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wow!! This is a graphic novel following two friends, focusing small-scale as they talk about relationships and school stuff at a very competitive dance school in Bucharest.

But the school pressure, tension - including about how more and less traditional arts disciplines are seen, burnout, and whether to be out and to who - is all told so realistically in such a grounded way, I found it so emotionally impactful by the end. It doesn't shy away from the complexity of being in a long secret relationship / in the closet in a changing but still conservative environment, or the secondary storyline of a character's crush on a teacher.

Even knowing literally nothing about dance, the story is contained but the emotions feel so big and real to being a teenager - I went in not knowing what to expect, but found it really moving.