Pillow Talk is a fun book featuring a pillow fighting league about as cut throat as roller derby. I really appreciated the main character Grace's struggles and growth through the book, which is mainly focused on self image and how society views fat people. It handles these issues well, and I love the art.

Stephanie Cooke's Pillow Fight is a vibrant and empowering graphic novel that invites readers into the exhilarating world of competitive pillow fighting. The story centers around Grace Mendes, a college student grappling with low self-esteem and the shadows of her past. With a fierce alter ego named Cinderhella, she embarks on a transformative journey that combines humor, heart, and action.

Cooke brilliantly captures the essence of Grace's struggles–from her complicated relationship with her stepmother to the bullying that results from her newfound celebrity. With her best friend Callie supporting her to step outside her comfort zone, Grace discovers the liberating thrill of pillow fighting– a sport that subverts traditional stereotypes and offers a fresh take on female empowerment. The playful names of the competitors, like Kat Atonic and Rapunchel, add a delightful pun-filled charm that evokes roller derby and professional wrestling. Mel Valentine Vargas’s bold color palette enhances the on-page action. It highlights the diverse cast of characters that enrich the story with varied experiences and perspectives on sexuality, gender, and race.

At its core, Pillow Talk is an action-packed coming-of-age tale that emphasizes friendship, self-acceptance, and the importance of lifting each other up. Fans of Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy will appreciate its energetic storytelling. This story offers a window (or a mirror) into a young woman's struggle to maintain a healthy relationship with her body, similar to Fat Chance, Charlie Vega. Those familiar with Lara Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me will identify the journey to embrace their true selves.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel! As soon as I read the description, I knew I would. Also really loved the art style. Definitely recommend!

Thank you to the author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

Such a fun inclusive sports book. It brought the quirky sports wold of pillow fighting to life and drew me in more than I expected.

It was like roller derby, but with pillows, and it was weird to me. I didn't feel like I got to know the main characters, either. I couldn't finish it.

Pillow Talk is about how Grace Mendes finds her alter ego Cinderhella while competing in the PFF, the Pillow Fight Federation. As Cinderhella gains attention, Grace has to face challenges and fears and she uses Cinderhella to find her true self.

I'm conflicted on how I feel about the pace of the book. I expected it to be fast paced - lots of action from the pillow fighting and the rivalries that would present themselves. But the book was actually a bit slower paced - there were a lot of conversations amongst the characters about identity that led to the slower pace. These conversations weren't entirely distracting or out of place, so I would just make sure readers have a realistic expectation for the pace.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Alley for the e-arc of this title! I absolutely adored everything about it. It covers big topics like body image, family dynamics, friendship, coming to terms with your sexuality, single parenthood and so much more, yet never feels like it is trying to do too much. I could read about these characters over and over again. I am looking forward to this officially coming out!

Pillow fighting x roller derby x wrestling??? SIGN ME THE HECK UP!!!

This is a fun graphic novel with lots of action, fun wrestling names, and a realistic story about body image and imposter syndrome.

The only thing I didn't vibe with was the time jumps. Some of them didn't flow well imo. During those parts I desperately wanted it to be an ongoing series so we could see the personal and team growth more.

content/trigger warnings: anxiety, cyberbullying, fatphobia

representation: ace, Black, body diversity, fat, nonbinary, poc, queer, sapphic, they/them pronouns

This is a mashup of the movie Whip It, about roller derby, and the TV series Glow, about professional women’s wrestling. This book was such a fun read. Based on the cover, I thought it was going to be a middle grade book. It is solidly an adult graphic novel. Teens may enjoy it, but it is aimed for young adults. The story is very similar to the movies mentioned before and that a girl discovers that professional pillow fighting is a thing and thinks “I can do that”. They not only become very good at it, and comes out of their shell because they found their new niche. I love everything about this! I love the idea of taking a pillow fight from ladies in skimpy negligee, to real women controlling their outcomes, and taking the male view out of pillow fighting. There’s also the idea of family, of standing up for yourself, and seeing all the good things about yourself that other people see. This book was a joy from the first page to the last and I would love to see it get read by as many people as possible. And all honesty I want to see this on the Goodreads list of best graphic novels come the end of 2024.

College freshman Grace, after attending a pillow fighting federation (PFF) match with a friend, decides to join. Together with her long-time friend and roommate Callie, Grace immerses herself in PFF competition, building her matchsona Cinderhella. She builds a network of new friends and learns to balance life.

This was an absolutely delightful graphic novel, with an illustration style that perfectly compliments the narrative. It's a great story of (queer) found family, the journey towards self acceptance, and the hard task of dealing with past trauma.

Thank you HarperCollins Children’s Books and NetGalley for access to an eARC of this incredible graphic novel!

Grace is a shy college student looking for a way to express her fierceness through the art of pillow fights: part roller derby and part professional wrestling, the Pillow Fight Federation allows people to compete in pillow fights while wearing costumes as wild as their hearts desire. Grace slowly works her way up the ranks and makes friends. But social media can be cruel and Grace sways between confidence and fear when it comes to her participation in her new club. Will her friends help her shine or will she go back to the shadows?

The art is gorgeous and I love the costume design of all the characters. Their ability to express themselves through their costumes and embrace different parts of their identities is one of the best parts of this phenomenal graphic novel.

5 out of 5 stars

I had no idea that professional pillow fighting was an actual sport until I read this book, but it was such a blast! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys other queer, sports-related graphic novels. I wish we’d gotten more time to flesh out some of the other characters, but maybe there’d be more room for that if this was a prose novel instead of a graphic novel.

This was SO fun, I love all the body diversity! The writing was a little clunky; the moral messaging was bit too strongly delivered at times (like the random PSA on registering to vote). But overall it was so nice to see a group of friends—many of them women—supporting each other, having a good time, and feeling empowered. Reminded me of SLAM! but queerer and more wholesome. The artwork was super cute, too! (even if everyone's noses looked the same lol) (also, soft side-eye to reviewers saying the art is too "comic"-y for a graphic novel... y'all... graphic novels are comics, ffs🙄 There's no one way that the art style is "supposed to" look like.) 3.5 stars

TW: fatphobia, internalized fatphobia, mention of past bullying

Comforting, colourful and kick-ass

This graphic novel brought me so much JOY!
It was so positive and just what I needed. The diversity of characters was great and awesome to see! This graphic novel felt like a big hug! It tackles sometimes difficult to talk about topics such as body image issues but I feel like this deals with it in a great way. There was such a sense of community and acceptance and I absolutely adored it!

I would love to have my own PFF persona and get to compete in something so absolutely kick ass! The illustrations are wonderful and the bright bold colour palette really emphasises the awesome characters.

Pillow Talk has grabbing visuals, a fun coloring style, and a low-stakes plotline. I liked the style the characters were drawn in, and the graphic novel had some good messages. I felt that the plot and characters were underdeveloped in some aspects. There were very limited backgrounds - the characters often floated in space. The pacing was uneven, with no real flow and large time jumps. The plot is overly convenient - Grace doesn't work for her accomplishments in the novel; everything is handed to her without a real explanation. Thus, there is no real conflict, and her fear of failure feels short-sighted. I liked some points in the novel, but it felt like the author was trying too hard to fit political opinions in, and it made Pillow Talk flow unnaturally. While there are some good messages, this feels like ideology overkill - there are too many messages, which leads them all to be underdeveloped. Overall, this story has good bones and is fun, but it spends more time being affirming with unrealistic dialogue than developing the plot or three-dimensional characters.

Pillow Talk by Stephanie Cooke may be my FAVORITE graphic novel this year! It is a wonderfully queer & diverse read about a university student, who becomes a fighter in the Pillow Fight Federation (basically pillow fighting and wrestling together in some sort of amazing mix).

First, let's talk about the art. It was absolutely gorgeous! All of these deep purples & blues that made everything so dynamic. The fight scenes were illustrated so well & I am obsessed with the way these characters are drawn.

There is so much to love about this book. It had a large focus on confidence and body positivity. It also talked about coming out and sexual identity. I loved that there was non-binary, sapphic, and ace representation!

Grace, the main character, grows so much during this story. I loved watching her put herself first and choose something awesome & fun.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Stephanie Cooke, and HarperCollins for the chance to read & review this e-arc! Now to go buy a print copy, because this book is too pretty to not live on my shelf 😁

I enjoyed reading this graphic novel. I think it would made a great addition to anyone's graphic novel collection.

Grace feels like she has finally found her place in the PFF, a pillow fighting federation. When her amateur story goes viral, it brings attention to the organization in the best way. Full of friendships and humor.

Modeled after the WWE with the fighter backstories and dynamics. Gave roller derby vibes. Lighthearted fun, full of girl power.

Fat representation is everything to me and this graphic novel does a great job with it. The way Grace feels about her fatness and how society treats fat people is very real. The representation both for characters in the book and its readers is sooo important. Other books like this would usually have a romantic plot line, but for Grace it was just about her coming in to her own and using her voice and her Cinderhella persona.

I also really liked Grace and Callie’s friendship and the way they supported each other throughout the story.

Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!

I'm sorry but I'm not able to review this book even though I really wanted to read it. There's something wrong with my netgalley shelf app and despite having asked for help to fix this, I've just never been able to access the book. :(.
I'm leaving an average mid 3 stars for this book as I don't know what I would have given it if I could read it. I don't want to have to leave a score at all but if I don't it affects my netgalley ratio. Thank you to the publisher for approval and apologies for not being able to read it.