The Friendship Paradox by Aśka

Title: The Friendship Paradox

Author: Aśka

Genre: Contemporary

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Published: 31^st March 2026

Format: Paperback

Pages: 256

Price: $22.99

Synopsis:  Road trips, physics and friendship collide in this gorgeous graphic novel about the highs and lows of a gap year that is perfect for fans of Heartstopper and The Greatest Thing.

Note to self: no matter how messy or confusing, the universe is an orderly place with physics to guide you.

High school is over. Dash is excited to spend their gap year working for the local science museum, travelling and teaching kids about physics. Maybe they’ll even make a friend. People are part of the universe, so the laws of physics should also apply to them, right?

Except Dash discovers the workplace is just as challenging as school – relationships are confusing, students don’t follow the rules and co-workers aren’t what they expect. Then Dash meets Kay. Can opposites really attract? Or will Dash’s attempts to use physics to understand their world repel a potential friend?

A heartfelt YA graphic novel about friendship and finding your place in a puzzling world by the highly acclaimed comic artist of the CBCA Notable graphic novel Stars in Their Eyes.

The Friendship Paradox is perfect for:
– Readers aged 13 and up who love funny and uplifting stories about friendship
– Fans of graphic novels like The Greatest Thing, Stars in Their Eyes and Heartstopper
– Readers who love comics and visual storytelling

~*~

Dash is taking a gap year before they head off to university. They love physics and science, and will be spending their gap year working for the local science museum. They’re going to travel around and teach kids about science. But they’ve never really had any friends, and found high school hard.

They moved around a lot with their dad, so their accent isn’t what people expect. Dash is nervous, but they’re sure everyone will love learning about physics with them. Except…they need to deal with the workplace.

It’s not any easier than school. Not everyone likes them, and there are people keeping secrets, or not showing up to work. Relationships are just as confusing too – who is their friend? Are they just colleagues with everyone? Dash is trying so hard, but things are going wrong. What can they do to get everyone to like them?

The Friendship Paradox is a new graphic novel for young adult readers exploring identity, friendship, entering the adult world, and how to be a good friend. Making new friends is hard at any stage of life, and I felt that Aśka got the feelings just right. Everyone wants to get along with the people they work with but as Dash finds out, this isn’t always possible.

This new graphic novel covers Dash’s year before university, following her journey to becoming friends with her coworker, Kay. They’re complete opposites! Kay is fun, loves entertaining and doesn’t mind fudging some facts.

 Whereas Dash loves facts and they are very straightforward, and don’t cushion or deliver things gently. This isn’t accepted by Kay, who slowly teaches Dash how to tell people what they need to know but in gentle ways. In exciting or entertaining ways. So they don’t hurt people’s feelings without realising it.

Perhaps Dash is like this because of they were treated at school, because they didn’t have many friends and never managed to be part of a group. That’s what this story is all about.

Being yourself and embracing your identity is important, as is learning how to get along with people. Which is something that everyone can struggle with, and I felt seeing how Dash worked on it will be relatable for many readers. Finishing school and moving onto new things is hard for anyone. This was a great book that explored friendship and physics.

It also made physics and science relatable for people who might not be interested in it. As someone who was never good at nor interested in science, I felt that this was a great way to introduce it with real world examples, so it makes sense for readers.

It’s a very interesting book too, and has lots of diversity as well. It works well, and engages with readers based on their interests and what they like to read, and how they read. Another interesting graphic novel for young adult readers who enjoy graphic novels and physics.