Self-described gender-nonconforming, lesbian werewolf Ren Strapp will debut her first full-length graphic novel this year, and The Mary Sue can exclusively reveal the cover and a sneak peek at the interior art.
Entitled How Could You, this coming-of-age queer love story follows four college upperclassmen as they attempt to navigate increasingly complicated relationships with others, all while trying to figure out who they are as they careen toward post-grad adulthood.
“Every year of college is a discovery into some new form of heartbreak,” Strapp says. “It’s your junior year, your girlfriend left you and your best friend is graduating at the end of the year. You’re caught between moving on and praying things will stay the same. It’s your junior year, and you left your girlfriend in America to go to France with a girl who gives you butterflies, but she won’t look you in the eye. It’s your sophomore year and changing your mind feels like shame. It’s your senior year, and you still don’t fit in anywhere. You look to graduation for salvation.
“How Could You is for anyone who made mistakes, who spoke unkindly, who was selfish, who lost friends, who lost themselves. It’s for people stumbling into adulthood, carrying guilt over faux pas, betrayal, and not making amends when you could. I hope this book finds you and tells you you’re not alone,” she continues.
How Could You follows Molly Song, who’s determined to get over the ex who dumped her via e-mail and immediately started posting on social media about her roommate abroad. She enlists her friend Lou Kingston to attend parties and look for rebound girlfriends together, but unfortunately, there are only a handful of eligible lesbians in their circle. When they start vying for the same girl, things get complicated, fast—especially when Molly starts developing feelings that she’s pretty sure are unrequited.
Meanwhile, Yona and Olene—Molly and Lou’s exes—are studying abroad in France, where love is seemingly all around. That said, romance may or may not blossom between them as they see springtime in Marseille, make new friends, and dig deeper into themselves.
“How Could You masterfully weaves readers into the lives of its characters—complete with messy breakups, messy rebounds, and even messier college dorm rooms,” says Oni Press senior editor Grace Scheipeter. “Ren has a uniquely clever way of telling a story that is full of humor, heart, and heartbreaks. But through it all, How Could You tells a story about finding yourself and staying true to who you are, no matter what college throws your way.”
Based on Strapp’s cartooning style, the description, and the preview pages, How Could You seems perfect for fans of Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper; Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell’s Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me; Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki’s Roaming (one of our best graphic novels of 2023); and John Allison, Max Sarin, Lissa Treiman, Whitney Cogar, and Jim Campbell’s Giant Days.
How Could You will be available everywhere books are sold on December 17.
(featured image: Oni Press)
