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A review by mxhermit
Teen Titans: Raven by Kami Garcia
3.0
CW: Fatal car crash, death of a parent, homophobia, bullying
The first book in the DC Ink Teen Titans series, Raven felt like the perfect choice before I picked this book up. She's long been a favorite character because of her conflicted nature, her inner turmoil, and the enormous amount of power that she has at her disposal. Figuring all or even any of that out is a lot, especially considering her age. How would a new author and a new artist handle one of my favorite DC personas?
I was thinking about this for a bit and I think that a good portion of this rating goes toward the art.
What I Enjoyed
Max, Raven's cousin and, is cool. When Raven/Rachel comes to live with Max and her mom after the car accident, she helps Raven settle in at home & at school, including lending her the cover page headphones to drown out the noise (aka thoughts) around her. There's more to her character that would be spoilery, but it's hinted at throughout, mostly in relation to what we see as a part of her mother's development. That aspect, while interesting, felt glossed over.
The artwork is phenomenal. It was a big reason why I picked up this book in the first place, aside from Raven being the main character. I've seen some of Gabriel's Teen Titans work in the past and getting a full length book featuring one of them was something I was looking forward to a lot. Since this was a lined copy only of the book I can't speak to what the fully colored version will look like, but his linework was very good and if past experience is anything to go by, the coloring will be excellent.
What I Didn't Enjoy
While reading, I thought that the scenes themselves felt alright in the moment, but taken as a whole they felt disjointed. There were connections that were missing between them that would have made the story really feel cohesive. There was also no time to really sink in with the characters because of this disjointedness. The rushing? It made the book suffer because I wasn't really able to connect with much, such as who many people were. The side characters were difficult to keep track of so unless they were the small central cast (Raven, Max, Tommy, Viv) it's unlikely I could tell you for sure who was who by name.
Teen Titans: Raven left off in a weird place. I'm all for cliffhangers, but this was different. It's like there were panels or a whole page missing or something, that's how off this as-written ending felt. One moment Max, Raven's cousin, has made a decision and the next she and Raven are doing something counter to that with no reasoning? No point? It was a big head scratcher.
To Sum It Up
Gabriel did an amazing job illustrating Raven, Max, and the rest of the cast. I look forward to seeing what the final book will look like, since this was a mostly uncolored advanced reader copy.
I wasn't really impressed by the writing. I don't think it flowed well for the format, which was a big disappointment. Raven is one of my favorite DC characters and I've enjoyed Gabriel's artwork for a long time. It was a big deal when I heard he got this job, so this was, story wise, a bit of a let down.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Quotes included are from an advanced reader copy and may not reflect the finalized copy.
The first book in the DC Ink Teen Titans series, Raven felt like the perfect choice before I picked this book up. She's long been a favorite character because of her conflicted nature, her inner turmoil, and the enormous amount of power that she has at her disposal. Figuring all or even any of that out is a lot, especially considering her age. How would a new author and a new artist handle one of my favorite DC personas?
I was thinking about this for a bit and I think that a good portion of this rating goes toward the art.
What I Enjoyed
Max, Raven's cousin and, is cool. When Raven/Rachel comes to live with Max and her mom after the car accident, she helps Raven settle in at home & at school, including lending her the cover page headphones to drown out the noise (aka thoughts) around her. There's more to her character that would be spoilery, but it's hinted at throughout, mostly in relation to what we see as a part of her mother's development. That aspect, while interesting, felt glossed over.
The artwork is phenomenal. It was a big reason why I picked up this book in the first place, aside from Raven being the main character. I've seen some of Gabriel's Teen Titans work in the past and getting a full length book featuring one of them was something I was looking forward to a lot. Since this was a lined copy only of the book I can't speak to what the fully colored version will look like, but his linework was very good and if past experience is anything to go by, the coloring will be excellent.
What I Didn't Enjoy
While reading, I thought that the scenes themselves felt alright in the moment, but taken as a whole they felt disjointed. There were connections that were missing between them that would have made the story really feel cohesive. There was also no time to really sink in with the characters because of this disjointedness. The rushing? It made the book suffer because I wasn't really able to connect with much, such as who many people were. The side characters were difficult to keep track of so unless they were the small central cast (Raven, Max, Tommy, Viv) it's unlikely I could tell you for sure who was who by name.
Teen Titans: Raven left off in a weird place. I'm all for cliffhangers, but this was different. It's like there were panels or a whole page missing or something, that's how off this as-written ending felt. One moment Max, Raven's cousin, has made a decision and the next she and Raven are doing something counter to that with no reasoning? No point? It was a big head scratcher.
To Sum It Up
Gabriel did an amazing job illustrating Raven, Max, and the rest of the cast. I look forward to seeing what the final book will look like, since this was a mostly uncolored advanced reader copy.
I wasn't really impressed by the writing. I don't think it flowed well for the format, which was a big disappointment. Raven is one of my favorite DC characters and I've enjoyed Gabriel's artwork for a long time. It was a big deal when I heard he got this job, so this was, story wise, a bit of a let down.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Quotes included are from an advanced reader copy and may not reflect the finalized copy.