In the world of Deanna Grey’s Outdrawn, Noah Blue is just beginning her role as full-time artist on comic publisher Harpy’s revival of cult classic hero Queen Leisah. Unfortunately, co-lead artist Sage Montgomery expected full creative control on Leisah after a decade proving herself both at Harpy and with her own online webcomic. Worse yet, Noah and Sage have been rivals since college, but as their begrudging respect turns to romance, they have to figure out how to have a future together when their industry puts them in constant competition with each other.
I have only ever heard great things about this book, so naturally my expectations were high, and naturally I’ve been putting off reading it for ages because I’m afraid of being disappointed. Somehow, though, this book actually exceeded my expectations! I loved every second of this book.
I loved both Sage and Noah, and I loved seeing them figure out how to function together as a couple. My personal opinion is that the journey of a romance follows a relationship into stability, or at least something close to it, and the book ends once the characters have in some way addressed everything that is likely to come between them. Whether or not that should include a third-act breakup is contentious (I personally don’t mind them and sometimes even love them when they’re done well, but sometimes they feel thrown in for the sake of it, which is frustrating), but—spoiler alert, I suppose—this book sidesteps it very effectively because there is still conflict and the characters manage to handle it somewhat messily but also humanly and healthily.
In general, I think this book does a fantastic job balancing messy frustration but also love that genuinely wants the best for the other person. This is true for Sage and Noah’s romance, of course, but also with their respective family dynamics in different ways. I particularly appreciated the nuance in the portrayal of Sage’s family, her feelings of responsibility towards them, their simultaneous reliance on her efforts and insistence on their independence, and the communication breakdown that breeds resentment on both sides, despite their deep love for each other.
The respect this book has for art is also beautiful, and when I say “book,” I also mean the physical object, which has drawings following some of the chapters. In a book where art means so much to the characters, I thought that was a really neat touch.
In short, where is the adaptation of this book? Truly, I think it is what we deserve. More seriously, this book is a beautiful romance full of humor, heart, and a sex scene that made me want to cry. Outdrawn more than deserves the hype it gets in sapphic romance circles, and I cannot recommend it enough.
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