A smile like yours / Emily Thomas.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Rhys Moore is worried as he starts his first year of university. And not just about the usual things. Rhys has face blindness, which means he struggles to recognise and remember people's faces. He has ways of coping, but they don't always work, so he isn't sure how to manage being around so many new people. There is one bright note, though. Malcolm. He's caring and kind, and he's empathetic when Rhys finally reveals his disability to him. Could Malcolm be just what Rhys needs to get through the year? Emily Thomas's debut graphic novel offers a delightfully fresh take on falling in love and learning how to truly see another person. It's both a compelling queer romance and a pitch-perfect coming-of-age story that keenly captures the ups and downs of university life. Readers are sure to be swept up in the romance as Rhys navigates his new feelings and experiences. The book deftly explores themes of disability, friendship, love, mental health and queer identity. A note about prosopagnosia, known as face blindness, and an author's note are included at the end.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

School Library Journal Review

Gr 9 Up--Rhys can't explain why Malcolm is important to him, at least not without admitting his own disability. Rhys has prosopagnosia, or face blindness, and it is very hard for him to recognize people that he's seen before. Even with friends and family members, Rhys must look for visual cues like hairstyles and jewelry to help him remember who they are. But Malcolm's smile is so distinctive and unforgettable that Rhys can always identify him right away. That smile is just one of the reasons that Rhys starts to fall in love with Malcolm, but there's more than one obstacle to the possibility of a romance between them. This story about university freshman blends challenges faced by all students, such as making friends and keeping up with classwork, with topics like understanding sexual identity and living with a disability that nobody else can see. The artwork is key to helping readers understand Rhys's disability through his eyes. There are many wordless panels of Rhys focusing on someone's individual attributes, such as hair or jewelry, followed with clearer and more colorful panels, signifying that he has identified the person. Rhys is white, and Malcolm is Black. VERDICT For fans of Heartstopper and other sweet LGBTQIA+ romances, as well as anyone looking for a story about what it's like to live with an invisible disability.--Andrea Lipinski

Booklist Review

Beginning university is a terrifying experience for any young person, but for Welsh first-year student Rhys, it's made even more daunting by his prosopagnosia or face-blindness. Fortunately, his peers are also navigating homesickness while learning to take care of themselves, and fairly quickly, Rhys becomes especially close with a kind, gentle boy named Malcolm. Rhys' feelings for Malcolm begin to deepen into something else as they settle in at school, but things get complicated when Malcolm discloses that he has a long-distance girlfriend. Still, the spark between the two is undeniable, and inevitable romance ensues. Plenty of squee-worthy moments accompany thoughtful discussions of Rhys' disability and Malcolm's biromantic, asexual identity. An expansively diverse cast is drawn in mostly monochromatic purple, with more colors used to indicate Rhys' ability to recognize people based on hair, voice, and other features. A note about prosopagnosia from an advocate, along with author's notes about the condition, provide extra context. This warm and widely representative tale will be loved by fans of the Heartstopper series and Kevin Panetta's Bloom (2019).

Kirkus Book Review

A boy with face blindness navigates the trials and tribulations of love and university life. Rhys Moore, a queer, white-presenting Welsh boy, is nervous about starting his first year at Thames Peak University in London. Not only is he anxious about making friends and passing his courses, he also struggles with prosopagnosia, a disability that means he can't remember or recognize people's faces. Luckily for Rhys, his flatmates are warm and welcoming--especially brown-skinned Londoner Malcolm Green. Rhys is immediately infatuated with Malcolm, but things get complicated when he learns that Malcolm has a long-distance girlfriend. As Rhys faces the classic struggles of a new university student, the romantic tension between him and Malcolm grows until it can no longer be ignored. Rhys' experiences are exceedingly relatable, between his stress about exams, his anxiety in social settings, and his aching homesickness. The central queer romance is pleasantly sweet and fluffy. Malcolm's arc of coming to terms with his biromantic asexuality is a compelling highlight, along with the representation of Rhys' prosopagnosia. This graphic novel debut features charming illustrations, predominantly in muted shades of purple, that are filled with unique and engaging panel compositions. Thomas uses colors in a remarkably creative way to portray Rhys' prosopagnosia, with characters going from monochrome to full color when he's able to recognize them by using his identifiers, which include height, hair, skin tone, and voice. A charming queer comfort read. (note on prosopagnosia, author's note)(Graphic romance. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.