I loved this graphic novel by Kazimir Lee, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a coming of age and self-discovery story with queer characters. The illustrations are gorgeous, the style is able to depict the diversity of characters while also conveying the very personal and emotional journey of our Malaysian-American main character Azar.

Azar navigates her queer identity amongst a not so accepting town community. Each character has more going on than what appears and I appreciated their complexity; Tristan, Shannon, and Azar's parents all felt important. The the main story's focus is on family dynamics and friendship, but there is also escapism with a story-within-the-story found in The Exiles of Overworld (a sci-fi novel). I really enjoyed that aspect of the book and found it to be the most relatable (who doesn't like to get lost in a good book?). I look forward to reading more works from Lee.

Thank you to IDW Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this graphic novel.

Low Orbit is a intersectional queer coming of age graphic novel that represents the chaos of growing up pretty good.

I loved the color palette even if the line art wasn't always my favorite. The idea of a SF novel that is intermingled with the story of Azar is a nice thing because I came to like science fiction in the last years. The different font made it a little bit harder to read and I was sometimes confused if it had anything to do with the story of our protagonist but I liked how it was layed over the passage of time.

I often felt for Azar and liked her as a protagonist. So I was quite happy about the Epilogue. I would love to read more by Kazimir Lee!

I really enjoyed reading this graphic novel and following some alow everyday things going on in the life of this teenager. I don't like the drawing style but that's just a personal preference, it doesn't take anything away from the story. There's lots of conflicts (between teens and adults, between the adults, between the teens), and her mum is dealing with a lot of queerphobia and slowly works through it (not the perfect mum or a great example, but also not the worst). I would have been interested in seeing more of the neighbour/friend/crush development and I loved the positive nod to the future in the last chapter.

Representation: all letters of LGBT including secondary character with they/them pronouns, coming out, Malaysian-American main character wearing a headscarf when outside of home, a side character in a power chair, separated parents, (mentioned but not on page) parent with schizoaffective disorder

Atmospheric and full of uncomfortable moments, Low Orbit follows the story of young Azar, a Malaysian American teen who has just moved from New York to Virginia and her struggles between her loneliness and isolation, her separated parents, and her queer identity. Azar finds an escape with her next door neighbors and by diving deep into a Sci Fi novel which serves as her escape from reality.

While there are many parts of this that I enjoyed, such as Azar's identity and her separate relationships with her parents, as well as the Cosplay and fandom culture depicted here, I struggled with following the message and the narrative of this graphic novel. It's filled with interludes from the Sci Fi novel that Azar is reading which are dense and incomprehensible and add little to the story. Adding to this is the fact that the story is quite complex on its' own - it's full of a gray areas, incomplete narratives, and unsatisfying conclusions for many of the characters. I appreciated the complexity and unsettling feelings this tried to capture, but the combination of all these things made this graphic novel read like a dense and confusing journey, and at the end of it I'm still not sure what all I'm supposed to take from it.

Adjusting to life in a narrow-minded small town is tricky for Azar, especially since she's not out to her parents. But fortunately her new best friend Tristan lives next door, and as two of the only queer kids in the area, they find many ways to support each other. But Azar really appreciates Tristan's dad's epic fantasy novels, while Tristan is pretty sure those books are ruining their family's life. When Azar tries to come out to her mom, things get dicey, and if she can't count on Tristan, where else is there to go?

This graphic novel carefully captures the agony of keeping part of yourself from those you love. Azar's mom is overbearing and critical, and Azar's father seems willing to just put his head down and give up on his dreams. But Azar hopes for something more. This book has a lot of power to resonate with Hijabis who face microaggressions every day as well as anyone who has felt forced to hide a huge part of their identity. My only real complaint is that the excerpts of the Sci-Fi novel that are sprinkled throughout this book were hard to understand. It's strange to blend a graphic novel with snippets of high fantasy, and the format did not do the sci-fi justice and instead distracted from Azar's story. On the one hand, it's meant to feel like an escape from her life, but there just wasn't enough there for me to get into it and understand. I would have removed those excerpts or made them much shorter, but perhaps they'll speak to another reader more than they did to me. Other than that, this was a compelling read that touches on many important themes, including honesty versus secrets, being safe while coming out, friendship drama, high school crushes who don't respect you, and even how to be safe at conventions. I'd definitely read more books by Kazimir Lee.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Low Orbit is a beautiful and atmospheric graphic novel by Kazimir Lee. I immediately fell in love with Lee's incredible art that immerses you in its gentle pastel tones - blue and purples - while tackling very important themes, such as identity, dysfunctional relationships, alcoholism, fear and acceptance of oneself and others. 

In the graphic novel, we meet fifteen-year-old Azar, who’s recently moved to Vermont with her mother, while her father is still living in New York. Her mom loves her, but she’s also quite traditional. The only thing she’d like is for her daughter to make new friends and do sports to better fit into her clothes. But Azar doesn’t have many friends, her mom doesn’t know that she likes girls, and the only people she seems to be able to open up to are the wacky yet welcoming next-door father-and-son duo: Tristan and Shannon Wathe.
The father and son have a dysfunctional yet deeply heart-warming family dynamic. Tristan, a nonbinary teen who spends a lot of time interacting with the queer and geek communities online, is seventeen. He’s definitely the adult in the family. Shannon, whom Tristan calls by name, once a successful author of sci-fi epic The Exiles of Overworld, now seems determined to never write nor participate in any sci-fi convention again. He mostly hides from his literary agent and, despite being kind and lovely, spends a lot of his time either drinking or engaged in heated interactions online.

But when Azar accidentally finds The Exiles of Overworld, she starts dipping into the fantastical world of Shannon’s imagination. And as things get worse between Azar and her mom, Azar ends up living with Tristan and Shannon, potentially forever altering their family dynamic, as well as her own life. Between trips to the lake, StarCon conventions, cosplays, and New York, the story, full of unexpected twists and surprises, is funny, tender, and emotional.

My only criticism to this graphic novel is that I didn't think the sci-fi novel element worked well in the narrative. The excerpts from The Exiles of Overworld were just too verbose and obscure, and I didn't really understand their connection to the story. The idea of escapism was there, but not well-executed in my opinion.

⭐ 4/5 – Despite a minor flow, I still think Low Orbit is worth reading. It is a gentle ode to finding one's identity while navigating love, affection, and imperfect family relationships. All this while never falling into the pitfall of trying to define. This, I believe, is an achievement worth applauding.

I really enjoyed the artwork in this graphic novel but was hoping for a bit more with the plot and ending. The ending seemed rushed and not all of the subplots were resolved. I also never enjoy when a book or movie is in place of the actual graphic novel so that knocked it down a few for me. Otherwise enjoyed the LGBTQ representation from all generations and also the POC rep. I gave this book 3 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.

I didn’t really know what I was getting into or where the story is gonna lead. Especially after reading many fantasy books lately, after the sci-fi novel became part of Azar’s story, I was sure there was gonna be a twist in there somewhere, like she’s in a coma and then she’ll swim through the world of the novel, which will help her later on in real life...
None of that, haha.

A very non-fantasy slice of life story about Azar, a Malaysian-American lesbian in the closet from her parents, and Tristan, they/them pronouns, with a dad who's an author and shouldered with other non-queer-related problems for themselves.
These two basically live in the same house, after Azar and her mom moved to Vermont from New York, where her dad still is stuck, rearranging some things with the apartment. And she has a crush on Jodi, a butch. School is actually okay for her, there’s not really much going on in her life, just basic human stuff.
On a random day like any other, she finds a book under her bed, a sci-fi novel set on another planet tackling racism, written by Tristan’s dad. She finds herself immersed by the story pretty quickly, and let’s days pass while she reads and escapes reality for a bit.

The book may have not turned out to be anything paranormal, but it sure made things roll in her life. In a realistic way.
I found myself immersed into the story similar to how Azar was into the sci-fi novel, just more delicate. The pace, the writing style and the art is tender, never high in contrast, and quite relaxing to read.

It might’ve been confusing and unclear at the start, but that portrays life pretty well – heck, if I were to make a novel about my life, everyone would have a similar reading experience. And that’s not a bad thing. I’m a slice of life fan after all, especially when it’s rather slow-paced and focused on the most normal, ‘boring’ plot-points. I especially loved the panels with an excerpt of the sci-fi novel, where environments were shown, perfectly encompassing the passing of time, as if Azar has placed a camera outside the house, to not miss anything of the outside world, while she’s in another world.

I was surprised by a lot of characters, their developments and the relationship to each other. Tristan was that cool best friend at first, that helps their gay bff to get a gal, but carries actually a lot of weight on their back. Shannon is that chill uncle who feels more of a roommate, open to Queerness and, as an author, fluent in subtext. You can talk to anything about him. (Which was really nice, I loved the uncle-like relationship Azar had to him!) But he too has his baggage. Azar’s mom seemed at first pretty toxic with her subtle gaslighting, but got more development in the end than I expected. Her dad too had some unexpected secrets.

Just like the character designs. Kazimir Lee is not afraid to show edges, curves, fat and different/unusual proportions. While some background characters may have gotten the “simplistic” design treatment, making them look picture-perfect sometimes, most look very realistic, in a beautifully ugly way. (Human.)
For example, I may have not had a picture of Jodi first, but I expected her to rather look like the typical lesbian crush. But nah, she’s fat, loud and piercings. And so is our protagonist, except she’s rather neutral in gender-expression, but mostly comfortable fashion style, with wiggly socks and pretty small, sometimes looking squished. No fat-phobia, which is also a plus.
And disability rep with a wheelchair user.

Definitely recommended.
The ending turned a bit melancholic, in a tender, the-future-is-unknown way, which is also a plus, cause I’m a sucker for melancholy. Overall a cozy and happy read, humorous in-between and all in all light-hearted.

~

Thanks a lot to IDW publishing for an e-ARC.

-09.03.25

This was a really interesting coming of age story. I found Azar a really interesting character, and it was interesting to read about her coming into herself and growing up a bit. I liked the art style and the design of the characters. On the whole it was really well done.

I adored this book but the ending left a handful of questions. I hope for a sequel so I can find those answers!

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through NetGalley. Content warning for homophobia.)

--- 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 where necessary --

When her mom gets a new job in Ashford, Vermont, fifteen-year-old Azar is forced to go ahead with her, leaving her dad in Brooklyn to fix up and sell their house. Stuck in the "ass-end of the upper valley," as her landlord puts it, Azar immediately feels out of place. She's brown (Malaysian), wears a head covering (a burqa? hijab? shayla? her classmates can't tell.), and is queer (though not out to her family yet). Luckily, her landlord Shannon Wathe and his kid Tristan provide a welcoming safe space for Azar; she even moves into their side of the house after an especially vicious fight with her mother.

Azar also takes comfort in THE EXILES OF OVERWORLD, an epic space opera penned by none other than Shannon. Moments in Azar's life are juxtaposed with scenes from the book, and fantasy meets reality when Azar engineers a meeting between an insecure Shannon and his indefatigable agent. Before she knows it, she's accompanying Shannon and Tristan to a comic convention .. and then saying goodbye.

I mostly enjoyed LOW ORBIT, even though the ending was bittersweet and maybe not resolved to my complete satisfaction. Shannon was really never held to account for reneging on his promises to a teenage girl in need. (It was all kind of *shrug.*) Plus, there's the whole plot line with Azar's dad, which I won't get into because of spoilers. Otherwise the story and characters are engaging. The dynamics between Azar, Dina, Shannon, and Tristan are compelling, and I especially loved seeing Tristan blossom in a new environment (i.e., the convention).

I think the story's biggest drawback is also its hook - namely, THE EXILES OF OVERWORLD. The passages from the book are just terrible, but I felt like I had to at least skim them, in case they added anything to the narrative (imho, they don't, feel free to skip 'em).

The formatting of the book with excerpts from the book annoyed me a little bit. Is that what people sound like when they fall into a fandom? Loved the scenes at the con they traveled to. Loved the found family elements. Loved LGBT rep and BIPOC rep. The characters were messy but lovable.

A queer Malaysian teen seeks refuge in the pages of her landlord's epic novel as her family struggles to stay together.

There's a lot I liked about this story. I enjoyed the characters, the artwork, and the challenging themes like burnout, familial trouble, and alcoholism. While I usually love stories within stories, the novel Azar is reading throughout did not catch my attention. While I liked the romance that developed, I was disappointed that there were so few resolutions. Maybe there will be a sequel?

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

Fast-read graphic novel about a gay but closeted Malay teenager living in Vermont. Unable to connect with her mother and unsettled by her father's not fully explained absence, she seeks refuge with her much more liberal and seemingly accepting neighbors/landlords only to discover that family has its own problems as well. While the story comes to a conclusion, many subplots are left unresolved and the nature of some of the resolutions for those that do seem so much a product of chance rather that choice. This makes the work feel, to me, unfinished and a bit adrift from any moorings.

Book was alright. It jumped around a lot, but the characters were cool. It almost felt like I was reading a sequel.

A moving story about love, family and acceptance. Azar, Tristan and their families and friends are written with empathy and care, making it easy to connect with and care for them. The relationships are messy and real, but ultimately filled with love and acceptance, making this wonderfully healing book.

Azar is struggling with her relationship with her parents and revealing her true identity. She feels closest to her nonbinary neighbor and their science fiction writer father. When Azar discovers her neighbor's first literary work and falls in love, she utilizes the story to help her in her own life.

I enjoyed Azar's storyline a lot, but I found the incorporation of the science fiction story (almost a story within a story) to be distracting. While I can acknowledge why it was included, it took away from the overall message for me. I also didn't find Azar's relationship with her parents to be believable, and the reconciliation of her parents left a major plot hole. I don't think this is one that I plan on purchasing.

Thank you to Netgalley and IDW Publishing for the e-arc!

Low Orbit follows Azar who is carving out her identity in an uneasy space between friends and family. Azar is a character most can identify with as she is just trying to get back to the way things were but change is inevitable. I felt this had me in the first half but waned by the end. I liked that Azar had the space she needed to figure things out without being chastised. Overall, this read was good but I would recommend it to the teens in my life as it would appeal to them more.

This is a fabulous, understated, gorgeously drawn graphic novel, and I can't wait to recommend it to any and everyone who's even remotely interested in YA. The main character and her life are so well-developed, as is the small-town worldbuilding.

This was adorable. Firstly, the art style is so pretty and i loved the colours but the story was beautiful! This is a must have coming of age story for young adults. A story of learning to embrace who you truly are. I will definitely be recommending this!