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The Avant Guards Review

The Avant-Guards, Vol. 1Title: The Avant-Guards, Vol. 1
Author: Carly Usdin, Noah Hayes (illustrator)
Genre: Young Adult, Verse Novel, Contemporary
Trigger Warning:
Rating: 5 stars
Release Date: September 3, 2019

Synopsis

When Charlie transfers to the Georgia O’Keeffe College of Arts and Subtle Dramatics, she struggles to find her feet, but winds up exactly where she belongs...in the school’s (terrible) basketball team.

As a transfer student to the Georgia O’Keeffe College for Arts and Subtle Dramatics, former sports star Charlie is struggling to find her classes, her dorm, and her place amongst a student body full of artists who seem to know exactly where they’re going. When the school’s barely-a-basketball-team unexpectedly attempts to recruit her, Charlie’s adamant that she’s left that life behind…until she’s won over by the charming team captain, Liv, and the ragtag crew she’s managed to assemble. And while Charlie may have left cut-throat competition in the dust, sinking these hoops may be exactly what she needs to see the person she truly wants to be.

From Carly Usdin (Heavy Vinyl) and artist Noah Hayes (Wet Hot American Summer, Goldie Vance) comes an ensemble comedy series that understands that it’s the person you are off the court that matters most.

Review

A special thank you to Netgalley and BOOM! Studies for providing a free advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was pleasant surprised to read a graphic novel about college students, especially with a f/f main couple that is absolutely adorable. There is so much amazing representation in here, that for the most part is just casual. Not only is there a f/f main couple, but there is also racial diversity, mental health representation, and a nonbinary side character. The group dynamic is really cool, with complicated relationships between individuals that truly care about all of the rest of their friends. This characters are just so delightful and were all easy to distinguish from one another in the art style. All of the characters were well created and I cared about all of them, even outside of Charlie and Olivia. There were so many unique stylistic choices made, like two alternating povs, that all worked extremely well.

The setting of a basketball team at an art school was really unique, and there was a lot going on beyond just the basketball aspect. So many emotions are discussed, and the depiction of a panic attack is extremely well done. So much of this book feels realistic within the context of the setting. This is clearly a story about college students, and while appropriate for a young adult audience, it still fits perfectly for college aged readers as well.

Overall, this was a really enjoyable graphic novel that has a great and adorable main couple. After that ending, I definitely am going to check out the next volume. 


This is such an adorable sapphic graphic novel and I would love to see so many more like this! I can't wait to see how Charlie and Olivia's relationship progresses.

I am moving back to college tomorrow, so no clue how consistent I'm going to be this semester.

Thanks for reading!
Alyssa

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