Riley Glass recently moved to Illinois and struggles with fitting in and integrating herself in this new environment, especially with her hearing disability. Kota Iwamoto, a new friend, puts in effort to communicate with Riley and spends her time learning ASL.

This was a sweet and wholesome story about two aspiring Olympic gymnists. It has a strong focus on the importance of friendships and how they can empower you. I've seen a book approach queer gymnists and disabilities like this one, and it was refreshing to read about! I was pleasantly surprised how, even though this book is set in the midwest, it's a queernormative world where there was no discrimination or homophobia depicted.

I enjoyed this story about two gymnasts dealing with their own struggles and forging a friendship together. Having a main character who is hard of hearing and seeing someone work so hard to be able to communicate with her was pleasant to see. I got invested in the story and enjoyed the family dynamics as well. I did feel it ended somewhat abruptly and I was a bit bummed we never really got to explore the characters forming a more romantic relationship together. Regardless, I still enjoyed it and would read more from this author.

A really lovely and sweet graphic novel. A coming-of-age story centred around friendship and figuring out who one is within the world. It also touches on anxiety and fear and how to overcome those barriers.

When Riley moves to a new town and starts a new gymnastics team she’s vulnerable, especially with still dealing with the grief of her father. Being Deaf poses a new challenge by being surrounded by people she doesn’t know and who don’t know her yet. Upon meeting Riley, Kota sets out to learn ASL to be able to communicate better with Riley, but at first because she isn’t very experienced she instead uses written communication to talk to Riley through the form of notes in a notebook they both share. They each open up to one another about their fears and form a wholesome friendship.

What I really loved about this graphic novel was the continuous use of sign language and other forms of communication to verbal interactions. There was a quick guide illustration of ASL within the graphic novel which I found to be very useful—a great way to normalise the use of sign language through media such as GNs.

The representation—of both deafness and the foreshadowing of queerness—here was so well written and give the dignity it deserves. A quick and enjoyable read, i just wish the ending wasn’t so abruptly and we could have gotten a bit more on Riley and Kota.

Thank you to Netgalley, the Author and Publisher for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book was an ARC from Netgalley.

I really liked this story! I enjoyed seeing representation of characters using ASL to communicate, and I also really loved the setting (Midwest babes ❤️) it’s a good story about anxiety and friendship with the backdrop of competing in gymnastics.

This was a cute story, but it felt much too simplistic for my tastes. Not a lot happens in this story, and what does happen feels a little lackluster? It's hard to explain, it has almost Life is Strange vibes to it, but is somehow very bland as well. I also didn't know the story was meant to be happening during the 1990s until I noticed one of the photos had 1996 written on it. Nothing about the story nor the fashion say the 90s. It all felt fairly modern to me, though I admit 1990s and 2000s fashion is slowly coming back right now, so that might be influencing my opinion on that factor a little bit. The characters themselves were very cute and fairly believable. I just didn't really connect to any of the characters, though I mildly enjoyed their dynamics. This would honestly feels like it was meant to be a Disney Channel movie from the early 2000s, and I mean that in a positive way. The art style I personally didn't care for, but there was nothing wrong with it on a technical level. The way the gymnastic action scenes were drawn felt a bit weird, but hey, it's really hard to show things like gymnastics or dance in a drawn format.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

thanks to netgalley for the eARC!!
this was lovely ♥️ very sweet and healthy dynamics
lesbians + good communication in romance = everything a girl can hope for

Such a lovely graphic novel about friendship and supporting the people you care about. When Riley joins a new gymnastics team she feels really vulnerable. In addition to moving to a new town and her papa died recently, Riley is hard of hearing and relies on ASL to communicate. She feels isolated from the other girls and misses her support system. Thankfully there is Kota, a kind and creative kid who eagerly learns ASL to be able to welcome Riley as a teammate and friend. The two grow closer and develop a really beautiful friendship. The artwork wasn't my favorite, I think it was the chosen color palette, but the story as a whole is great.

A really lovely coming of age graphic novel detailing the developing friendship between Kota and Riley, both talented gymnasts. Riley is Deaf and reeling from the unexpected loss of one of her dads. She thinks that by isolating herself she can keep her heart safe from more pain. Kota works hard to build a friendship - learning ASL and opening up about her own fears.

I lived the spare, clear art style and great representation. I just felt I needed a little bit more of the story to round things off.

I really enjoyed this book. It was well written. It hit some hard subjects. And it addressed them with grace and dignity. It just felt like it rushed to an ending. I just felt like there were like 20 pages missing at the end. But I liked it.

This was such a cute graphic novel. I love how Kota overcomes her fear of the balance beam and tries to make it to the Olympics, as well as her journey of learning American Sign Language so that she can communicate with Riley. I loved the connection between the two of them and how they grew to really lean on one another and help each other through their own struggles. I did think the book moved very fast with the pacing but I have to admit it didn't deter me from the book because I found the story and the characters to be absolutely adorable. I also love the artwork, I love graphic novels that are all grey, black, and white, with a few select colors being picked to add a pop to the art. I'm a fan of the green and blue colors because they tend to represent Riley and Kota, and I loved it.

I was a competitive gymnast until I was thirteen years old, and since then I’ve avoided pretty much anything gymnastics related (heh, trauma :D) but I’ve never seen a graphic novel about gymnastics before. Plus, it was compared to Spinning and Heartstopper in the synopsis, which are two of my favorite things, so I was very excited when I got the email that my request had been approved, and I read it in one sitting as soon as I got home.

This was a quick, easy read. My only drawback is that the plot felt a little lacking, but other than that it was really good! I loved the connection between Kota and Riley, and honestly just the friendship between all of the teammates. I also really appreciated the positivity of the coaches and the parents in the book. The depiction of Kota’s mental block about her beam series was very true to reality. And I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Riley is a homeschooler! I’m also homeschooled and it’s something I rarely see in media, so it was really nice to see it here.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for the arc!

A nice story about friendship and sports with both deaf and queer representation.

I liked the art style, the characters, and the plot, but the ending felt extremely abrupt.

2.5 rounding up because representation matters.

The story is ok. I wanted a little more... meat? A little more emotion? This has a great foundation, but I needed a little more connection.
I did not care for the art style. The color use was great. But the drawing themselves were lack luster.

I Felt Myself Slipping by Ray Nadine
4.5⭐

Thank you Netgalley, Ray Nadine, and Oni Press for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Dakota is a curious gymnast who wants to befriend her new teammate Riley, who is deaf. But when communication becomes a barrier, she tries her best to overcome it by finding different means, such as learning ASL and writing in a book. And soon, they become best friends.

This is a lovely graphic novel highlighting the importance of family and friendship in a teenager's life.

I loved how the ASL was shown. Sometimes, I found myself trying out those signs too.

It showed how teenagers struggle to make and keep friends, and how small things can affect their impressionable minds.

I also liked how there was no discrimination in this book regarding people's sexuality. It was treated as normal as heterosexuality.

The gymnastic moves were also illustrated beautifully, along with the characters and the backgrounds.

Overall, it was a simple plot with a heartwarming story, cute characters, and amazing visuals. I only expected it to have something more extra, but I liked how it was so far.

I loved the deaf and queer representation! It handles grief very well. I'll be ordering a copy for my library club as soon as I can :)

A beautifully rendered story of sports, friendship and inclusion with fantastic Deaf and queer rep. The graphics ar simple and the blue/green pallette works well to convey the characters' identities and environments. A quick read and an easy recommendation.

This is a sweet story of friendship. The story is told from the point of view of Riley, who is hard of hearing, and Kota, who wants to be her friend, and learns sign language so they can communicate.


Riley has lost her father, and her other dad has had to move out to Illinois, far from her friends. She thinks by not making friends, she can keep her heart from breaking again, should they ever leave.


Kota doesn’t get this. She desperately wants to be friends, and does everything she can to break through to Riley.


It is a sweet opening of friendship and competitiveness. A quick read with use of color limited to blues and greens, unless there is a major breakthrough, and then we get more. I liked that real ASL is used in the story, as well as the alphabet.


I’m going to say that although this is a friendship story, and not a romance, the same dynamics are there, of feeling less or feeling more, and wondering if they can both find happiness with each other.


This book is coming out on the 10th of September. Thanks to Netgalley for making this novel available for an honest review.

I Felt Myself Slipping is a graphic novel about the friendship between Riley and Kota, who are both high level gymnasts competing for a chance at the Olympics. The book focused primarily on their relationship and individual struggles instead of gymnastics. Riley is hard of hearing and the graphic novel did a great job of illustrating ASL and its importance. The illustrations were great! I personally would have liked more color in the illustrations, but the vibe was still clear.

I thought this one was super cute, and it was great disability and queer representation. Thanks to Ray Nadine, Net Galley, and Oni Press for the chance to review this graphic novel!

Oh how absolutely lovely this was! I loved everything, from the gorgeous art to the depiction of friendship, sports-related anxiety, intrusive thoughts and grief. A fantastic graphic novel!

Absolute 5 out of 5.

The art style is classic and clean in a beautiful way and the story is just heartwarming. It is nice to see a story of two (presumed) queer characters who don't necessarily have a romantic relationship, but develop a deep and special friendship.

The representation of the deaf community and of trauma/PTSD in sports is also spot on.