Kazimir Lee

I didn’t really know what I was getting into or where the story is gonna lead. Especially after reading many fantasy books lately, after the sci-fi novel became part of Azar’s story, I was sure there was gonna be a twist in there somewhere, like she’s in a coma and then she’ll swim through the world of the novel, which will help her later on in real life...
None of that, haha.

A very non-fantasy slice of life story about Azar, a Malaysian-American lesbian in the closet from her show more parents, and Tristan, they/them pronouns, with a dad who's an author and shouldered with other non-queer-related problems for themselves.
These two basically live in the same house, after Azar and her mom moved to Vermont from New York, where her dad still is stuck, rearranging some things with the apartment. And she has a crush on Jodi, a butch. School is actually okay for her, there’s not really much going on in her life, just basic human stuff.
On a random day like any other, she finds a book under her bed, a sci-fi novel set on another planet tackling racism, written by Tristan’s dad. She finds herself immersed by the story pretty quickly, and let’s days pass while she reads and escapes reality for a bit.

The book may have not turned out to be anything paranormal, but it sure made things roll in her life. In a realistic way.
I found myself immersed into the story similar to how Azar was into the sci-fi novel, just more delicate. The pace, the writing style and the art is tender, never high in contrast, and quite relaxing to read.

It might’ve been confusing and unclear at the start, but that portrays life pretty well – heck, if I were to make a novel about my life, everyone would have a similar reading experience. And that’s not a bad thing. I’m a slice of life fan after all, especially when it’s rather slow-paced and focused on the most normal, ‘boring’ plot-points. I especially loved the panels with an excerpt of the sci-fi novel, where environments were shown, perfectly encompassing the passing of time, as if Azar has placed a camera outside the house, to not miss anything of the outside world, while she’s in another world.

I was surprised by a lot of characters, their developments and the relationship to each other. Tristan was that cool best friend at first, that helps their gay bff to get a gal, but carries actually a lot of weight on their back. Shannon is that chill uncle who feels more of a roommate, open to Queerness and, as an author, fluent in subtext. You can talk to anything about him. (Which was really nice, I loved the uncle-like relationship Azar had to him!) But he too has his baggage. Azar’s mom seemed at first pretty toxic with her subtle gaslighting, but got more development in the end than I expected. Her dad too had some unexpected secrets.

Just like the character designs. Kazimir Lee is not afraid to show edges, curves, fat and different/unusual proportions. While some background characters may have gotten the “simplistic” design treatment, making them look picture-perfect sometimes, most look very realistic, in a beautifully ugly way. (Human.)
For example, I may have not had a picture of Jodi first, but I expected her to rather look like the typical lesbian crush. But nah, she’s fat, loud and piercings. And so is our protagonist, except she’s rather neutral in gender-expression, but mostly comfortable fashion style, with wiggly socks and pretty small, sometimes looking squished. No fat-phobia, which is also a plus.
And disability rep with a wheelchair user.

Definitely recommended.
The ending turned a bit melancholic, in a tender, the-future-is-unknown way, which is also a plus, cause I’m a sucker for melancholy. Overall a cozy and happy read, humorous in-between and all in all light-hearted.

~

Thanks a lot to IDW publishing for an e-ARC.

-09.03.25 show less

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through NetGalley. Content warning for homophobia.)

--- 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 where necessary --

When her mom gets a new job in Ashford, Vermont, fifteen-year-old Azar is forced to go ahead with her, leaving her dad in Brooklyn to fix up and sell their house. Stuck in the "ass-end of the upper valley," as her landlord puts it, Azar immediately feels out of place. She's brown (Malaysian), wears a head covering (a burqa? hijab? shayla? show more her classmates can't tell.), and is queer (though not out to her family yet). Luckily, her landlord Shannon Wathe and his kid Tristan provide a welcoming safe space for Azar; she even moves into their side of the house after an especially vicious fight with her mother.

Azar also takes comfort in THE EXILES OF OVERWORLD, an epic space opera penned by none other than Shannon. Moments in Azar's life are juxtaposed with scenes from the book, and fantasy meets reality when Azar engineers a meeting between an insecure Shannon and his indefatigable agent. Before she knows it, she's accompanying Shannon and Tristan to a comic convention .. and then saying goodbye.

I mostly enjoyed LOW ORBIT, even though the ending was bittersweet and maybe not resolved to my complete satisfaction. Shannon was really never held to account for reneging on his promises to a teenage girl in need. (It was all kind of *shrug.*) Plus, there's the whole plot line with Azar's dad, which I won't get into because of spoilers. Otherwise the story and characters are engaging. The dynamics between Azar, Dina, Shannon, and Tristan are compelling, and I especially loved seeing Tristan blossom in a new environment (i.e., the convention).

I think the story's biggest drawback is also its hook - namely, THE EXILES OF OVERWORLD. The passages from the book are just terrible, but I felt like I had to at least skim them, in case they added anything to the narrative (imho, they don't, feel free to skip 'em). show less

Azar feels stuck. Her mom’s job moved them to Vermont, where she doesn’t know anyone and her only friends are the next-door neighbors: an aging sci-fi writer and his nonbinary teen, Tristan. For a while, Azar can escape her troubles by disappearing into the pages of her neighbor’s novel, The Exiles of Overworld. When her queerness throws her life out of wack, Azar realizes some secrets can’t hide forever.

This is much more slice of life than fantasy like I originally thought from the show more cover, but that slice of life aspect of it is still a good read, which is about hiding a part of you from those you care about. The fantasy part of it was from the high fantasy novel Azar is reading, but to be honest, that kind of took me away from the storyline of Azar and at times were even confusing as to what is happening in that world. I know it was her escape and that’s what the panels were showing, but I think it could have been done differently to show that.

Other than that, I did enjoy the story and the overall themes of honesty, being true to yourself, friendships, and even convention culture.

The artwork was fantastic and detailed and I always found myself lingering a little bit on pages to see what was in the background.

Overall, a great coming of age, queer young adult novel to add to a collection. show less

A queer Malaysian teen seeks refuge in the pages of her landlord's epic novel as her family struggles to stay together.

There's a lot I liked about this story. I enjoyed the characters, the artwork, and the challenging themes like burnout, familial trouble, and alcoholism. While I usually love stories within stories, the novel Azar is reading throughout did not catch my attention. While I liked the romance that developed, I was disappointed that there were so few resolutions. Maybe there show more will be a sequel?

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review. show less