Oh my God this is adorable.
The story itself is fairly basic, a girl reluctantly joins the cheerleading team and falls for the captain, then there's a prom. But the core story isn't what makes this so incredible.
The representation is incredible.
Off the top of my head, we have a trans POC main character, multiple plus-sized characters, non-binary characters, interracial relationships, wlw relationships and so so so much more. I think this is a prime example of why diversity matters in media, because this didn't feel forced at all, it was completely natural, and it addressed loads of different issues.
I am not able to speak to the accuracy of most of these discussions, so I won't try to, but I will say that it has highlighted a few things I hadn't previously thought much about, and I love that.
Tying into representation - the art!!! The art is absolutely beautiful, both in its technicalities and it's diversity. I adored these drawings, and hope to see more from the artist!
All in all, this is a really great graphic novel - major props to Crystal Frasier.

Deliciously delightful with deep themes that we all need to be aware of . Bebe is a trans girl trying to find her place in high school with all that being an adolescent entails . The added roles that others try to pawn off on her leave Bebe feeling defeated and as if she is walking on eggshells. In comes boisterous and argumentative Anne who says and does what she wants. Their friendship begins to grow and they both find strength in each other to try new things and be their true selves.

More please , Anne and Bebe are just wonderful and their friend group of like minded fearsome people make this even more perfect.

Your best bet of getting me invested in any sort of sports-related book? Make it queer. It’s really that simple. Cheer Up moves in the beautifully populated ranks of Fence, Check, Please and Heartstopper and provides some much-needed diverse representation!
Cheer Up: Love and Pompons is a heartfelt, quick-paced, sweet and super diverse graphic novel. Though it’s pretty short, it managed to pack a lot within those pages – from diverse representation, a sapphic love story (with the unbeatable trope best-friends-to-enemies-to-friends-to-lovers) to representations of transphobic microaggressions and teammates becoming friends for life. I never had the feeling that topics were rushed or dropped completely, and they all tied in really well together towards the end.
I loved the juxtaposition of Annie, who’s super antisocial and has a lot of anger bottled up inside of her, with BeeBee who is an absolute people pleaser – recently transitioned, she thinks that she has to keep everyone happy in order for them to still support her. Which means that a lot of the times, she says yes to things when she’s already overwhelmed and overworked. When these two former friends find their way back to each other through cheerleading, all bets are off and I loved how they both helped each other feel accepted and loved in this book.
BeeBee puts a lot of pressure on herself but she also faces transphobic microaggressions from her team – you can tell they only mean well, but sometimes that makes speaking up about being uncomfortable even harder. I enjoyed how supportive BeeBee’s cheerleader squad was and how they stood up for her, even when they didn’t get it right on their first try.
And can we talk for a second about the representation of DIFFERENT body shapes when it comes to cheerleaders? My heart was cheering when I saw multiple plus-sized characters on the squad! No one makes a comment about them not being able to do the pyramid or having to lose weight to stay on the team. They are just as able to slay as cheerleaders as everyone else on the team - You wouldn’t believe how healing that kind of representation can be.
Dealing with current social topics without sacrificing its lightheartedness, Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms is the perfect boost of girl power!

Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms is an cute LGBTQIA+ story about Annie and Bebe. Annie needs more extracurriculars for her college applications and is prompted by her mother to try out for the cheerleader squad. During cheerleading training, Annie and Bebe get reacquainted since they lost touch in the past two years. Bebe also start transitioning and Annie and the cheerleading squad are very supportive, but sometimes in their own way.

I really recommend Cheer Up to everyone who loves Heartstopper by Alice Oseman. I truly enjoyed reading it and I think many others will.

This book was absolutely adorable. I devoured it in just a little bit of time, and I loved everything about it. The main characters were easy to root for, and the book focused on a lesson we all need to learn.

It is great to stand up for others, but we need to check in to make sure it is what *they* want.

Such a fun graphic novel! Thanks so much to netgalley and the publisher for sending this to me. Any fans of Fence definitely need to add this book to their to read list!

Right off the bat I knew I would like this since I loved the artwork on the cover! Very vibrant. I enjoyed the cute fluff. The conflict in this was minimal. I felt relaxed while reading this. I enjoyed the queer representation even if this felt a bit rushed.

I really liked the angle this graphic novel took, because while Bebe was officially accepted onto the cheerleading team and even made the team’s first transgender captain, we got to see some of her experiences of more “inconspicuous” transmisia and the emotional toll it took on her. Not being invited to unofficial team outings; her teammates and friends focusing more on showing outward support than really listening to what Bebe wanted; the overprotectiveness of her parents; trying to blend in and not cause a scene, even to the point where she didn’t feel comfortable saying anything stronger or offending him when a boy didn’t accept her “no”; feeling like she had to be a perfect, smiley version of herself all the time because she felt her parents, school, and peers had already accommodated her enough by accepting her transition… sometimes these things are moved to the margins when the story is focusing on a transition or challenging more overt transmisia, so I appreciated seeing some of these other things get some recognition too.

Bebe says something to herself that really hit me: “Okay, big smile. Everyone likes you when you’re happy.” I think many of us probably feel this way, trying to cover over our bad days or frustrations or discomfort with a smile or a positive attitude to make ourselves more agreeable. After just finishing Act Your Age, Eve Brown where being cranky/weird/particular/occasionally over-the-top and feeling like you need to fit into a box for others is a common theme, I think it’s important to remember that no one is ever “too much”, that for the people who love you, your problems or worries aren’t a burden, but a part of sharing in your life.

There were parts of the storyline that I would have loved to spend more time on (the love story between Bebe and Annie happened quite quickly and I really would have liked to explore more of the team dynamics and how they went from making some insensitive and ignorant comments about being trans to generally open and accepting), but it was overall an adorable and thought-provoking book.

This was so incredibly sweet, and the art was gorgeous. When I saw it was a "queer graphic novel" I was already sold, but the characters were so cute too. I especially loved Annie; I love her attitude and look

5 stars

THIS WAS SO ADORABLE!
I'm absolutely obsessed with this graphic novel! The art style was perfect. The story was beautifully designed and written.
I adored Annie, her feisty and in your face personality was a delight to read about. Her mom was hilarious and amazing.
I loved Bebe. Her story was... I was blown away by how this was so well done. The fact that the creators of this novel put so many details and care for her character and her life was... amazing.
Again the art style and design were perfect. The characters come to life in every page.
This novel reminded me of the first time I read Heartstopper, I knew it was going to be a favorite instantly and I'm happy to say it really was.
Can't wait for everyone to read this.

TW: harassment, Transphobia, micro aggressions,

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Finished this in one sitting, it was cute and I could definitely see the comparisons to Heartstopper.

I liked the story, the characters, the art style, it was a great read! It was quite short though so things happened quite quickly and I would have loved to see the romance develop slowly over time.

LGBTQI rep.

(tw/cw: transphobia, sexual assault, fat shaming)

Thanks to the publishers for a free copy in exchange for an honest review

This graphic novel is so incredibly sweet! Like the description suggests, it's perfect for fans of Check, Please! as the cutesy tone is very similar and of course the LGBTQ+ rep and commentary is present (and great!) in both. The art style is lovely and light with a great flow throughout, along with flawless character designs and facial expressions. The dialogue is realistic and witty and the characters themselves are precious (especially Annie, what an icon). The story is superb and completely transports you into a tangible, fully realised world. There better be a sequel to Bebe and Annie's story or I will most definitely kick off.

Thank you so much to Oni Press for this e-arc, and for continuously publishing such fabulous graphic novels!

I loved everything about this book! It reminds me a lot of Check, Please! Cheer Up is about Annie and Bebe, two girls who you would not automatically see and think cheerleader. Annie joins the cheerleading squad under parental and teacher pressure after being told she isn’t well rounded enough for college application season. Bebe is in her 2nd year on the team, and is the newly elected captain. Bebe made waves last year when becoming the first trans cheerleader on their school's squad.

The body diversity in this graphic novel is incredible, both on and off the cheerleading squad. Annie is praised for her muscle and power, and Bebe explores the stereotypes of being a feminine girl. The relationship between Annie and Bebe was adorable and I really hope this will be a series, I am not ready to part with any of these characters.

Cheer up is a really cute story about a socially awkward, plus sized girl and a trans gender girl joining a team, learning from eachother and falling in love. These characters were very flashed out and it felt like I got to know the main characters as well as some of the side characters.

I thought the art style was really cute and I really like how diverse it is. I’m not own voices on this so you should read other reviews, but there are a lot of issues brought up in this specifically about transphobia which really showed me some perspective.

It just felt like a lot happened in a very short time. Especially the romance didn’t feel well developed because the story is very short. There’s a lot going on in this story, you get to learn about different side characters, family relation ships and the relationship between the main characters while there’s also the cheerleading going on and they’re studying and there’s a homecoming dance. All of these things are great (American) fun, but it felt like the story rushed through them very quickly and I would’ve liked for it to be longer.

Cheer Up was such a sweet, funny and heart-warming graphic novel. It is centred around a plus sized lesbian mean girl and a biracial trans-female cheerleader who is seemingly living a perfect life who are unlikely childhood friends and their relationship.

It is of course focussed on cheerleading, which isn't usually something I am interested in (I don't like reading anything sporty in general), but this one just drew me in. I love anything sapphic. It was such a short read, but felt so well developed. I went on a whole journey with these girls, and whilst I would've loved it to be longer, it was perfect.

It also wonderfully tackled the subjects of sexuality, identification, protectiveness, pressure and being an ally to anyone in the LGBTQIA+ community and what that should and shouldn't look like. These characters were brave, treading new water and it was wonderful to read. Despite the harder topics, it remained light, sweet and fluffy.

I devoured it and it was a wonderful time.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this Graphic Novel in exchange of an honest review.

Reading “Cheer Up“ felt like a warm hug on a stormy winter day.

In this sapphic ya graphic novel, we follow antisocial Annie who is forced to join the cheerleader team to make her college application look a bit more rounded. There, she rekindles her former friendship with Bebe, a trans-girl and leader of the team, who is desperate to keep everyone around her happy so she doesn’t lose the social support of her transition. Both will be able to learn more from the other than they ever thought - and there might be something more blossoming between the two girls than just an old friendship.

Let me start this off by saying that I absolutely fell in love with the art style of “Cheer Up“ - it was so cute and lovely and I was smiling throughout the whole novel! I loved the slight exaggeration of expressions and how quirky each drawing looked. The use of different color schemes was smartly employed as well and definitely succeeded in creating incredibly beautiful pages that all went so well together. “Cheer Up“ is an utter pleasure to look at!

Plot-wise, I am just as pleased as I am with the art. “Cheer up“ is short and fast paced (which makes it a perfect quick read for in-between), yet it is so full of great messages and successfully tackles important problems like transphobia and prejudices as well.
I really enjoyed the portrayal of body image representation - especially in the cheerleading team, which continues to be a sport full of stereotypes. In “Cheer Up“, we have many plus sized characters who are portrayed healthily and happily, which was great to read about!

The relationships in Cheer Up were utterly sweet. If you enjoy a strong group of females, you’ll surely love this one! The growing friendships between the girls were all build on mutual trust, respect, and support.
Personally, I would have been completely satisfied with Annie and Bebe being just friends, since I found their friendship really heartwarming to read about and the resulting romance between the two happened a little too fast for my liking. Although they had a backstory that we didn’t get to read about in “Cheer Up“, I just personally prefer the torturous type of slowburn.
Nevertheless, their romance was beautifully portrayed and really made me smile and swoon in the end.

Additionally, I really liked the parental relationships in this graphic novel. Way too often, parents are getting ignored in ya books, and I liked how “Cheer Up“ showed the infinite love between parents and children while also underlining how important communication, trust, and support are.

The most beautiful thing about Cheer Up (apart from the art style of course), has to be the character development we can see every character going through. The way they are able to grow as a person after receiving the support system everyone deserves was inspiring and I am sure many readers will find the journeys of these lovely characters very relatable and helpful.


Cheer Up is a wholesome and sweet read that you won’t want to miss when it comes out on August 10th - it will definitely “cheer you up“ and make you smile!


*I received an arc of this in exchange for an honest review (many thanks to NetGalley and OniPress). All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have never read any graphic novels before, but Cheer Up! has been popping up all over my social media. When I looked into it and saw it was a quick wholesome comic filled with representation, I decided to pick it up! Who wouldn't like an adorable quick read that is meant to lift your spirits?

I am so happy I read this. I got emotional seeing how accepting everyone was and seeing a trans cheerleader be accepted by their squad. I also loved the sunshine/grumpy trope. Bebe and Annie were such a joy to read. I can't believe how many issues and bonding happened in such a organic way while still being a quick read. I am starting to understand the hype for graphic novels!

My only criticism is that at first it felt the cheer squad was using Bebe for diversity rep and not for Bebe herself. At the end it seems they always cared for her. I was a bit confused and would have liked to see more of the squad dynamics.

Overall, if you need to "cheer up" and have your faith in humanity restored, give this a go.

I am now going to make a coffee in honor of my girl, Annie!

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 with 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. Overall, I would definitely recommend CHEER UP!

Thank you to Oni Press and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm so grateful to NetGalley and Oni Press for giving me the opportunity to read "Cheer Up" in exchange for an honest review!

"Cheer Up" was so cute and I will definitely recommend it to my book club! Readers get to go on a short journey with the main characters, BeeBee and Annie, from the start of the senior school year to an October Homecoming. Annie joins the cheerleading team as a strategy to get into college, but rediscovers BeeBee, a former friend, and they get closer as the school year progresses. "Cheer Up" is the perfect blend of heartwarming and impactful.

It is the delve into BeeBee's character that makes it a fantastic read. I loved her!!! Her story was explored with plenty of care and nuance: queer and trans readers will feel seen and allies will learn a new thing or two. Allyship in particular was explored quite a bit, as BeeBee's well-intentioned but at times indelicate teammates learned how she wishes to be supported. The graphic novel understands exceptionally how to put the person first, but also what it takes to support them in their trans identity best.

If you’re looking for something short and possibly the most wholesome graphic novel there is, I’d highly recommend Love and Pompoms! Despite being a relatively short story the pacing didn’t feel off which I find is the case a lot of the time in graphic novels. The illustrations were beautiful and I especially loved the coloring choices and how different colored backgrounds fit different feelings. I thought the two main characters were characterized well and I loved the different sides of each other that they brought out. My only gripe was that I felt that Beatrice’s resolution with her father was a little sudden and I would’ve liked to see her express more that her transition shouldn’t be seen as a choice.

This may include some small spoilers, so proceed with caution! :)

This was so cute! I really liked having a trans main character. There's lots and lots of different representations in this graphic novel, which makes it so good. Like I said, I loved the trans main character, but I would have loved to learn more about one specific character that identifies as non-binary.

Also, can I say that this really makes me want to try out cheer? Even though I can't do handstands, cartwheels and all of that stuff? I just really like it and it's always interested me, but that can also be because we don't have cheerleading and all of that extra school stuff over here in the Netherlands.. :( But nonetheless, I quite enjoyed this one and it reads really fast. I wasn't a huge fan of the artwork, but that didn't necessarily make me enjoy the story any less. Would recommend this one!

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.