A review by thesebookdelights
Cheer Up! Love and Pompoms by Crystal Frasier
5.0
* Thank you NetGalley & Oni Press for sending me this E-ARC in exchange for an honest review. *
Before we jump into the review:
TRIGGER WARNINGS: fatphobic language, overbearing parents, sexual harassment, transphobia, bullying, microaggression
Oh. My. God. This was such a cute, sweet and adorable graphic novel. I loved it so much, it had me tearing up a little and going "awe" every other page.
Cheer Up! is a young adult LGBQTIA+ romantic comedy that follows Annie as she tries out for her school cheerleading team and Bebe, a transgender girl who is struggling to stand up for herself because of the fear of how people will view her. Whilst Annie knows who she is, Bebe doesn't and so Annie, with some help from the cheer team, helps Bebe not only find herself and step out of her shell but also to stand up for herself against, notably, her parents and *sigh* Jonah. Jonah. God I hated this dude so much. He was only in a small portion but I wanted to punch him so many times.
Romance wise - I really enjoyed it. It's no spoiler that Bebe and Annie fall in love. The only thing I will say is that I think it could have been developed a bit more. It seemed a little bit rushed but not rushed to the point that it was messy and all over the place. I would have maybe liked to see them talk about their feelings about each other a little bit more.
This graphic novel definitely had the potential to be even more amazing if it was longer and spread over multiple volumes (like Heartstopper by Alice Oseman). This way we could have gotten more development and had the plot a tiny bit more detailed. It would have also given more room for conversation about being a transgender teenager, the overprotective parents that sometimes accompany coming out as a young person and general conversation around being part of the LGBTQIA+ community and the struggles that come with it.
Finally, let's talk about the art work. It is gorgeous. The colours are amazing. The panels weren't overcrowded which made it appealing to look at and the text was super easy to read.
I highly recommend this book if you're a fan of Heartstopper and Check, Please!.
Before we jump into the review:
TRIGGER WARNINGS: fatphobic language, overbearing parents, sexual harassment, transphobia, bullying, microaggression
Oh. My. God. This was such a cute, sweet and adorable graphic novel. I loved it so much, it had me tearing up a little and going "awe" every other page.
Cheer Up! is a young adult LGBQTIA+ romantic comedy that follows Annie as she tries out for her school cheerleading team and Bebe, a transgender girl who is struggling to stand up for herself because of the fear of how people will view her. Whilst Annie knows who she is, Bebe doesn't and so Annie, with some help from the cheer team, helps Bebe not only find herself and step out of her shell but also to stand up for herself against, notably, her parents and *sigh* Jonah. Jonah. God I hated this dude so much. He was only in a small portion but I wanted to punch him so many times.
Romance wise - I really enjoyed it. It's no spoiler that Bebe and Annie fall in love. The only thing I will say is that I think it could have been developed a bit more. It seemed a little bit rushed but not rushed to the point that it was messy and all over the place. I would have maybe liked to see them talk about their feelings about each other a little bit more.
This graphic novel definitely had the potential to be even more amazing if it was longer and spread over multiple volumes (like Heartstopper by Alice Oseman). This way we could have gotten more development and had the plot a tiny bit more detailed. It would have also given more room for conversation about being a transgender teenager, the overprotective parents that sometimes accompany coming out as a young person and general conversation around being part of the LGBTQIA+ community and the struggles that come with it.
Finally, let's talk about the art work. It is gorgeous. The colours are amazing. The panels weren't overcrowded which made it appealing to look at and the text was super easy to read.
I highly recommend this book if you're a fan of Heartstopper and Check, Please!.