Ngozi Ukazu

Eric Bittle may be a former junior figure skating champion, vlogger extraordinaire, and very talented amateur pâtissier, but being a freshman on the Samwell University hockey team is a whole new challenge. It is nothing like co-ed club hockey back in Georgia! First of all? There’s checking. And then, there is Jack—his very attractive but moody captain. A collection of the first half of the megapopular webcomic series of the same name, Check, Please!: #Hockey is the first book of a hilarious and stirring two-volume coming-of-age story about hockey, bros, and trying to find yourself during the best four years of your life.

Check, Please!: # Hockey

kelsey

yes i did just finish year 1 & 2 in like 2 hours. no i am not ashamed.

akynn 

3.5 ⭐️

I feel like I would’ve enjoyed this more if I slowed down while reading it a bit.

Catarina Lopes 

Ally

I just felt weird with the couple and how they were drawn

Lamia Hajani

As someone who loves ice hockey and is involved with her local college team, this is such a niche and perfect read for me. Ukazu's art style is gorgeous and she clearly loves the sport in the same way as I do- as a viewer. About halfway through the book, though, everything felt disjointed, and I got extremely confused by what was going on. It felt like I had missed a page or two, but I hadn't. I'm not sure why this happened, BUT I still plan to read Book 2! So cute!

menna

brianna

the amount of pure joy i experienced while rereading this reminded me how much i love books

Izza

3.25 stars | I heard so many good things about this comic, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped, considering it's queer and it about college hockey. I didn't really click with the characters, there wasn't enough hockey and there was no real lead to the final scene for me to find it believable...

Jess Johansson

This was so wholesome and lovely. In my experience hockey and queer culture don't really go hand-in-hand but it was so refreshing to visit a universe where that was the case. More LGBTQ stories that don't center on trauma and hardship, please!! (A la Schitts Creek).

Francis Buggey

ugh this was super gay and cute and the hockey bits were super funny

✨Tyler ✨

the pacing was a little odd which i chalked up to it being a webcomic but then there were extra comics and tweets from bitty collected at the end that i thought would have helped to tell a more well rounded story if they had been mixed in with the main story. but otherwise, i really enjoyed this. i love hockey and this was so cute.

Josefina

to be honest this was hard for me to read and i kinda felt bored, probably because of the sports references, but i did enjoy the main character and all the cooking he did

Ana Cob

Super cute but definitely not Middle grade.

Archita Birla

simple and easy to read, there are some warm moments but the story is somewhat disjointed (not sure if this is just how graphic novels are?) and there’s no conflict? or like, main plot? idk how else to put it, it’s a lot like reading a journal but without any *real* personal info being revealed

(i am biased by the check please fan fiction i consume and i fully admit that)

Alora

This was a super cute super quick graphic novel! I loved it and can't wait to read the next one.

KADY BURNS

Trying to get into comics/graphics novels and started here since I have heard so much about it and I adored it! Can't wait to get the second book.

Courtney ✿ @librarycutie

yes please!
 this is the story i’ve been looking for since yuri on ice! (it actually might be better, oops.) i love getting to see buffy’s life as a freshman and sophomore, i’m loving where it ended, WHATS GONNA HAPPEN HIS JUNIOR YEAR?? ahh, i can’t wait for the next volume, i wonder what’s going to happen in bitty’s last two semesters in college, he’s honestly grown a lot and i love the hint of hockey, i’m glad it’s not a major thing we see but can still understand it’s a big part of the story and the characters.

Sahi K

Reading graphic novels is a fairly new experience for me, one I discovered only this year and I don't think I still have the right barometer to rate or review them. However, I have found that my tastes lean towards cute and adorable, and I can tell without hesitation that this graphic novel falls exactly in that category. I also have no clue about webcomics and only heard about Check, Please! because many bloggers received the ARCs at BookCon and it seemed fairly popular and now I can see what all the fuss was about. This was a delight to read and I'm so glad I chose it for Mythothon.

Bitty is absolutely adorable - there's no other word to describe him better. He is a passionate vlogger and baker and that comes through a lot in the book. He loves sharing the little details about his life at college and about his teammates with his followers and that is what we get to see. Baking pies definitely seems like his first love - he bakes when he is happy or sad or stressed or frankly, he doesn't need any reason. He is also slightly apprehensive at the beginning of the college year because he hasn't come out to his team and is actually quite scared of getting hit while playing. However, he slowly wins over everyone with his cuteness and charm and obviously, pies. He forms amazing bonds of friendship with everyone on the team and it's a real delight to watch him grow from strength to strength, gain confidence in himself and become a better player.

The true strength of this book is the team. Every single person takes their team motto of "having each other's back" seriously and there is no scope for jealousy or unruly competition. They have hilarious nicknames and I couldn't stop grinning when I first met Shitty. Despite his ironical name, he is a very supportive guy and the first person Bitty feels comfortable coming out to. Ransom and Holster take it upon themselves to find him a date while also covering his back during the games. In his sophomore year, Bitty takes a new player under his wing and makes sure he is able to perform at his best. And last but not the least we have the brooding grumpy captain Jack, who makes it his mission to help Bitty get past his phobia for checking. 

What we see is a very slow progression of friendship between Jack and Bitty. Jack makes Bitty feel more confident in his game and believe in himself while Bitty draws out Jack from his solitary existence to become a more integral part of the team. Their little interactions are so cute and beautiful and I kept wishing I could see more of them together. I also kept hoping that Bitty's feelings would be reciprocated and while this was one of the slowest burns ever, it did give us an amazing cliffhanger!!!! 

The art style in the book is very colorful and truly complements the fluffy nature of the story. I could really feel every emotion that the characters were going through and that was amazing. I also loved the idea of the story being told through Bitty's vlog, because it really gives us a better understanding of his personality and how he interacts with his fans. The ending of the book has a special section for Bitty's tweets and that was the most hilarious part of the book. It shows a very witty side to him and frankly gave me so much more insight into the development of his friendship with Jack. I really wish that much more of the situations that Bitty tweets about were actually part of the story.

Finally, I can just say that if you love reading books that make you happy, then go right ahead and pick up this one. A tale of beautiful friendships, hockey and delightful desserts, reading this will make your cheeks hurt from too much smiling and you will end it with a lot of warm and fuzzy feelings, while also rushing to find the webcomic to read what happens next. Don't miss it!!

Grace O'Callaghan

This is the softest graphic novel about a gay southern boy playing hockey in college whilst baking pies and vlogging. It’s awesome.

Reasons to read Check, Please!:

• The beautiful art. It’s not the style I’d usually go for, but it totally works for this. It’s very cartoony but it’s very easy to see how each character’s feeling by their facial expressions. Also love all of the compositions.

• The cast. Every single character is distinct in looks and personality and you can’t get them confused. Bitty is just the most pure cinnamon bun (that he probably baked). That doesn’t make sense but I don’t care. Jack is also great and under so much pressure from his Dad, my poor boy.

• The humour. I know humour is extremely subjective but I actually chuckled multiple times. Yes the dialogue can be a little cringey sometimes, but if you can look past it this is such a heartwarming story that’ll make you happy.

• The hockey. In all honesty there isn’t much of a plot as it’s told in more of an episodic style, but one thing that remains constant is hockey. I’ve never watched a hockey game ever but I felt the highs and lows of it alongside the cast.

• The queer rep. I swear I say this every time I see an LGBTQ+ character in fiction, but it warms my heart every time to see it normalised. It’s certainly not the main focus so if romance isn’t your thing, it’s not that big.

• That ending though. I saw it coming but it was still so magical and as I’m reading it online I’m so glad I don’t have to wait to read on.

All in all if you’re looking for baking, vlogging and hockey, this is the comic for you.

Melissa Minshull

I loved this book so much. It was so fun and cute. I loved the characters so much, the team were so funny and supportive of eachother. It never felt too heavy but had a great plot line. Reading this just brought me so much joy and I don't know how else to put that into words really. Big recommend if you're looking for a new fun graphic novel series (duology) to start. 

Charlotte Rayfield

As someone who loves hockey and gay people, and college, this was great!

Candyce Kirk

This made me so happy! Full review to follow soon!

Luna

i just can’t get behind the fact that bitty is drawn so differently compared to the other characters ,, i felt like i was reading about a 15 year old and a bunch of 40 year olds because of the art style

Check, Please!: # Hockey

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