Outline

by Michèle Fischels

The last year of school before graduation has begun . . . a time when the world seems the same but when everything will change.

For Ben, who is determined to enjoy the end of summer with his girlfriend, Clara, the mood gradually darkens as she begins to withdraw in a similar manner as his best friend, Andreas, had, and without explanation.

While tensions grow between Ben and Clara through the school year, Andreas struggles with his own demons, and suddenly final exams are upon them along with the inevitable questions from friends and family alike: What are you doing after school? Where will you enroll? Will you move out? What’s next? Maybe the answer for Ben and his classmates is to simply slow down and take a deep breath . . .

Outline is creator Michèle Fischels’s impressive graphic novel debut, in which she demonstrates a deep relatability for that special phase in which we cautiously leave childhood behind and look to the future with uncertainty and anticipation.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Bande Dessinée, LGBT, Young Adult, Coming Of Age, Contemporary

208 pages, Hardcover

First published September 9, 2024

Reviews

[lysyzbiblioteki]

the gays (me) yearn for another skam/druck experience and this was literally It. i obviously never want to be 18 again ever but it genuinely made me nostalgic for some parts of my teenage life. i felt so seen!!!!!!!

[Sam]

Outline is fascinating. I had no choice but to read it in one sitting. I love the art style and the use of colors are breathtaking. I enjoy how the graphics extend beyond the comic box to give the scenes even more depth. My only complaint is that it wasn’t longer.

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small]

Review to follow

[libriconfragole]

Qualcosa mi è mancato nel racconto di questi tre ragazzi che scoprono se stessi e l’amore lottando con chi vorrebbero essere e chi in realtà sono. Ci sono troppe tavole senza parole che lasciano molto al disegno - tecnica molto apprezzabile, se non fosse che costantemente si ha la sensazione che ci sfugga qualcosa. Amo molto il tratto e questo racconto di indecisione, anche se tante tematiche vengono lasciate in sospeso. Insomma: godibile, ma avrei voluto di più.

[hani]

3.5/5

Des très beaux dessins, l’utilisation de la couleur est vraiment magnifique. L’histoire reste un peu en surface, ce qui est un peu dommage, mais les personnages restent touchant.

[klaudia katarzyna]

When I requested this on NetGalley I thought I'd be in love with this graphic novel but I got disappointed. I'm not sure if I'm not the target audience anymore or I just simply wasn't enjoying the story. The illustrations weren't really speaking to me and I wasn't able to connect with the story, not anymore. I've left the high school times way behind me and I certainly do not want to get back to them.

[karlottaaa]

„was machst du nach dem abi?“ *eye starts twitching*

[Ankit Saxena]

'Outline' had the potential to be a much more emotionally engaging story, especially because it explores student life—a phase that can be one of the most memorable and transformative golden ages of a person’s life. There are many moments and aspects where the narrative could have gone deeper and allowed readers to feel more connected to the characters, their experiences, friendships, aspirations, uncertainties and everyday struggles. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, the author fails to fully collate all these elements into a cohesive and emotionally resonant portrayal of student life.

The quiet anxieties beneath youthful confidence, the intimacy of friendships, the awkwardness of becoming oneself, the exhilaration of new possibilities, and the inevitable realization that this particular chapter of life will one day exist only as memory—these could have been such many avenues through which the reader might have felt more intimately connected with the characters, but those were quiet dull. The ingredients were present, but they often remain scattered rather than converging into a fully immersive emotional experience.

The book has its moments, and the premise offers enough material for readers to relate to, but I often felt that the emotional connection remained at a distance. The characters and their experiences could have been developed with greater depth and warmth, making the nostalgia, excitement, confusion and challenges of student life feel more personal and authentic. Student life is not merely a period of education; it is duration/period of life often where people first encounter independence, uncertainty, love, failure, ambition, friendship and the gradual shaping of identity. Outline touches upon some of these dimensions, but it does not always allow them to breathe deeply enough to make the reader feel that they are living alongside these characters rather than simply observing them.

Overall, It is a decent read with an interesting foundation, but it left me wishing for a stronger emotional core and a more complete depiction of that special chapter of life, which I always cherished.

My NetGalley review

[samuel almudí]

💔💔💔
❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹

[p33€3]

aiii si hagues llegit aquest llibre quan era adolescent… pf mha encantat un grup damics que passen a la uni, les primeres relacions, lamor gei… pf A M O

[Nancy]

This astute coming-of-age graphic novel captures that time in life when everyone and everything is changing, while you struggle to get a handle on your own life. The friendship between white-cued Ben, Andreas, and Clara starts to shift in their senior year when Ben and Clara begin to date. Andreas pulls away from them and hides a dark secret, as they all grapple with what comes after graduation. Will their friendships and new romance survive when they leave school for unknown paths?

Debut author and artist Michèle Fischels illustrates with a limited color palette using greyscale, with pops of orange. Her line art is loose and evocative, while showcasing these teens' lives in minimalist panels. While this story has a European sensibility, as it was translated from German, its themes are universal, for far too many teens are too young to decide with certainty what they want to pursue after high school graduation.

Verdict: A solid choice for YA collections, it includes the melancholy lesson that some youthful friendships don't last forever, but they still were worthwhile while they lasted.

I reviewed this graphic novel for the School Library Journal magazine: https://www.slj.com/review/outline-10...

[Vincentimes]

« Il doit bien y avoir quelque chose quelque part qui me fait vibrer. »

Petite pépite que cette bd au dessin doux, drôle et tendre, qui retransmet à la perfection la fin de l’adolescence.
Avec ses personnages attachants (Andreas mon fils ma bataille), Michèle Fischels nous livre un récit d’une profonde justesse sans jamais tomber dans le cliché. En nous aussi, une petite voix s’élève alors, qui nous rappelle que c’est en vivant, en essayant et en nous perdant que nous nous découvrons chaque jour.

[Lola Cstd]

j’aime toujours le thème de coming of age/ comment on choisi son futur/ les relations dans cette période de transition, et c’est ce qu’on retrouve dans la bd mais je trouve que le traitement est assez superficiel. au même titre que le triangle amoureux/amicial aurait pu être davantage approfondi surtout que il était intéressant avec le croisement d’orientation sexuel

en tout cas les dessins étaient vraiment différent de ce que j’aime habituellement, j’ai eu du mal avec les visages mais grave aimé avec les paysages !!

[Gnapoy]

Partiamo con lo stile dei disegni: molto bello, quasi uno sketch pulito con dei colori desaturati che evocano un senso di nostalgia, in questo caso dell'adolescenza.
Per quanto riguarda la storia, carina ma a volte la narrazione non è troppo chiara: ci sono dei tagli in cui non è chiaro quanto tempo passi (io pensavo fossero all'università a metà libro e invece ops, sono ancora all'ultimo anno di liceo) e spesso dei passaggi importanti (come l'allontanamento dei due ragazzi) non vengono granché spiegati.
Il finale soprattutto l'ho trovato un po' meh rispetto al resto, però nel complesso è una graphic novel che si fa leggere ed empatizzare.

[nat ꉂ(˵˃ ᗜ ˂˵)]

evil and mean and hurtful and mean

[Hannibal]

Oh wow. That was extremely personal.
Jeżeli chcecie wiedzieć jak naprawdę wygląda koniec przyjaźni w trójkę na "pokojowych" warunkach to ten komiks idealnie to odwzorowuje. Serio.

I’m Andreas kinnie

[Alice]

Je pense que ce qui fait que je n’ai pas vraiment apprécié ma lecture c’est le fait que je ne suis pas particulièrement touchée quand je lis des livres sur l’évolution, le changement, la transition entre l’adolescence, la fin du lycée et les études sup. Et ensuite j’ai peut être trouvé l’approche très simple sans vraiment observer un point qui me fasse m’attacher aux personnages ou à l’histoire…

Cependant je tiens tout de même à notifier que le travail graphique est vraiment intéressant et agréable à lire !

[Anna]

Eh this didn't work for me. I didn't love the art style and the characters were not very dynamic. I wasn't interested in any of them and to top it all off there's a fucking Harry Potter reference which made me want to just dnf at that point but I was like 2/3 done.

I probably would have given it two stars but I always knock off a star if there's an HP reference after a 2020 publication date and this is published in the year of 2026.

[Alex Sarll]

Grabbed from Netgalley almost entirely for that cover, to which the backgrounds lived up, woods and streets and trains under vast open skies all rendered in a beautifully bittersweet autumnal palette. The foregrounds...well, my impression was that Fischels was trying to shift the style a little to fit the mood and the moment, so a character can go from sparse to regular to cartoony depending on their role in a given panel, and if so that's a great idea, but it didn't always work for me, not least because the exaggerated noses often implied a more comical story than I seemed to be reading. Which may be part of why the story mostly felt like observing the last year of school from outside, wishing the kids would sort themselves out, rather than achieving that feat of artistic transfiguration which makes you remember how all-important it felt at the time. Still worth it for those backgrounds, though.

[Leslie]

c'est con, ça vend un truc sur l'amitié mais on les voit a peine amis

[Kate]

Outline hit a very nostalgic note for me. As I was reading, it brought me back to my own experiences in high school during this time, and made me reflect on my own friend group and the things that we went through. Fischels nails the moodiness and hormone-driven state of limbo that permeates the end of high school, where the future looms loud and large before you. Andreas, Ben and Clara all showcase different facets of this experience, and each finds their own unique way through the obstacles in their paths.
The illustration style and color choices for this book are top notch for me. The sketchy, simplified style really lends itself to the experience, and the color palette is so satisfying. It helped pull me in even further while reading. The panels flowed together easily and the pages didn't feel too cluttered or overdone.
While I feel that this book was wrapped up well, I do still wish it was just a little longer! I would love to see maybe a sequel in the future to follow up on these characters.
Overall, a very enjoyable, relatable read. I will definitely be on the lookout for more of Fischels' works in the future.

Thank you Oni Press and Netgalley for the eARC!

[Kate]

Over the course of their final year of high school, three teenagers begin to imagine their lives after graduation. Ben and Clara have been a couple forever, but now Clara is pulling away. Andreas has been withdrawing long before now, coming to terms with his unrequited crush on Ben by entering into a not-so-great relationship with someone who looks kinda like him.

This translated graphic novel has many universal experiences: teen parties, school struggles, thinking about college, first jobs. The story itself is told in vignettes and does not spoon-feed information to the reader. I really loved the art style and the muted colors of the illustrations. The overall tone is thoughtful and the ending left open.

Content advisory: Non-graphic sex scenes, teen drinking and drunkeness.

[Ness (Vynexa)]

Thank you to Oni Press for providing me with an early copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

a quick graphic novel following a trio on their last few weeks of school before summer vacation and starting their college journey.

there’s not much of a plot, it’s literally just giving you a glimpse of these three student’s lives.

it’s visually fairly nice and again, not much of a story or conclusion. this is more of a pallet cleanser than a story to be fully invested in.

[Lilu]

Ich liebe es und kann es nur empfehlen - die Atmosphäre ist so nostalgisch und authentisch, wie ich es selten (wenn überhaupt) in Coming-of-Age Geschichten gelesen oder gesehen habe. Die Charaktere sind allesamt liebenswert und fühlen sich unglaublich echt an.
Dazu kommen zauberhafte, liebevolle Details, die das Graphic Novel für mich zu etwas ganz Besonderem machen <3 Die Wahl der Schriftart (und Verwendung von Schreibschrift für Sarkasmus), die Möwe, der kaputte Regenschirm des Lehrers ("Bei allem Spaß, das hier ist immer noch eine Studienfahrt"), die gemusterten Pommes ("BÄH!! Gib!"), "O Gott ich seh ja schlimm aus" - "Dachte das wäre Absicht"), die muskulösen Jesuskinder, die gruseligen gleichen Gesichter beim Aufschlagen der Abiklausuren, "Da spricht man doch nur Englisch und Fritjes" und noch so viele Kleinigkeiten mehr - ganz ganz großartig!

[Joanne]

3.5. A unvarnished and organically executed debut graphic novel that follows a group of classmates through their final months before graduation, each wrestling with decisions about the future while realizing their options may be more or less limited than they once imagined. The artwork is especially strong—expressive and imo, more memorable than the story itself. Even so, this is an impressive debut from a creator worth watching.

[Ambre Leray]

J'ai beaucoup aimé, les dessins sont beaux avec une coloration douce.
Leurs liens sont touchants, on s'y retrouve vraiment, j'aurais juste aimé avoir un peu plus d'explications sur la dispute entre Ben et Andreas.

[reallee]

3.5☆

Mimi et attachant mais reste assez en surface. J'aurais eat that shit up quand j'avais 14 ans cependant

[Grace]

Outline is an aesthetically interesting but thematically dull graphic novel, focused around the nostalgia of high school; if, like me, you have absolutely no feelings of nostalgia towards your high school days, you probably won't enjoy this one either, but if you peaked in high school, then boy I've got a book for you

The actual plot was incredibly vague, and raised far more questions that it answered about our characters and their lives. It is a translation, and I've found that this sparse style to be present in other German translations as well, so I suspect this is a me problem as much as anything.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eArc.

[Tamara]

I liked the illustrations. There were parts that were very confusing though.

[Snowdrop]

3.5 ⭐️

Le dessin était trooooop bon, dommage que cela reste des sujets qui sont traités en surface, je suis restée sur ma faim, j’aurais aimé les suivre plus longtemps et voir leur évolution