“I hated you in High School” is a sapphic graphic novel about enemies to lovers with a dash of miscommunication.

The drawing style was nice and the story was in black and white and greyish colours. I would have enjoyed it even more if it had a few colourful highlights.

Normally I’m not a fan of miscommunication but I didn’t hate it in this story. I think it’s probably because it was a Graphic Novel.

The story was easy to follow and the pages weren’t overflowing with drawings. It was overall fun to read.

I didn’t really feel a chemistry between Tessa and Olivia but I liked the rest of the story and could connect with Tessa in some moments.

Thank you to NetGalley for this EARC!

"I Hated You in High School" is a quirky little love story about two girls who meet again after years apart. Their meet cute doesn't happen in a grocery store or at work--it happens because one of them is renting a room in the other's parents' basement.
Years after a traumatic event, Tessa returns home to help plan her parents' 35th anniversary party and learns that the girl who caused the traumatic event in high school is now living in her parents' basement apartment.
Both funny and tender, the two girls learn to navigate who they were back then and who they've become in the following years. The themes of queerness being something you need to figure out for yourself are incredibly important for young people who may be feeling the conflicting feelings of love for someone they previously knew as a friend. This explores that big feeling in an introspective and quiet way where neither party is necessarily wrong, but apologies are overdue for the sadness caused by growing pains.
I would recommend this adorable sapphic graphic novel to anyone looking for a sweet and fun friends-to-enemies-to-friends-to-lovers story.

What happens when you lose your job, move back home, and find out that your high school bully is living in your parent’s basement?
Tessa loses her job at the coffee shop but gets a severance pay that allows her to return home for her parents anniversary party. She finds out that her parents are renting their basement out to tenants and the current tenant is her high school bully, OLIVE.
Things were not always bad between Tessa and Olive. Originally Olive was just Tessa’s older sister’s friend, but then they vibed over stage crew in high school and became closer. Something changed during this time which led to relentless teasing and bullying by Olive. Can Tessa and Olive make amends? Could they even become friends? This was a cute queer enemies to lover’s graphic novel and I’d love to read more by this author!

#ThxNetGalley

<i>Thanks for the ARC</i>

I thought this was a very cute story about obviously growing and changing, but also just cute sapphic crushes against the backdrop of a gentrifying Vancouver. The art style was really cute and fun. I enjoyed it a lot.

I usually don’t like second chance romance, especially with bullying, but this one was done so well! l actually like Olive deserved forgiveness and I loved her dynamic with Tessa. I also found Tessa to be a very relatable character. The queerness was apparent on every page and I loved all the nuances like the rolled shirt sleeves and dyeing their hair in the bathroom. I think I loved every character, even the ones who didn’t get much page time, and the character development was beautiful. I can’t wait to read more from this author!

This was a perfectly okay graphic novel.

The art style was cute enough, although I do wish it had been in color. (To be fair, I feel that way about basically every adult graphic novel. I don't understand why we are so collectively allergic to including color in anything geared toward grownups.)

The main character, Tessa, was likable and had some great dynamics with her roommate, sister, and parents. Butch lesbian representation is always a win, too. It was Olive, the love interest, for whom I didn't particularly care, probably because she had been pretty mean to Tessa in high school. Even before she explained her behavior, it was pretty clear why she'd acted the way she did: she developed a crush on Tessa, became afraid of her own queerness, and took it out on Tessa before later coming to accept her bisexual identity. It's a tale as old as time, really. Maybe I'm just not as good of a person as Tessa because I don't think that would've swayed my feelings much. Your inability to confront and grapple with your queerness doesn't give you a pass to be horrible to me because I'm comfortable with mine. But, you know, to each their own. I'm sure Tessa isn't the only one who'd be willing to not only forgive someone for having done that but also rekindle previously held romantic feelings towards them. That scenario might not be true to my life, but I'm sure it's true to someone's, and that's cool.

I think that if I'd felt more chemistry between Tessa and Olive in their adulthood then I would've been better able to understand their newfound dynamic, but it seemed to me that they had more chemistry as teenagers (prior to Olive's change of heart and attitude). Their history was far better fleshed out than their present-day, and I wish that hadn't been the case.

I didn't hate, or even dislike, this graphic novel, but it's not one I foresee myself recommending or ever even thinking about again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was interested to see this book was a graphic novel/manga. I really enjoyed the drawings and the storytelling. The book itself was a nice quick short read. The story was very relatable.

This graphic novel is a GREAT enemies-to-lovers story. I looooved Tessa and Olive’s relationship, and I loved Tessa’s friends and family. Tessa realizing that she was pining for Olive in high school as a baby gay was so funny, and it was so obvious that Olive was too. I’m glad they ended up together in the end! My only “complaint” is that I don’t understand why the sisters were throwing such a huge party for their parents’ 35th anniversary?? Is that something that children of married couples do? Lmao. 4.5 stars!

Watching this story unfold was such a nice journey. Tessa and Olive both had major growing to do after high school. When their true backstory was finally revealed it was enlightening. The exploration of growth and memory made me want more from this author.

3.5/5

I was given an e-ARC on this title in an exchange for an honest review.

First of all, I love the art style, it was slightly reminiscent of Daria and edgier indie comics which I love, I just kind of wish it had been in colour. I absolutely adored Tessa and Frankie, as someone who is both non-binary and a lesbian having such positive representation for both really made me happy to see. The only downfall for me was that I am not the biggest fan of Olive’s character and there for was struggling to route for their relationship in the way that I would when shipping most couples in media but overall I did really enjoy this one and the portrayal of mid twenties like was really relatable to me.

This graphic novel is a lesbian romance in which the MC is reunited with her high school crush-turned-tormentor. The plot is fairly predictable (the tormentor was interested in the MC, but severely closeted and has now come to terms with her sexuality) but it's nice and sweet, almost cozy. Libraries, this would be worth collecting for LGTBTQIA2S+ collections as well as collections focused on contemporary Canadian graphic novels.

Cute graphic novel queer romance. After her losing her job as a barista Tessa decides to take a break and return home. Officially she is there to help with the party to celebrate her parents anniversary. She is shocked to learn that Olive Virtue is living in her parents basement apartment. Her parents adore her but Olive made Tessa’s high school years miserable.

I enjoyed the art work that tells the story as much as the words and dialogue. This isn’t anything new, but I enjoyed getting the flashback scenes to the high school time period. I also like that Tessa’s sister is included in the storyline and how they have differing memories of the same time period. (I swear my sibling and I never agree about how things were when we were growing up.) The MCs are mid 20s and out of college but this could be for anyone high school and up. (3.5 Stars)

4.5/5

Tessa is a 20-something struggling with the fact that her dream job of a creative career never quite seems to take off. Arriving at her family home, she discovers that her parents have rented out the basement apartment to her highschool nemesis, Olive Virtue.

This is a beautiful sapphic love story, second chance romance at its best. Reading this graphic novel felt like watching a classic rom-com in the best way. The ability to communicate that the characters demonstrate is so refreshing.

I enjoyed this one a lot. I love the rom-com enemies-to-lover trope and this did it so well with a queer twist. The only reason I went down to a 4 star was because I felt the romance part was kind of short/rushed. It was a great read though and I read it in one go!

I honestly loved this so much, once I started reading, I couldn’t stop! The storyline was so freaking cute, I loved the idea of seeing how the way they perceived each other and themselves was so different, and yet so close to being the same.

I laughed, I cried, I wish I had an amazing friend like Frankie in my life!

This will definitely be a novel I suggest for all my LGBTQ friends and/or any graphic novel fans in my life!

"I hated you in highschool" follows Tessa and Olive's relationship now and in high school. The artwork was really cool, especially the diary scenes. The story felt very real and down to earth. Loved Tessa's friends and family! I really liked how the characters grow from their time in school to now, and that they are nit afraid to apologize for their errors.
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

This was such a nice and fluffy read. I found the recurring themes of feeling lost after college and feeling like you wasted time getting a creative degree just to not use it so relatable. Making a career out of what you love can be so hard, especially when what you loved starts to feel more like work and less like fun. I also enjoyed the color scheme; the muted grays and greens work well together and were easy on the eyes.

As for the romance, I think I felt the chemistry between the characters more during the high school flashbacks than I did in their adult years. Watching their relationship grow was really, really sweet. However as adults, I felt that Olive was more mature than Tessa and had an insightfulness that Tessa was kind of lacking. I think Tessa’s resentment of Olive was entirely valid, I just think Tessa came off as a petty, sulking teen rather than an adult with an unresolved heartache. Frankie is honestly my favorite character of them all. They were so funny and I liked the way they balanced Tessa out.

Since I didn’t feel that emotionally connected to the story, I gave this one three stars. I really did enjoy it, though. It’s cute! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy.

The believability of second chance romances remains in the noted growth and communication shown between the two timelines together. Thankfully, this book adequately explores that through thoughtful conversations about queerness and societal pressures. The exploration of the main character's past diaries really brings into perspective how maturity and lived experiences allow you to get to know yourself better and how that impacts your perceptions of the world. Revisiting her childhood town and going home again brings up loads of relatable situations for Tessa and us as readers. What didn't work for me was how quickly their second chance together transitioned from friends to lovers. I wanted to relish their new moments together, a dynamic that they both mutually could be fully invested in, and instead it felt quite rushed. The art style is so lovely though and I would love to read more by this author.

Where the beginning felt a little stiff, I ended up liking this short romance story. My favourite part was the flashback that showed how things are always different in hindsight. Although it isn't anything groundbreaking, it's a cute story about second chances and communication.

Thank you NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for giving me access to an e-arc for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Such a cute book! I started reading and couldn't put it down until I was finished. It was about revisiting your hometown and uncovering high school memories through a new lens since you've developed and learned more about yourself. I would give it 4.5 stars if I could! Very good but just missing a little something (maybe it was just the use of the "misunderstood' high school bully trope?). The characters had such depth and chemistry and the illustration was beautiful and full of emotion. The characters and the premise were very relatable and compelling. I would recommend this to almost anyone especially queers that grew up in a small town. Very re-readable. Honestly finished it and immediately wanted to restart the book!