This is a wonderfully heartfelt graphic novel about support systems, friendship, and hope. The art style was well-utilised, and both gymnastics movements and ASL were wonderfully balanced. It didn't catch me quite as cathartically as I had hoped, but I really enjoyed the characterisation and connection between Riley and Kota and was very emotionally involved!

3.5 stars

“I felt myself slipping” is a very sweet graphic novel, albeit a little quick and not very memorable. If you like books about sports and/or romance, you will most likely enjoy it.
Also, I have to say I really enjoyed the representation of the deaf community as well as trauma / PTSD.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC 😊

An enjoyable story about life and friendship, loss and discovering life. Riley Glass has lost one of her Dads and she moves to a new town where she and her remaining dad try to recover from their loss. Riley, who is a gymnast, find friendship with a fellow gymnast, Kota Iwamoto. Both of them become close when Kota makes an effort to learn ASL and encourages her teammates to be friendly.

Kota has her own anxieties because although she lives gymnastics she is afraid of getting injured. Both girls find solace and strength in each other and a close supporting friendship which helps them find their way forward.

This is a heartwarming and real story which was lovely to read. The artwork was great and managed to convey all the emotions within the story. A lovely book to read.

This graphic novel is gorgeously written and illustrated. I am always looking for disability representation and have not encountered many books with good deaf representation. As a hearing person, I felt that the initiative to learn ASL, encouragement of others to learn, and tough love in holding others accountable to have a more accessible space was authentic. I also loved the many ways to communicate (like the notes, sharing music/vibrations of music, signing, lip-reading, use of hearing aids, etc.) as ASL is being learned and practiced was realistic and great to see. The striking art style in greyscale with mostly blues and greens stood out and using some other colors to shift the mood or highlight a specific moment made for a cool effect. Any athlete will relate to fear of injury beyond just being injured— I felt the anxiety of the risk in competition as I read. Beyond the deaf representation, there is seamless queer representation in both adults and teens. It heals my inner baby bi every time I read a story where queerness is just a fact of life and not necessarily a huge deal in the storyline. The connection of the language barriers for the deaf character and the biracial main character’s dad’s family was also a highlight. This graphic novel somehow covers the loss of a parent and the fading of friendships due to growing up and moving away in addition to all of the previously mentioned topics and it never feels like anything is being thrown in just because. I highly recommend this one for teens and adults alike. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Thanks NetGalley and Oni Press for this arc!

3/5 stars

This was a sweet story, but I really struggled finishing it. I just wasn't invested at all, and I feel bad bc the story was nice and had potential that to me wasn't fully realized.

Oooo, interesting! A queer graphic novel where the love interests don’t end the book together, and not because they break up or something tragic happens. They just haven’t got there yet by the end of the book, and yet the book wraps up nicely. The point of the book isn’t romance! It’s human connection. Friendship. And thus, you end the book really rooting for the characters to connect deeper in their lives after what we read. A sequel, perhaps?

Kota is a gymnast with great ambitions, and she is super impressed with the new member of her team, Riley. Riley is hard to connect with, partially because she is avoiding people, but also partially because she is Hard of Hearing. Kota, though, wants to make that connection, and so begins attending ASL lessons. Eventually, Riley warms up to Kota, and a large portion of the book becomes them communicating via ASL (we see a few signs, but whole conversations aren’t drawn out; instead there’s English translations), writing, and spoken English (Riley has a hearing aid).

I’ve studied ASL (not consistently enough), and love to see it represented in comics. As I said, not everything is drawn, and I do wish we’d seen a few more panels for signs. This story could be really cool to watch as a short TV series.

I’d love to see a volume 2, but the story wraps up pretty nicely. Obstacles are overcome, connections are made, and the characters have grown significantly. It’s the lack of mushy that makes me want volume 2, and not loose ends. So, I’ll be keeping an eye out, and hope to see more from this artist!

Advanced reader copy provided by the publisher.

Thank you for the ARC of this graphic novel! I thought it was very sweet and great disability & queer representation! I do wish it was longer or there was a bit more substance, but overall I enjoyed it! The art was also very nice, I liked the colors a lot! Overall I would recommend!

I found this book to be very enjoyable overall. The characters are well written, and I loved the use of sign language. I can't quite put my finger on it, but while I did like the story, the book didn't blow me away. This is my second book by this author and I've liked both so I will definitely continue to read their books.

I Felt Myself Slipping is a graphic novel about the friendship between Kota and Riley as Kota learns ASL to be able to communicate better with Riley, who is Hard of Hearing. It was beautiful to watch them grow closer over the course of the story.

It’s also a story about Kota’s anxiety around falling and hurting herself during her routine, and Riley’s loneliness and grief as she adjust to living in a new place after the death of her father.

The art uses only shades of green, blue and grey, which makes for a very calm, simple but evocative reading experience.

A heartfelt YA graphic novel about two teen gymnasts, Riley and Kota who both dream of going to the Olympics. I really enjoyed the disability rep in this book (Riley is hard of hearing and Kota has anxiety). The friendship between the two is heartwarming and I loved how they found a unique way to communicate with one another that was all their own and help each other with their worries and grief. Riley is feeling lonely having moved from California and is also still grieving the death of one of her fathers. Highly recommended with good illustrations too! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

3.5 stars

Riley moves to Illinois after her dad dies in a car accident, joining the local gym for gymnastics. At first, she has a hard time fitting in. She is hard of hearing, and no one at her new gym knows ASL. Feeling lonely, she’s surprised when fellow gynmast, Kota, makes an effort to learn ASL. The two form a fast friendship, even as Kota is struggling with her own mental health and anxiety. As they both work towards their goal to make it to the Olympics, they quickly become each others’ supports.

Thanks to NetGalley and Oni Press for an advanced copy of I Felt Myself Slipping by Ray Nadine to review! After watching so much Olympics gymnasts in the last two weeks, this was a good time to read this one! One of my favorite things about this was the way that Nadine represented different gymnastics moves in their illustration style. We also get little hints of the ASL, but I think I would have liked a little more of that throughout the story.

Kota and Riley’s relationship was absolutely the best thing about this story. Some of the side characters could have been developed a little more, but their relationship worked so well. It’s sort of a first crush kind of relationship, and I like that the queer rep was subtle. Sometimes we need those stories that are a little more on the quiet side, and this book fits that well.

The color palette for this story reflected the subject matter, and I also appreciated the way that Nadine touches on grief and mental health. They are complex emotions and they don’t feel like they’re just brushed aside here. Both characters get the chance to feel what they feel.

All in all, if you like relationship driven sports stories, this book is definitely for you!

*I Felt Myself Slipping* by Ray Nadine is an evocative and introspective graphic novel that delves into the complexities of identity, mental health, and self-discovery. Through its expressive art and poignant narrative, the story captures the protagonist’s journey of navigating internal struggles and the delicate process of healing. Nadine’s ability to blend raw emotion with beautifully illustrated panels makes this book a powerful and relatable exploration of what it means to feel lost and the courage it takes to find oneself again. It's a deeply moving read that resonates long after the last page is turned.

I Felt Myself Slipping is a fantastic YA graphic novel about competitive teen gymnasts. The inclusivity in this work is fantastic! The colors really set the town and help draw the reader in. Highly recommended for all YA collections.

Thank you, NetGalley for an advanced ARC of this graphic novel

This was a really good read dealing with disability rep ( deafness) and how people can be mean and judgemental because you are different, but also showing the connection that can happen between two people who are different and how they can make a barrier of communication work by writing notes to one another. The friendship formed feels genuine as well as shows that no matter the differences or obstacles that a person faces they can be happy, make friends and be seen genuinely for who they are not their disability... we need more books that show the differences we have and how with looking at things differently and more with love and compassion changes can be made and be more important than you think

Really well-done story and characters but also felt rushed. It needed to be longer or it should have a sequel.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story telling if this graphic novel. Ray does a great job detailing life as a young gymnast, new friendships, and how disability can impact those around them. I loved the use of ASL throughout the story and how the people around Riley made an effort to be able to communicate with her. For a story set in the 90’s, I love that this was the mindset for the characters around her, especially when this can still be something people won’t do even now.

This is a wonderful tale of friendship and being there for the people you care about when they need you most.

I love gymnastics, so I had everything to love about this story, which promised a sweet queer tale around the sport. And honestly, I wasn't disappointed. The characters were very engaging. I loved the fact that the disability was brought up quite naturally. The fact that Kota immediately tries to learn ASL to communicate with her and include her in their group of gymnasts.

I have to admit that I was expecting a romance between them, but that's not really the case and I was a little disappointed by the ending, but it was still very interesting and a nice read.

This was such a fun graphic novel to read, especially during the summer Olympics! It is such a sweet story about perseverance and friendship. I absolutely loved the deaf representation and how the artist drew ASL in the panels. I also loved the way the artist drew the gymnasts doing their routines. It felt like I could really picture them flying!

This was a great graphic novel.
The art style was beautiful and told the story without much text, also the characters facial expressions and body language were really expressive.
I loved how sign language was a big, yet relatively casual part of the book, similar for the casual queerness in it.
I also liked that despite at least one of the characters having a crush on the other, this was a story about friendship and not a love story.
One of the MCs is deaf, the other one has intrusive thoughts and anxiety. Both of these disabilities were handled really well and shown to only be a part of what makes that person who they are, not their whole personality. We need more representation like that.
I also loved that not everything turns out perfect for the characters in the end, but it’s still a happy ending.
All in all, this was a great book, absolutely recommend.

I mentioned this graphic novel in my list of books to read for disability pride because of the representation of a deaf character and the other characters learning American Sign Language to be better team mates. And I did love it for this – I also learned from it, especially as ASL and British Sign Language have some differences. Yet mostly I loved it for the demonstration of tender teenage friendships, and the beautiful thing they can be.

We see panels from both Riley and Kota’s points of view, with their separate struggles with confidence, grief, loneliness and anxiety. Despite both of their pains though, we really see them united in their friendship. When Riley arrives, she expects point blank to make no friends with her team after saying she prefers to practice without her hearing aids in. Not to be deterred, Kota asks their coach for ASL lessons, and receives encouragement at home too; because her parents also had a language barrier when they met, they communicated by writing in a journal while her dad practiced his spoken English. Taking this inspiration with her, Kota surprises Riley by not only speaking with her in ASL, but also asks her to hang out, and suggests the same method as her parents while she improves her signing. More than that, Kota also tells her friends to do better and include Riley more, pointing out they’re not making an effort to learn ASL. With her keeping them in line, they swiftly realise there is far more to Riley than simply being deaf, and their friendship, and feeling of being a true team, swiftly grows.

The sportmanship themes that run as the parallel storyline to this also allow for various story points to be considered. Kota is struggling with a fear of hurting herself on the beam, with visions of falling interrupting her when she attempts moves. This impacts on her performance, understandably, but even here the friendship storyline overrides anything else. Where Riley could have felt or behaved differently because of her success while Kota struggles, instead she spends her time listening to Kota and reassuring her that nothing will change their relationship even without them going to the Olympics together.

The colour scheme of muted tones, pale blues and greens with greys really suits the story. It doesn’t feel cold, but adds a dated feel, making you feel very much transported back to the 90s. It means that when there are moments of bright, vivid shades, you feel the warmth like a physical presence, and puts across the growing dynamic between the girls, as well as the rest of the team.

As someone with multiple disabilities as well as a sensory impairment, it really gave me a warm fuzzy feeling seeing Kota ensure she could do everything possible to include Riley. It’s so easy to feel pushed to the sidelines when you stand out in any way whatsoever, and I love stories that demonstrate the kindness that humanity can offer when people just try. Because that’s all you need to do. Try. Ask what you can do. Do your best. Make a bit of an effort. We’re worth it.