Beautifully illustrated however I felt the end fell flat, as if there was no resolution. Friends sent to camp due to an “accident”, where one takes the blame for the other, not only is their future on the line, but so is their friendship. I liked how the story addressed the lengths people would go for their friends and the repercussions of the falling out. Told in the present and in flashbacks, it was a good story, focusing on friendship and identity. Just didn’t wrap up like I thought it would.

Thank you Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fantastic graphic novel about how being queer can influence our lives in interesting ways. It’s bittersweet and so incredibly well done. 5⭐️ for a great read with aroace and nonbinary rrepresentation!

* Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free digital ARC *

This was something!!!

First of all, I loved the art and the colours! I really loved how the past was connected with some colours and the present was connected with others! I loved the flashbacks and I think they contributed a lot to the story.

I have to talk about the characters. I really felt they were really authentic. Also, they have diverse identities, which is super real and interesting.

I felt this book was a little too long, but overall, it was a enjoyable reading ! 💓
I recommend it !

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of this book!

I would have liked this a lot more if I wasn't so confused about who was saying what like half the time... Like some of the text bubbles (like the ones on the first couple pages for example) were just so difficult to figure out who they belonged to. I didn't really like some of the elements of the story either.

But other than that it was pretty good! I liked the representation and the art was cute as well!

I absolutely love a self contained graphic novel. Paper Planes was a really emotional ride, jumping from present to past and back again, capturing the challenge of figuring out who you are when the world insists on telling you instead. The character development was so natural and beautiful, and the relationships between them were complex and complicated, just like in real life. Plus, we have Ace rep! Loved it.

I love Dylan’s character, they’re a good friend and know who they’re are. Leighton comes into herself later in the story but their friendship has such a sad ending. I love that asexuality was a big part of the book it’s rarely mentioned as most love stories want to have the characters physically attracted to the other. I loved that background characters showed different aspects of the LGBTQIA+ community. It was a very heartfelt and wholesome read.

this reminded me of my childhood when I'd give anything to read an Archie comic book.
This was such a fun read, the conversation bubbles were just so nostalgic I shed a tear or two when I began reading, ngl.
I loved all the characters equally but I did feel bad about the way cricket was treated like an outcast in the beginning, how everyone was rude to her but she eventually won everyone over with her kindness and patience,
Leighton bothered me a bit with her attitude toward everyone, especially Dylan, but I'm glad that she turned it around and found her footing.
Dylan was well, the star of the show and I fell absolutely in love with him.
a heartfelt comic/novel that will, no doubt, have you reminiscing about the good old days.

This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.


"I knew I could love someone. I knew because of Dylan. But I couldn’t love them the way they wanted me to."

The story opens with two best friends Leighton and Dylan who end up at this summer camp because of something they did.

The past is choking their friendship and Leighton is moving away from Dylan, growing more distant.
I especially loved how we don't get the full story about either Leighton or Dylan and slowly we're eased into the story.

We get to experience it in both present and past from flashbacks we get.

We learn that Dylan is queer and is struggling with how people see their mew identity. They have been in love with their best friend, Leighton who comes out to them as asexual in one of the flashbacks we get in the book.
and despite them hooking up, Leighton can't bring herself to love Dylan the way they want.

There's also Leighton's Conservative family that doesn't believe she understands her feelings of not liking either a boy or girl and thinks she's going through some mental phase and takes her to therapists. Obviously they don't approve of her friendship with Dylan. And even though they act like they're welcoming of Dylan, they don't approve of Leighton being around her anymore because of an incident that happens before they get sent to summer camp.

The story continues to reveal parts of what caused their friendship to frow distant and when Leighton and Dylan are almost found out by one of their classmates, Leighton deceives to protect both Dylan and herself leading to her choosing between Dylan, their relationship, friendship and her family's opinion and decisions.

The art work slowly reveals the sexuality of these characters through their clothing, surroundings. I especially liked that Dylan was able to grow into their identity getting more confident and learning to accept that no everyone would stand up for them like their mother does and even if friends leave because of who they decide to become, it's not on them, it's their friend's choice.

Even though Dylan and Leighton lose their friendship because of the incident that causes them to be sent to the summer camp, I think theyll forever still be friends.

First and foremost, I loved the art style and the undertones of this novel. The illustrations are also beautiful! This book is one of those with the bittersweet stories of friendship, falling in love, growing up, and drifting apart. And Dylan and Leighton’s story emphasized those pains while navigating the struggles of going through camp for troubled youth. Not to mention how I also loved their way of communicating through paper planes, even though they both felt that words aren’t always enough to express what you feel. It was so endearing and it accentuated their longing for something they can never be anymore.

“There’s also this assumption that being asexual means you can’t love someone. A therapist didn’t have to tell me that was a myth.”

This is probably the quote that stuck out to me throughout this book, as I witnessed love and in-betweens about a non-binary person and an asexual girl so 10/10 for the representation. As someone who identifies as aro-ace, I have come to terms with my sexuality but it’s sometimes frustrating that I can’t give that type of love and intimacy that people can freely give, especially since there’s this notion that ace people can’t fall in love. And yet this book allowed me to reel into that emotional rollercoaster and I understood myself more through Leighton.

Lastly, this book openly talked a lot about themes surrounding trauma, the triggers, and the stereotypes of being queer, and grappling through those conflicts. I truly wish this book was longer.

I thought this was a pretty average read. I liked the characters and I liked the art. I was a bit confused by the storyline at times since it would switch between the past and the present. Sometimes I felt like it didn't go anywhere when it would switch to the past but overall it was creating a bigger storyline so I get why. I did like that the artwork had a different vibe between the past and present so I could immediately tell by the color saturation and such which time period it was because sometimes it didn't specify when the events were occurring but other times it did.
Overall a quick read with some great characters but just not 100% for me.

content warning: bullying, aphobia, homophobia

Here's the thing—every year I tell myself I'm going to read more graphic novels, and then I end up not doing that. It's not that I don't like graphic novels, I do, love them in fact. I blame it on the fact that my list of must-immediately-read authors grows larger every day, and between them and my insanely talented indie writer friends putting out books, my reading time for new authors is sadly limited.

Which means I'm missing a metric shit-ton of wonderful books.

Case in point: the wonderful Paper Planes. Coming from Maverick Graphic Novels in May of 2023, and available for pre-order now, It was written by Jennie Woods, with art by Dozerdraws, and lettering by Micah Myers.

Paper Planes tells the story of inseparable best friends Leighton Worthington and Dylan Render. They've been sent to a summer camp for troubled youth after a shocking incident, and they both have to navigate the rules, cliques, and relationships of that camp while also dealing with their own changing friendship, and questions of gender and sexuality.

Woods interweaves the present-day story at camp with scenes from the past that lead up to the incident that got them sent to camp. This is a complex, layered story told with honesty, humor, and compassion. Leighton and Dylan may be on this journey together, but they each have their own personal journeys to undertake as well, to discover who they are as people.

Dozerdraws' artwork is beautifully expressive, and perfectly complements the story.

I can't recommend Paper Planes highly enough, for anyone at all, but particularly for middle and high school aged kids, and their parents.

And next year I'm going to read more graphic novels. Promise.

I enjoyed it. It was cute. It was nice to hear from an asexual POV, and Dylan’s identification was described very well especially at the end during Dylan’s evaluation.

I got a little confused following along at times, probably because of the time changes throughout the story.

This was a very enjoyable read, that touched on many important themes.
But that’s also the problem with this book: It mostly only touched on those themes and did not talk about them in detail, in the end trying too much and not giving each topic the “screen time” it deserved, resulting in the characters feeling one-dimensional and many of their problems and struggles that are very important and impactful being made less so. I get that this is a graphic novel and very short, but if you cannot find the space to really confront these themes, such as neglect, not knowing part of your family and cultural heritage, maybe it should be longer.
I also did not like that the bully of the bully apparently only did it because she had a crush on Dylan, This is such a harmful trope and it being harmful/not okay to do such things never gets talked about in this, they just become friends.

I did like the characters and seeing what they went through all their lives, always keeping the spark of friendship alive. I also liked how Leighton explained her asexuality, why she didn’t want to be with Dylan and that you can love people without wanting to be with them.
Both characters were very interesting and lovable, so were many of the side characters. Other characters were very easy to dislike as well, such as the parents.
The art style was beautiful and very fitting.
I thought the way the story was told was great, with the majority of it being set at camp, but many flashbacks showing what led them there and their friendship.

All in all a good read with some minor problems.

Dylan and Leighton are two close friends from very different backgrounds. Leighton is from a wealthy family and has a troubled older sister and a mother who hides the truth about her mixed race heritage. Dylan is from a working class family and has a mother who has to work three jobs to make ends meet.

Despite their differences, the two friends are close and love each other even though they don’t always articulate this love for each other in words. Leighton is asexual and is trying her best to discover what that means for herself. The two friends are involved in an incident in which another girl is hurt and so they are sent to a summer camp for troubled youth. They both need a good evaluation at the camp. Otherwise, they’ll be sent away, unable to attend high school with others. The camp gives them time to reflect on their lives, their families and their friendship with each other.

This is really a beautifully drawn graphic novel with a story that is thoroughly engaging. The changes between the past and present are well integrated within the story and it is interesting to see how the story unfolds. I felt that the ending was a bit too open ended but I did enjoy the story and the great artwork.

Copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

I really enjoyed this bittersweet tale about friendships beginning, changing, becoming something more, and ending. The core themes were about different types of love, identity and belonging. There was great LGBT+ representation with discussions of gender euphoria and affirmation of ace/aro identities. The art is also really nice! One thing I wasn't keen on <spoiler> was the trope of bullying due to having a secret crush. The book doesn't condone it, but doesn't really address it either. </spoiler> Overall though, I liked this book and would definitely recommend it.

I think this was a hard subject to take on. The world was incredibly complex and layered and it made me sad. It was also surprising how much of it occurred between 8th and 9th grade. It seems like the subjects should be older.

I was pretty confused for much of the story. The flashbacks were confusing cause they started and ended without getting to the point sometimes. It just felt like I was waiting for so long to figure it all out. And I still don’t understand the ending?

Why did Leighton and Dylan have to separate beyond Leighton’s shitty parent’s opinions? Is that not awful? It was weird how we were meant to just accept that. And the narrative that vilified Leighton for trying to fit in? She was trying to protect Dylan and be careful but all the secondary characters were just mean to her. I didn’t really understand.

The art was so sweet though. I really liked the way everyone was drawn.

I actually wasn't excepting that kind of story as well as that kind of ending?

It was well done, and I loved Dylan. They were cute and totally understandable, also their development over the years and the summer camp was perfect. But I disliked a lot Leighton? She just stayed the same over the years, and at the summer camp she was just, honestly, stupid.
I liked the flashbacks even if they were a bit too much it was in sync with what happened at the camp so it was well done! Cricket is a nice addition and the things about the camp was cool, some supportive, and all. The ending is bittersweet and I wasn't expecting that but it was expected from Leighton's behavior.

I'm a bit sad, as an asexual person, that they developped a lot more Dylan's non-binary and search of their own sexuality (yet it was still not that good), but Leighton's asexuality was barely explained otherwise.
I just feel like the representation is here but barely talked and explained, while it could have been so well done for middle grader or 15 year old kids who are trying to find their own sexuality and could identify here. Dylan's non-binary hasn't been mentioned at all (nobody said the NB word, you just have a vague idea and the flag), and Leighton's asexuality has been mentioned once with its word but didn't really explained it, just with a "I don't like boys or girls" and that's it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this, the art was gorgeous and I really liked the time skips back and forth as we found out why they were in the camp in the first place. I also really appreciated the ace representation.

This was such a heartfelt, bittersweet story. Dylan and Leighton are best friends at a summer camp for troubled kids, and over the course of the summer they learn so much about themselves and each other. The art was so beautiful and expressive.

Paper Planes is a graphic novel about two friends (Dylan and Leighton) who are sent away to a camp over the summer for "troubled youth."

I loved the range of characters and their diverse identities. Dylan is nonbinary, Leighton is asexual and biracial, and there are other queer characters as well. I thought Dylan especially was a compelling character, and I think some of their subplots could have been expanded upon a lot.

My biggest gripe with this book is that I thought the shifts in timeline were confusing. The artwork changed slightly, but I didn't feel like it was clear enough when a flashback was occuring, at what time chronologically that flashback fit into the story, if it was a continuation from another flashback, etc. If that had been made a little more clear, I think I would have liked this a lot more!

I also think story-wise it fell a bit flat too. I can't put my finger on it exactly, but I was left wanting more.

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))!

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review*