Kami Garcia is a #1 New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author. She is the coauthor of the BEAUTIFUL CREATURES series, which has been published in 51 countries and 37 languages, with over 10 million copies in print. In 2013, Beautiful Creatures released as a feature film from Warner Brothers. Kami is a cofounder of the YALLFEST kid lit book festival and the author of five solo novels, including her Bram Stoker Award-nominated novels Unbreakable and Unmarked (THE LEGION series) and The X-Files Origins: Agent of Chaos. Kami’s first graphic novel Teen Titans: Raven, with artist Gabriel Picolo, is the first book in her TEEN TITANS series for DC Comics and the adult series JOKER/HARLEY: CRIMINAL SANITY, from DC Black Label.
Find Kami online at kamigarcia.com, on Facebook @KamiGarciaYA, and on Twitter and Instagram @KamiGarcia.
It's taken 3 books but the series finally seems to be headed somewhere. I really liked the addition of Damian Wayne. The romance in this book though can be so cheesy. Everyone falls in love at first sight and the dialogue when it comes to the romance is atrocious, although I'm sure tween girls will dig it. Gabriel Piccolo's art is fantastic. Paired with the muted color palette gives the book a very distinct look. One that keeps me coming back even when the writing gets cheesy.
"You saved my life - we'll figure out the rest. We're in this together." -- Gar 'Beast Boy' Logan, page 189
Falling somewhere between the initial volume starring Rachel 'Raven' Roth (which I found sort of uninspiring) and the follow-up with Gar 'Beast Boy' Logan (which I thought was better, although it lacked action in exchange for drama), this third installment finally gets the future Teen Titan duo together. They're summoned to Nashville by the same mysterious man - and he is in cahoots with a villainess who wants said kids for their superpowers (that part reminded me a little bit of the 70's Disney live-action flicks Escape to Witch Mountain and Return to Witch Mountain - showing my age!) - which kicks off a tight adventure / suspense story that was good but sometimes goes tad overboard with its reliance on torture scenes victimizing the title teenage characters. Still, they are provided solid assistance in the latter half by Damian Wayne's Robin - refreshingly NOT depicted as the self-centered jerk per his usual M.O., but actually sort of altruistic here - when things really take a turn for the worse. Robin is also set to headline the next installment in this series later this year, and fans can only hope that eventually the Teen Titans will be assembled for a team-oriented book.
This series brought me so much nostalgia as Teen Titans was one of my favorite cartoons as a kid and I specially liked Raven so seeing her story in book format is awesome.
As usual, Gabriel did an outstanding job with the art-style and text. It just feels so clean and easy to read. I hate when comics and picture books are crammed and have small text and you don't know who is talking and this was the complete opposite with colored texts that are very easy to follow.
The story line is not complex and I think it is directed toward younger readers so it is not really a problem but I think Kami changed the vibes of the characters, I thought Raven should be a bit grumpier even if she fell in love. However, I still think it is cute!
I thought this would be the end of the series but from the ending apparently there is more and I will be reading it without a doubt.
From the outset it’s important to note that this graphic novel is a reimagining of Beast Boy and Raven which stands separately and distinguishably from their comic counterparts. Personally, I think that was a strength of the graphic novel as it gave it breathing room to create new and relevant personalities for the characters tailored to the modern YA audience and construct different relationship dynamics between them all.
In terms of Beast Boy’s and Raven’s previously established personalities in Teen Titans: Raven and Teen Titans: Beast Boy, much of it seemed to be mellowed down in favour of speeding the plot along and cultivating their budding romance. Given the limited amount of pages I found that to be an understandable move from the author, but it was kind of strange to see Raven fall so quickly for Gar, a guy she knows nothing about, given her previous experiences with a bad boyfriend in Teen Titans: Raven.
I loved that Kami Garcia had a few tricks hidden up her sleeve. The surprise and instrumental appearance of certain characters and mention of others was much appreciated by me and really elevated this graphic novel to a place neither of the previous instalments in the series managed to reach with only their singular protagonists in play.
Of course, Picolo’s art was as fabulous as ever and I loved David Calderon’s colouring style; it worked well with the art style and was simplistic yet aesthetic.
And so, this was every bit worth the year-long wait. The only downside is having to wait once again to see more of this very interesting take on Damian Wayne when he appears again in Teen Titans: Robin.
Pre-reading thoughts: (26/08/2020) Aah yes, here I am, yet again, adding more books to my TBR by Gabriel Picolo that aren't even out yet.
The jawline on the cover isn’t quite as sharp as the one on Teen Titans: Beast Boy so I won’t need any plasters and the title is a bit of a mouthful, but it still seems pretty cute. I can’t wait for it!😍
Boy, do I need to get me an advanced reader copy for this one this time around...
So this is the third book in Garcia's Teen Titans graphic novels. It's got the same stilted, rushed, cliché writing as the first two; but this time around, we can suffer through every cliché romance trope and line imaginable-- not just with Raven/Beast Boy, but also with the newly introduced Robin (Damian) and Raven's friend. These books are just so cringe, and not even in a fun way. It just feels like all effort in the writing is nonexistent. Kids deserve well written graphic novels too! That said, the art is still great. These books sell well apparently though, so I'm glad someone out there is enjoying them. 2/5 stars.
Teen Titans: Beast Boy Loves Raven is a fun romance with some epic action. It was really exciting to get to see the members of the Teen Titans start to come together as a group in this graphic novel. There’s still at least one member missing (possibly two), so I’m excited to see what the group will be like when they meetup with the rest of the crew.
I love the chemistry between Beast Boy and Raven. I was initially worried that it would be too instalovey for my liking, but it actually worked really well and their dynamics of emo girl and sunshine boy were fun to read about.
Speaking of romance, I’m really interested in seeing what happens between Robin and Max. It seems like something is there, but Robin is usually with Starfire, so drama might ensue in the rest of this series.
I feel like the sequels in this series haven’t fully been able to reach the level that Teen Titans: Raven was, but I’m hopeful that it will reach that level in book four or five of this series. Regardless though, this series is still really fun and I’m enjoying my time reading it.
Three books in, and we finally get something that looks like a group that could be called the Teen Titans. But it is assembled in a slow, meandering process that has left me pretty much done with this series.
And yet I found myself enthralled by the pages because Raven is such a goth cutie. It took me a while to realize that the artist is drawing her exactly like my childhood crush, Winona Ryder, even using some photo reference it seems:
y’all know i’m a whore for DC especially when it comes to the teen titans. when i was a kid my biggest ship was raven and beast boy so this book scratched all the itches i had. i absolutely love gabriel picolo he is an amazing illustrator, and i can’t wait for the story to continue with starfire! this was an extremely quick read, and i would absolutely recommend!
oopsies j’ai sauté le tome 2😽✌🏻 mais l’histoire était tout de même très compréhensible (on stan les tomes qui se tiennent bien dans la suite et par eux mêmes) et les personnages sont juste parfaits!! on s’attache à eux et ils sont tous plus badass les uns que les autres. réellement ce qu’on veut quand on cherche des comics YA avec du surnaturel
je ne sais pas encore si je vais lire la suite mais chose certaine si je l’avais déjà en ma possession ce serait le cas!
Oh, man. I love this series. I'm not generally into Teen Titans or any of the DC stuff. But I'm so here for the romance, and there's is so sweet.
How I choose my rating: 1* Didn't like it at all. These are rare as I usually just don't finish any book I dislike this much. 2** Didn't like it. Again usually DNF if I dislike it this much, but occasionally I feel it still has potential and I try to stick with it to the end. 3*** I liked it. It wasn't great but it was enjoyable enough. It is unlikely I'll ever reread it but I might finish the series if it is a part of one. 4**** I really liked this book. Maybe not a work of genius, but highly entertaining. I might reread this at some point, and I will almost always finish the series if part of one. 5***** I loved this book. I found little to no issues with it at all. I will probably reread this and possibly more than once. I will definitely finish the series if it's part of one.
Zwyczajnie... OKAY KOCHAM TO. Podczas czytania tej serii włącza się we mnie fangirl. Kocham bohaterów (chociaż nadal czekam na ich głębszą kreację) i kreskę (jest genialna!).
Fabuła jest szybka i miejscami chaotyczna, ale uśmiech mi nie zchodził z twarzy i chyba to się liczy.
I am absolutely loving the Garcia/Picolo version of the Teen Titans! Don't get me wrong: the Wolfman/Perez run rocks, as does Teen Titans Go, and pretty much all the rest that's been released over the decades. But there's something really special about these books that really resonates with me.
So Beast Boy and Raven have traveled, separately, to Nashville to meet with Slade. Naturally, they meet (Raven and BB, I mean.) It's cute. Etc. Everything you'd expect from the title. We also meet a couple more incipient members of the team, and we get glimpses of Slade in LA on the trail of a certain redhead …
I definitely want more. I was bummed that, unlike the previous two volumes, this one did *not* have a teaser for volume 4 at the end, just a preview for a Constantine series that Garcia is writing (which looks cool; It's just not the Teen Titans.)
Again, really loving this series! Highly recommended!
I just...wow that was fast. The sheer amount of hormonal driven narratives this book takes is A LOT. Like I get it. I was a teenager too, but holy shit guys, take more than three days to start saying you love each other please. Not only are you teenagers, ya'll are magically powered babies from broken homes with trauma responses a MILE WIDE. (Same goes for you Damien Wayne, I saw you thirsting after Max 2.5 seconds after laying eyes on her) I guess in order to really get to the plot where it's headed they kind of have to skip over the whole brooding part of becoming a team, but yikes! I'm assuming their going to introduce Starfire next as Slade mentions following a redhead (Is that a spoiler? I don't think so...) and I'm curious to see if they're going to introduce Cyborg as well or if he's dead to the books after the live action movies.
Please stop giving Damian fuckass haircuts. I like that he wasn’t white, finally.
Damian x Max is some real self-insert stuff going on. I like Max and I fucking LOVE Damian (hello, profile picture!), but this Damian is so… not Damian.
Also why the FUCK is he even here??? Damian has his own Teen Titans group which is… not these guys! Where the hell is Dick???? You know, the Robin that WAS on the Teen Titans team with Raven, Gar, Kori, and Vic?
okay lets talk.... I love teen titans and I love Gabriel Picolo, the fact that this book exists alone should be a 5 star thing. but after a year of wait... this is what we get? what even happened in this book? I give this one a 2stars only for G.P and his art, the writing-or the lack of it was zero stars !
AHHHHHH. Oh my god I was so excited to see Beast Boy and Raven come together they're literally so cute. They are so adorable. Oh my god. In the third graphic novel in this series, Garcia does a pretty good job advancing these two characters' stories in conjunction with one another. While introducing new people and bringing in some from the past, we are left a solid story filled with romance and action.
One of my favorite elements of the teamwork between graphic design and storytelling are the little thought bubbles that each of the characters have. Yeah, this is pretty standard for graphic novels, but I still feel like I have to point it out. Knowing what Raven and Gar are thinking about each other while interacting with each other is such a lovely detail. Makes us feel closer to the characters.
I do feel like this story left a lot more up to question. I understand that this is a series, so it makes sense for this to happen. Yet, it does not stand alone as well as its predecessors do because very little new information was given to us as readers. It was more of filler if anything. Nonetheless, I still really enjoyed the dialogue and art. Always a delight.
This was such a fun graphic novel and totally what I needed after reading some high fantasy novels last month and this month. For this third novel in this series I really enjoyed a whole lot probally one of my favorites in this series! The artwork was stunning and the stroyline was so easy to read and hard to put down I read it in one sitting so Idk why it took me so long to read it as I enjoyed it a whole lot. Five out of five stars!
I think this series just isn’t for me. I adore the artwork and the characters, but the writing is lacking. I just keep expecting more from it, but there’s nothing to keep me reading…
I’ve been meaning to read this one ever since I saw the publication date. But as life do… I only got around to it today. This is really building into a solid ”must own the entire series” kind of thing. Loving Damian and Max…