When a tragic accident takes the life of seventeen-year-old Raven Roth's foster mom--and Raven's memory--she moves to New Orleans to live with her foster mother's family and finish her senior year of high school.
Starting over isn't easy. Raven remembers how to solve math equations and make pasta, but she can't remember her favorite song or who she was before the accident. When strange things start happening--impossible things--Raven starts to think it might be better not to know who she was in her previous life.
But as she grows closer to her foster sister, Max, her new friends, and Tommy Torres, a guy who accepts her for who she is now, Raven has to decide if she's ready to face what's buried in the past...and the darkness building inside her.
** I received an e-book ARC copy of Teen Titans: Raven by Kami Garcia & Gabriel Picolo from the publishers on NetGalley. I want to thank both the publishers and NetGalley for approving me to read and review and early copy of this graphic novel. However, this does not impact my opinions or thoughts whatsoever and this is an honest spoiler-free review!**
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I am a huge fan of the Beautiful Creatures book series, which Kami Garcia co-wrote with Margaret Stohl, so when I heard she was writing a Teen Titans graphic novel series I was beyond excited. But then when I learned about Gabriel Picolo doing the artwork I knew this was going to be a favorite of mine before I even really knew anything about the story line. I am so happy that I was right, this is a new favorite and I need to get my hands on my own copy as soon as I can.
The characters are all so great and I genuinely love them. Raven is a favorite of mine, Teen Titans is such a big part of my childhood and although I always loved Starfire the most (please, please say there will be a Starfire book!) Raven was easily a close second for me. I really loved this version of her and I am excited to continue this series to get to know this Raven more. She's going through a lot of pain and confusion and although it is impacting her, she doesn't completely close herself off to new people in her life and I really admire that about her. She's also incredibly sarcastic, witty, and stands up for what is right so I am pretty much in love.
"You don't have to share the same parents to be sisters, just the same heart."
I also really love Max and her mom. They're both a great support system for Raven but on their own are strong women with mysterious backgrounds of their own that I need to know more. I think the sisterhood between Raven and Max is something I am the most happy with because we need more non-romantic relationships in young adult. Don't get me wrong, I can enjoy romance, but it's great to see strong bonds form in friendship, sisterhood, and brotherhood whether that be blood relations or not.
Raven's love interest, Tommy, is super sweet. There is this candy bar scene between them that was super adorable and melted me. I do think that their relationship went from initial attraction to them both crushing hard kind of quickly, but I wouldn't call it insta-love or anything like that. They are both great as individual characters and super charming together that I honestly didn't have any issues with it. Their chemistry is there and because the romance isn't a huge chunk of the story it didn't feel too out of place.
My only real issue is the "mean girl" stereotype that is placed upon a classmate of Raven and Max's named Alana. She's kind of there just to be a homophobic bully and this could be a personal preference but I felt like she was like every other mean girl I've ever watched or read about. I know that homophobic bullies exist in high school, of course, but she seemed more like a caricature than an actual person. Granted, she is in just a sliver of the story and she doesn't play a big role in the overall story so this is an incredibly minor issue.
It's hard to review writing in comics and graphic novels because unless there is a lot of narration (which there isn't here) it's mostly dialogue. However, I think Garcia did a fantastic job really bringing the characters to life. I genuinely believed what they were saying and feeling. From the relationship between Tommy and Raven, Raven's new sisterly relationship with Max, and even Raven's fear and confusion about her past. It all paired perfectly with Picolo's art.
And the art is stunning. I love Picolo's style so much. I've used so many of his Teen Titans, Icarus & the Sun, Harry Potter, and many more as iPhone wallpapers. His style is easily in my top three favorites. There's something about it that is just perfect for me. And that comes through so well in this graphic novel. I have been following him for so long through his social media (mostly Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter but he also has a great DeviantArt) and I am so happy that he's getting big gigs like this one. I hope he continues to get jobs to do comic and graphic novel art because I'll read anything he has worked on.
Overall, I highly recommend picking this book up!! It comes out today, July 2, 2019 and it's absolutely worth it. If you are a fan of Teen Titans, this won't disappoint you. I already cannot wait for the sequel, Teen Titans: Beast Boy which was only announced a few days ago and already has a beautiful cover. I recommend checking out Picolo's Instagram account to see it!
Thanks for reading!
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