Miriam's family should be rich. After all, her grandfather was the co-creator of smash-hit comics series The TomorrowMen. But he sold his rights to the series to his co-creator in the 1960s for practically nothing, and now that's what Miriam has: practically nothing. And practically nothing to look forward to either-how can she afford college when her family can barely keep a roof above their heads? As if she didn't have enough to worry about, Miriam's life gets much more complicated when a cute boy shows up in town . . . and turns out to be the grandson of the man who defrauded Miriam's grandfather, and heir to the TomorrowMen fortune.A Romeo and Juliet story set in the modern day comic book world, Comics Will Break Your Heart bring together Miriam and Weldon, two teenagers whose family members have a complicated past. Will their family's past tear these two apart or bring them together?
In her endearing debut novel, cartoonist Faith Erin Hicks pens a sensitive and funny Romeo and Juliet tale about modern romance, geek royalty, and what it takes to heal the long-festering scars of the past (Spoiler Alert: love).
There are some good aspects to Comics Will Break Your Heart. I love the plot of the story. Romeo and Juliet, star-crossed lovers, and all that are always fun to read. I like that it was centered around comics as well as characters that have to face their grandparents/parents' decisions and decide how they want to handle their feelings toward it. There was definite growth in the characters by examining their family's decisions and seeing both sides of the story. I also enjoyed that Miriam's parents were actively in their child's lives. Like there was actual pertinent dialogue between Miriam and her parents that was an important plot point to the story. I liked Miriam to an extent. She wasn't an annoying angst ridden teenager, but she had her flaws. Miriam not wanting to leave her small town but not being sure how she was going to pay for it was a nice side story to follow along. I could completely understand her point of view and I think teenagers at that point in their life would relate to her.
I did have some minor issues that added up including the way the story was written in third person POV. I think it could have benefited from being written in first person. It was kind of distracting how the parents of the two MC's first names were written after they said something like it would have been better as "said mom" or "said dad." It wasn't like Miriam or Weldon called their parents anything other than mom and dad so that made no sense to me. Towards the later half I started not loving the romance. I didn't really feel any excitement towards their relationship. I didn't feel anything for Weldon so that might have added to that viewpoint. He had his own side story but he just felt like the generic love interest most of the time. The secondary plot around her best friend was kind of meh. The story wrapped up easily and seemed silly. What really got me was the climax of the story didn't do anything for me. It wasn't that big of a deal so the tension that comes with that part of the story just wasn't there. The conclusion wasn't as satisfying as I was hoping because I wanted Weldon to stand up for himself with his father. Weldon's side plot surrounded his materialistic father who didn't have the time of day for him and he was kind of a crook. I needed that moment as a reader of him really having it out with his father. Now that I think about it, maybe he had a little moment, but it was just unsatisfying.
Overall, I thought Comics Will Break Your Heart was an okay read. I didn't particularly like it but I could see fifteen and sixteen years old reading and enjoying this. It does have curse words but the way the story is written seems like it is for younger teens despite the MC worrying over college. I think Faith Erin Hicks could do better. I hope she continues to write YA novels because I want to see her improve. She already does a fantastic job in graphic novel format, so I know she has it in her.
Thanks to NetGalley and Roaring Brook Press for allowing me to read and review Comics Will Break Your Heart in exchange for an honest review!
What recent debut novel have you enjoyed?
You are the second person to bring up the POV of this story. I have a copy of this book but haven't read it yet. Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteReally? I don't usually pay attention to the POV of a story. I had to look up first person vs. third person but it bothered me enough to do so. I'm curious what you'll think if you end up reading it. I hope you like it a little better than I did (:
DeleteBummer! I was really looking forward to this one, but I feel like we might have similar issues. The perspective seems like it would be confusing, and I dislike it when characters don't act their age. I go into a story thinking one thing, and end up with something else. I hope your next read is a better fit!
ReplyDeleteLindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬