Wow! This cute graphic novel does a lot in a short amount of time. There was discussions around what it means to be a trans teenager, being a good ally, what it means to stand up for yourself, lessons on consent, not judging someone based on their past, etc. Plus the fun cheer team aspect and a cute romance. I wish it was longer. I hope it turns into a series because I need to know more about all the characters.

I loved this so much!! Such a sweet, fluffy, sapphic graphic novel. I already can’t wait for more and hope this becomes a series 🥰

Cheer Up is absolutely wonderful! We follow spunky Annie who joins the cheer squad to appear well rounded for college applications. There is also BeeBee, a trans girl trying to manage academics and the responsibilities of cheer captain, all while feeling like she needs to please those around her to not attract attention. If you love Check, Please! or Lumberjanes you will 100% love this graphic novel. I loved the support of the team, which reminded me of the camaraderie of high school women's sports. I appreciated seeing BeeBee's growth by being more vocal about her needs from her friends, her family, and her classmates. It was also wonderful to see Annie grow in confidence and find a group of friends. And the romance was adorable! I really enjoyed the illustrations throughout the book. I'm going to need a sequel!

This was incredibly cute and honestly, I want more! I hope this will be a series because I want more of Beebee and Annie! It kind of reminded me of Heartstopper so I highly recommend this one if you loved those graphic novels!

Cheer up: Love and Pom poms was the perfect mix of cute & bold for a graphic novel. The friendships in this were endearing and it also touched on some tough topics but handled them perfectly. This story was perfect and I hope there’s more to come!

I loved this book.

It is incredible to see a story which normalizes concepts with which not everyone is familiar. The first step towards making society more inclusive for everyone is educating everyone and making that education accessible. This book does that and more.

The story in this graphic novel is about finding a community in high school and about feeling comfortable being yourself. These are common themes in recent YA novels, but this book proves why they are necessary. Seeing yourself represented and seeing others have success expressing themselves is so important when you are struggling with self-confidence and identity.

I am so glad this book exists and I can’t wait to tell everyone I know to read it.

TWs: transphobia/transphobic microaggressions

This was so adorable!!!!!

Cheer Up is the cutest little graphic novel ever! It's a story about coming to terms with your identity and growing into yourself as a person, it's a story about learning tk stand up for yourself and learning to assert your boundaries. It's also just a very cute little story about two girls who fall for each other and get to kiss each other and that makes them very happy and it is very cute when they do.

I also absolutely adored the art style in this graphic novel! It was very reminiscent of the shows I watched growing up, and it also carried the dynamic panels of the story super well! I loooooved the character designs! I loved the bright colours! I loved everything about it!!

Like despite carrying a lot of heavy themes in here, this book is mostly just a lighthearted, fluffy read. It doesn't go into the violence of it all. It mostly tell you what's what and focuses on the parts that make you smile. And I love it for that. Because as important as it is to have books that help you understand the trauma of being queer and/or trans, you are not owed that in every story. Sometimes all the queer characters do is be weird and awkward and funny and that's also so important to see!

That being said, I think this book was definitely too short! I would've loved it if the story went for a little longer and if we got to explore the characters and their dynamics a little better. I would totally read a sequel or a series with these characters, because I simply adored them all!

***eArc provided by Oni Press & NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Comp titled to two of my favorite currently running sweet, queer, sports comics (Fence and Check, Please!), Cheer Up fits in perfectly. It's fun, energetic, and is just a sapphic good time.

I do wish it were a bit longer, and in that length I wanted BeeBee to actually have come important conversations with her parents about what can be seen, very easily, as abusive behaviors for the sake of "keeping her safe." The resolution to it is a bit too clean, but the comic as a whole is sweet and streamlined in it's storytelling. Coupled with lovely art, it'll sit nicely with fans of queer sports comics.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Oni Press for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored this Graphic Novel. This is a warm snuggly sort of story that I happily devoured in a single sitting, and it gave me all the feels!

We follow our two main characters; Annie and Bebe, as they navigate their way through high-school, friendship and the cheerleading squad. I couldn't have loved these characters more; antisocial, feisty lesbian Annie, and her former sweet and kind friend Bebe who is trans, and just wants to be accepted. Their friendship truly melts your heart, and I simply couldn't put it down.

There are a ton of positive messages in here; body positivity (we come in all shapes and sizes), LGBTQIA+ representation, proactive communication, acceptance... the list goes on, and I'm truly so impressed. I loved the character development too, it felt real and honest.

I would say the ending felt just a little abrupt and could have done with a few extra pages to fix the pacing in the last couple of scenes, but on the whole, this is an exceptional read and one that I would happily recommend!

Cheer Up! is an utter delight, and I will definitely be picking up a copy on release day!

4.5 utterly adorable stars

This graphic novel that follows Annie, a book smart lesbian that needs some extracurricular activities to get into college, and her friend BeeBee, a trans girl that needs to keep her grades up and her social life moving along so her parents will support her transition. These two used to be friends but drifted apart, but when BeeBee becomes the head of the cheerleading squad, and decides that Annie would be a good addition to the team, they are forced together. Their previous friendship rekindles, and maybe turns into something more.

I loved this graphic novel! The art was awesome, and it definitely gave me “Check, Please!” vibes. I thought the story was really amazing as well. The romance gave me all the cute and fuzzy feelings, and the slow burn aspect of it was nice as well. There were also some not so nice things that the girls have to deal with, which is just like real life. People don’t always understand, microaggressions are everywhere whether the people mean harm by them or not. Just like in real life, sometimes even when people love you very much, they still have much to learn and change.

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

I absolutely loved Cheer Up. It’s a super cute graphic novel, and a very quick read – it took me about 25 minutes to get through. Each of the characters was well-written, distinct, and fairly relatable. Other than the text-speak (I’ve never seen anyone capitalize ‘U’ in the text-speak sense) it is a pretty accurate representation of the lives and attitudes of high school students nowadays. Annie was absolutely my favorite character, but all the rest of them were fun and likeable characters, while still feeling diverse and fleshed out. I laughed a bunch while reading it, but it was also a really sweet story that I really enjoyed. I loved the art style – the characters looked great, and the coloring was easy on the eye. As always with graphic novels, I wish it was longer. I know that it’s massive amounts of work to create a graphic novel, but 120 pages is pretty short, and it means that plot beats have to be a little rushed to fit within the time. On a similar note, it was fun to read about people who were mostly accepting and quickly learned from their mistakes, but it meant the stakes felt fairly low. I never had any doubt that everything would be ok in the end and they’d all be happy. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – often I just want to enjoy something sweet and happy – but the lack of lows mean that the highs don’t quite have the same emotional depth that they could otherwise. Overall, I thought this was beautiful & adorable, and I’d definitely recommend it.
(Also – This is a small thing, but I loved Annie’s nose. More big noses on female characters!!)

Perfect for fans of Alice Oseman's Heartstopper, Cheer Up is an adorable comic about a romance between two girls- antisocial lesbian Annie, and her former friend BeeBee, who is trans AND LITERALLY MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER- who are in their highschool cheerleading team.

It's mostly very light, and I absolutely loved this sweet comic.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC!

I enjoyed Cheer Up! so much. There was a perfect balance between cute and funny, and real and serious. The artistic style was also fabulous. This comic was a joy to read and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a YA queer romance.

Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms was an adorable quick read that I happy devoured in a single sitting. I’m not the biggest lover of graphic novels – in fact, I’m rather picky – but this one hit the spot.

The story was lots of fun. The artwork was amazing. Together, I was grinning as things unfolded in a story that was filled with feels. It was warm and fuzzy, yet it hit hard spots as well. It packed plenty into a small space, without feeling like it was overloading the reader.

Without a doubt, fans of graphic novels are sure to adore this one.

Incredibly cute once it got going, and I enjoy that it’s both a sapphic contemporary romance and has good mtf trans rep, which honestly is needed more in teen media (or media in general). I also enjoy the genderqueer or non-binary rep, esp how casual everything is with not having labels necessarily and the process of “I don’t quite know what this is but this is how I feel”

Very easy recommendation for graphic novels for lgbt or ally teens etc

Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms tackled some important themes and issues which I felt were handled sensitively and with a lot of nuance. I really appreciated how the instances of transphobic microagressions were dealt with, as well as showing multiple plus-size characters on a sports team who didn’t suddenly lose weight through working out; they were shown as both fat and healthy.

Although it dealt with some of the prejudices these characters face, this graphic novel was overall a lighthearted, fluffy read and I really enjoyed it! It had a powerful message of standing up for yourself which I really appreciated and I would highly recommend it to fans of sports team dynamics, the childhood friends to enemies to lovers trope and adorable romances. I really hope there’s a sequel because I just can’t get enough of these characters!

This was the graphic novel i needed!! I've read heartstopper and fence but this is the first sappic graphiv novel with a trans main character i have read and it certainly didnt disspoint at all!!

I don't know what it is about sports in graphicnovels but i can't help but love them. This book dealt with several tough topics and did it incredibly well.

I was in tears by the end. Can't wait for the next installment!

Solid 5 star

4/5✨
Heartstopper, Fence, Check, Please! and now Cheer Up - I guess I really enjoy graphic novels with queer people doing sports?

Cheer Up was an adorable graphic novel about an angry, lesbian, fat girl and a shy, trans girl falling in love with each other. Annie and BeeBee are so cute together and I loved that Annie learns how to be more gentle and BeeBee learns how to stand up for herself - they balance each other out perfectly. They used to be friends, grew apart and then develop feelings for each other after Annie joins the cheer squad and I really enjoyed their dynamic.

This graphic novel is not always super fluffy though: themes such as transphobia, fat shaming, controlling parents and harassment are addressed in a sensitive and thought-provoking way. I think that especially the way it talked about how transphobia can come in form of outright transphobic comments but also microaggressions will make readers rethink their actions towards trans folks (without being too preachy)..

The art style was cute, colorful and really fit the vibes of the story. I loved how cheerleading routines and some info about the sport were included.

I would’ve liked for Cheer Up to be a bit longer and to explore some topics in more depth but I really enjoyed it.

Review to come August 6th on blog/goodreads.

I received this book from the publisher/Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

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I am soooo soooo delighted that I got the chance to read this book early (it is now March) because oh boy this was just SO CUTE and so wonderfully written. I am going to try and write a review, but bear with me as I just have so much feelings!

I will just do a what I like/what I wasn't always a fan of, because I have been trying for 20 minutes to get something typed. Haha.

<strong>What I liked:</strong>
😍Annie! At first I wasn't too sure about her, she seemed to so angry and not happy, but I started to love her quite soon. She was just so awesome and tough! I loved seeing her open up to Bebe and them becoming friends (and well, more) again. I loved how she was there for Bebe. I loved how she supported Bebe. And I loved how she started to enjoy cheerleading! Also that dress during prom? YAS! I want one as well!
😍Bebe! She is such an amazing and strong character, and I was so happy that she could be who she wanted to be, a girl. I was sad though that it often felt like she had to do all the things for people just to be accepted and I just wanted to step in the story to tell her that she didn't need to do that. That people should just respect her regardless of everything. I hope that she is able to transition when she is adult, because for now she is only on puberty blockers and wearing female clothes/make-up. I can only imagine how hard it is for her to have to wait. To pray that the puberty blockers work.
😍I just love cheerleading so it made me very happy to see the team. At first I was a bit on the fence about the team but quite soon I could see that the girls there all really cared about Bebe. Though it took some prodding from Annie at times. I also loved that the cheerleading team wasn't your conventional cheerleaders. You know, the ones I always see in books/movies, pretty, thin, popular, often blonde. In this one we got a wide range of girls. From tiny and round to big and strong. It made me very happy to see that cheerleaders could also be that. And see them kick some butt!
😍The art! It was so pretty and I love how it fitted the book perfectly.
😍Seeing Bebe and Annie get closer and get together, I don't see this a spoiler as it is pretty obvious from quite early in the book (also the blurb). I am glad that they also had a talk when things got a bit more serious between the two of them. Bebe is still unsure about if she likes boys/girls, but she does know that she likes Bebe.
😍The relationship, the build-up to them getting together was well done and it wasn't too fast, it was just right!
😍The ending had me squeeing and crying and smiling. It was a rollercoaster of emotions!
😍I have to say that throughout the book I was already a squealing and squeeing mess of a person.
😍I loved that coming out/talk during the prom. I won't spoil anything else, but I was so happy for that person!
😍That thing that happened at the ending during prom. Go girls!
😍The ending just had me in tears that was just so precious and wonderful and awesome.

<strong>On the fence/not always like:</strong>
😶I was actually shocked by how the parents were, at least in the beginning! I mean, I was at least happy that they supported her and were OK with her being a girl. But... I wasn't OK with how controlling they were, how she could only transition if she followed her parents strict guidelines, got good grades, that sort of thing. Sorry, but what the actual hell parents? I get that it is all new to you, but this is not how it works, this is how you lose your kid when she finally gets to be an adult. There were also other parts that had me scratching my head. BUT, I am very happy that eventually the parents, or well at least the dad at first seemed to understand that his daughter wanted to be a bit more free and that she would be fine. She would be safe with her friends.
😶That one guy who kept harassing Bebe. Really DUDE, just go away. She clearly stated NO many times, it shouldn't take all her friends for you to finally freaking understand it. I found the dude very creepy and I just wanted him out of the story.

So all in all, this is ONE AMAZING BOOK! Be sure to check it out when it releases in a few days.

This was a super adorable LGBTQ+ graphic novel that I truly hope more people read, especially young adults! I loved all the representation in this book, with a trans main character and a lesbian main character, but my favourite part were the discussions about what it should look like to be an ally, and how often in attempts to help someone you can actually worsen their situation. At multiple points in this book a group of people would try to defend the trans characters, but would actually cause more harm than good. Sut seeing that called out and a clear explanation of why it was both not helpful, and also harmful, I think will be an incredibly important and useful teaching moment for many people who want to help and stand up or others, but perhaps aren't doing so in a kind or productive way!

Overall and really fun, quick read, that also held a lot of insight and impact!