Always Raining Here: A Graphic Novel

by Hazel + Bell, Alexandra Holt, Hazel and Bell

Carter is an impulsive, fun-loving, extremely gay teen on a mission to finally hook up with any cute, single guy who will have him. Unfortunately, his options are slim. Enter recently-single Adrian, Carter's very cute, hardworking, and stressed-out target who rebuffs all of his clumsy seduction techniques. Adrian initially plays along but slams on the brakes when he realizes he is still in love with his ex.

After a messy, uninhibited night at a house party that results in Carter helping both Adrian and his best friend Maria--the two boys form a tentative friendship. As their friendship progresses through countless hangouts and a few too many pizza slices, the two become integral to one another. But can their vague relationship survive their first official hookup, Adrian's self-destructiveness, and a big fight that threatens any chance of either confessing?

Genres: Graphic Novels, Romance, LGBT, Young Adult, Queer, Contemporary, Comics

256 pages, Hardcover

First published November 11, 2025

About the author

Author and Artist comic team.
Hazel is the artist, Bell is the writer.

Comics:
Always Raining Here Volume 1 (2012)
Always Raining Here Volume 2 (2016)
Electric Bones (2022)

Light Novels:
Prison Tower (2015)
Decoy & Retrofit (2018)

Reviews

[Maia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carter is a horny teenage boy looking for a hookup with few options at his Vancouver high school. He starts an over-the-top flirtation with Adrian, one of the few other out gay students, which only serves to irritate Adrian. But they run in the same social circles and keep seeing each other at parties, at theater rehearsals, in French class. When Carter starts genuinely showing up for Adrian when he most needs a friend (or just a willing volunteer) their relationship starts to change. I first read and loved this story as a webcomic in the early 2010s, and I'm so delighted to see how successfully the story translated into a stand alone graphic novel. There's new art, bonus comics, and an epilogue story. I'm glad this queer coming of age tale will reach more readers now that it's out in bookstores!

[Jane (whatjanereads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young teen boy trying desperately to find any another gay guy in his small home town to actually falling in love with someone.
This started of really funny with Adrian being a horny idiot and getting turned down by Adrian over and over again. But while he’s kinda mildly staking him to get his attention after all he’s actually starting to like him and they become reluctant friends.
I liked the story overall and how Adrian turned into a really nice guy after all, falling hard for Adrian.
I wish Adrian’s problems with his past relationship and his parents were told a bit more detailed and actually talked about (and maybe solved in the end).

You can tell this is a bit older, since some of the jokes and actions here felt kind of inappropriate to me honestly. I’m an adult so I can tell that hooking up with someone while drunk and not accepting a no is actually not good behaviour and not super funny in real life. Since this is addressed to a YA audience I think some bits should have been reworked to a more modern manner, but maybe that’s just me.

Over all this was a fun and quick read!

Actual rating: 3,75

[Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have no nostalgia tied to this webcomic, so I found it to be just ok. This started out really funny and then took on more depth. I do wish that Adrian's character, and specifically his relationship to his parents, was explored more. We barely get any context and have to read between the lines for the story to make sense. I don't know if this was content that was originally in the webcomic and got cut, or what. You can also tell that comic started over 10 years ago--nothing overt, but some things are just clearly aged. However, I did enjoy it overall and found it to be a fun quick read.

[Malale · Rating 4 out of 5]

El cariño que siempre le he tenido siempre a este webcomic desde sus inicios, cuando seguia los uodates de las páginas semanalmente, es el que me ha hecho pillarme este tomo recopilatorio. Releerlo ha sido genial (no me acordaba de lo estupidamente gracioso que es Carter) y encima está redibujado al estilo más moderno y pulido de las autoras. Estoy contentísima con él, aunque es verdad que me ha sorprendido que este ligeramente censurado (el webcomic tiene rating +16 y este diría que es pg +13). Quizás más adelante me pille también los dos volumenes originales, para tener ambas ediciones

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Thanks to NetGalley and First Second Books for early copy for review*

The story in this was really cute and I liked how the characters evolved. I am not sure if it is because I had an advanced copy, but the art wasn't great for the whole book. Some of it was terrible and made the reading experience not as great.

[Samantha (samsbookishbrews) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️

I'm new to the world of graphic novels but I really loved this one! It was so fun getting to watch Carter and Adrian fall in love without even realizing it was happening. I also really enjoyed having the graphics! I will definitely be reading more graphic novels in the future.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sweet love story, once we get past the problematic beginning.


While I really enjoyed the character development of these two characters, Carter and Adrian, what I didn’t like was that Carter couldn’t take no for an answer, when he tried to “court” Adrian. This got a bit uncomfortable. But once Carter started to see more of Adrian, other than just a hot boy to pursue, and saw him as a human being he could enjoy hanging out with, the story got soooo much better.


As the story developed and we saw that Adrian was a theater nerd and that Carter started watching the rehearsals and even volunteered to go pick up scenery, we see how these two could get together in the end.


Not quite on a par with Heartstopper, but what is. 🙂


Originally a webcomic, apparently the first half had to be redrawn because the artist had gotten so much better, while they wrote it.


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book is being published on the 11th of November 2025.

[ChristineReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Always Raining Here" is a lighthearted graphic novel that captures someone chasing love in all the wrong ways. Carter is impulsive and goes for what he wants, oftentimes without considering what others might want or even if they want the same thing.

I felt like this story started a little rocky for me. I am glad I continued reading, not only because it was cute and fun at the end of the day but also because we really get to experience character growth in both Carter and Adrian. We see both of them grow into themselves and ultimately into their relationship with each other. If you were to ask me where this shines, that would be where.

If you love graphic novels and lighthearted reads that celebrate queer love and characters I Would absolutely recommend this. Thank you to the publisher for providing an advanced readers copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

3.75 rounded up to 4 out of 5 stars

[Mariana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this story so much!! I think I’ve read it three times already over the years. This new version with the updated pages is even better. I really like Carter and Adrian, and I love their story. The art is a little inconsistent but it makes sense when you remember that it was drawn over the course of several years, artists evolve after all.

[Sepk]

Nogle gange ik. Så handler livet om at læse det samme yaoi-slop igen og igen og

[Minna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pub date: November 11th, 2025!!

This was so cute! I am devastated that this is a standalone!! I need more of them!! This graphic novel covered harder topics than I had anticipated from the summary, and I still had a great time. I thought with how the graphic novel started it would be on the goofier side, which it was at times, but there was also some difficult situations a teenager might face included in here, and I really like how the authors navigated through that.

But ESSENTIALLY, this was about a horny teenager who thinks all he wants is a casual hook up, but ends up falling in love, and somehow that had me emotional by the end. This novel covered such a real relationship, and the struggles between two people who are learning to communicate how they feel towards each other, and also who are still trying to figure out who they are and what they want. I wasn't initially sure how the story was going to play out, but I was so surprised to find myself tearing up at the end.

I absolutely adored the art style, and loved the little extra mini story/panels! They were sooo cute!!! I honestly could have read another 100 pages of them. I really hope they decide to make another one with these characters. And my only complaint is that I know that this was originally released from 2010/2011, but with it being remade, I think that the word "Hogwarts" could have been left out of this published version.

Thank you netgalley and first second books for this arc!

4.25 ⭐️

[fanboyriot · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was actually really cute. The art style was so pretty and the characters were amazing. Carter was such a funny character and I adored him and Adrian was such a lovable character too. They fell for each other all the while not even realizing it, which is a great plot point.

(Note: I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity.)

Read For
✓ Small Town
✓ Hate to Love
✓ Hurt/Comfort
✓ Good Friendships
✓ Young Adult (High School)

⚠️ Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Transphobia, Police brutality
Minor: Cursing, Racism

𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊

Spice Level: 🌶️
Sad Level: 💧💧

Plot: 9/10
Ending: 10/10
Characters: 9/10
Enjoyability: 10/10
Would I Recommend? Yes
Favorite Character: Carter

Pages: 256
Format: ebook
Language: English
Release Date: 11, November 2025
Rep/Extras: Gay (main characters)

[Starr ❇✌❇ · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the set up and 2013-ness of it all originally knocked me off kilter in my expectations, I found the romance in this book to be one that I could get really invested in, and all the characters ones I enjoyed spending time with! Carter goes through monumental change- in anway that doesn't necessarily always feel realistic, but still- but from the beginning to the end he's fun to read about and brimming with personality. While I wish that Adrian felt quite as layered, I still thought he was a well formed character- and they both had not just reasons to like them as individuals, but obvious reasons to be interested in each other, something that's surprisingly rare, especially in something as short as a graphic novel.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you need a new fix that now that Heartstopper has ended, Always Raining Here will help fill that gap. This queer love story starts out a little hard. But you grow to love the main character. By the end, it’s just so bleeping happy. These are two guys who maybe shouldn’t like each other but they do. There are things about growing up and family expectations. Apparently, this was a Web comic that’s been turned into a full book for First Second. It translates well, but there are occasional jump scenes where it feels like there might be something missing in between. But overall, the story works well. I know once you read it, you’ll want more.

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for this ARC!

🌧️❤️

Always Raining Here is a very cute and fun story. The two main characters, Adrian and Carter, are complete opposites of one another and start of on rocky grounds but manage to be drawn to one another.

Adrian is a ‘go with the flow’ kind if gut and Carter is a ‘goody two shoes and always studying’. The banter between the two main characters is actually pretty good and eventually you can start seeing the adoration for one another throughout the story.

Funny, cute and sweet!

[AkiDave · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading this stories years ago online. Years after that, I was at Disney Springs (Downtown Disney), reading it on the Webtoon app and realizing that I’ve read this story before. Now in 2025, I bought the ebook version of this and had that realization once again, that I’ve read this book before.

It’s almost beautiful in a way? That a story comes into your life at certain moments. Wonder if this story will come back into my life again, years later. Where will I be? Who will I be?

Who knows? And I wonder most of all, why?

[Carly Gesell]

dnf @25%

this graphic novel was not for me, maybe i have just grown out of YA which is very possible. i couldn't get over the toxic beginning the relationship had. the continual hitting on someone after being told no or being turned down rubbed me the wrong way. and some of the language i found to be a bit vulgar or offensive for this to be considered a young adult read.

thank you to first second books and netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

started off a little iffy, the first third or so felt like it was written for a different demographic (and it’s a teen book and i’m not a teen soooo…). but i’m glad i stuck with it, it was a cute story and i liked how it progressed!

[Tye Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely adorable. I would die for these two.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc!

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[james · Rating 4 out of 5]

lowkey inflated rating because the lower mainland late 2000s setting was so nostalgic and good

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s sweet to see these two hooligans figure themselves (and each other) out. Also the art is adorable!

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars...this was cute. I don't think it's going to be particularly memorable for me but I had a good time reading it.

[Lisa Pineo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought about this book for a while before writing the review. I liked it quite a bit at first but some things started occurring to me and it went down a star. I was happy to see the book set in the Great Vancouver area as that's where I live. The way it was described was weird though. I guess since this isn't set in the present time it's not as weird that there are so few LGBTQ people out in the guys' school but even set 10 or so years ago it still seems a bit odd. And no, it's not always raining here. At first I liked the two main characters, Carter and Adrian, but after a while I got uncomfortable with Carter's constant stalking and asking Adrian out. Yes, things were working out for them by the end of the book but really, take a hint and stop when someone tells you no. It's not an invitation to badger them into hanging out or going out or sex. I liked how Carter mellowed a bit and Adrian's anxiety was also lessened over time. I think I enjoyed the art most of all. While I enjoyed the story overall, I don't think I'll feel much of a draw to read the next in the series.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really sweet graphic novel, but it unfortunately opens on a consentless pursuit that's really off putting until some character development begins to happen within the first quarter of the book. I could easily see Carter's introduction encouraging people to close the book. Once you move past Carter's invasiveness and boundary crossing, his story intertwining with the complicated and overworked Adrian's left me wanting more. I really loved the art style and the depth of the color palette as well. I do wish that more of the subplots were wrapped up and not just left unfinished (the theater performance, Adrian's ex, etc) and that the initial consent issues were addressed more directly instead of being dismissed as a part of character development.

Thanks to NetGalley and First Second Books for the arc!

[Elaine White · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to this, but...actually, I was really disappointed.

There was unnecessary sexism (male opinions about women), a HUGE focus on sex, and there was an attempted date rape scene that really had no place in the story and felt completely unnecessary.

Honestly, there was a huge frat boy mentality to both MC's. I've read novels about adults who act more like teenagers than these two do. They alternated between horny frat boys and too jaded for their age.

I was expecting far more cuteness, some teen angst, but in the end it was just a bit meh. There was no real resolution or explanation to what was going on with Adrian's parents, and the other guy (I've honestly forgotten his name already) spends half the book shamelessly stalking him just because Adrian is the other only gay guy in school who is half decent to look at. He magically falls in love with Adrian, despite knowing NOTHING about him.

I might have given this a 3* for potential, but honestly, it's a 2* in reality.

[Sesana · Rating 1 out of 5]

A webcomic created over a decade ago. In some ways, it shows. I like to think that few modern romances would start with one character spending weeks unrelentingly sexually harassing the other and expect the reader to root for their supposed romance. At no point did I feel any authentic, mutual chemistry between these characters, much less anything like love. There's also some sloppy plotting. There should be a subplot about one of the characters clashing with his parents, but it simply doesn't happen on the page. We're missing all of the context about how the situation gets to where it does, we skip over any actual conversations the characters have, and there's no resolution of any kind provided.

[Rhiannon 🤍✨🐀 · Rating 2 out of 5]

For as much as I liked the artwork, this actual story was pretty off-putting. It’s very awkward at the start with teens propositioning for sex? Stalker turned boyfriend? Idk this whole comic was a miss for me and there’s way better coming of age queer comics imho Thank you NetGalley and First Second Books for the chance to read this arc in exchange for my honest review.

[Noel · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF P 32
tdlr; Weird to base a book for teenagers written by adults on soliciting sex from another teenager through harassment. Strange. Creepy even. Skip this one and pick something else, especially if you're ace-spec. Also, some formatting is off.

***

I don't usually write reviews on DNF, but this book started off in such an uncomfortable way I needed to talk about how gross this felt to read. There was no way I was going to push myself to continue reading this through the ick. I could tell it was a web-comic based on the page design and layout, though this was one I don't think I ever read (despite the art looking kind of familiar). I have more to say about that later.

First, the content. I will admit, I half-read the summary because the cover was pretty and a coworker passed it on to me to check out. But wow, the plot of a YA-GN starting with the creepiest discussions of teenagers wanting to have sex was not what I expected. I get it, teenagers have sex, and a lot of YA books imply that. Whatever. What I did manage to get through sounded more like a horny adult trying their best to sound like a horny adult talking about teenage boys, which was... upsetting. And made me feel like I needed to take a shower and look for the authors' names in the Epstein Files. (Granted, it could've also been a teenage writer trying really hard to sound like an adult by focusing on an "mature" topic.) Plus, one of the main characters harassing the other for sex was grossly reminiscent of being stalked. Not enjoyable. I could see a younger teen enjoying this GN, thinking this is how older teenagers act. If I was still 14, for example, and read this online as it was published, I probably would've enjoyed it! But I am no longer 14 and now find adult authors writing about teenagers like this to be disturbing. The plot probably would've better suited AF, GN or not. There are far better queer coming-of-age books/GNs and authors for teens to choose from that don't talk about sex like it's integral to a relationship and growing into your identity. Or maybe I'm just too asexual for this book. Idk.

Aside from a mention of underage drinking, I didn't run into anything worse like other reviewers talk about. The 32 pages I did read sounded like the 2014 Wattpad fanfiction idea of how teenage mlm relationships work, as written by a middle school girl. Looking at the original publish dates after saying that, I'm not sure if it should be embarrassing that I could identify that line of logic exactly. Funny enough, I think there were other web-comics that handled queer relationships more maturely during this GN's original run. (Hooky is one I can think of off the top of my head. Look, there weren't many options back then. Although honestly I would maybe even consider Homestuck to have handled queer relationships/identities better, even with all of its problems. OTL)

As for the formatting, I don't know if I've ever seen a worse web-comic print-version. Like, jeez. The thumbnail sketches used to break up sections for digital reading look like stretched .pngs with enhanced quality just so they fill an entire page. Because the images kept the quality you can clearly tell they weren't meant to be seen at the size they ended up as in print; the brushes used create sketchy artifacts around lines that look great in small doodles but look awful sized-up. The framing for everything except the thumbnail doodles is fine, though if you've read other printed web-comics you can tell it was meant to be read digitally. The art itself is fine and very cute at times.

Here are 3 queer YA-GNs you could read instead:
• Heartstopper / Alice Oseman
• Nimona / N.D. Stevenson
• Encore! / Miles Toriko Burks

*Checked out from a public library. Support your local library and engage with the community!!

[Jenny Radloff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diese Graphic Novel erzählt die Geschichte von Carter und Adrian. Carter hat gerade entdeckt, dass er schwul ist, und möchte unbedingt sexuelle Erfahrungen sammeln; allerdings gibt es in seinem Umfeld nur wenig Optionen dafür, weshalb er Adrian ins Visier nimmt. Adrian ist jedoch unglücklich verliebt und überhaupt nicht begeistert von Carters plumpen Annäherungsversuchen.

Diese süße, queere Young Adult Geschichte hat mich von Anfang an in den Bann gezogen, auch wenn mir Carter erst mit der Zeit sympathisch wurde. Ich mochte Carters Entwicklung im Verlauf der Handlung und auch die Themen, die hier aufgegriffen werden und die viele junge Menschen beschäftigen, wie schulischer Leistungsdruck, Sexualität und Selbstliebe. Die Geschichte hat sich die Zeit genommen, die Beziehung der beiden zueinander authentisch entstehen zu lassen, wie aus Fremden Freunde und schließlich vielleicht auch mehr werden konnte. Auch hatte ich so die Gelegenheit, die beiden Protagonisten kennen und verstehen zu lernen, was bei vielen anderen Graphic Novels zu kurz kommt. Es gab ein paar Dinge, zu denen ich mir noch mehr gewünscht hätte, bspw. wie Carter am Anfang seine sexuelle Orientierung entdeckt hat oder wie Adrian am Ende zu seinen Eltern steht. Die Geschichte hat einen guten Abschluss, aber meiner Meinung nach besteht auch Potenzial für eine Fortsetzung.

Die Art und Weise, wie die Geschichte visuell dargestellt wurde, hat mir wahnsinnig gut gefallen. Ich mag den Zeichenstil und die Farben sehr. Lediglich die Sprechblasen waren für mich manchmal etwas irritierend angeordnet.

Fazit:
Eine wahnsinnig schöne queere Geschichte über Freundschaft, Liebe und Selbstwert, die ich nicht nur jüngeren Leser:innen absolut empfehlen kann.


in English:

This graphic novel tells the story of Carter and Adrian. Carter has just discovered that he is gay and is eager to gain sexual experience; however, there are few options available to him in his environment, which is why he sets his sights on Adrian. Adrian, however, is unhappy in love and not at all enthusiastic about Carter's clumsy advances.

This sweet, queer young adult story captivated me from the start, even though it took me a while to warm up to Carter. I liked Carter's development over the course of the plot and also the themes that are addressed here and that concern many young people, such as academic pressure to perform, sexuality, and self-love. The story took the time to let the relationship between the two develop authentically, showing how strangers could become friends and eventually perhaps even more. This also gave me the opportunity to get to know and understand the two protagonists, which is something that many other graphic novels fail to do. There were a few things I would have liked to see more of, such as how Carter discovered his sexual orientation at the beginning or how Adrian stands by his parents at the end. The story has a good completion, but in my opinion there is also potential for a sequel.

I really liked the way the story was visually presented. I really like the drawing style and the colors. Only the speech bubbles were sometimes a little confusing arranged for me.

Conclusion:
An incredibly beautiful queer story about friendship, love, and self-esteem that I can absolutely recommend, and not just to younger readers.