I Hated You in High School

by Kathleen Gros

Tessa hasn’t spoken to Olive Virtue in ten years—and she’s not about to start now.

Genres: Graphic Novels, LGBT, Romance, Queer, Comics, Fiction, Adult

45 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple little romance told well.

On a trip home, twentysomething Tessa Duval is surprised to find a girl she hated in high school, Olive Virtue, is now renting a room in her parents' house. Credibility is stretched a bit when Tessa cannot remember why she hates Olive and has to read her diaries to remember, but events unfold in a satisfactory way when the memories start returning.

There is some rough bullying, but the book is still pretty cute overall.

[Silvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sent this book as an advanced copy by the publisher via NetGalley for reviewing purposes, but all opinions are my own.

This was a really entertaining queer graphic novel! I liked that we saw some experiences that are pretty common among queer afab people through the development of the relationship between Tessa and Olive, both as teens and as adults. The resolution was quite linear and direct, maybe more than I normally like, but I liked the humor and the overall sense that I knew where we were going. Also I appreciated that there was no miscommunication in the present timeline.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Hated You in High School is a low-angst, second-chance sapphic romance by Kathleen Gros. This graphic novel has cute minimalistic art and is a quick and easy read with a light and fluffy feel. Friends to enemies, to a second chance at a secret crush, our mains have a complicated relationship from high school, and then they meet again after 10 years. Some things have changed, and some things have stayed the same. It is a good story with realistic issues that make sense. The characters are endearing, and the family is supportive. The only critique I have is that it moved quickly, and things wrapped up very easily with reconciliation being unrealistically simple. However, I often find that to be the case with the graphic novels I have read, given that real estate is used mostly for art. It is a good, feel-good, book that I recommend for a happy, best-case scenario for anyone processing similar situations in their own lives, or if you just need a light read with a happy ending.
I am giving it a 3.5 rounded up.
#friendstoenemies #enemiestolovers #secondchance #goinghome #secretcrush #epilogue #longdistancerelationship #foundfamily #supportivefamily #artist #comicbookartist #painter #graphicnovel #birep #butchfemme
I received this free ARC from NetGalley. This is my honest opinion.

[currentlyreadingbynat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've absolutely loved Kathleen Gros' previous graphic novels (Jo: An Adaptation of Little Women (Sort Of) and Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables (Sort Of)), which both bought fresh, modern twists to beloved classics while still capturing the heart of their original stories. So I was super excited to read her latest, I Hated You in High School, expecting another heartfelt and engaging read. While this was definitely a super sweet story with charming artwork and a cozy, nostalgic feel, I found the storyline a little basic and not quite as compelling as her previous works. The emotional beats were there, but they didn’t always land as strongly as I’d hoped, and I wished for a bit more depth in both character development and the central conflict. The romance had its moments, but the enemies-to-lovers dynamic felt somewhat rushed, and I struggled to fully buy into the reconciliation.

That being said, it was still an enjoyable, easy read, and I’d absolutely recommend it to anyone looking for a cute sapphic graphic novel.

For me, this is closer to a 3.5 star read but I don't have that option!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for a copy of this novel. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

[kaila | kd.reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this graphic novel was really cute, it was a super easy read, and had great queer rep! I loved the art style and the green tone throughout the whole novel.

I Hated You In Highschool releases April, 15, 2025!!

—————————
thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing and Netgalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review. all thoughts are my own.

[cloot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

in this fun and sweet story, two queer girls find their ways back to each other despite a hectic high school background where one of the two was at best, mean to the other. I love redemption stories done right, so of course, I was gonna love this. well..

first of all, I did like this book. it has a lot of great qualities. I really loved the complexity of the relationship, and the way that despite being complex, it's not toxic (romance writers, take notes!). the way it grows feels very natural, with very relatable and cute reactions from both the main characters.

the side characters were absolutely lovable and actually felt well developed. every character had their own individuality. also, so many mid/plus size characters! love that

the dialogues were really good too! the conversations between the characters felt important and heartfelt, not forced.

as a whole, the book was well rounded, complex but sweet, and you can tell how much work and love was put into it.

what I missed while reading this was color. I know it's unfair of me to take off points for that, but I can't help imagine how much more I'd have enjoyed this with color! it would've fit the story so well too. I think this is the moment where I realize I have the taste of a twelve year-old and I can't fully enjoy a graphic novel without colors. on top of that, the art style overall wasn't really my thing.

another thing that is a me problem, is that I struggled to be engaged in the story. but might be just because I'm in a giant reading slump that is eating me alive.

3 stars!

[OceaneZw · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️ 3.75 stars

This graphic novel was cute.

It was a very easy read, and the writing was good. As much as I prefer a novel fully in color, I appreciated the green tone that made the drawings prettier.

In terms of the story, I didn’t fully love most characters at first because I couldn’t relate to their little high school dramas. The depiction of enemies-to-lovers was enjoyable, but I was expecting it to go deeper and not be resolved so easily.

Overall, I’d recommend it if you’re searching for a light romance read with low angst and a second-chance trope.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for providing me with an ARC.

[Lisa Pineo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for the free eArc of this great graphic novel.
I loved this. Great artwork, great backstory and cute relationship in the present. I also really enjoyed this being set (half of it anyway) in Vancouver as I live there too. That wooden roller coaster in Playland is freaky as hell!
I got confused about the length of time since Tessa was in school. I thought it said four or five years in the novel and then the back of the book said ten. And is that since she graduated or when Tessa and Olive stopped talking? At first I thought it was really weird and unlikely Tessa would have forgotten why she hated Olive since it had only been a few years ago but I guess ten seems more likely. Not for me since I still obsess over things that happened in middle school like it was yesterday but that's probably not normal.
The side characters (Tessa mom and dad and Tessa's roommate Frankie) were great and I sympathized with Olive after hearing what had been going on for her in school. This is a poignant, fun and sweet sapphic graphic novel with a satisfying ending and a realistic look at what living in Vancouver is like.

[Patile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for the Arc!!

Sapphic enemies to lovers? Sign me up!! I was really quite glad to be able to read this and genuinely enjoyed my experience. The art style and colour pallet chosen for this graphic novel was not what I was expecting but worked really well.

I will say I was a bit thrown by what caused them to be enemies. It really struck me to my core, and I felt the progression from enemies to not-enemies in the book happened a bit... quickly. Obviously, everyone deals and processes things differently, and I respect that. But the acknowledgement and reconciliation did not endear me to Olive as much as it did to Tessa. Obviously, these are my personal feelings on what transpired and how I would have dealt with it. So, while I was thrown, I still really enjoyed watching the two main characters fall in love with each other after moving past their tension.

Overall, I would highly recommend this for anyone looking to read a cute sapphic graphic novel!

[Haylee Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel is a GREAT enemies-to-lovers story. I looooved Tessa and Olive’s relationship, and I loved Tessa’s friends and family. Tessa realizing that she was pining for Olive in high school as a baby gay was so funny, and it was so obvious that Olive was too. I’m glad they ended up together in the end! My only “complaint” is that I don’t understand why the sisters were throwing such a huge party for their parents’ 35th anniversary?? Is that something that children of married couples do? Lmao. 4.5 stars!
Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley!

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 Stars

I thoroughly enjoyed my read of “I Hated You in High School”.
The art was well done and the pacing of the story was spectacular. It was a non-stop read for me and I relished each page. The layout and visual storytelling complemented the narrative beautifully.
While I was worried that the tone of the title was a little dark for my usual taste, the story was very well-balanced and even included lovely portrayals of supportive family and community (which are always fantastic to read!).

All-in-all, a great read and one that I definitely recommend!

I was honored to be able to enjoy an ARC of this book through NetGalley. Thank you to author/illustrator, Kathleen Gros, and Andrews McMeel Publishing.

[Tatiana Zhandarmova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute. It was so cool to see Vancouver featured in a graphic novel and the emotions the characters had were so real and complex, and also handled with such maturity and grace. Incredible character growth! Thank you Amelie for lending me this book!!! I'll mail it back to ya ;)

[Rhiannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a perfectly okay graphic novel.

The art style was cute enough, although I do wish it had been in color. (To be fair, I feel that way about basically every adult graphic novel. I don't understand why we are so collectively allergic to including color in anything geared toward grownups.)

The main character, Tessa, was likable and had some great dynamics with her roommate, sister, and parents. Butch lesbian representation is always a win, too. It was Olive, the love interest, for whom I didn't particularly care, probably because she had been pretty mean to Tessa in high school. Even before she explained her behavior, it was pretty clear why she'd acted the way she did: she developed a crush on Tessa, became afraid of her own queerness, and took it out on Tessa before later coming to accept her bisexual identity. It's a tale as old as time, really. Maybe I'm just not as good of a person as Tessa because I don't think that would've swayed my feelings much. Your inability to confront and grapple with your queerness doesn't give you a pass to be horrible to me because I'm comfortable with mine. But, you know, to each their own. I'm sure Tessa isn't the only one who'd be willing to not only forgive someone for having done that but also rekindle previously held romantic feelings towards them. That scenario might not be true to my life, but I'm sure it's true to someone's, and that's cool.

I think that if I'd felt more chemistry between Tessa and Olive in their adulthood then I would've been better able to understand their newfound dynamic, but it seemed to me that they had more chemistry as teenagers (prior to Olive's change of heart and attitude). Their history was far better fleshed out than their present-day, and I wish that hadn't been the case.

I didn't hate, or even dislike, this graphic novel, but it's not one I foresee myself recommending or ever even thinking about again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't believe I'm trapped with my high school tormentor and I can't even check the internet.

The believability of second chance romances remains in the noted growth and communication shown between the two timelines together. Thankfully, this book adequately explores that through thoughtful conversations about queerness and societal pressures. The exploration of the main character's past diaries really brings into perspective how maturity and lived experiences allow you to get to know yourself better and how that impacts your perceptions of the world. Revisiting her childhood town and going home again brings up loads of relatable situations for Tessa and us as readers. What didn't work for me was how quickly their second chance together transitioned from friends to lovers. I wanted to relish their new moments together, a dynamic that they both mutually could be fully invested in, and instead it felt quite rushed. The art style is so lovely though and I would love to read more by this author.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute enough love story. Tessa is queer. And early on, we learn that she had a crush on Olive, who appeared to be a straight girl, in high school. Despite the fact that she came out in 6th grade, she didn’t recognize it was a crush. Just a really good friendship.

Olive, on the other hand, did know what it was, and so, because she was dating a boy, at the time, felt that it had all gone wrong, and started treating Tessa like a piece of dog dropping, so she would stop hanging out with her.

And now Tessa is back in Toronto visiting her parents, after moving to Vancouver, and who is living in the basement sweat, but Olive.

So, Tessa has to figure out what to do. It is a friends to enemies to friends to lovers sort of story. In between, of course with all good romances there is a lot of lack of communication to gum up the works, as well as, as Tessa’s best friend says “Talk to her.”

I enjoyed the story. It was all quite plausible, and having a crush on your best friend is the worst. Been there. Totally relatable. Apparently this was a webcomic before it became a graphic novel. Quick read.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book is being published on the 15th of April 2025.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A love adult graphic novels so much. This one is low stakes and low angst ex-friends to lovers. Sapphic with nonbinary best secondary character. Midsize bi love interest.

Tessa loses her job and decided to head home for a few weeks only to find out her high school bully is staying at her parents converted garage/basement apartment. Forced to be around her, Tessa realizes she maybe doesn't remember all the details of high school and after finding some diaries, decides to take a chance.

[amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was a nice, light read that I got through in a single sitting! honestly, I don’t think the cover does it justice; it feels a little… Wattpad-y? and slightly juvenile, while the story itself is geared towards older teens and young adults.

at first, I wished the illustrations were in colour, but I came to appreciate the green tint; it was a welcome change from standard greyscale graphic novels (though maybe I’m a bit biased since green’s my favourite colour). I also adored Tessa – whose fashion sense and general fears surrounding the job market and relationships are eerily similar to mine – and Frankie and their casual, open queerness. they both presented how they wanted and no one batted an eye about it (aside from the flashbacks to Tessa’s high school years), which was lovely to see. and oh, how I loved Tessa’s parents and the subplot surrounding their anniversary celebration!

I didn’t quite buy the whole enemies-to-lovers thing. to me, enemies imply both did something wrong to the other in an equivalent exchange, but Tessa was bullied by Olive in high school, giving them a really uneven dynamic that only required an apology from Olive and a lot of forgiveness from Tessa (who was very, very forgiving, far more than I would have been). the romance itself was sweet, if a bit rushed once all the story set-up was out of the way, and I liked seeing a snapshot of everyone’s futures in the epilogue.

overall this was a lovely, quick little read and though the art style took a short while to get used to, it ended up growing on me a lot.

thank you to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an EARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Aurora Kretsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I snagged this ARC and y’all it’s too cute. I’m in the minority and I didn’t love Heartstopper (that’s the only other queer graphic novel I’ve read). But I really liked this.

The following review contains some minor spoilers.

The first thing I loved about this was how realistic it felt. Even though Tessa was out in high school she was still going through her own journey as a person and discovering who she is. I appreciated that each of them had their own baggage and owned up to it. Frankie was the perfect best friend back home encouraging Tessa to be an adult and talk about her problems but also setting boundaries when needed. They were exactly the kind of friend Tessa needed. And Tessa’s parent’s relationship with Olive? It was stupid cute.

Thank you so much to Kathleen Gros, NetGalley, and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

[Asher · Rating 3 out of 5]

As sweet as it is, I Hated You in High School does not go far enough in depth for me. Tessa held a multi-year long hatred towards Olive for the pain and torment she caused, which is resolved almost instantly after one apology. The bullying seemed to hold no deep impact; not talked about deeply in how it effected her over the years or how it changed her in how she handled relationships.

Despite this, it has a great range of characters that hold interesting perspectives (that I would like to see expanded in possible further graphic novels) and its fast pace allows for it to be easily read in one sitting.

Thank you so much to Andrews McMeel Publishing and Netgalley for the advanced reading copy!

[amelie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an insanely relatable read! The main character was SO lovable and I’m always so happy to see Vancouver represented in graphic novels… (especially so accurately in the difficulties of it too)
I adored the romance. But I was really impressed with the writing of this book, I can absolutely see the love and passion in every bit of it. Adorably lovable characters, (with realistic character growth!)

Although, perhaps I am biased- also being a queer comic artist living in Vancouver and navigating the trials and tribulations of this insane city… I mean. Damn! How could I not have loved this book?

Fantastic work Kathleen!

[Lena · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I hated you in High School” is a sapphic graphic novel about enemies to lovers with a dash of miscommunication.

The drawing style was nice and the story was in black and white and greyish colours. I would have enjoyed it even more if it had a few colourful highlights.

Normally I’m not a fan of miscommunication but I didn’t hate it in this story. I think it’s probably because it was a Graphic Novel.

The story was easy to follow and the pages weren’t overflowing with drawings. It was overall fun to read.

I didn’t really feel a chemistry between Tessa and Olivia but I liked the rest of the story and could connect with Tessa in some moments.

Thank you to NetGalley for this EARC!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this so much more then I thought I would! I didn’t really know what to expect but it’s so wholesomely queer. It’s also full of emotions. The awkward pining in high school, not really remembering what happened but remembering the feeling. Also love the communicating, so many things get ruined because people don’t tell each other how they feel so it felt like a breath of fresh air to see olive and Tessa talk about everything. I would really recommend this!
Thank you netgally for letting me read this early.

[Ishika · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very cute queer graphic novel. I really liked the side plot of the anniversary party and loved so many of the side characters (hi Frankie you’re so cool). I thought the ending was quite abrupt and slightly unsatisfying, but the epilogue kind of made up for it. Unpopular opinion (I guess) but I kind of liked the art style and lack of color!! The green touches were very cool. Overall I would recommend this one :-)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Daniëlle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this graphic novel. This did not have any impact on my review.

I loved this graphic novel! It's a short novel, but entertaining and deep enough for it to be a finished story. The illustrations were done very well (and were absolutely adorable), and I really enjoyed the story. It was very relatable, and as a theatre girlie myself, it was fun to have a little insight into the stage making side. Also, this is so queer and diverse! If you're into this, give this graphic novel a try.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel is so CUTE! Like butterflies in your stomach and feet kicking cute. I had such a fun time reading and it was so easy to relate to both Olive and Tessa. The art style is amazing and I love the color scheme! The only thing I feel is a little off is that the book is marketed as enemies-to-lovers but there wasn’t much enemy-ing going on.

Thank you NetGalley, Andrews McPeel Publishing, and Kathleen Gros for the ARC!

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was okay, but not great. I wish there was more meat to the characters and story. A lot of topics are touched on, but don’t feel fleshed out. For example, gentrification and rising rents in Vancouver are mentioned several times, but I’m not sure how it fits into the story outside of it possibly happening to Tessa and Frankie. Overall, I wanted more from Olive and Frankie since I didn’t really like Tessa for the most part.

Thank you to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ⭑

What a cute & fun story!!! I enjoyed the author’s art style and will certainly pick up any future works published. I love an enemies to lovers trope & the second chance romance trope is featured here too. An enjoyable and quick read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of I Used to Hate You in High School.

[Rowan's Bookshelf (Carleigh) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this. The plot is predictable, the dialogue is stale at times, and the art style (especially faces) is unpleasant to look at.

[Mary Gael · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute and gay

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so cute. Loved it