It’s not very often that I sit down to write a book review immediately after finishing a book — unless I’m on some sort of deadline, and by “on” I probably mean “procrastinated on.” I’ve had Slip on my NetGalley shelf for months, so I guess you could say I procrastinated. The book came out this week, and now that I’m back from traveling and assorted major life events, I thought I would spend some time on my day off catching up on my to-reads.

I did not expect to start and finish Slip in a matter of hours, and certainly did not expect to be reaching for my laptop with a literal hunger to write about it after the fact. But here we are.

I’ve developed a format and style for these reviews in an effort to make this review half of the blog stick, but I guess that’s all out the window for this one, because I have emotions, and I have to put them into words or I won’t get a single other thing done today.

Anyway. Book. Graphic novel. Slip. Where do I begin?

Maybe I’ll start with the fact that in high school I had a friend who wasn’t taking care of herself, and it was scary. It was scary because we’d been best friends since we were eight, and suddenly it was like she’d become a different person. She didn’t tell me things anymore. Everything changed. And I was 14, and I didn’t know how to tell her I was there for her when she was ready. And it hurt. A lot.

That’s the premise of Slip. Jade heads off to a summer art program knowing she’s leaving her best friend behind. Phoebe is hurting, and Jade doesn’t know how to fix it. So she tries to make art. Tries and tries and tries. The results aren’t great at first. She doesn’t know she’s grieving. Doesn’t know she can grieve through her art, and that this complex thing might untangle itself a little when she does.

I felt this so deeply and personally. The story is beautiful, even when it hurts. The visuals are stunning. It all fits together so perfectly. It comes from a place of pain but comes out on the page … like art. Which is exactly what it is. Go figure.

Slip is the kind of story that will have you rushing to tell the people in your life how much you love and need them. It’s also a book that will inspire you not just to feel things, but to take your pain and mold it into something beautiful.

And because it’s Pride month, not that I’d neglect to mention it any other time, there’s a queer romance AND IT ENDS HAPPILY SORRY TO SPOIL IT, BUT I’M ALSO NOT.

This is the book I didn’t know I needed. I needed to get lost in a book and emerge at the end of it feeling something again.

It’s just my opinion, but I think you’ll like it too.

Slip is available now wherever books are sold.

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Meg Dowell is the creator of Brain Rush, dedicated to helping writers put their ideas into words, and Not a Book Hoarder, celebrating books of all kinds. She is an editor, writer, book reviewer, podcaster, and photographer. Follow Meg on Twitter for tweets about nonsense and Star Wars.