so, so bittersweet but i loved it </3

i adored the enby and aro rep in this book and the art was gorgeous! and storytelling style (then/now) was done well and easily distinctive. the internalized acephobhia and experiences of being enby were also portrayed so well.

overall, a 4,.5 !

This is a beautiful and compelling graphic novel. The art is gorgeous and fits very well with the storyline. The plot was simple but still impactful. I adored the characters growth and development as a whole.

Paper Planes is the first manga I have ever read and I really enjoyed it!

This story follows Dylan, a non-binary teen and their asexual best friend Leighton through Summer camp. After getting into trouble with a school bully, Dylan and Leighton have to attend this camp to take responsibility for their actions. This is a sweet, beautifully drawn coming-of-age story is told via flashbacks of the pair's friendship over the years. Leighton is a tennis star from a rich family, while Dylan's mom works three jobs just to barely stay afloat. These two friends have grown up and grow into their identities together. Through the activities at the summer camp, they reflect on their friendship and how things have changed for the both of them through the years.

One of my favorite details about this book is that it's told through dual-POV and we can tell whose thoughts we are reading by a tiny drawing of a tennis racket for Leighton and a tiny rocket ship for Dylan. I thought this was so cute and brought a lot of clarity to the story.

If you love a coming-of-age story with LGBTQIA+ representation and beautiful artwork, pick up Paper Planes, releasing May 16, 2023.

Thank you to NetGalley, Madcave Studios, Jennie Wood, and Maverick for the Advance Reader's Copy in exchange for my honest opinion. All thoughts shared above are mine alone.

Thank you, Mad Cave Studio's. for allowing me to read Paper Planes early.

Loved this graphic middle grade story about friendship and how friendship can change. The drawings are really well done and my heart broke at times. Highly recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC! What a beautiful, yet painful story. The drawing/graphic design is absolutely amazing and colourful. Paper Planes for me personally is so well done, it touches topics sometimes really hard to explain, and its done with such delicacy and that made me like this graphic novel even more. I love the side characters, but most importantly I loved both Leighton and Dylan and how this book shows the nuances of friendships while they're growing up.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this one. Overall a enjoyed this graphic novel. It has some good representation and I think it did a good job of showing that friendships can change and alter and that that isn't a bad thing. I didn't give this one a higher rating as I felt there could have been more done to help show when something is a time jump, and I just feel as though there could have been a bit more with the characters. Overall though, I would recommend this one for people to read.

I enjoyed this graphic novel immensely! "Paper Planes" is about two middle schoolers who get sent to a summer camp for teens in trouble after taking part in a traumatic incident. Both are trying to figure out themselves and their future together. It is a very heartfelt read and I love the illustrations. I'm very excited to see what else this author may publish in the future.

This graphic novel wrecked me. It was so sad to see two friends being torn apart by an incident and social classes. I truly empathized with Leighton and Dylan. Leighton tries to be the perfect child for her family while losing her only friend. Dylan had to face a lot of tribulations in this graphic novel. It was nice to see their journey on self-acceptance and understanding themselves. I recommend this book for a quick read with interesting humane characters and an interesting plot.

There was a lot I liked about this story and the illustrations. The characters are compelling and the images are great. You get a good amount of depth in the story with the back and forth and the sort-of mystery that needs to be understood. Some parts didn't work as well for me but overall it was worth reading. Rounding up to four stars.

I wanted to like this but narratively it falls flat. I don't see any reason to really like Leighton, it seemed like she was messing with Dylan the whole time. I wanted conclusion to the story lines and there wasn't any.

I received an arc through netgalley.

This was my first graphic novel/manga and what a first one to read! Fantastic story, very lovable characters, emotional, and so much wonderful queer goodness! It was fantastic to have a main character who was ace and another that was nonbinary, with a secondary character who is trans. I adored it. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read it!!

This story about two young people trying to come to terms with who they are is so honest and sincere. It's nice to experience a story where the nonbinary character doesn't need to come to terms with themselves in terms of their gender, and instead the growth is on their relationships with other characters and how they treat themselves. Friendships aren't easy, and they don't always end how you think-- and the book ends with options for more growth for both characters. I wish I'd had something like this as a young person -- all too often, you see stories about best friends forever, and they don't show how difficult that can be.

Paper planes is about Leighton and Dylan who are two high school students who have been the best of friends since forever. One summer they are shipped of to a camp for troubled teens. To continue going to school, they need to attend and get a positive feedback. Self-discovery, testing their friendship, and figuring out who they want to be, is what they have to deal with this summer.

Dylan is nonbinary, and lives with his mom who is working three jobs. Sometimes they have to get help from food stamps to stay alive.

Leighton is asexual, and lives with her parents and sisters. Money is not an issue, and tennis is an important sport in her life.

Even though Dylan and Leighton comes from two completely different households, they manage to stay close friends, and they tried to be more than friends. Dylan was my immediate favorite and I felt like they were more relatable. Growing up with a single mother, money was always a struggle. Also finding out who you are took a while.

I enjoyed reading this graphic novel. The small thing I would’ve appreciated was when it was jumping back and forth, a small time stamp in the corner or something to signal it changing. My brain is easy to forget stuff, especially when I don’t read something in one sitting. Nonetheless, I liked this story and can’t wait to read more from the author!

Happy reading!♥️

I got this book for free from netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, I loved the art style! It was so cute and colorful and I loved how the color scheme changed when there was a flashback vs. when the story was in the present.

Second, I really liked how Dylan and Leighton sent paper planes to each other. It was simultaneously super cool and cute, and I wish I had a friendship like that.

It was a bit sad that their friendship wasn't so strong anymore at the summer camp. However, when you know the reasons behind it, it makes sense.

Overall, this graphic novel was fun to read!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Mad Cave Studios for the digital ARC copy!

I am so happy I got to read this! This book talks about teens questioning their sexuality. As someone who is a part of the LGBTQIAP+ community, I would've loved this representation when I was a teen. Back then I didn't know who I was. Books like these can help shine a light for those in question today. We get to see both Dylan's and Leighton's thoughts. This book made my heart burst with so many emotions. Sadness, happiness, anger, and relatable even if that isn't a real emotion. The drawings were so beautiful! My favorite character was Dylan because he didn't give up on Leighton. He always put others first. My favorite quote from the book is, "Maybe, or maybe I'm not capable of being who you want me to be."

(My review on my insta is in the review highlights)

[Received a NetGalley advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.]

This book is messy and heartbreaking, and yet I fail to see the theme.

Throughout reading, I would forget details that seemed important because they were never brought up again. And you only ever get a sense of what’s happening towards the end of the book.

Most of the characters seemed irrelevant, and lacked personality. And character development is practically non-existent, though it seemed as though it would be.

The representation was a nice addition, but the way it was portrayed could’ve been much better. As in, the way it was addressed.

Overall, the book’s idea can be appreciated, but the outcome wasn’t something I would consider reading again.

Unfortunately, I was left feeling rather disappointed by this graphic novel. Besides its beautiful art style, the story itself didn't really have much going for it. The plot line was difficult to follow along (primarily because there wasn't one) and the flashback scenes made the story feel very disjointed.

As someone on the ace spectrum, the representation in this felt really off to me, of course I don't speak for every ace person but the rep itself depicted some harmful stereotypes that I felt uncomfortable reading. The non-binary rep was also barely addressed head on, just spoken about in backwards ways but I think that may have been more due to the target age range being for the younger audience. I'm just not sure how I felt about it.

As well as this, the conclusion is dissatisfactory and doesn't give a clear overview whatsoever, I struggled with understanding the characters and their individual relationships and intentions and just generally didn't have the best time with this which is very disappointing for such an anticipated read.

I know this review focuses on the negatives but I did still enjoy parts of it. Primarily due to how pretty the illustrations were. I'm sure this book will be perfect for someone else, it just wasn't for me.

I am in love with this. From front cover to back cover! The art was gorgeous and the time swaps were timed perfectly. I enjoyed the shift in POVs as well, and how they weren’t obvious, but that you could still differentiate it. Leighton and Dylan were both great characters who were the same but also very different. Dylan knew exactly what they wanted and was very expressive in their desires while Leighton was perfectly fine with holding her feelings in and not expressing very much. I loved the side characters, especially Cricket. It really broke things up and brought a good amount of laughs to the novel.

I really liked this and I thought it was sweet. I like how there was a difference in color scheme when they switched behind timelines. There’s one thing I thought was very cringey or maybe out of place though, which was the use of words like “sus” etc. I feel like In books it doesn’t work for people to talk that way. Still, that’s on,y a small part and overall I enjoyed it much.

What a gorgeous novel full of loveable characters and a storyline that I couldn't put down. This one is a must read!