Whitney Atkinson's Reviews > Check, Please! Book 1: #Hockey

3.5 stars

This book had me laughing out loud before the page count even hit double digits! I was not expecting this to have such a tasteful sense of humor in a way that was both evident in dialogue and the clever way the panels transitioned and cut off. I thought Bittle (Bitty? Idk what his name is even after reading this bc he was called like 30 things) was charming and funny and relatable and sweet, and I loved following his story. Him being a vlogger was a really great addition! My main issue with this graphic novel, though, is that toward the middle and last half, it becomes really meandering. I wasn't sure if this book was trying to lead up to the championship, Bittle/Bitty/whatever's unrequited love, the senior team members graduating, or what. I skipped entire panels because the dialogue just became rambly and nonsensical because the story lost some steam after the exposition, but the ending was great enough to make me want the second volume, so it picked back up! Overall, I thought this was a funny, addicting book with a nice m/m subplot, and I'm sure volume two will have a lot more direction than this one did.