Thank you to NetGalley for the free eArc of this great graphic novel.
I loved this. Great artwork, great backstory and cute relationship in the present. I also really enjoyed this being set (half of it anyway) in Vancouver as I live there too. That wooden roller coaster in Playland is freaky as hell!
I got confused about the length of time since Tessa was in school. I thought it said four or five years in the novel and then the back of the book said ten. And is that since she graduated or when Tessa and Olive stopped talking? At first I thought it was really weird and unlikely Tessa would have forgotten why she hated Olive since it had only been a few years ago but I guess ten seems more likely. Not for me since I still obsess over things that happened in middle school like it was yesterday but that's probably not normal.
The side characters (Tessa mom and dad and Tessa's roommate Frankie) were great and I sympathized with Olive after hearing what had been going on for her in school. This is a poignant, fun and sweet sapphic graphic novel with a satisfying ending and a realistic look at what living in Vancouver is like.

All of this, from the art style to the plot, was a 5/5 for me. Tessa and Olive's reconciliation was so sincere and sweet, and didn't fall into any of the traps of a second-chance romance. I actually felt like these characters made up and moved forward in a way that 1. made sense narratively and 2. didn't seem like a cheap cop-out for a happy ending. All of the friendships were so good as well!! Frankie was such a good friend to Tessa, and I loved the way they coached Tessa through the awkwardness of those diaries lol.

And can I talk about the art style again? Tessa and Olive look so good, and I loved how unique and distinct everyone looked. Even the minor characters from Frankie's party had SUCH good designs - I immediatley thought "yeah that's a queer friend group."

Everyone should do themselves a favor and treat themselves to a cute little sapphic graphic novel.

After losing her job, Tessa travels to her hometown to help plan an anniversary party for her parents. Unfortunately, her parents have sublet their basement apartment to Tessa's high school nemesis, Olive. What started as an incredibly close friendship, ended in heart break when Olive started bullying Tessa at every chance she got. Now Olive is friends with Tessa's sister, and her parents, and Tessa's struggling to leave the past in the past, and accept that Olive has changed. And to make matters worse, Olive has the audacity to not only be really nice now, but also super hot.

I Hated You in High School is a low stakes, slice of life graphic novel about two women who reconnect after a tumultuous high school experience. The sapphic love story at the heart of the plot is both relatable, and a little heartbreaking. Ultimately there's happiness at the end of an awkward journey, but the story never feels completely settled to me. Despite being a romance, the relationships I enjoyed most were between Tessa, and her best friend Franke, and Tessa and her parents.

I thought the art style was fine, I didn't like it at first, but it did grow on me. I do wish there was a more color though, I think it would have helped differentiate the characters a little better.

More like: friends to enemies to lovers, with a bit of second chance trope. Not that it's disappointing, I do prefer friends to lovers anyways.

I only found it resolved a little too fast, given that the whole high school situation did hurt Tessa a lot. We might've only seen Olive's bullying through Tessa's diary, and I know people tend to exaggerate in diaries (as have I), still, diaries are a reflection of how one has felt in that situation, so technically doesn't matter whether it's 100% what has happened – the emotions are real. Rose-colored glasses of (rose-)crushes can make us weak, and perhaps that's exactly why Tessa has forgiven Olive so quickly.
I mean, it is realistic, and given the length, the characters were fleshed out really well, so I didn't necessarily expect it to go that deep. Plus, I'm also all for a happy end. Still, if the author knew they were going for a happy end and knew they couldn't slow down their relationship a little, toning down Olive's bullying would've been a good alternative.

(That one scene, “Was everything from the past few months a LIE?” hit home. Had a similar situation as her in middle/high school. Therefore I know more or less how
Tessa feels like – and if I were her, I would have not forgiven Olive. Not so soon, at least. But I’m also aro-ace and am not blinded by sexual desires...)

Haven't expected for the art to be monochromatic green; surely would've preferred the same style, color-wise, as the cover, but it's not too bad. Although the flashbacks and present could've been differentiated a bit more.

What I also didn’t like much how they were treating platonic feelings – completely erasing them and labeling them immediately as “omg that was definitely a romantic crush”. Like, yes, we know Tessa is alloromantic & allosexual, so it works for her. But I, as an aromantic, have often struggled with differentiating between platonic and romantic feelings – while I may have figured it out for myself now, society hasn’t, and immediately jumps to the conclusion that anything overly friendly or emotionally close cannot be platonic when the orientations match (i.e., a panrose man & heterorose woman, or two homorose women, etc). It’s just annoying. Because: newsflash! You can feel both attractions at the same time; being platonically attracted to someone doesn’t exclude romanticism or the other way round, or you can be platonically & sexually attracted. Or it may develop from platonic to romantic – that doesn’t mean that the entire relationship has been romantic from the start.
I’m pretty sure Kathleen meant no harm, it’s just a personal ick from me, especially because I could never be platonic with people cause everyone around me immediately labeled it as romance/sexual. It’s annoying.

Overall the comic/GN is really good though. The art style is cute, with a lot of characters who have fat and meat on their bones. It works well, wonderfully realistic for the stylization.

Lesbian, gay, bi, questioning and trans/enby rep. Frankie's pronouns (they/them) being used by everyone flawlessly without any drama was very heart-warming. No phobic behavior from the adults, which is a plus too. Tessa’s relationship with her mom was really sweet, in fact.

I also appreciate the conversation about masculine and feminine gender roles in dating life. Like, what butches and feminine bi-roses are struggling with sometimes.

~

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing for an eARC.

-04.04.25

I Hated You In High School by Kathleen Gros

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I snagged this ARC and y’all it’s too cute. I’m in the minority and I didn’t love Heartstopper (that’s the only other queer graphic novel I’ve read). But I really liked this.

The first thing I loved about this was how realistic it felt. Even though Tessa was out in high school she was still going through her own journey as a person and discovering who she is. I appreciated that each of them had their own baggage and owned up to it. Frankie was the perfect best friend back home encouraging Tessa to be an adult and talk about her problems but also setting boundaries when needed. They were exactly the kind of friend Tessa needed. And Tessa’s parent’s relationship with Olive? It was stupid cute.

Thank you so much to Kathleen Gros, NetGalley, and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

*Posted to Goodreads, will be posted to Lemon8, TikTok, and Instagram within two weeks*

3.5 ⭐️

this was such a cute read but also super realistic for someone in their mid 20s just trying to figure out life and unfortunately comparing yourself to others.

the reason for tessa and olive to stop speaking also felt so realistic. being queer in high school is so hard for so many people and the journey is always extremely different. i like that this showed a few different aspects of that journey.

thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!

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This was a cute and heartwarming graphic novel that had a friends to enemies to lovers relationship that was really well done. The conversations between the characters were so well done, the mending of past relationship problems was very mature and the characters took responsibility. I enjoyed this a lot, it was a cute quick read!

I received an eARC courtesy of Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing, all opinions are my own.

When 20-something Tessa returns home to help her sister with her parents' anniversary, she's surprised that her parents' basement tenant, is her former high school friend-turned-bully Olive, with whom she forges a new friendship and maybe (well definitely) something more.

I Hated You In High School charts the messy ways that queer people can hurt each other when they're scared and closeted. When Tessa first arrives home she can't even remember why she hates her, just that Olive treated her awfully in high school. Through flashbacks we learn Tessa and Olive formed an intense friendship with romantic overtones as techies for a high school theater production, but Olive messily rejected Tessa at the cast party, then bullied her afterward as a way to run from her own growing feelings and fears of ostracization.

Present-day Olive is delightful, though, and after talking things out the two of them form a grudging, then caring, friendship. There are a series of misunderstanding that get in the way of their budding romance, but it all works out with romantic comedy aplomb. There's a decidedly indie-movie feel, here that brings to mind 90's classics.

Gros' art becomes more assured as the book progresses, and lives in a visually "indie" space that invites comparison to other queer comic creators, especially evoking 90's and early 2000's era comics, with its two tone color style that evokes teen marker art.

What a sweet, heartwarming graphic novel. I really liked watching Tessa, the main character, go on a journey to try and figure out where she belongs and what she wants from life. I also liked her relationship with Olive, and how she realized who we are in High School is not who we are as adults. People can change. But I did appreciate that the story didn't gloss over Olive's treatment of Tessa in HS, but that it was talked over and resolved. All in all, this was a fun, queer graphic novel with beautiful art.

Tessa lives in Vancouver and just lost their job as a coffee barista. They’re an artist but has yet to find success. Losing their job gives them a great reason to visit home. And it turns out their best frenemy is living in an apartment in their parent’s basement. Tessa must dig through old memories to remember why her and Olive were friends and then enemies and the effect it had on them. This was a cute romance. It feels autobiographical, but I do not know that for sure. Originally the artwork was annoying, and I don’t think it was the artwork. I think it’s the color, because everything is green. In Vancouver everything is green, it’s temperate rainforest. But that gave a weird feeling to the book. By the end, it matched it really well, but in the beginning, it was a little off. Overall, this was a quick and interesting read. It was both fun and entertaining, and there will be others who enjoy it too.

Cute and nostalgic I love a good enemies to lovers. It’s going to do it for me everytime. I would definitely read more by this author.

thank you netgalley for the earc

this story was really cute and i really enjoyed it
loved the art style

This was such a cute sapphic enemies-to-lovers graphic novel! The art style was minimalistic and refreshing. I enjoyed the story and loved that it placed a focus on communication! The characters were likeable, and I found myself rooting for Tessa and Olive! Lighthearted and fun read.

Oh, this was such a lovely little read. I picked "I Hated You in Hight School” without knowing anything about it beforehand. And I'm glad I did.
This story is about Tessa, when she loses her job it comes with an unexpected opportunity to fly home for the first time in a couple of years and celebrate her parent’s anniversary. What she completely forgot is the fact they are renting out the cellar to an old friend of her big sister. Who also happens to be an old nemesis of hers. Well, one thing leads to another, she is forced to get to know Olive once more. And try to remember how they went from friendly to enemies.

And yes, it’s predictable. But sometimes that’s everything you need. A warm queer hug of loving parents, siblings and friends. And a love story on top of that. I love queer stories where the main story isn't about being queer or not. Tessa is fully supported by people around her and has been out since forever, even if that’s not the case for everyone. I especially loved the bits where Tessa shares pictures of her old diary with her friend back home. The graphic novel format works really well with this blend of digital communication and an old paper diary.

I enjoyed reading this book. The art style was very cute and I look forward to finding more things from this author and can’t wait for it to come out and print!

thank you netgalley for the earc

this story was really cute and i really enjoyed it
loved the art style

Thank you Andrews McMeel Publishing and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this one. All thought are my own!

This was such a cute graphic novel with a really lovely kind of second chance romance.

I loved the way Tessa and Olive talked about their past, the way Olive really owned her bad behaviour and Tessa was willing to forgive her and move on. It would have been valid of her to stay mad, of course, but I liked that she was willing to give Olive a second chance because she understood people change as they grow up.

I liked the use of Tessa’s teenage journals to tell her and Olive’s backstory.

I also LOVED Tessa and Frankie’s friendship. It was so lovely and wholesome and wonderful.

The more graphic novels I read the more I realize that they can absolutely pull on your heartstrings while still remaining cute and fun to read. This is the absolute perfect example of such. I liked how the tone was more mature, and the characters themselves weren't super young. I absolutely loved the band of characters as I thought they were all very charming and felt exceedingly realistic.
I thought the art design was cute and thought it was done really well overall!

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for a copy of this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

Tessa hasn't spoken to Olive in years, and remembers how horrible Olive was in highschool. When she returns home after years away to find Olive now rents a room from her parents, they will have to confront their past.

This queer graphic novel is a beautifully illustrated storynof past hurt and potential future. This story was so sweet that I could not help but read it in one sitting. The characters were self aware, knowing their issues and recognising that people can change. I loved watching them connect, while the value of friendships was also highlighted.

Highly recommend this one if you like a sweet story.