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A review by shelbyfayy
Teen Titans: Beast Boy Loves Raven by Kami Garcia
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Ehhhh… this was fine, I guess. I was so excited to see Beast Boy and Raven come together in this graphic novel, but I also knew I had to temper that excitement because it couldn’t encompass everything that made the pair so good in their original stories—mainly, that it took literal years for BB to get Raven to show even the slightest romantic preference for him. He played the long game and won and we love that for him.
Here, not so much. It’s about as insta-love as it can get. On BB’s side, that actually felt authentic and realistic. He’s a typical teenage dude, thinking more with his hormones than his head, and he saw a hot girl in a coffee shop and decided to shoot his shot. He then, over a slightly rushed period owing to the brevity of a graphic novel, fell for the real her and not just her appearance. That all I could get behind. Raven’s rushed love story, however, not so much—and it’s not even because she’s so different from OG Raven. She’s different even from Book 1 of this series Raven. In Book 1, she’s head over heels for Tommy. They have a very reasonably cute meeting and relationship, followed by a somewhat predictable betrayal. This story is set mere days after those events, and apart from a few thoughts and statements of, “Oh, my last relationship didn’t end well,” she’s already totally down for BB within a few meetings. It just didn’t feel right to me at all. Like they watered down the already watered-down Raven until she’s just sound-bytes.
The dialogue is super cheesy, but passable. I loved the addition of Damian and his anger issues. Little disappointed that he got an insta-love story too, but what can ya do? The art, as always, is stellar. The found family aspect is starting to come together and I’m living for it. That’s what’s mostly keeping me coming back even when the writing gets as cheesy as it did here.
Here, not so much. It’s about as insta-love as it can get. On BB’s side, that actually felt authentic and realistic. He’s a typical teenage dude, thinking more with his hormones than his head, and he saw a hot girl in a coffee shop and decided to shoot his shot. He then, over a slightly rushed period owing to the brevity of a graphic novel, fell for the real her and not just her appearance. That all I could get behind. Raven’s rushed love story, however, not so much—and it’s not even because she’s so different from OG Raven. She’s different even from Book 1 of this series Raven. In Book 1, she’s head over heels for Tommy. They have a very reasonably cute meeting and relationship, followed by a somewhat predictable betrayal. This story is set mere days after those events, and apart from a few thoughts and statements of, “Oh, my last relationship didn’t end well,” she’s already totally down for BB within a few meetings. It just didn’t feel right to me at all. Like they watered down the already watered-down Raven until she’s just sound-bytes.
The dialogue is super cheesy, but passable. I loved the addition of Damian and his anger issues. Little disappointed that he got an insta-love story too, but what can ya do? The art, as always, is stellar. The found family aspect is starting to come together and I’m living for it. That’s what’s mostly keeping me coming back even when the writing gets as cheesy as it did here.