oh to fall in love over a shared dedication to obsure, tricky-to-track-down media <3

overall i enjoyed this and there's a lot to like about it; it's always a joy coming across queer disability rep. will always and forever love the "person A is quiet and keeps to themselves and needs to be adopted by more outgoing person B" relationship dynamic. very neat having the manga act as a story within a story.

my only gripe is that while this story deals with a range of mature issues, it does so in quite a surface level way, which makes the pacing feel choppy as everything feels a bit rushed, and also makes the characters come across as younger than they're actually supposed to be.

4.5 ⭐️

Characters 9/10
Atmosphere 9/10
Writing 8/10
Plot 8/10
Intrigue 9/10
Logic 8/10
Enjoyment 10/10

Navigating With You follows two young women who start at a new school after relocating to North Carolina. This chance encounter leads to them starting a manga book club and becoming quick friends, despite Neesha's initial hesitation. Through their search for an obscure manga, they grow closer than anticipated and navigate the crazy world together in new and fun ways.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. It beautifully tackles some tough issues, including racial matters, grief, living with disability, and the queer experience. The romance is cute and feels genuine. I love Gabby's radical honesty with Neesha's mom. Overall, it was a funny and refreshing read.

The plot was really good for the slice-of-life genre, it was my favorite part, following the girls on their adventure to find all volumes in a manga (and then we could read the manga too!).
I almost liked the manga inside this graphic novel more than the graphic novel on itself lol

But the characters to me were....just ok. Their struggles felt real, but I couldn't really connect to the romance bit between them. It felt forced or childish at times.

Navigating With You is the perfect wholesome comic. Suitable for YA and adult audiences, this disability & LGBTQIA+ rep comic shows how a new friendship blossoms into a romance, with family and ex trauma sewn in. The art style was gorgeous to look at, I would highly recommend this comic to everyone!

A beautifully drawn graphic novel that weaves the "real" world, with the one we escape to by reading. The characters were well developed as they embarked on an emotional reimagining of who they are.

I’m a sucker for a book about nerd culture, and this is a wonderful one- with great diversity and representation to boot! There were a couple of emotional beats that felt a bit out of place or sudden, but overall this book is incredibly sweet and fun. Bonus points for the creativity in art style changes as well!

very good drawings and I liked the story very much. it's such a feel-good cute story of connection through similar experiences and art.

Thank you to Mad Cave Studios and NetGalley for a free advanced reader’s copy. I received this copy in exchange for my honest review.

A fun YA contemporary read that deals with some heavy topics. Navigating with you follows high schoolers Neesha and Gabby as they both move to North Carolina with their families. As the two new girls in town, they’re kind of thrown together by circumstances and Gabby is very eager to make friends with the standoffish Neesha. I loved watching their friendship grow as they connected over an old manga series they both read in middle school. The way each girl falls in love is so unique to their characters and endearing in different ways.
I mentioned earlier that some heavy topics are discussed but I think they’re done in a way that would seem approachable to most young readers and relatable. I particularly liked the way Navigating With You framed living with a disability (Neesha has cerebral palsy), verbal abuse in a relationship between teenagers, and mourning the loss of someone you care about.

I was also happy to see that their relationship flourishes without a homophobia plot line, it was refreshing to see the parents in the book painted as safe to be around and talk to, the amount that Neesha speaks with her mom in particular made my heart melt, I loved how her mom was her biggest cheerleader! All in all, the connection between these two girls was fun to watch unfold and sweet to read and I highly recommend it to the YA reader in your life! Or anyone, really!

'Navigating With You' is a heartwarming story about friendship, coming of age, and romance. It's almost a book within a book (and the fact that a manga brought the MCs together is so cute!) The disability and LGBTQ rep in this book was well done.

The artwork is very pretty and so is the coloring. The pacing of the manga in between did feel a bit off but it's understandable - it wasn't the main point.

I absolutely flew through this book in no time. If you want a sapphic story that's cute, cozy, and will get you in the feels, this is it.

I absolutely loved everything about this story! Give me two cute girls handling on some difficulties and support each others and I'm happy. Their families were so heartwarming and supportive, and the blossoming love story between the two MCs was just adorable. The ending is very cute and changes comparing to chat we're used to have. I really loved it.

Firstly thank you, NetGalley for an advanced ARC of this graphic novel

This book starts with you thinking it is going to be a light fluffy read but it wasn't for me,

Trigger warnings ⚠️

* Mental & emotional abuse (though another child in a long-distance relationship)
* Talks about trauma and abuse of others
And some other minor things

We are taken on a journey through the lives of the two main characters, both being different in a lot of ways but drawn to each other on the first day of school... the friendship that forms is a beautiful one that takes time throughout the book to develop into something more, and we are taken through their journey of self-discovery and also learning to feel like they belong by growing up. Also seeing they are both fans of a manga book series and their discovery finding the books to read together in a book club they made, the search for happiness in these books brings them closer as well as shows how different they are as individuals due to how they both have different reading experiences.

I did get a little triggered by the character Josh for how he speaks to her and treats her (children like these characters are - are very perspective to how people or others they form attachments to see them and want nothing but to please them - so you have to be careful how u speak to young children and adults).

The disability rep in this book I thought was well done as well as seeing the LGBTQ rep as well.

To me, this graphic novel is very powerful and definitely will be a graphic novel I will buy

Such a cute and charming story. I loved all the representation! I also absolutely love the artwork and illustration style

Neesha and Gabby are both new to North Carolina, Gabby from Florida and Neesha from NYC. They come together on thier first day of school and Gabby immediately makes Neesha her friend... whether Neesha wants a friend or not.

As the synopsis notes, Neesha is disabled. She uses braces on her legs, has trouble with balance, and sometimes needs to use a wheel chair, BUT she is strong and doesn't want her diability to be the only thing people see when they meet her. Gabby acknowleges but doesn't press her. I liked that this book had all sorts of rep. Disability, lesbian and bi characters, and diversity of race as well for both MCs. It was great to see in a graphic novel.

What made this book even more unique was that it house a manga inside he graphic novel. Gabby and Neesha come together and learn about each other through their book club reading a manga series. Which is adorable.

This was a really nicely done girl love graphic novel. However you will want to punch a few people in the face along the way. This book has a lot of emotion throughout it. It was realistic and wonderful and I think so many people will enjoy it.

4.5⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!


Such a sweet sapphic novel about magical girls and hobbies and being a teen!! The art style is so cute and I loved getting to know Neesha and Gabby. They're so full of life and are so fleshed out, which made them feel so relatable. As a queer Hispanic girl, I just really felt seen and appreciated.

Holy crap, I can NOT say enough good stuff about this story. Navigating with you is just so freaking good. POC lesbian romance with positive bisexual rep, positive person with a disability rep, GOOD PTSD rep, and UGH. The freaking CUTEST romance I've seen in my freaking life. The beautiful strength and vulnerability that is woven into each of these characters feels real and natural. I probably wept like a small child just as often as I grinned like an absolute idiot reading this. There were parts where it was hard to get through with the PTSD episode, but oh my god was it worth it. The perfect happy ending with a decent amount of savoring of the romance. The fact that after it wraps up, there are pages with resource for LGBT+ and mental health crises was the perfect bow on top, too. You can't miss this, guys, I don't care who you are. This is a must read.

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve been a teenager, but damn did I not see myself in these two kids. Neesha and Gabby come from very different experiences but gravitate towards each other after Neesha moves to town and starts school alongside Gabby. I absolutely loved the use of searching for the different volumes of Navigator Nozomi manga together as milemarkers in the story. Each chapter of their lives, relationships has some reflection in the Navigator Nozomi storylines too - especially their growing romantic relationship.

Navigating With You is clever and sensitive and sweet with a unique and stand out art style- while also balancing some more heavier themes. I’m glad kids are going to be able to pick up this graphic novel and explore themselves, the world (and space) alongside Neesha, Gabby, and Nozomi.

*I received an eARC from Mad Cave Studios (Maverick) & NetGalley. All opinions are my own*

After reading the synopsis, I was immediately in love with the idea of two girls bonding over reading the same manga series – as being nerdy is how I found my own significant other and my closest friends. Fortunately, it wasn't false advertising and reading the manga series was indeed an integral part of the story interwoven with the rest of the plot.

The growing bond between Neesha and Gabby was well paced and I loved how we got both the good and the bad with these characters. They were both people with their own passions that made them shine and their struggles that put bumps onto their road – but by being open and empathetic about things they may not truly understand about the other person, they could continue being together. I really appreciated that.

The fact that the girls were on a self-imposed quest was a nice way to push the story forward and follow how their relationship evolves along the way, resulting in a nicely-paced narration. And the cherry on top were the final scenes at the convention, I absolutely loved that part.

I enjoyed the art style as much as the narration. The characters were all really expressive, in both their facial expressions and the body language. I liked all the different outfits the characters were put in that said as much about them as the words they said. The panel distribution made the story flow really well. And here I can't not mention how I absolutely loved that we also got to partially read the manga that Neesha and Gabby were reading. Including the manga was an excellent addition to the story to both reflect the girls' relationship as well as allow us readers to feel more like we're a part of their lives. Though I have to admit I started automatically reading it right-to-left once these pages started and had to remind myself the whole comic is supposed to be read the same direction, but that's on me.

Overall, I had a great time with "Navigating With You" and I recommend it to anyone looking for a warm but not simple story of two well-rounded girls finding love thanks to embracing who they truly are.

Thank you netgalley for access to this graphic novel , I loved this so much, I love the disability representation and also the PTSD representation as well, their love story was so cute and find out the back story of the manga that brought them together was also cute , I love how community icatibe they are and also supportive they are and I hated Josh so much and I was so angry when he made the dumbest comments that he made and his behavior also reminded me of Isamu in the manga who I also hated , would definitely recommend

This was such a cute read!
Highly recommend for teenagers trying to find themselves or for just a good wholesome read! >3

I INHALED THIS BOOK! If you're in the mood for a cozy, sapphic, YA romance that doesn't shy away from hard topics and difficult feelings, this is for you. 16-year-olds Neesha and Gabby meet on the first day of the school year as transfer students, Neesha from New York and Gabby from Florida. Both are unsure of their new schools and each other, before they discover that they both loved (and never finished) the same out-of-print manga growing up. They decide to form a "book club", competing to find each of the 7 volumes first - whoever finds the most volumes gets to keep the entire set. They fall in love along the way, all while helping one another heal from poor expectations from past relationships.

I can't shut up about this book, it's ADORABLE! It manages to feel like a cozy read throughout, despite dealing with hard topics and presenting thoughtfully-done reps for PTSD and cerebral palsy. The art is beautiful, and scenes are broken up by equally-well-done segments from each volume of the manga as the girls build up their collection of the set. I read the entire thing in one sitting, and would happily read it a second time this week. I'm simultaneously left with warm, fuzzy feelings, and heartbroken to say goodbye to Neesha and Gabby so soon.

This has definitely turned into one of my books of the summer!