Hello Sunshine / Keezy Young / Book Review

HELLO SUNSHINE

Alex is missing. Alex is missing, and Noah is devastated. He never should have left for Bible camp. Maybe if he had stayed in town, Alex wouldn't have had a breakdown. Maybe their secret relationship would have been enough to keep him together.

Alex is missing, and Sky is determined to find out what happened. They might have drifted apart since childhood, but she still feels responsible. Alex is missing, and Izzy feels guilty. She knew something was wrong, and she didn't tell anyone until it was too late.

Alex is missing, and Jamie is angry. He's angry at his twin for disappearing, for running away without leaving any clues behind. He's angry at himself for not noticing that Alex was struggling the same way their mother was before she died. And he's angry at his mother and the "demons" she claimed were plaguing her. He's angry, but not at the demons... Because demons aren't real, right?

THOUGHTS

This is a really hard read, but it is really worth it! It's heavy material backed by beautiful (but visceral) art, and it comes with twists I didn't see coming. The storytelling is excellent, but this is by no means a light and easy read. Don't let the fact it's a graphic novel convince you otherwise.

PROS

Stark Colors	I don't normally feature graphic novels on Gateway Reviews. (This is, in fact, the very first.) I don't usually feature them because reviewing comics is, in my opinion, more complicated than reviewing a novel. You're not just a literary critic in that moment. You have to be an art critic, too, and art criticism just isn't my forte. But when I say that Keezy Young is obviously a master of comics, I do mean it. Every bit of these illustrations feels intentional, meant to carry the story right alongside the written language, neither doing more work than the other, and one of the things that really sticks out in this piece is Young's use of color. Color palates shift and change with the moods of the story, with hazy nostalgic memories being warm colors and the more melancholy present timeline being cool and dark colors. The saturation ratchets up for the snippets of violence that splash across these pages, and overall, each and every artistic decision only buoys the storytelling to make it truly exceptional.
Great Narration	Each chapter in this novel is told by a different character, and each chapter feels unique. You can feel the personality of these characters leaking through into the way they experience the world, into how they experience their missing friend. Keezy Young does an excellent job with this. I especially love the way prayer weaves through Noah's chapter, something so unusual in a novel so queer. These prayers set the tone. They feel desperate and hopeful and real in a way that religion isn't often depicted in fiction, especially in YA. These desperate hopes and messy relationship with religion comes back in Alex's chapter later, a full circle (though a hard-to-read reality). Alex's chapter is masterful as well in the way that it feels so overwhelming. It forces you to stop, to fill Alex's shoes as he is plagued by the demons that taunt him. It's a gut-punch of a chapter in the best of ways. Overall, Keezy Young is a master of character voice.
Queer Rep	I really like how queer this book is. It feels very real, in a way that I don't often find in YA's LGBTQ+ rep. It feels soft, like kids just existing and figuring themselves out without that being the focus of this book. They have a lot bigger things to focus on, after all. And it's a book that features a lot of different types of queer teenage experience, with Alex being out and Noah being not-quite-out and Iz finally able to admit to her boyfriend that this isn't going to work out (and it really, truly isn't him). I appreciate it.

CONS

This book might be a graphic novel, but it isn't a light and easy read. And with chapters as long as these are, it was hard at times to get through. It was tiring to keep pushing on to a good chapter break, since the material is often so heavy.	Fatigue
Graphic novels have a reputation for being quicky and punchy, and that's just not the case with this one. Which definitely isn't something that I mind. But with so much slow unraveling happening in this book, it can feel a bit tetherless at times. Some of the emotion gets diluted by how long it takes to get there, which is unfortunate.	Lost in the Weeds
Don't get me wrong. I appreciate what Young does in this book. Magic and mental illness coexist. They're not necessarily linked, and one isn't used as a poor metaphor for the other. And that's refreshing. But this book does a lot of (really well-balanced) dancing around the supernatural early on that it feels like a hard turn into the outright, concrete supernatural when we finally get there. I liked the vision, but the balance that was spun for so long (and so well) got knocked askew in a way that meant, at least to me, the story never really quite straightened itself out again. The tone changed; the audience changed, and I'm not sure it was handled the best.	Hard Swing

Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
9/10

Fans of Alice Oseman's Heartstopper will fall in love with Keezy Young's art. Those who loved C.G. Drews's Don't Let the Forest In will love diving into this messy-mental-health-meets-supernatural dark comic.

Details Publisher: Little, Brown Ink Date: September 23, 2025 Series: N/A Add to Goodreads Buy it HERE

Note: I was provided with an ARC by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here are my own.