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

A powerful and raw comic about addiction and the struggles that lead to it. For the main character, Claire, it's their struggles with gender and a society that has mocked and repressed their gender expression from a young age, including their closest family, leading to binge drinking as a teen. For other characters Claire meets in rehab, it is unsupportive, broken or dangerous home lives. This book is difficult to read because it shows the tools that are available for dealing with addiction but it doesn't shy away from the challenges, and not all of the characters we meet make it through. Incredibly powerful and oh so heartbreaking.

It’s good. It’s a good story of struggling with addiction and rehab and recovery. It’s very realistic, and heartbreaking of course. The tough situations are handled really well, but for being so heavy and traumatic, I think that it really should provide resources at the back for people going through similar experiences, and it does not do that. It's not a book that I would recommend to everyone, but I would absolutely recommend it for people who need it.

This book covers addiction, friendship, and rehab. I think that it is a very important topic to talk about...

That being said, the book takes the words written and said by characters and portrays them literally on the page. When one character talks about healing, a white notebook page with a drawing of a badaid is added to the story. I had a very hard time following the storyline, as instances like this happened on almost every page. The layouts of the pages were a little messy and I had a hard time following along.

Thank you to NetGalley and Holiday House/Peach Tree/Pixel+Ink for the eARC.

I'll be honest, this book wasn't for me. The plot felt messy, the narration was hard to follow, and the artstyle just was unappealing to me personally. I always appreciate queer stories and am sure that this book means a great deal to people out there who need it! I applaud the author in their vulnerability and for sharing this story with the world. It just wasn't for me.

I liked the homemade feel of the artwork, especially the interstitial theme of hand drawn stars, and the ending that did not wrap up everything neatly but let the readers know that life is not a movie, not everyone gets the happy ending, but that change is possible and the sun always rises on a new day.

Constellations is a beautiful and really tough graphic novel about gender identity and addiction. Be mindful of content warnings with regard to addiction if you need them.

Claire is a teen in the '80s who gets picked on constantly for not conforming to gender presentation - she dresses like a boy, has her hair short, and inside, she doesn't know if she's a boy or a girl or both or neither. To dull the self-questioning and the bullying, she turns to alcohol, and is sent to rehab by a judge. There, she meets a lot of kids her age dealing with their own personal traumas that drive them to drugs or alcohol or both.

There's a lot of lessons here - about how your own emotions affect your own reality, the truth in how easy it is to fall and let addiction keep its hold on you, especially in a small town that's decaying, and even that gender identity is... hard. I've seen some other reviews that hated the fact that Claire's labels weren't so clear, but I think people who may be younger don't realize that we just did not have the resources and vocabulary to define ourselves for quite a long time if we do not fall in the gender binary. Personally, I've probably been non-binary my whole life, but I sure didn't know there were words for it until I was in my mid-20s and on Tumblr in the mid/late 2000s. Constellations takes place before Google, and is set in a small industry town. This is important.

There were a enough times I had trouble keeping track of which character was which, but that's the only reason I've bumped down my rating a little.

This graphic novel was done all in watercolors and it really brings a personal depth not often seen.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

3.5 rounded up.

"Constellations" is an intimate, semi-autobiographical graphic novel about addiction, recovery, and identity, set in the 80s. It was cool to read about a gender-nonconforming person from the more recent past, and I appreciate how honest the text was about the internal and external struggles of understanding oneself and maintaining sobriety in a world that doesn't love you. It was definitely an affecting read.

My criticisms are structural. I felt there was often a lot of content per page in a way that could be overwhelming and confusing. I also am not a fan of lots of monologuing. Those issues aside, though, I'd definitely recommend this for high school students who are interested in issues of substance abuse, gender identity, and/or overcoming trauma.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Holiday House, Peachtree, and Pixel+Ink for providing me with an eARC of Constellations in exchange for my honest thoughts!

I'm seeing this graphic novel garner some lukewarm reception, but I thought it did a pretty damn good job at presenting a heartbreaking addiction tale that doesn't sugarcoat things and weaves in a realistically messy journey of queer self-navigation. This is much more character-driven than it is plot-driven, so I did have to prepare myself for that type of storytelling as it dives into Claire's life and their relationships with numerous other people. Now, I'll admit that I have issues with the illustration style—specifically, the way that it makes a few of the characters look too similar to each other and repeatedly confuses me as to which people they are. But otherwise, I found the watercolor-and-ink art to be charming.

Overall, I'm officially rating Constellations 4 out of 5 stars. I hope this is able to receive more praise once it's published.

Thank you, NetGalley and Holiday House Publishing for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

3.3 ⭐

This is a truly heartbreaking story that covers multiple meaningful topics such as substance abuse, gender identity, dealing with trauma, and the perks of being a teenager. I didn't relate to the story because I haven't gone through anything similar before but that didn't stop me from relishing the experience of reading about Claire's journey.

I must warn you that this is not a happy book, and that's probably the best part. It doesn't have a HEA at the end, but it still gives you an optimistic feeling that things can be alright in the future.

I enjoyed this (painfully) real book and would like to recommend this read to everyone who needs it. Regardless, there were a few details that made it hard for me to rate it higher. For example, the inner monologues were too poetic for my taste. It didn't match the realistic setting. The pacing of the story bothered me a little bit too. There's also the art. It was beautiful yet, I found it chaotic at times. It was difficult for me to understand what was going on in some scenes.

Nonetheless, I believe this book will be of great help to young people struggling with their identity or fighting an addiction.

God, this was heartbreaking and hopeful in equal parts. I loved the illustrations in this story, they felt more raw and realistic than other illustrations. I hope that others who have struggled will find this book and find some comfort in reading it, I know I did.

DNF

Hard to follow at times,
the lettering, speech bubbles, and layout need development. I can tell there was alot of time and effort put into the art, but tthe style wasnt for me
dialogue often confusing to follow

This graphic novel was stunning. Witnessing Claire’s journey of unpicking their gender identity while coping with addiction was so powerful, and the voice felt authentic for teens who may be experiencing the same thing. I appreciated how it didn’t divide Claire’s identity into boxes, but rather explored the grey areas of the process of figuring out an identity.

Constellations is a graphic novel about Claire, who struggles with their gender, having been assigned female at birth but not feeling as though it fits. To cope with the abuse from others about how they look and questions about if they are a girl or a boy, they drink. This leads to an accident that ends up in a rehab facility for youth. Through their time there, Claire learns about addiction and the world at large, and how they live with life and trauma.

This was an interesting story about one’s journey with gender, addiction, and trauma. The story was very cohesive and told in a way that let the reader into Claire's world. In some places the story did feel rushed, especially the end, and could have used a little more time on page. To this effect, some of the relationships could have been flushed out better, especially in the beginning of the relationship, such as with Erica.

Though I didn't care for the illustrations at first, by the end I think they really went well with the story and added a certain tone. The style of writing was interesting as well. Almost poetic in some spots, it added a dimension of seriousness to the story.

Claire is constantly asked - are you a boy or a girl? The problem? She doesn't know. Growing up in the 1980s, Claire knows she is different, but she doesn't have any direction or vocabulary for what she feels. So she turns to alcohol to drown out the confusion and anger the people around her who make her feel less than.
Though a fictional story, it is based somewhat on the author's own experiences, and the authenticity shines through.

Kate Glasheen has crafted a fantastic, honor, and hopeful visual journey. The art works as its own powerful means of storytelling, and I appreciate this author/artist's depiction of their experiences -- a book to share with readers.

A heavy story about teens dealing with trauma, substance abuse, gender identity, coming of age, and so much more. A lot of this will hit close to home with readers who have experienced, or know those who have experienced, similar moments. The art has a sharp quality that fits the harshness of the narrative well.

3.5 stars. I can’t speak on the addiction or rehab part of the story, as I have never experienced either. The not knowing if you are a boy or girl (or neither or both) is something I know all too well though. It’s something that I am still trying to figure out, even as a 27 (almost 28) year old. I think this graphic novel is important for anyone to read if they are struggling, regardless of what it is.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

No matter what I think or feel about this graphic novel, this is a story that needed to be told and that gives us an insight about the conflicts when it comes to gender identity, abuse and addiction. It tells us more about how important found family can be and how rehab doesn't necesarrily have to be a bad place. It can be a place of growth. Life can be a place of growth.

I am also glad Claire's story wasn't just about trauma. So many heavy yet important subjects were being processed. Friendships were made, hearts got broken, laughter was shared and tears were shed. This story was so much more than just the pain Claire must have been through. I also love how the title of this graphic novel is sort of explained near the end of the story. Suddenly it makes sense why constellations are so important to Claire.

However I found it really hard to follow the story. Sometimes I didn't realise a next scene had started, which confused me a lot. Frames jumped from one to another. Sometimes the lay-out of a page felt rather chaotic making it confusing to me about where to start reading or who was saying what exactly. All of this made it rather hard to follow the story.

Either way, I once again want to emphasize how important this story is, whether I resonated with it or not. I do recommend checking the trigger warnings since heavy subjects come along with 'Constellations'.

Constellations
Written and illustrated by Kate Glasheen

Edition: Ebook, 221 pages, on sale 23 May 2023, Graphic Novel

Disclaimer: I got this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you so much for this amazing opportunity.

The debut graphic novel is emotionally very powerful.
Set in New Yoork in the 1980 Claire feels like something is wrong. People keep asking about Claire's gender and only drinking alcohol can keep away the nagging feelings. Claire's family is oblivious to the struggles or plain ignores them, depending on the family member because they are not able to accept that Claire might not be "a normal girl". One day Claire has a biking accident while being drunk and is sent to a court ordered rehab. There Claire finds some friends who are also struggling with substance abuse due to their individual problems. Claire lerns more about gender identity and that there is more than just being cis. The kids are having great supporters in themselves but whiteness failures again and again. Claire decides to stay sober but it is very hard if the people around you won't change.

This powerful graphic novel is fully coloured and impressed me with strong characters and a even stronger story. My heart broke for Claire and all the other kids.
Fighting addiction is a fight for life and this book clearly shows it.

This is not a happy book, but it is a realistic one.