Draw the Line

by Laurent Linn (Author & Illustrator)

Adrian Piper is used to blending into the background. He may be a talented artist, a sci-fi geek, and gay, but at his Texas high school those traits only bring him the worst kind of attention.

In fact, the only place he feels free to express himself is at his drawing table, crafting a secret world through his own Renaissance art-inspired superhero, Graphite.

But in real life, when a shocking hate crime flips his world upside-down, Adrian must decide what kind of person he wants to be. Maybe it’s time to not be so invisible after all—no matter how dangerous the risk.

Genres: Young Adult, LGBT, Contemporary, Romance, Fiction, Queer, Realistic Fiction

516 pages, Hardcover

First published May 17, 2016

About the author

Laurent Linn began his career at the Jim Henson Company as a puppet designer and builder in the legendary Muppet Workshop, creating characters for various productions, including the Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island films. With Henson for over a decade, he worked primarily on the beloved series Sesame Street, winning an Emmy Award. He soon became the Creative Director for the Sesame Street Muppets.

Currently, when not writing or illustrating, Laurent is an Art Director for Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers where he art directs and designs picture books, middle-grade, and teen novels. He is on the Board of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and is Artistic Advisor for the annual Original Art exhibit at the Society of Illustrators in New York.

While Laurent has illustrated a number of picture books, DRAW THE LINE is his first young adult novel.

Reviews

[Emily May · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unlike Michelangelo, I may not have church ceilings and museum walls to hang art on, to show what I need the world to see. But I do have lockers.
And I have the Internet.

Draw the Line is my definition of great Contemporary YA: a serious look at hard-hitting social issues, with a warm fuzzy tingle of hope to wrap it up.

Overall, I've had a bit of a disappointing 2016 when it comes to LGBT fiction. Compared to 2015, which brought the hilarious Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, the dark and sad More Happy Than Not, and the quietly powerful middle-grade trans novel - George, this year just hasn't brought anything that exciting or memorable. Well, until now, that is.



For the first approx. 100 pages (which sounds like a lot but includes many illustrations), Draw the Line was just a good book. I enjoyed Adrian Piper's voice and I loved how the author got creative, weaving story with artwork to tell a tale about a teen who lives a secret life as a comic artist. He escapes reality by drawing a gay superhero called "Graphite", evidently based on himself.

It's also funny, nerdy, and diverse in a way that feels natural and unforced. Anyone can work through a diversity checklist of token characters, but the black, white, Jewish, gay, straight, asexual, plus-size and skinny characters in this book all feel created with love and sensitivity.

But it's after the first 20%-ish when this book becomes really great.

That's when shit goes down and the issues at the centre of this book are tackled head on. When Adrian Piper intervenes to stop a hate crime against a fellow gay student, the spotlight is turned on him. My fury rose with his as he discovered how few people in his small Texas town - even the adults and teachers he should have been able to turn to - were willing to speak up in defense of a gay kid.

Everywhere he turns, people don't want to rock the boat and make the bullies angry. But what about his anger? The anger he feels at watching others commit a hate crime and simply get away with it?

Blaming some deity for your own hate seems pretty messed up to me.

So Adrian fashions his own kind of weapon: art.

His subversionary tactics have consequences, of course. And they bring to light many issues affecting those around Adrian - especially issues of masculinity and the pressure teenage boys feel to behave in a "manly" way or face the wrath of their peers.

It's a powerful book about superheroes, and the quietly subversive heroes that live among us. And yet, despite the serious issues, it is far from dark. It brings light, creativity, geeky references and gay romance to the table. Most likely, it will make you angry. But it will make you happy too.

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[TL *Humaning the Best She Can* · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm loving how some YA books these days are getting bolder/edgier (whichever word you want to use) and not being afraid to tackle serious issues in books. No offense to the "romantic" YA novels out there but anymore all most of them do is get me irritated and bored.

This one is just a marvelous book... it tackles hard issues but balances it out with humor, friendship, and some romance. The geeky references had me smiling and laughing every single time and wondering where these people were when I was in high school :).

The story takes a little while to get started but it always has the 'feeling' of going somewhere, and really let us to get to know Adrian and the people he cares about in life. I could see both sides of the argument and didn't blame either side for feeling the way they did (I still wished he would have told someone even though I had a feeling just like he did what would happen).

The way Adrian grew over the course of the story and beginning to stand up for himself and others was beautiful to watch. Cheering him on the whole time, while also wanting to shake him and call him a brave idiot for one incident hehe.

One particular situation isn't what it seemed, one part I guessed and the other was a surprise but made sense looking back on all the little clues. The end result of it was realistic but had me cautiously hopeful for this character in particular.

LOVED Audrey! In some ways she reminded me of my soul-sister Jessie, the same spirit and loyalty.

Willow and me probably would have gotten along better, a quiet but good soul. During one scene I wanted to give him a great big hug.

Lev was so adorable! :)

Adrian's artwork blends seamlessly into the story, giving a space to be who he is and to help work out his feelings... the artwork gets more "emotional" I guess is the word as the story goes on and Adrian's confidence in himself grows.

I don't want to say too much so I don't spoil this story... like with the Serpent Kings, I think this is a story you should just dive into headfirst and experience for yourself.
It is a big book but it also doesn't feel quite long enough, if you know what I mean.

The ending wraps it all up with a big smile and some laughs as well.

Highly recommend!

Blaming some deity for your own hate seems pretty messed up to me.

And they don't know me. To them, I'm just categories and cliches, too. The geek. The gay boy. The wimp. Even though I screamed at Doug in front of everybody at Boo, what have I done since then that anyone knows about? I'm happily a geek and happily gay, but I'm no longer a wimp.

My art is my superpower--and I'm not afraid to use it.

Emily's review here Her review brought this wonderful book to my attention, right after I read it I went on Amazon and ordered the book (which came a day late haha).

Check out some of the artwork here I seriously would love the artwork in a book by itself, love love loved it :)

Wonder what I would look like as a superhero... I think my power would either empathy or telekinesis perhaps...

[Alice-Elizabeth (Prolific Reader Alice) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this as an e-book on Scribd!

T/W- Bullying, Assault, Offensive Slurs

This was a novel that I was really looking forward to diving into the adventures of Adrian and his love for art. However, the writing style just sadly didn't work for me and in the end, was left feeling underwhelmed by the story. The main character Adrian lives in Texas, USA and goes to a local high school. He has a talent for drawing and creates worlds with his own superhero Graphite and posts new drawings and storyboards up online for the world to see. There is a secret to his life, Adrian is gay. But very few know until the day a shocking hate crime happens and he finds himself caught up in it. In a matter of days, Adrian becomes the target for some nasty bullying but some friends do flock to his side. The pacing did move a little quickly but I did love the M/M romance that was included in the novel. I would have loved to have seen this as a full graphic novel rather than a novel. The Graphite illustrations was my favourite thing to read throughout and wanted more of them. Sadly, I won't be re-reading this one.

[Arlo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had potential, but I found it incredibility disappointing. For a book being praised as an amazing piece of LGBT literature, it has so much wrong with it.

To start off with what it got right, the art was great. I love how there were scribbles, doodles, fished pieces and everything in between. It really helped bring the world to life. And I liked following Adrian's journey as he found his own way of doing something about social injustice and bullying, or at least I tried to, but their was so much along the way that went wrong.

First off, the characters are heavily stereotyped, so sure you've got a varied cast of characters and more representation is a good thing, but how good is it when it relies on stereotypes as opposed to actual well developed characters? I saw so much praise for this book including an asexual character which baffles me because the only line pertaining to this was " . . .Trent claims to be asexual. Since when is a teen boy asexual?". I would love to see more asexual characters in the media, but in my opinion this is worse than none. This just reinforces that idea that being asexual is not valid, and certainly not for a teenage boy. It was followed by the line "Well, what the do /I/ know?" so I was hoping it would turn around but it didn't.

Furthermore for a book that is being praised as being so inclusive it is extremely cis-normative with a scene at an LGBT center hosting drag queen bingo and having the leaders of the event only say "boys and girls," thus discounting people who aren't either. I know this might seem like a small thing, and it most other books it would be, but given how praised this has been for being so inclusive, it's a big thing.

Then we've got the whole redemption arc of the bad guy even though the only real thing that happen there was an acknowledgment of wrongdoing followed by an excuse of thing being complicated so he didn't have a choice. If the book was going to go down that road I was hoping the "it was complicated" bit would at least be explained, but it wasn't. And even if it had I still don't think the character would be redeemable, at least not in the time frame the book covered, maybe down the road in that characters life, but not in the span of the book.

And then we've also got a case of "insta-love" which took whatever merit this book had as a book about the injustice and brutality and turned it into a cheesy YA romance novel.

Overall this was a fast read even though it was long page wise (a good chunk were drawings), so I didn't exactly feel like my time was wasted but I just don't get how hailed this book is. Maybe without all the hype I could have enjoyed it more, but with my hopes so high this fell short, badly.

[Lyra · Rating 2 out of 5]

How does this book have so many 5 star reviews?!

While it isn't the worst book I've ever read, the writing is atrocious, the majority of the characters are total stereotypes (you've got your sassy Black sidekick, your homophobic Texas jock, your theater-obsessed gay guy), the plot has very little tension, and of course we've got some insta-love thrown in as well.

The prose is like stage direction, mixed with stream-of-consciousness. THERE ARE SO MANY UNNECESSARY DETAILS. For example, do we really need to know that the characters entered the mall through the Neiman Marcus entrance? Or what everyone ordered for dinner and the fact that they all Purell-ed their hands before eating?! And I swear to God, at one point, the main character goes to the bathroom to pee and it is literally described in thorough detail!!! No wonder this book is is over 500 pages long! Did the editor just totally check out?

What is most frustrating is that the artwork in the book is truly beautiful and unique, and the idea for the story is important and unique. If only it were better executed.

[Sharon Amsterdam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read an advance galley of this book.

A great read read as well as a feel-good story. In my opinion, it's a book about friendship, loyalty, actually it's a primer, a guide on how to be a good friend. I don't see the main theme as that of a gay teenager struggling to find himself, rather, of a fine young man who happens to be gay, discovering and finding the courage to declare himself.

There is a satisfying resolution with Adrian's enjoyment and confidence in who he has become.

So much works for me -- how Adrian uses his art as an expression, never a weapon. When he comes out to his parents, it's a conversation many readers might be dreading. The author demonstrates it needn't be traumatic.

"Draw the Line" is a very important book on many levels.

Sharon Amsterdam Koplin

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

The artwork is beautiful, the premise is really interesting and well done, and I loved the first half, but I have to say I did kind of check out when the whole "redeem the homophobic bully" storyline started. I mean, the guy violently smashed a kid's face into a car repeatedly while yelling homophobic slurs until he passed out and we're supposed to believe (and care?!) that he has a "more human side"... Sorry, but that didn't ring true to me at all.

[Melissa Stacy · Rating 1 out of 5]

**beware of unmarked spoilers in this review**

**please read at own risk -- thanks!**

The 2016 YA contemporary, "Draw the Line," is heavily marketed as an empowering novel of "LGBT lit." The main character is a gay teenage boy who suffers a lot of homophobia in his high school, and -- according to book descriptions -- uses his comic book superhero artwork to combat bullies and be all awesome. Or something.

While the reader is meant to be scared for the physical safety of this teen boy, the biggest hurdle Adrian faces in this novel is a broken cell phone. Apparently, Adrian has broken several other phones, and his mom refuses to pay for a new one. Adrian whines and whinges about his lack of a phone throughout the course of the novel, which follows the events of his life over a period of two weeks.

Since Adrian has an allowance, and plenty of spending money to eat out at restaurants, purchase snacks at school or on road trips, pay for art supplies, host his own comic book website, and he even buys craft supplies to make a superhero costume, I honestly had no idea why buying a phone was such a big deal. There weren't any prices listed in the book, concerning how much a new phone would cost, so I'm guessing he needed one that was maybe $600.00 or more. In which case, why has he already broken so many, and why doesn't he have a protective case for these expensive phones? Adrian is a very clumsy boy who freaks out a lot, he frequently makes random outbursts like "ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod!" as he fumbles his way through the story -- he seems like the kind of person whose parents would make sure he has a protective case for a phone, especially since he's already broken so many.

Other drama and hardship surround Adrian in this story -- but none of it is real, and nothing comes of any of it. The biggest bully at school in the book is actually one of Adrian's secret admirers, a long-time fan of his artwork who praises Adrian on his website. Though Adrian draws a superhero art panel of this bully releasing his "dark rage" upon Adrian, the truth is, Adrian smashed his own nose tripping over his own feet, and this random "dark rage" plot thread that comes up about halfway through the book is dropped from the story.

There are a lot of random plot threads in this novel. "Draw the Line" reads like at least four different YA storylines smashed into one, and all of them are of the adult-wish-fulfillment variety. There is the insta-love and Happily Ever After of YA romance; the bully-transformation YA storyline; the rocky-friendship redemption YA storyline; the coming-out and gay-acceptance storyline of a YA LGBT bildungsroman.

The mash-up of all these different plotlines in this novel felt awkward, unbelievable, and unsatisfying. The prose style is also quite messy. Action scenes are difficult to follow, and are not this author's strength. Romantic scenes or action scenes that have a lot of build-up are frequently skipped over in the timeline, and then Adrian will relate that scene to the reader as a memory, sharing the details as backstory. Narrative choices like this are frustrating and sloppy.

All of the secondary characters in this book read like stereotypes, or are outright ridiculous on their own. Adrian's two best friends are a curvy, sassy black fashionista and a tall, white Goth boy with a mom who is mentally ill and a drunk. This mother screams like a banshee whenever Adrian sees her, she calls Adrian a "homo" and a "fag" and tells him he needs to stay out of her house. She beats on doors and behaves in physically threatening ways. She also has giant paintings of Jesus in her home and makes a big deal about how she's a Christian. Though she is obviously mentally unhinged, and the scariest character in the book, she is dropped from the storyline about halfway through the novel.

The "jocks" at school are no friends of Adrian's, and he refers to them throughout the novel as "bubbas," "pricks," and "dicks." Early in the book, a flamboyant/overly-dramatic homosexual theater student calls a boy in the hallway a "damn cow pussy" to insult him, and later has his face smashed in on the back of the car. The injured theater student is also told, "God hates fags," by "the bubbas," and this is the "violent hate crime" cited on the book jacket as the incident that sets Adrian on a course of action to use his art to "combat bullying" at school.

While I support Adrian's opinion that name-calling is wrong and no one should be attacked for their sexual orientation, it bothered me that Adrian had no problem name-calling his classmates, and had no problem hearing other gay students name-call people in the hallways. I understand that victims often feel justified in lashing out against the people who bully them, and resort to using all the same tactics their bullies use to inflict harm. But that is not "superhero" behavior, and being angry about being called a "fag" while you have no problem calling someone a "pussy" or a "prick" to insult them is the height of hypocrisy.

Though this story is set in Texas, no one in the book understands *any* Spanish, and Spanish is openly mocked by Adrian's friends. While Adrian is passionate about learning French, and shows obvious respect for that language, the "Spanish dialogue" in these pages isn't really Spanish at all, and only exists for cheap laughs.

The one Hispanic character in the book is a menacing wrestling student who gives Adrian a lot of scary looks in the hallway. I assumed that this Hispanic wrestler had been put on the page to end up as a boyfriend for the only other person of color in the book, the sassy black fashionista -- and that assumption proved to be correct.

Early in the book, Adrian's father is introduced as a disabled man who must be constantly cared for by Adrian and his mother. The story shows that the father is an ungrateful burden in Adrian's family, a source of hardship in Adrian's life, and the primary reason why Adrian's mother cannot afford to buy Adrian a new phone. Later, the father is walking around with a cane, Adrian no longer provides care for him, and all conflict around the father is simply removed. Adrian's parents are happy and peaceful, supportive and loving, and have no problems at all when they learn their son is gay.

I'm not even going to discuss the insta-love in this book, except to say that if you really enjoy insta-love and Happily Ever After love stories in YA romance, then you should definitely read "Draw the Line."

If you pick up this novel expecting reality, or any kind of serious examination of homophobia, then the hardcore stereotypes and randomly-dropped plot threads in this book will disappoint you. If you pick up "Draw the Line" expecting to read an adult wish-fulfillment tale, a story stuffed full of happiness and optimism and aggressive silliness, then you'll probably love this book.

Overall, I found "Draw the Line" to be predictable, unrealistic, and loaded with stereotypes. The main character was a whiny hypocrite and everyone around him was gross. I enjoyed none of these characters. There was not one person I liked, and I really didn't care if Adrian ever got a new phone. The treatment of Spanish in this book was especially insulting. The disability representation was highly problematic. This is just not a book I'd ever recommend.

[Ari · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,75*

Yah... this story dealing with hate crime and bullying, but it's balanced out with cute romance, genuine friendship, and the fun of high school (high school is fun you know... you'll missed when you a grown up adult, trust me ^^), so yah... it's adorable story all around. (^,,^)v

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a time when I really wish Goodreads had half star ratings, because I really want to give this 3 ½ stars. It doesn’t belong on my 3 star or 4 star shelf… Anyway, I think this was quite an easy and entertaining read. Didn’t blow me away but it’s well worth a read if you’re looking for some LGBT YA.

My biggest fear going into this was that it would feel too long, as it is a contemporary book that is over 500 pages. Luckily, I flew through this in nearly one sitting. It’s a very quick read that’s easy to pick up without much thought involved.

This story follows Adrian, a gay boy in high school who has an online blog where he posts his art about a comic style character inspired by himself. When Adrian encounters two jocks attacking another gay student at his school, Adrian comes to his defense. It’s about Adrian coping with his sexuality, first love, bullying, and using his art to combat it.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing. It’s very much a stream of consciousness style, which just really isn’t my thing. Adrian sounds exactly like a teen though, which is always something I can appreciate. I kind of felt like Adrian and his friends were very exaggerated characters with only a few defining traits.

I was surprised to find that this book contained instalove. Adrian’s love interest is one dimensional and unrealistically perfect. It was a pretty weak romance to me.

The art was quite good, but I’m really not a person who notices art in a book. I actually thought Adrian’s comics weren’t very good. I mean they had no plot and didn’t make a ton of sense. Like, if I was reading his blog I probably wouldn’t really like it…

I do recommend this book, as it is a pretty solid YA contemporary novel, but it’s not amazing. I appreciate it, though it’s not a favorite.

[george ☽ · Rating 2 out of 5]

dnf @ 48%

this wasn't the worst book i've ever read or anything, and i completely understand why some people might like it, but it really wasn't for me. i think it was the writing style that i didn't get on with? there. were. a. lot. of. sentences. structured. like. this. for. emphasis and frequent 'ohmygodohmygodohmygod's that irritated me a little bit.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love this book so much. This is the second time I've read it and I'll probably reread it every year. ❤️❤️

[Kathy Bieger Roche · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so excited to be able to read an advance galley copy of Laurent Linn’s debut novel, Draw The Line and meet his main character, Adrian Piper. I loved Adrian’s attempts at his Texas high school to fly under the radar that bullies monitor to hone in on geeky, artistic kids, especially those who are gay.

Unaware of his own strengths compared to those of his vivid, funny and heartbreaking cast of friends, (Audrey and Trent, among them,) Adrian depends on his alter ego, Graphite, (his secret comic book Renaissance superhero creation,) to keep going from day to day. (During the course of the book, Adrian contributes 90 pages of amazing drawings to Graphite’s website, surely an unprecedented accomplishment for a YA novel.)

However, once Adrian witnesses a brutal hate crime, his reactions catapult him smack into the bullies’ bull’s eye. As the story develops, the book leads readers not only through plenty of surprise plot twists, but also to fascinating settings they may not have seen before.

I was always right inside Adrian’s head as he navigates a high school where everyone struggles to keep their own secrets safe. Out of every emotional experience, from hilarious to vulnerable to painful, Adrian makes choices. Ultimately, Adrian’s stealth art frees him to fight bullying without turning into a bully himself, allowing him to become the kind of person he wants to be.

While I’ll remember this story’s unexpected plot, Linn’s compelling characters will stay with me forever, enticing me to revisit them again and again in this melding of superb art and text.

I eagerly await reading whatever Laurent Linn writes next!

[hal · Rating 5 out of 5]

While reading Draw the Line, I alternated between squealing like a fangirl, shrieking with rage, and almost crying. No lie, this book made me feel ALL the feels.

Adrian's such a dork and it's so cute. He's really awkward and geeky and UGH ITS SO ADORABLE *fangirls* Seriously, can I be friends with this kid?
I didn't like Audrey at first. There's this scene where she's trying to help Adrian, but she's not exactly being helpful and he points out that she doesn't know what it's like to actually be gay. And then she's like "oh yeah? Well you don't know what it's like to be a plus sized black girl!" or something. Fuck you. Way to minimize your friend's struggles. So, I will never love Audrey. But I grew to like her.

I'm not sure if this counts as a spoiler but just in case omfg Lev. LEV!!!! What a sweetie . He and Adrian are really awkward at first, and then they become closer and UGH ITS SO CUTE. My new OTP, I swear

To be honest, I felt sorry for Doug. I know, he did terrible, unforgivable things. And I don't excuse his actions. But know why he did what he did made me feel pity and sympathy. And I appreciate that the author humanized him instead of making him a one sided villain

I can't even right now. I had so much fun with this. It was funny and entertaining and so heartwarming while also touching on important issues.

And you know what? There are many flaws. There was a comment from Adrian that I felt was offensive about asexual people. There were some stereotypes. The romance wasn't exactly realistic. It's not perfect, not by a long shot. But I enjoyed it, so fuck it all I'm giving it five stars.

[J L's Bibliomania · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm conflicted about Draw The Line. On the one hand the book is a gorgeous melding of graphic art and prose about a gay high school student expressing himself through original comics. On the other hand, Draw the Line is yet another issue book where the central problem is a high school student being bullied for being gay/different and finding the courage to stand up to the bullies and to tell his parents about his sexual identity.

(Props for Adrian's parent's being cool with it)


On the plus side, Adrian and his friends read like High School students and are just adorably geeky. On the negative side, the character grouping are just a bit too stereotypical (the plump, sassy African American female sidekick, the jock/football star bully/antagonist) and the story arc fell too often into cliches (such as the drag queen bingo at the LGBTQ center and the redeem the homophobic bully climax.

I spent a long time debating my rating, and in the end settled on 4 stars because while I very much enjoyed Draw the Line, I just wanted more sophistication out of the story. However, don't let the rating dissuade you from exploring illustrator and puppet designer Laurent Linn's debut attempt at young adult fiction. Flaws and all, I think you will be glad you took the time.

[KL (Cat) · Rating 4 out of 5]

pre-review thoughts:

- The first 30-ish% of the novel was hard to get through, as I found both the writing and characters to be rather stilted and awkward. However, upon completion, I'm really glad that I stuck to it and got through as the amazingness simply gets better and better.

- Teenagers and their extremely realistic portrayal of how we struggle to face (and overcome) our problems + the reasons behind why it's hard are authentic; as I teenager myself I feel as if I can really sympathise with the protag

- More complex than Simon vs HS but the humor is equally as great

- Gorgeous illustrations that accompany the text!!!

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone who dared to dream, have artistic dreams, romantic dreams, supportive but knowing how to help friends, and whoever wanted to be a super hero (whether LGBTQIA OR NOT), this is a fun book for you!

[Brianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Solid 3.75, didn't like where it made in fun of asexuality though.

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started amazingly for me: Adrian's Inner Jedi and his circle of seemingly diverse friends (Trent the goth and Audrey the overweight black girl) was fun and interesting to me; especially the darker realism of Adrian's father at home "recovering" for years after a car crash and Trent's mother being a drunkard with rage issues. But there are a LOT of stereotypes in this thing (sassy black chubby friend, gay stereotypes all over, thuggish football player bullies...) and honestly the more we got further into the book where the plot was becoming one of "redeem the bully...kinda?" the less I found to love in the story. The comic pages of Graphite are amazing and the story concept was so great to start off that I really found myself disappointed at the end by the cliches and really had no desire to see Doug the Thug get even slightly "redeemed". Plus? We pretty much drop the entire Adrian's dad or Trent's mother story and know pretty much ZERO about Audrey's family life.

Lev is cute but the insta-love was annoying after a while and Kobe is pretty much Not On Page for a solid chunk of the middle of the book while this love-story and "how do I confront these bullies" plot points were the hyper focus.

So while Adrian does grow and overall it's a story of LGBT strength in the face of hatred; it is filled with heart-saddening cliches, tropes, and stereotypes that make it not nearly the quirky but lovely story I started it thinking it could be. If you can roll your eyes and get past those it's a decent YA romance/LGBT hero story (ish) but beware that the bad guys don't even really get justice so even on that front you'll be frustrated by the end.

[j.chestnut · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars ✨ i think. rtc

[Rori · Rating 1 out of 5]

in all actuality this is a 1.5

I honestly don't understand how so many people have given this a 5 star rating. Multiple times I messaged my friend going "ARE WE READING THE SAME BOOK! HOW!" I actually entered into a state of reading this books where I was just rage reading because A. I had already gotten halfway through and I hate DNFing books and 2. I had paid for the book.

The good things - the art was fantastic, although I wish there was more because it was the best part of the whole thing. Also there was like 40 pages toward the last forth of the book where I thought the book would be redeemed but then It became crap again.

The (major) bad things - Honestly, very few of the characters were even likable, the main character talked and made me want to slam my head against the nearest hard surface especially with all his "Thank Obi-Wan" and "ohmygodohmygodohmygod!" his two friends had likable moments but otherwise were really stereotypical, in fact most of the characters were stereotypical. There was one character that I kinda liked but then he started to act like a major douche canoe towards the end. the writing is seriously not good, like there were moments that I laughed from how bad they were, and a few prime lines were screenshot and sent to friends so that they could laugh with me. also there were a lot of plot points entered that just never got fulfilled and so they just felt unnecessary and made me wonder why they were there. And there were also times when there was not enough information, like literally anything with the main characters dad, because he's disabled but how this happened or what his disability is never explained and so there is just confusion. There are a bunch of really small nitpick things that come from my intense hatred of reading this book but those were the major things.

The worst part is this could have been such a great story, the summary sounded amazing and the concept of using comics to stand up to a hate crime is so great but it was executed really poorly.

[Alethia · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's so much to say, only most of it is bad. The concept was good, but the execution and the characters especially failed. The main, Adrian, is brash with some courage to him, but while he is noted as being 16, the way he is portrayed is more like 12. He's always arguing, saying that no one understands him, that his friends aren't really friends, just people cast out of the circle, and constantly berating what people do for little to no reason. Furthermore, his friends and hi obviously have no chemistry, even by the end, and yet they throw in friend-one-liners from time to time, making it seem like they have some sort of relationship, but also demonstrating how they have no development, even when there's stuff going on. Everything is about Adrian, and everyone else's problems are back burner-ed, because he's the only one with a little dimension to him.

And he's the one running the story. Any time anything happens, it's pretty much dictated by him. He saves Kobe, he tells people to visit him, people are looking at him for advice. It's crummy. It's corny. If this was a video game, he'd be the avatar and everyone else would be NPCs.

The idea of the book, I think, is that you can't get the full picture just by judging the outside. That there's more than what meets the eye. And yet--everyone is the story is so flat, that even their 'unmasked side' was pretty dull. None of the characters felt real so I never got to connect with them. I didn't enjoy any victories. I didn't agonize over any of the defeats. I was just trying to get through it, page by page.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this. Quirky characters, fun comic illustrations, and a narrator who is funny, brave, and shockingly well-adjusted. I really enjoyed watching Adrian interact with his two best friends, navigate the bullies at his high school, and experience first love. This was a bit of a change from my current "broken boy narrator" kick, but it was refreshing. It reminded me a lot of The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley but with less angst. Sometimes things are a LITTLE too perfect in Adrian's world and things that happen are a LITTLE too convenient, but it was still highly enjoyable.

[Selene Castrovilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

A reward of being an author is that I get to experience friends' creations from "birth." This is what happened with Laurent Linn's Draw the Line. Laurent labored over this story meticulously until it was perfected. It's a story of a gay teen, but anyone can identify with Adrian and what he endures. And everyone will celebrate him! An amazing character, and I'm proud endorse this work which happens to be written by my good friend. Bravo Laurent!

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. There are lots of loose threads here, but ultimately this was a very satisfying read. So far I've read four (yes, four) 2016 YA novels about gay teens facing adversity and Draw the Line stands out for its unique characters even though it wasn't the best of the bunch. Really looking forward to writing this up properly for the Printz blog.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stereotypical characters. Insta-love that can't even be classed as enjoyable. Problematic views about asexuality. Juvenile and convoluted narrative with a completely dislikable main character. I just wanted this to be over and yet it just. Kept. Happening. I loved the art but that was just not enough to redeem this drawn-out yawn of a book.

[laureneliza · Rating 4 out of 5]

We'll call it a 4.5. First of all, the art is incredible, like holy wow it's gorgeous. Characters are fantastic and believable and the story progresses nicely, I just found the writing occasionally awkward. BUT THE ART.

[Abbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Go on and read this book about finding the courage to be who are and stand up for others while they find a way to do the same. Deals with LGBTQ themes on a teenage level. It's heart-wrenching, funny, and romantic. I adored this.

[Izzat Zainal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmm ... where do I start?

It's probably safe to say that I have quite an expectation over this book. Never have I really seen a title that earned so many starred reviews on many well-known book critic sites before, namely Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, at the same time, alongside with many recognition and acknowledgement it has from many well-known YA novelists. So yeah, the positive blurb all over the books is an effective marketing strategy; mainly why I got hooked randomly to buy this title in the first place.

So it's not to say that I didn't enjoy this book -- hella, I do! This book a is a joyride that surprisingly tackles serious issues (mainly homophobia and bigotry) that could have been handled in a dark manner, but is taken with humorous and cheerful recounts of friendship and fluffy romance. It is something that I did enjoy easily -- reading this book isn't hard at all from the first page till the back cover. Its simplistic, straightforward prose helps me get into the story quickly.

But, that is also to say that the writing style wasn't what I expected -- at some point I find myself to be a bit underwhelmed with the way it is written. Sometimes, this book reads like a Wattpad fiction; nothing wrong with that, but I didn't expect that kind of book for titles that earned so many starred reviews and hype. And I don't particularly mind about the narration; it is safe to say that Linn has illustrating more of his thing than writing. But the dialogues are sometimes unrealistic; the characters speak like those from the bad cheap teen flicks you watch on TV and you can't really picture teenagers talk that way to each other.

Apart from that, the things I describe also makes this book unique, which I LOVE. Maybe I'm not used to see such simple, entertaining take on serious issues being printed often. Because more often than not publishers who seek this genre tend to find ones handling this genre to be a la Silvera, dark and depressing, for it to qualify as a contemporary YA novel to handle important matters. I understand the point, though; maybe they are wary to take any books that talk about this topic in vain to not feel like they're underestimating this issue. But this is a fresh start! I applaud Simon & Schuster to take a brilliant step in giving a book like this one a green light, and I'm glad it received rave reviews.

4 stars! I'm waiting for more good vibes and fluffiness in the gay teen genre!

[Ricky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've seen this book on the shelves at work a few times, and eventually, I convinced myself to pick it up on account of its pretty promising artwork and also the promise of a relatable queer protagonist. Laurent Linn delivers on both, though not without a few glitches. Some of which lay in the realm of this book being quite long - 500-plus pages for a debut contemporary YA, seriously? But also because as much as the book brings quite a bit of diversity to the table, it's not without its problems. Frequent homophobia including repeated use of slurs, for one thing, though I suppose that's still a pretty accurate reflection of small-town Texas. Not to mention bits of problematic behavior among our protagonist, deuteragonist, and tritagonist. Like, there's a scene where Adrian talks about Trent claiming he was asexual after a bad breakup, and then goes on to invalidate the very idea of Trent being ace just 'cause he's a teen boy. Not to mention how, despite being marginalized, pretty much all the friends (especially Adrian and Audrey) have a tendency to forget each other's specific issues and center their own above all else. But hey, all this problematic behavior can be explained by the fact that they're teenagers and imperfect - and a damn sight better than the bullies, although there's some unexpected complexity there too. I'm talking about a scene that owes more than a bit to a certain confession in The Breakfast Club.

But what really sells this book for me, in addition to the surprisingly sweet romantic storyline that gives me some good Simon Vs. style feels, is the artwork, of course. Not only Adrian's beautiful Graphite comic, but even the silly stuff - like the drawing Lev makes of the French teacher as a police officer chasing Adrian with a baguette, and the giant sign reading "INTERDIT DE RIRE," mais j'ai ri beaucoup quand même.

I hope Linn gives us another book soon. Heck, especially if it's a full-length graphic-novel adaptation of Graphite.