to me realistic which I did enjoy.
Overall this is a graphic novels I would definitely recommend.

I loved this graphic novel! Not usually a format I read but this had me hooked.

A beautiful, inclusive story about friendship, learning from mistakes, finding your way and self-discovery.

Highly recommend for YA readers and adults as well!

This was such a cute read! I loved the artwork and the colour palette. Really enjoyed how the story jumped back and forth between summer camp and what happened before, as it added a bit of mystery trying to find out what the incident was. All the subjects were approached really well and the characters felt very authentic, which sometimes is a bit hard to do. Overall it was a really pleasant read and I recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy. It was a fun story with self-discovery and great friendships. It was very fast to read and I enjoyed it throughout.

This was the first book I’ve read from this author, and I have to say I was a little skeptic of it going in because graphic novels aren’t usually my forté, but it exceeded all of my expectations. The artwork was amazing and so detailed, and the themes of friendship, finding identity and forgiving your past were really touching for me.

I gave this story four stars because the plot was a bit to complicated to me, I think that the outcome could have been achieved in a much shorter story.

I am definitely open to reading more from this author and artist in the future.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC of this novel.

Paper Planes chronicles the relationship between a an upper middle class girl who has high pressure parents and her would be girlfriend, whose single mother struggles to make ends meet. The girls secretly have romantic feelings for one another. A catastrophic mistake at a party causes each girl to analyze their choices both in having a secret relationship with one another and in the probable direction they intend to take their lives from this point forward. Realistic in their depiction of high school students' problems and feelings, this book gives voice to some teens that may not have seen themselves portrayed accurately in print too often before.

I absolutely LOVED this graphic novel. The story gets better and better as you read. It was hard to put down and leaves you wanting more. The story of two former friends, Dylan and Leighton, who are sent to a special camp to learn from a big mistake that was made. As the story goes on, readers slowly put all the pieces together, learning about what happened and why the girls are at camp. The illustrations are beautiful, the messages are so important, and YA readers will LOVE it!

PAPER PLANES is a graphic novel of friendship, young love, and drifting apart. Leighton and Dylan are from separate worlds in every since - family structures, expectations, aspirations, and socioeconomic statuses. But they are a pair. As they grow up, their bond becomes more intimate as they open up about their queerness to each other, and there is an intense but fleeting romance between them. One night, their lives are forever changed by how they respond to an emergency situation, which sends them both to a summer camp for troubled youth. The storytelling alternates between current and past, allowing greater tension and suspense between the inseparable pair Leighton and Dylan used to be and their current hot & cold relationship. A beautiful story of how relationships can stay forever important, even when they don't last.

4.5 stars... I was given an ARC from NetGalley. This book follows Leighton Worthington and Dylan Render, two high schoolers who have always been stuck at the hip. They are both put into a summer camp for an incident that happened in the spring before high school. I first want to say the art in this book is amazing and it showed the growth between Leighton and Dylan. Paper Planes also shows diverse characters, from Dylan being non-binary, Leighton not liking either gender, plus all the campers. I enjoyed how Paper Planes showed both main characters going on a self awareness journey and learning who they are, and that it's okay to be different. In the end it showed Dylan and Leighton growing apart, Mandy admitting she has a crush on Dylan, and Cricket joining them in high school. When I finished Paper Planes, I was so happy and was saying to myself that it was cute, especially towards the end. Overall a great read and it showed how friendships can change.

Right off the bat, the illustrations in this graphic novel are beautiful. This book explores themes of friendship as well as topics of one's identity and thoughts about one's future. Their struggles are very relatable, especially when it came to their attempts to protect each other. Their actions felt like something teenagers would do despite said actions making it quite frustrating to read at times. The representation in the book is amazing and it's nice to see more diversity in characters with how they're drawn and portrayed. Although the ending made sense within the story, it was quite bittersweet. I do wish some things were fleshed out more especially regarding Leighton's asexuality. Other than that, this was a fun read. The art style is pleasant and the story is interesting.

Paper planes is a graphic novel that follows Dylan Render and Leighton Worthington, former best friends who are sent away to a youth correction camp because of an unfortunate incident. Both their future depends on the evaluation they get.

Firstly let’s talk about the illustrations and how cute they were. Everything about the characters and the color palette used was amazing. I loved it.

Dylan’s friendship with Leighton was so beautiful but at the same time so hurtful, and in the end, it made sense how they drifted apart and how it would only do both of them good in the longer run. One of the major highlights of this graphic novel was that it wasn’t focused on how Dylan is a non-binary character or Leighton is asexual. In the end, Dylan came out as a much more confident character than they were in the beginning. I think in its way, Paper Planes talks about how sometimes a person’s sexuality or their gender “euphoria” (as cricket called it, and rightly said I might add) is not the reason they feel secluded. And sometimes people, who can’t see anything beyond that, are the real problem.

10/10 would recommend it.

I loved the art in this book, and the themes of friendship, identity, and forging your own path. However, the plot & characters felt disjointed to me, and it was hard to really get into the story. I gave this 3 stars but would be interested to read more from these artists in the future.

Paper Planes is a YA graphic novel with great art, but the story itself was just okay. I think it just barely touched the surface of some important topics of self-discovery as a teen. I wish the plot was more in-depth! I did love how so many different people were represented in this story, though!

I was given an ARC of this from Netgalley and Mad Cave Studios in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

3.8
Thanks to NetGalley for the copy.
This graphic novel tells us that After a life-changing incident, Dylan and Leighton are sent to a summer camp for troubled youth. Can Dylan and Leighton save their friendship and protect their future while trying to survive the camp?
This story was very bittersweet in terms of history and aesthetics, because on the one hand I liked the design of the characters and the way they were drawn, I also liked the style and colors of the illustrations; but there were things in the background, like when they get wet, that I didn't quite like.
Regarding the story, I felt that the representation was very successful and that I felt what many experience. The characters, whether you like them or not, I felt they were well built and with considerable development. And with the plot it's fine but just like that, although I liked the final message a lot; I would have liked about 50 more pages so the ending didn't feel so rushed.
Overall I loved the artwork and enjoyed reading this graphic novel a lot :) I would definitely recommend it, especially for those in the target audience (since this is YA - that is clearly not me lol(although I do love YA))!

I loved all the representation in this book and the writing styles was cute and easy to understand. It was very engaging. Though I feel at times some of the dialogue was very forced and borderline cringe, like if a millennial tried to copy Gen Z trends, other than that it was good.

The art style in this graphic novel is great and the topics that it covers are so important, I loved seeing them in this format. it has some really great rep, and I think the way that it ended was really important even though it wasn’t what I was really rooting for.

Paper Planes was a fascinating graphic novel. I really enjoyed the nonbinary and asexual representation. The mystery of why they ended up at the summer camp was intriguing and kept me engaged. The art style was amazing and all of the character choices from physical appearance to clothing choices helped portray the characters and their various choices throughout the book. The theme of pleasing mothers was a very powerful theme and was well done. My one complaint with the book is some of the dialogue was cringy in a non-gen Zer trying to write gen Z-way. Specifically the line where a character used sus and the bit about Taylor Swift being gay. I understand what they were going for, but it felt weird and awkward and took away from the story. I did enjoy this graphic novel and had a good time while reading it.

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me early access to this graphic novel. All opinions are my own.

Paper Planes is a graphic novel that explores how friendships can change as we grow up and explore our identity. The representation and themes in this novel are great, as is the art. Stunning in its own way
Yet it felt a bit flat for me and I struggled to understand how the timeline the story was being told in.

I guess this is a great story for those who are looking for something with representation and complex friendship dynamics, as well for those who enjoy graphic novels with great art

"Paper Planes" is a story as bittersweet and realistic as they come - the story of the progression and end of a friendship that could have become something more if only the circumstances had been different and somehow better.

Dylan and Leighton share school days and adventures, from the caring of the cat Daisy to the tennis trainings, and they could easily become more than friends if only their origins weren't so different - and Leighton's parents' expectations weren't so pressing.

With a roundtrip around their years of friendship and the weeks spent at a sort of rehab camp for problematic youth we find out what happened to bring Dylan and Leighton so close, first, and so far then. And why there is no way they can ever go back to what they were.