I loved this one! The minimal color pallet was gorgeous. I loved the story and the LGBTQIA+ themes. It is comfortable while also dealing with trauma and fear. A great one!

It's the mid-1990s, and there's a new girl at Station Six Gymnastics. Kota is intrigued—and she's even more intrigued when she learns that Riley, the new girl, is Deaf, and that the best way to communicate will be to learn sign language. But Riley, who's struggling with recent loss, isn't so sure that she wants to make new friends, to let new people in.

Despite not even being able to turn a cartwheel (it's on my bucket list, so maybe someday), I have a high level of curiosity about gymnastics, and this was a no-brainer of a read for me. There's a fair amount going on in the story: Kota and Riley are both competitive gymnasts, but they aren't sure if their skill will take them as far as they want to go; Riley is dealing with grief and making new connections; Kota has a fall early on and has a hard time regaining her confidence on a particular apparatus. I wish we saw a bit more of Riley in particular outside gymnastics, as even she doesn't seem to know who she is outside the gym. I love how much Sign we see, though, and how willing Kota is to learn.

The art is not really my style: the cover image should give you a good idea of what's inside, but the art reads as 'comic' rather than 'graphic novel' to me, and it took me a while to figure out where the characters were supposed to fit in the world because Kota has the visual and emotional energy of a twelve-year-old boy. (I didn't check out any of Nadine's earlier work before reading this, which is probably just as well; although the lines are the same, I think this is likely a rather gentler story than some of their other work.) That said, art style is *highly* subjective, and I'm guessing that most readers will not have my same specific preferences there!

I'm curious about the choice to set this in the mid-90s: I'm guessing that that's because that's the period of competitive gymnastics that Nadine knows best, but I'm fascinated by the casualness with which Kota's teammates tease her about possibly having a crush on a girl—I mean, in the mid-90s I was still at an age to be working out things like writing all the letters in my name the right way around, and I didn't know what the word 'lesbian' meant (heard it for the first time in about...1999?), but I'm now super curious about how many could-be-queer teens ("I Felt Myself Slipping" is a friendship book, not a romance) had that sort of cheerful acceptance in that time period.

One to appeal to those interested in gymnastics, obviously; your art-style mileage may vary but it was a fun read.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

This was a great wholesome graphic novel about two teen gymnasts who become friends! Kota is a gymnast who meets Riley, a deaf, homeschooled girl who moved to town recently with her Dad. There is a language barrier at first but it was sweet to see the other characters learn some ASL for Riley and the inclusion of ASL into the illustrations was fantastic.
Overall this was a well-done, heartwarming story!

Thank you to NetGalley, Oni Press, and Ray Nadine for the opportunity to read this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

I Felt Myself Slipping is a one-off wholesome graphic novel about two girls and their growing friendship. When Riley joins Kota's gymnastics team, she feels a bit out of place. She misses her old friends and still linger on the loss of her Papa. She is also hard of hearing and prefers not to wear her hearing aides during practice. Kota goes above and beyond to learn sign language to better communicate with Riley. Not really feeling it at first, Riley does eventually warm up to Kota, and they become friends in a way they never would have expected.

I adore the American Sign Language in this graphic novel. The alphabet is present and I learned some other signs as well that I didn't previously know. The character diversity is excellent and the story is more than just friendship. It also features lessons about coping with loss, overcoming fears, and following the determination that is needed for one to follow their dreams.

An excellent graphic novel for teen readers.

Riley is new to the school’s gymnastics team & the town. Being homeschooled and deaf makes it a little harder for her to make a connection in the beginning but throughout we see Kota making strides in making connections with Riley leading to a truly amazing kinship! While both girls are there for each other to work through fears and trauma, they conquer and their team makes it to Nationals!

This book definitely reminded me of Heartstopper & Spinning in multiple ways. Simple, beautiful illustrations with a pop of color. Great connections between the characters, and an overall uplifting story! I love the LGBTQ+ rep mention (I am hoping to see another volume bringing Riley & Kota together as a couple, maybe? 😉), and the deaf representation front and center. I really enjoyed the added touch of the ASL alphabet that the reader can use to learn!

I loved! The colors appearing with the frienship being more and more stronger is such a cute and nice detail. I really loved the story envolving heavy subjects like grief, anxiety and just being afraid of so many things as a teenager. Such a cute graphic novel.

I loved I Felt Myself Slipping! I appreciated the Deaf character and Kota's motivation to learn how to sign. I appreciated the friendship between the two girls, as well as demonstrating the pressure and perfectionism of gymnastics. I liked the more subdued colors as well.