YOU BELONG HERE BY SARA PHOEBE MILLER & MORGAN BEEM // blog tour book feature: a gorgeous ya graphic novel that’ll punch you in the gut!

I’m on fire just a little bit and I kinda like it?

Anyways, very excitied for my stop and the final stop of the tour celebrating You Belong Here! Let’s get into it 🙂

Title: You Belong Here
Author: Sara Phoebe Miller
Illustrator: Morgan Beem
Page count: 256
Date published: 4 March 2025
Genre: Young Adult contemporary

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Synopsis:

A young adult graphic novel following Essie through heartbreak, star-crossed romance, teen drama, and the question on every high-school senior’s lips: where do I belong?

It’s the first day of senior year and seventeen-year-old Essie Rosen is already over it. Her best friend went off to college and barely responds to her texts, her brother’s on the other side of the country in rehab, every conversation with her mom becomes a fight, and her long-term boyfriend, Bruno, feels weirdly distant. Essie’s counting down the days until she can escape her Long Island hometown and join her bff at NYU, where she’s SURE she’ll get into the acting program she’s dreamed about for years.

But when Essie gets dumped AND botches her college audition, her entire trajectory changes. Instead of doing community theater, she ends up slumming it in the school play, where she’s cast opposite the unexpectedly charming Christopher Sun…the younger brother of the drug dealer who got Essie’s brother hooked. Is he the perfect rebound—or the worst decision Essie could make?

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Big thanks to TBR and Beyond Tours for having me and to First Second Books for the eARC via Netgalley! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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STAR RATING: (4 out of 5 stars)

Okay instead of a review, because I always struggle to talk about elements other than the art style for graphic novels (which is stunning ofc!!!), here’s a list of what to expect

💜 theatre kids

💜 teen heartbreak

💜 angst, angst and MORE ANGST

💜 deals with addiction

💜 discussions on body image

💜 new love

💜 end of high school blues

Sara Phoebe Miller is a writer and editor with over a decade’s worth of experience in the comic book industry. She edited original comics for Vertigo, ran DC Comics’ Talent Development Writers and Artists Workshops, and is currently an editor for DC’s line of graphic novels for young readers. She received her BA from Barnard College and MFA in writing for young people and screenwriting from Antioch University Los Angeles. Born and raised on Long Island, she now lives in Los Angeles, California with her partner and three cats.

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Website // Instagram

Morgan Beem is a freelance artist working predominately in comics and illustration. She currently resides in Denver, CO and is part of a local professional comic studio called JAM HOUSE.  Her passion is storytelling, and she loves to explore new ways to convey a message. She aspires to show an aptitude in a broad range of styles and genres, and at all times, tell a great story.

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Website // Instagram

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HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK? IS IT ON YOUR RADAR? WHAT GRAPHIC NOVELS HAVE YOU READ RECENTLY? LET ME KNOW!