I love gymnastics, so I had everything to love about this story, which promised a sweet queer tale around the sport. And honestly, I wasn't disappointed. The characters were very engaging. I loved the fact that the disability was brought up quite naturally. The fact that Kota immediately tries to learn ASL to communicate with her and include her in their group of gymnasts.

I have to admit that I was expecting a romance between them, but that's not really the case and I was a little disappointed by the ending, but it was still very interesting and a nice read.

This was such a fun graphic novel to read, especially during the summer Olympics! It is such a sweet story about perseverance and friendship. I absolutely loved the deaf representation and how the artist drew ASL in the panels. I also loved the way the artist drew the gymnasts doing their routines. It felt like I could really picture them flying!

This was a great graphic novel.
The art style was beautiful and told the story without much text, also the characters facial expressions and body language were really expressive.
I loved how sign language was a big, yet relatively casual part of the book, similar for the casual queerness in it.
I also liked that despite at least one of the characters having a crush on the other, this was a story about friendship and not a love story.
One of the MCs is deaf, the other one has intrusive thoughts and anxiety. Both of these disabilities were handled really well and shown to only be a part of what makes that person who they are, not their whole personality. We need more representation like that.
I also loved that not everything turns out perfect for the characters in the end, but it’s still a happy ending.
All in all, this was a great book, absolutely recommend.

I mentioned this graphic novel in my list of books to read for disability pride because of the representation of a deaf character and the other characters learning American Sign Language to be better team mates. And I did love it for this – I also learned from it, especially as ASL and British Sign Language have some differences. Yet mostly I loved it for the demonstration of tender teenage friendships, and the beautiful thing they can be.

We see panels from both Riley and Kota’s points of view, with their separate struggles with confidence, grief, loneliness and anxiety. Despite both of their pains though, we really see them united in their friendship. When Riley arrives, she expects point blank to make no friends with her team after saying she prefers to practice without her hearing aids in. Not to be deterred, Kota asks their coach for ASL lessons, and receives encouragement at home too; because her parents also had a language barrier when they met, they communicated by writing in a journal while her dad practiced his spoken English. Taking this inspiration with her, Kota surprises Riley by not only speaking with her in ASL, but also asks her to hang out, and suggests the same method as her parents while she improves her signing. More than that, Kota also tells her friends to do better and include Riley more, pointing out they’re not making an effort to learn ASL. With her keeping them in line, they swiftly realise there is far more to Riley than simply being deaf, and their friendship, and feeling of being a true team, swiftly grows.

The sportmanship themes that run as the parallel storyline to this also allow for various story points to be considered. Kota is struggling with a fear of hurting herself on the beam, with visions of falling interrupting her when she attempts moves. This impacts on her performance, understandably, but even here the friendship storyline overrides anything else. Where Riley could have felt or behaved differently because of her success while Kota struggles, instead she spends her time listening to Kota and reassuring her that nothing will change their relationship even without them going to the Olympics together.

The colour scheme of muted tones, pale blues and greens with greys really suits the story. It doesn’t feel cold, but adds a dated feel, making you feel very much transported back to the 90s. It means that when there are moments of bright, vivid shades, you feel the warmth like a physical presence, and puts across the growing dynamic between the girls, as well as the rest of the team.

As someone with multiple disabilities as well as a sensory impairment, it really gave me a warm fuzzy feeling seeing Kota ensure she could do everything possible to include Riley. It’s so easy to feel pushed to the sidelines when you stand out in any way whatsoever, and I love stories that demonstrate the kindness that humanity can offer when people just try. Because that’s all you need to do. Try. Ask what you can do. Do your best. Make a bit of an effort. We’re worth it.

I liked the book, the themes covered and the characters.
However, I felt that these things were not properly developed, or were addressed in a rough way.
I appreciated the drawings that demonstrated the story and the subtle use of color that gave character personality.
And I would have liked the book to have developed the subtleties of the romance more, in order to be more felt and appreciated by the reader, because it seemed fast.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. A great graphic novel about forging friendships, anxiety and loss. Riley and Kota's developing friendship is a joy to read, especially how much Kota wants Riley to feel included that they learn ASL. This has been added to my 'get for the school library' list

4/5 stars
such a cute graphic novel with amazing artwork.i love how Kota finds a way to get over their fear of the beam and how they find a way to communicate with Riley. love the storyline and the characters in the graphic novel, not my usual storyline of gymnastics but was still an amazing book

I got an ARC of this book.

The art was pretty much a miss for me. It wasn't terrible, but it didn't add to the story. It wasn't anything special. Better than I could do by far, but it just didn't live up to the story for me.

The plot was a little all over the place. The ending was super abrupt and there was no real conclusion. From what I can tell this is a one volume story and not setting up for a bigger series. Even if this was setting up a bigger series, it just ends in a place that just felt random. None of the plots were fully explored. The anxiety, the dealing with grief, the gymnastics. I was just left with what felt like half a story. I liked the half I got, but it was for sure missing a lot to feel amazing.

I have such a soft spot for graphic novels, especially if they have LGBTQIA+ rep in them and this one definitely hit that mood reader spot as I had been fancying this type of book so much recently! Let’s just start by saying the representation in this book is amazing! It’s not often you find hard of hearing representation so I loved seeing that and the different methods of communication they used whilst Kota learnt sign language. I found it so unusual that the colouring was a mix of black and white alongside blues and greens but I found it quite eye catching. This book was so cute and like a hug in a book! The friendship between Riley and Kota was so complex but heartwarming!

This story follows Kota, a gymnast who makes an effort to learn ASL to communicate with new gymnastics teammate Riley. The two eventually form a deep bond that hints at the possibility of becoming something more. The LGBTQIA+ and other diverse representations were wonderful, although the choice to set the story in the 90s was a difficult one for me as someone that grew up in the 90s.

I love the unique art style that draws many characters in an androgynous style that removes an emphasis on gender and places it instead on the beauty of friendship and teamwork and what can be overcome when we allow ourselves to form deep connections and comfort one another. I like the limited use of color, but I do think it can confuse some kids and even older readers new to the graphic novel form. Throughout most of the story, Kota wears green and Riley wears blue, but when they communicate through their shared journal, Kota's text is blue and Riley's is green.

I wish there was a bit more depth to the story, and it would have been 5 stars for me.

Thanks to Oni Press and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for a review.

I loved the messages in this book, the characters face unique and real challenges in their lives that are addressed in this book really well. This book also has amazing representation that is powerfull to see in a graphic novel!

I wanted to like it more but it just felt a little bit too abrupt for my liking. The subplots like Kota's anxiety felt like it was just introduced just for the plot. It wasn't developed and did not have much substance at all. It was a very underdeveloped idea. The book features a wholesome and healthy friendship tho. I literally almost cried and teared up several times. It's the sweetest thing I've ever read, and I loved Kota and Riley so much. However, the plot and the pacing just felt like a minicomic webseries. Or rather, fresh out the oven, not all the way cooked.


Also I'm so sorry but the subject nature like Riley having two dads, a conversation about ableism, and the girls being openly teasing each other about homosexuality in a light hearted manner would not have happened or been a thing in the mid 90s. Idk it just felt very unrealistic. Kota's band shirt parodies, however, did ;). Hello? Blurry(blur) anyone? Also the outfits and things just didn't scream 90s to me...Maybe the author should have set it to modern times because the initial Era that the book took place in had me very confused.

Riley just moved from California and joined a new gymnastics team. She’s struggling with feeling lonely, her old friends have seemed to forget about her and she’s weary about making new friends. To make matters a bit more difficult, Riley is hard of hearing and no one on her team knows ASL. Kota is determined to make Riley feel comfortable,she asks the coach to teach her ASL so she can communicate with Riley. Soon the two spark a friendship, learning more about each other and how to conquer their fears.

First I just wanted to thank NetGalley and to Oni Press for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The art wasn’t my favorite,it kind of reminded me of older webcomics I read when I was a teenager. Which is totally fine but for me the style along with the colors weren’t that pleasing to my eyes.

The story itself was cute, I can understand why Riley was guarded with the team at first because I’d be the same. I think it was super sweet of Kota to learn ASL for her new teammate,it shows the kind of person she is. I was frustrated with Kota taking a while to open up about her anxieties with Riley, especially since Riley opened up about everything. The ending felt sudden, I honestly wasn’t sure where this story was going and when it ended I felt underwhelmed.

🌟Representation🌟
-Deaf MC
-LGBTQ+

Whenever I see graphic novels/queer YA books compared to Heartstopper, I get so excited yet am filled with terror at the same time because, more times than not, the comparison falls incredibly short pretty soon and this unfortunately is no exception.

Yes, I can appreciate the representation and having a character who is hard of hearing but that can't be the whole personality of the character or the whole point of the story. It should be an element, part of it, not the sole ground on which to base your story.
Here everything seemed reduced to that one thing, the story felt forced and grating and not real. The characters seemed fake, their story seemed fake, no complexity or emotions shown.
Also, I found the illustration choice for the balloons quite confusing: what's the point of putting those black likes for the balloons when you know you're going to use black lines to draw the sign language on the page? I don't get it.

A fail for me.

This was a cute story about friendship, found family, and community. It was nothing too deep but was a quick read that will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

I really wanted to love this book. It was queer, it had d/Deaf rep, it had competitive sports! Unfortunately, it just didn’t connect for me the way I hoped. I found both Riley and Kota to be quite impenetrable as characters, making it hard for me to really understand their desires and motivations. Riley mentions that she worries what else she has besides gymnastics, and a part of me was wondering that alongside her. The ending felt rushed and sudden, as if it was building to a love story (or at least a resolution of a crush) that never came to fruition.

However, on a positive note, the art of the gymnastics was beautiful. I loved the “sequence” style, particularly when they were on the beam. It felt very reminiscent of a flip book style, and it was a really great visual. Similarly, the inclusion of ASL was lovely, and the way it was portrayed in art reminded me of Kay O’Neill’s The Tea Dragon Festival. I would’ve loved to see more of Riley and her papa, perhaps in flashback, and see the impact he had on her life and that of her dad, too! I did like the way Kota considered alternate communication styles, inspired by the language barrier that existed between her own parents, and think it would’ve been nice to see the way Riley’s fathers shaped her in a similar way.

3.25 stars

Riley is a new member in a gymnastics team. She's recently moved, and with no friends and homeschooled she's feeling a little isolated. She's hard of hearing and she takes out her hearing aids when she practices gymnastics so she's having a hard time making friends at Station Six, especially when no teammate but the teacher know sign language.
Kota is a long time gymnast at Station Six. She loves the sport, and she's really vibrant but lately she's been having a lot of anxiety regarding one specific part of her routine. When Riley joins the team, Kota is excited to meet the new member of Station Six. However, communication is a little difficult at practice. After the first session, she immediately asks their coach to teach her ASL and that's the first step in Riley and Kota's beautiful friendship.

This is a lovely story of two girls who love gymnastics becoming best friends and each other's support. Riley has suffered from a big loss in her family, and Kota is having issues with her self-confidence and anxiety. They both begin their friendship writing and sharing their thoughts on a journal while Kota learns to sign.

I really enjoyed reading this graphic novel. There's not much dialog, so it's a very fast reading experience. The illustrations are quite simple, the art style is very plain, with blue, green and gray being mostly the only colors used throughout the entire novel.

Though the summary classifies this as a young adult novel, I'd recommend it more to a middle grade audience. Although there are themes like grief, loneliness and anxiety explored in these pages, the story is quite straightforward and simple so I think a younger audience would really like I Felt Myself Slipping.
Also, though I've seen this marketed as LGBTQ+, the relationship between Riley and Kota is pretty much platonic. There are hints about Kota having romantic feelings, however their relationship stays just a friendship. It pretty much reads like an innocent first crush.

If you are looking for a heartwarming story about friendship I think you will enjoy this one. It was very uplifting.

Thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for the advanced e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley, the Publisher and Author for an ARC of this book in exchange for my review.

"I Felt Myself Slipping" by Ray Nadine is a YA graphic novel about adversity, insecurity and friendship. It is a wholesome, heartwarming and relatable story that deals with themes of grief, anxiety, gymnastic competition, deafness and ASL.

I appreciated the representation/diversity presented in the various characters as well as the peek at the pressures of competition. The use of ASL was refreshing. The story is open-ended and may feel abrupt at the conclusion. Itwas a quick and enjoyable read.

Short and sweet, definitely a wholesome storyline and quite heartwarming especially towards the end. Heads up, there's an open ending. I actually really enjoyed that but I know it's not for everyone.

But honestly overall just didn't grab me, didn't feel like there was a lot of depth to the story. Also aesthetically I really didn't enjoy the colour scheme. I know that's not relevant to the story but still.

ARC courtesy of NetGalley.

This was such a cute, queer graphic novel ready for pride month. I read it in a single sitting.

It was a really sweet story, and I loved the inclusion of a two dad household to add to the queer joy.

One thing I would have liked is some sort of title card showing the time skips - the novel took place over the course of a year and they seemed to be moving really fast, it was hard to keep up.