tl;dr wonderful sapphic graphic novel with a super wholesome ending
Premise
Annie is a smart, antisocial lesbian starting her senior year of high school who’s under pressure to join the cheerleader squad to make friends and round out her college applications. Her former friend BeeBee is a people-pleaser—a trans girl who must keep her parents happy with her grades and social life to keep their support of her transition. Through the rigors of squad training and amped up social pressures (not to mention micro aggressions and other queer youth problems), the two girls rekindle a friendship they thought they’d lost and discover there may be other, sweeter feelings springing up between them.
Rating
4/5 stars
Review
This was such a cute read! Cheer Up is a sapphic graphic novel about Annie and Bebe: Annie is relatively antisocial but is forced to join the cheerleading team to round out her college applications, and Bebe is a trans girl newly elected cheer captain who struggles with overprotective parents, her identity, and other issues. I liked how the author was able to illustrate both Annie and Bebe's development and the issues that they faced, such as microaggressions and battling societal stereotypes, while keeping the graphic novel light-hearted. I also loved the representation of the characters and how diverse the cast was! The only reason that this isn't 5 stars is that it left me wanting more. Some plot points felt a bit rushed, so I would've loved greater fleshing out of the relationship between Annie and Bebe or some of the conflicts that they encountered.
Other Info
Standalone
12+
Rep: Latina trans girl mc, plus size mc, sapphic main romance, non binary sc, and other POC sc
CW: transphobia and transphobic comments, some fatphobic comments, and instances of sexual harassment
Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Cheer-Up-Pompoms-Crystal-Frasier/dp/1620109557
Would I Recommend?
Yes!
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