How Could You

by Ren Strapp, Tayden Kovac (letterer)

Falling in love? Scary. Falling for your best friend? Terrifying. Naming all the ways your heart hurts? Impossible. College upperclassman Molly Song is set on getting over her ex this semester, but it's hard when she dumps you via email and posts all over social media about cozying up with her study-abroad roommate. After convincing her friend Lou Kingston that they should go to parties and find rebound girlfriends, Molly learns she should be careful what she wishes for when she starts to develop real feelings for someone she’s not sure feels the same way. Meanwhile, Molly and Lou’s exes, Yona and Olene, have left their pasts behind as they study abroad in France. Together they see springtime in Marseille, find new friendships, and uncover new personal truths. Will their whirlwind trip bloom into a whirlwind romance, or will their journeys to self-discovery put them on different paths entirely? College is a time to find yourself, but what could you stand to lose along the way? Lessons of the heart abound in How Could You, a queer debut graphic novel from Ren Strapp, perfect for fans of Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me and Heartstopper.

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

Kindle Edition

Published December 18, 2024

Reviews

[jagodasbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

okey, this was a lot to take in, there was so many characters for 200 page comic book and they all were connected and I was wondering who's whose ex and it was very character driven, I liked it though, it was fast and the artwork is pretty

Thank you Netgalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

a stunning debut! prefaced by "for anyone who learned lessons the hard way and paid dearly for it," this queer graphic novel is brimming with drama, angst, growth, and redemption.

i was reminded of jillian tamaki's roaming. they are both about a young queer friend group, their baby gay drama, and all the messy angst that comes with it. how could you also has a lot of heartbreak, the anguish of a breakup, and coping by any means possible, even when it hurts those around you.

it's impressive that this is a debut, because ren strapp's art is impeccable. i especially loved the trippy nightmare sequences, dreamy beautiful and painful all at once. there are some lovely pages of bonus content at the back of the book, where strapp talks about her intentional use of color. not only does each character have a color designated to them, but panel color schemes convey moods very effectively. i love the interplay between passion and disaster.

the ending is superb - that classic moment of shaving your head to cleanse yourself, to move forward to something new, all with the hope that your fresh new chapter will be a healthier one.

i loved this book, its vibrant art, its messy drama, and its on-point depiction of the sensation of being trapped inside your own emotions. i'll be keeping an eye out for whatever else ren strapp may release in the future 🖤

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

[on storygraph (macclown) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't really know what to say, I really didn't vibe with this at all. Maybe it's relatable to some queer people out there, but none of this felt relatable to me. Well, the rage and gurdge-holding and envy was relatable, but the "messiness" was hard for me to get through. I also didn't find any redeeming qualities in any of the characters, literally none of them were likeable? So I was in no way invested in what happened to any of them. Well, I liked Lou, but they were just overshadowed by all the other characters.

Obviously very subjective, and this might really be relatable to others out there. Just very much not for me.

ARC courtesy of NetGalley.

[Mehsi · Rating 1 out of 5]

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

WOW, everyone was a piece of shit (well, OK, not Lou, Lou is a precious baby and deserves better. Oh, and I guess Jackie isn't the worst either, but they are just side-characters). But Anjali? Go the fuck away and stay away, wtf is up with you? Molly? OMG I hated her so much and all her dramaticness and overdumbness. Olene? Fuck off. Stay in France or just go even further away. Yona? Please just disappear. All the drama, the messy shit, the problems, and how no one seemed to learn anything. I just wanted to punch all the people for all the shit they do. LORD. I kept hoping that maybe someone would find a brain but no the pit of despair just got bigger on each page and the punchability of these characters grew.
But hey, I did like the art. A lot.

What a fucking disappointment.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Received this book via a NetGalley ARC) This was delightful! It was cute and ugly and real all at the same time. The art was beautiful, and as someone who was (and is) queer in college, and part of a queer friend group, the highs and lows of this are so realistic. I loved the representation in this and I would totally recommend it as a good and super quick read.

[taylor ⛅️ ann wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you, NetGalley for this advanced readers copy of How Could You by Ren Strapp!

This graphic novel was all about the entanglement of queer friendships and relationships. It was such a fun read! I found myself laughing and giggling and feeling genuine empathy for these characters.

It reminded me how much I love stories that take place on college campuses.

The ending was a little lacking for me. And it was pretty difficult to root for one of the main characters. But overall the art and the story was good!

3⭐️ (a solid read)

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the art, the colours, the cover. But I am a bit disappointed with the story setting and the characters’ interactions. There isn’t a flow to it.

Friends who do not understand you; breakups, finding partners and yourself - this graphic novel has it but I feel we need a story to tell and discuss especially if it involves a main character hurting from the very beginning.

Thank you, Oni Press, for the ARC.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging debut full of queer college drama between sapphic friends, roommates, and lovers over the course of their spring semester. Break ups, one-sided crushes, hook-ups, and situationships fill this aptly named graphic novel in which multiple characters make some questionable decisions.

I enjoyed the flawed characters that I didn’t necessarily love but felt accurate to the sometimes self-centered scrambling for affection and meaning that can be part of late teens and early twenties. There is a prevalence of very cute sapphic love stories and coming of age stories, many of which I really like, but it’s great to see some variety of messy characters and big mistakes.

I do wish we had a bit more time with Lou and Molly (maybe if they were roommates and Jackie had a smaller role as someone who invited them to a party, and the ex was Yona’s friend, so we had more of a cast of 5 vs 6) so we could at least see why they’ve been best friends for years, as we only saw Molly’s post-break-up self-centered behavior and zero positive interactions between them. It felt a bit too far on the side of unlikable characters.

I liked the use of color, the diverse cast, and the variety in how panels were sized and framed to keep it interesting. I liked the ending and the focus on self-growth and that some big mistakes can’t be undone or hugged out. I’d read more by Ren Strapp in the future.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Oni Press, and this is my honest review.

Sapphic September Categories: 2024 Release, Less Than 1000 GR Reviews, Disaster Sapphics, Quick Read, New Author (Debut)

[Andrew Eder · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Messy messy messy! Everyone breaks up with their gf to start dating each other and then cheats on each other with someone else’s new gf. It’s super dramatic and there’s some strong natural consequences to friendships for bad behavior. I liked the firm lessons this teaches and I really liked alllll the drama.

Unfortunately, each character is VERY simple and surface level. There is really zero depth to anything here. And it just ends a little too happy ending. It overall seemed incredibly unrealistic and over the top.

[nara ᵔ◡ᵔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

okay so i finished this months ago and thought i already wrote a review?? ANYWAY i really enjoyed this!! i loved how real the characters were - their struggles aren't just instantly resolved and there is genuine growth shown in each of the characters! i also appreciated how real the ending was and the artstyle is GORGEOUS!! highly recommend!

[Gracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute queer chaotic endearing graphic novel set in college (could very well be Ithaca college.) the ups and downs and jealousy and feelings are veryyy real. And the color palette is beautiful

[Niina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ihana piirrostyyli, mutta ihan kamalan tympeää suhdesoppaa. Plussaa sateenkaarevista ja moninaisista hahmoista.

[emery · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book from NetGalley.

This felt very real in a very messy and chaotic way. The messy intertwining of queer friendship groups felt very relatable. Figuring out your sexuality and who your friends are and who you are as a person *is* messy and chaotic. None of the characters felt 100% likeable which I actually enjoyed because they felt more real that way. They all had flaws and things to work on and grow from. And there’s nothing more lesbian than falling for your best friend and making your life a mess because of it haha

Side note, I am fully obsessed with this art style! It was stunning to look at the whole time, especially when portraying the characters strong emotions.

[Angelina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this graphic novel a lot, the artwork was cute and cozy. The characters were realistic for me and behaved like human beings who make mistakes. I liked that this graphic novel showed there are consequences for the actions they took. The romances were amazing to read about too!

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

How Could You is the debut graphic by Ren Strapp and follows the relationships of a group of queer women at college. I really enjoyed this story and the characters felt really tangibly clueless about how to navigate their feelings in the way that you do when you’re just starting out in life as a queer adult.

This book gave me similar vibes to Mimosa by Archie Bongiovanni, with a more new adult spin, although realistically it reads more Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me but every single character is Laura Dean.

Some reviewers have been turned off by how messy or unlikeable many of the characters are, but for me that is what young queer relationships are like - too many feelings and no brakes; in a world that feels so tiny and yet so vast compared to years of not understanding yourself. I was charmed, your mileage may vary.

Strapp’s character designs and layouts also really shine here - the beats that really embraced whimsy and cartoonish breaks in the form really added a sense of levity to this story of heavy emotions.

[Nes🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 2 out of 5]

“What’s a kiss between friends?”

How could you is a story about five queer college friends who are dealing with messy relationship drama. I’m not a huge fan of this one,I think the art is really cool and the character designs were well done. Unfortunately the characters themselves were really unlikable except for Lou who deserves some justice.

The thought process for some of the characters choices were so bizarre, some of them were just plain rotten and upsetting. I understand that they’re human and everyone makes mistakes so I’m not judging them too harshly but again justice for Lou!


It kind of ended abruptly and I wish we found out more about everyone else’s end.

Thank you NetGalley and to Oni Press for giving me this Arc in exchange for my honest review!

[Manon the Malicious · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was provided an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an extremely fast read but I didn't get into it. The characters felt pretty surface level, they lacked a little depth and I just didn't truly care about their "love" stories. I didn't really feel the feelings, it was all a bit surface level really. There were so many terrible decisions that just came out of nowhere and I was just left confused. It almost felt like it should have had a first volume or something that I missed. I basically didn't get it.

[Sara R · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adored the art and colours. The little drawings of food were delicious. Marseille! The parties!

There was a lot of tenderness and an unbelievable amount of messiness, but in a fun way. The story gets a little hard to follow at times, and I'd hoped for a more satisfying resolution, but overall it was lovely. Lou is a precious baby <3



Thank you Netgalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.

[Val · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book so perfectly captured the hot mess that's so often the life of early twenties queers, I loved it so much. It was fun to laugh at how silly they (and I) were, and remember how hard emotions were, and be so glad I'm not there anymore while somehow still missing it. The book itself was also so gorgeous, I loved the movement and colors and character design so much!

[Aster]

messy college relationship drama

[Nat V · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately a miss for me. The only character with any likeability was Lou (loved her), and she was a side character. The general premise of the book is that Molly, the main character, is apparently hated by everyone for being self involved and ignorant of issues outside of her personal ones, but it literally doesn't come off that way in the book??? Like she comes off as a normal person? If you ask me, she made ONE major mistake (sleeping with her bestie's situationship) and the rest of her actions are normal human responses to things - meanwhile all of Molly's "friends" are telling her to go to hell/get out of their lives/you are nothing to no one. If I was Molly I would literally need psychiatric intervention for the way these girls shred her. So out of pocket. And in the end she ends up friendless and in a forced-roommate situation with one of the other shitty characters. Also, they absolutely rip into one of the side characters for exploring her sexuality (Lesbian--->bi---->straight pipeline) and deciding she's straight? Speaking as a queer person, show support for everyone's journey or get out of my face.

Everyone in this book is a horrible person except for Lou (and a little bit Molly although she made that one poor choice)

[Joyfully Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Joyfully Jay review.

4 stars

This graphic novel, story and art both by the author, is a slice-of-life story that takes place over the course of one year in Molly’s life as she mourns a lost relationship, decides to move past it, and makes a stupid decision that will cost her everything. Because Molly is hurting. She’s also selfish, needy, and lost. That isn’t an excuse for her actions, but it’s part of the underlying snarl of why she decides to make her bad decision.

This book is 80% buildup, and then all the fallout of Molly’s shitty choices.

Read Elizabeth’s review in its entirety here.

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

How Could You is extremely well written and one of the most accurate depictions of modern campus life that I can remember reading.

It also fills a weird gap that I think is actually pretty important in that the main characters are gay women but for the most part they kind of suck. This a geniune compliment in that they are extremely well written and believable but they are (intentionally written as) not awesome people who can get better. I think that young men have forever had this representation in characters such as Holden Caulfield and the like but it is rare to see gay or women characters fit in this role so its pretty cool of How Could You.

[Lüdi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Oni Press for the arc provided to reviewers

This is quite possibly messiest graphic novel that has ever existed–and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It follows a group of college friends who hook up with, break up with, and date each other. It's like the Fleetwood Mac of friend groups. I think it took it just a *smidge* too far but I also think stories about college students making a lot of mistakes are important.

I liked the pacing and the character design and I think the slight exploration of queer identities was well done.

[Laura Beam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel had such a great artist style. My star rating is mainly just because the story was really messy (as in the characters were messy, not the execution of the art/plot) and didn't seem to really have any resolution. I think my feelings around it are more because I don't love a messy unlikeable character as much as others do. And I like there to be resolution at the end of a book. However, I thought the art was great, the layouts were great, and the characters were diverse. There was disability rep, a variety of queer rep, and some fun settings.

[Hello · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a comic about a group of lesbians who study and university and party. Ow and all of them are exes. 🙂 I liked it enough but it's a bit short for my taste. Plus there are 6 characters and it's a bit difficult to keep track of everyone. I am sorry I can't remember anyone's names. They get in all sorts of funny, awkward and "WHY did you do that?" kinda situations.

You do not drag an introvert to a party to then abandon them. 😡

I also wish I had rich parents lol.

Thank you Netgalley and Oni Press for providing me with free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

the artwork was absolutely amazing, but i really didn’t like any of these characters. they were all very petty and shitty towards each other. i really don’t think it’s a good portrayal of queer 20 year olds, and any time one of the MC kisses the other, there was no consent or confirmation they liked them too, which was super fucking weird

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

[m. neral · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t really write reviews for casual reads anymore, but this book pissed me off.

All of these bitches are dumb and mean and no one takes responsibility for anything. Everyone SUDDENLY hating Molly because she did some shady shit makes no sense when they all are shady the whole time! The last part of the book made me feel sick from how ignorant it all seemed.

If you went to an all “women’s” school and experienced trauma don’t read this because like- been there done that. No one NEEDED this book. I’m sorry! 😡

[Kory · Rating 4 out of 5]

These kids are messy as hell. Maybe it’s good I never had a relationship in college to make me messy as hell.

Also I love how affirming everything in this comic is. People are just on the LGBTQ+ spectrum (mostly L and T, with some +) and exist. There’s a hint at bigotry, but it’s not overwhelming or sad. It’s just all these folks are around and having messy lives like all(?) college students.

[Caitlin Holloway · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story was so lovely and complex at the same time, with so many interwoven characters that were beautifully designed and written. I struggled with the pacing occasionally but it was a good read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for this ARC!