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A review by kingtess
Comics Will Break Your Heart by Faith Erin Hicks
5.0
This gorgeous novel is a slow-burn romance between teens, sure. But there's a lot of love and wry affection for small towns and the comics industry. It's immediately apparent in the book than Faith Erin Hicks is familiar with both, from the way community grapevines run rampant to details about comic-script formatting.
The characters, too, are lovingly written - even the not-so-savory ones. I loved how one of the main conflicts of the book (a rift between families over legal rights) gets different viewpoints not just from individual members of each family, but from nosy parkers and well-meaning friends as well. Each perspective colors the conflict a little differently, which I found impressive as well as wonderfully written.
The only drawback to this story is perhaps Mir's best friend Raleigh, who doesn't get quite enough pages to seem fleshed out.
I must admit I've read much of Ms. Hicks' work in the past, where she's worked both as illustrator and as comics-writer. I'm thrilled to see her transition from panels to prose is so marvelously done, and I can only hope she takes another crack at novels soon!
The characters, too, are lovingly written - even the not-so-savory ones. I loved how one of the main conflicts of the book (a rift between families over legal rights) gets different viewpoints not just from individual members of each family, but from nosy parkers and well-meaning friends as well. Each perspective colors the conflict a little differently, which I found impressive as well as wonderfully written.
The only drawback to this story is perhaps Mir's best friend Raleigh, who doesn't get quite enough pages to seem fleshed out.
Spoiler
She instead feels more symbolic of the small-town mindset: she loves her home and has no wish to leave, like so many generations before her. Raleigh represents a conflict for Mir (stay or go?) more than she appears in the present as a friend.I must admit I've read much of Ms. Hicks' work in the past, where she's worked both as illustrator and as comics-writer. I'm thrilled to see her transition from panels to prose is so marvelously done, and I can only hope she takes another crack at novels soon!