Raven Roth doesn't know how she got here. She wakes up from a car accident to discover that her only family, her soon-to-be adopted mother has passed. Worse, she doesn't remember anything about her life before. To add another layer to this horror, strange things keep happening. Why can she hear everyone's thoughts? Why do the things she thinks about keep happening? And what's with the bird shadow following her around?

Raven wrestles with these questions, supported by her foster mother's sister and niece. Bonus: there's a cute boy hanging around (and, because it's Kami Garcia, it's <em>complicated</em>).

Kami Garcia's experience writing teenage Gothic horror is a great fit for this origin story that kicks off DC's new young adult line, DC Ink. Raven's teenage turmoil and search for self-discovery work well in parallel with her emerging superpowers. It's not a new device, but it is still effective here.

Gabriel Picolo's clear, bold lines stand out and work well with Garcia's prose.

No advanced knowledge of Raven or the Teen Titans is needed to enjoy the story, so it should work well for any audience.

I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley in order to facilitate this review.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. I'm a huge fan of Raven - her character never disappoints me! The art is FANTASTIC throughout and completely helped me connect with the story more. For the first book it was a strong plot, there are a few things I would've liked to flow better but it didn't ruin my reading experience. Fans of Raven definitely check this one out. <3

I'm not normally a huge DC fan but I LOVED this story. It was everything you could want in a graphic novel. The art was amazing. I loved the colors. The story was great. It was a great introduction to those who are new the character and excitement to keep old fans entertained.

4.5 stars.
I've had mixed feelings about DC properties in the past. With this year's DC Ink releases, I enjoyed Mera: Tidebreaker. I DNF'd the new Catwoman story, Under the Moon (too dark and crude and violent for me). This third DC Ink title was a winner for me! I loved the art, the color scheme, the characters and the engrossing story with this one. It's an introduction for certain - I was left wanting so much more. I know there is going to be a Beast Boy book, but I hope there are going to be more stories just about Raven and Max.

Raven has been one of my favorite DC characters, and this book cemented that fact. Her origin story is dark and won't be a good fit for everyone. In this book there are references to voodoo, astral projection, demons, tarot, etc. But I knew enough of the character's origin story to not be surprised by those pieces.

If you are a fan of the character, or a fan of superhero graphic novels, don't miss this one! I loved it.

Teen Titans: Raven

By: Kami Garcia

Art By: Gabriel Picolo

So, growing up it was my brother who was more of a Teen Titans fan than I was. As we’d watch it together though, I always gravitated towards the character Raven. She has been my favorite since I could remember first sitting down and watching an episode. So, when I saw that this grpahic novel was going to be published, my nostalgia went through the roof. Over the years I have gravitated more towards the women heroes I used to grow up with because it seems that they all seem to be making an epic comeback into pop culture. So, without further ado, lets get on with this.

Let me just start by saying that the art in this was absolutely gorgeous and it wasn’t even finished yet. So if you don’t care much for graphic novels, I’m sure you could at least appreciate the art. GORGEOUS.

This was a great little retelling of Raven’s past and how she grew to know what her powers are. Tragedy struck when she was just a teenager, taking the only person who knew the truth away form her. She was left with amnesia and was struggling as a teenager to discover herself all over again.

She goes through some new friends and evolves herself into what she was born to be without even knowing what it was at the time.

Truly I didn’t want this one to end, but that just means I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Until Next Time,

DauntlessReading

Kami Garcia puts a fresh twist on the Raven origin story by throwing Raven into Louisiana to mingle with voodoo and spirits.

We are dropped into the life of Raven just as her soon-to-be adopted mother is killed in an accident. Raven is left without any of her memories and goes to live with her adopted aunt and cousin. Here we see her re-entry into high school while she adjusts to her new life, all while trying to remember who she used to be and also discovering who she is now.

This graphic novel does an excellent job of balancing back story and the self-discovery of who Raven is. Raven’s emotions feel authentic of a teen girl even while she is experiencing her powers for the first time again. Raven as a character is compelling in this story and I was interested to find out where her character was headed, it did not wane it was consistently interesting throughout.

While this is a super hero origin, I was impressed by the amount of normal teenage activity that mixed in with her supernatural abilities. We see Raven make friends, fall in love, and attend prom. The mix was very even and it did not feel like a typical young adult graphic novel. I found that it would be interesting to even the older comic book junkie.

My single issue with this graphic novel was how the dialogue was executed. The thought/speech bubbles changed color to indicate if something was verbal or in Raven’s head. This was a little hard to interpret at first because I was having a hard time discerning who was talking/thinking. After the first couple chapters I adjusted but I did find myself having to reread the beginning to understand exactly what was happening.

One thing that really stood out to me was the art style. The illustrations are gorgeous. The illustrator Gabriel Picolo did a fantastic job making the art style really stand out. The characters were gorgeous and so was the setting. You could really see Louisiana in the illustrations.

I give this graphic novel a 4/5. It was entertaining, the plot felt fresh, and the illustrations were beautiful. Aside from the one hiccup mentioned this graphic novel is amazing.

Raven Roth is still dealing with severe memory loss and the death of her foster mother from a car accident. She moves to New Orleans to live with her foster's mother's sister and finish out her senior year of high school. She can remember the basics of things like how to write a paper, complete math homework, and make dinner, but she doesn't remember what candy bar is her favorite or even her favorite book. However, strange things begin to happen and Raven starts to wonder if maybe she was someone very different in her past.  Teen Titans: Raven provides a solid introduction for one of the most mysterious members of the Teen Titans.

Kami Garcia, known best as being a co-author for Beautiful Creatures takes the story of Raven Roth and makes her understandable and relatable, especially for teenagers. The artist Gabriel Picolo's art is phenomenal and the choice to keep it mostly black and white with only the occasional coloration makes the art even more powerful. This is the first graphic novel in the Teen Titan series for DC Ink, and has a lot of promise.

Teen Titan: Raven is now available from DC Ink.

I have long enjoyed Kami Garcia's Beautiful Creatures books. She created such a moody atmosphere in that Southern Gothic genre. Now, along with illustrator Gabriel Picolo, she has taken a stab at graphic novels. What a wonderful start to what I hope will be a series (please, please, please).

What I Liked:

Illustrations:

Sticking to a color palette of blacks and purples, illustrator Gabriel Picolo creates an angsty atmosphere. His use of giant raven shadows was eerie and created a sense of foreboding. He was also able to play with ways to show thoughts and inner dialogue that was fresh and original.

Setting:

The story is set in New Orleans. Even though some of the scenes take place at a voodoo shop and a cemetery, it doesn't feel clichéd. Much of the action happens either at Raven's high school. Given how diverse New Orleans is, I like how lots of different kinds of teens are shown, including students with disabilities.

Story:

Raven is a person going through a terrible trauma. Her foster mother was killed in a car accident right in front of her, leaving her with amnesia. Even though she can't really feel sad for a person she can't remember, she does harbor feelings of intense guilt for surviving the crash. Is the evil voice she hears in her head hinting that she was a terrible person before the accident? Or is something trying to lead her astray? People can have a variety of thoughts, both good and bad. This is what make people complicated. Realizing this is a step towards adulthood. What a subtle, sophisticated subtext!

I also liked the use of headphones to help Raven deal with noise. Lots of people are really sensitive about noise in public spaces. Aside from having better sound quality for music, perhaps people are using them more for shutting out all the noise around them.

Overall:

This was a great start to a graphic novel series. The mood, setting, and story set the stage for us to get to know Raven, her aunt, and her cousin. I really hope this book does well, so we will get more of this series in the future.

'Teen Titans: Raven' with story by Kami Garcia and art by Gabriel Picolo is part of a series of reinterpretations of characters by authors. Some have been better than others. This is one of the better ones.

Raven Roth is involved in a bad accident with her foster mom and loses her memory (as well as her foster mother). Now she is in a new foster home in New Orleans and trying to rebuild the fragments of her life. There is the good: like her new foster sister, Max, and Tommy Torres, the guy at school that likes her. There is the bad: the thoughts of others that plague her, and the dawning realization that her life before had some pure darkness.

Like any of these titles, you kind of have to suspend a little disbelief. This isn't quite the Raven I'm familiar with, but it's a plausible enough version of her, and that's all I look for in this series. I actually care more about this version of Raven than some others I've read. The art is sparse and light on color, but I like the approach a lot and the art is really solid.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from DC Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

I really enjoyed this book. I am slowly learning more of the DC (and Marvel) Universe and this book helped me to learn about an interesting character with whom I was not previously familiar. The artwork worked for me and the story made sense. Raven and her fellow students all felt like teenagers, complete with crushes and drama. The representation seemed natural and organic, not shoe-horned in because they were checking off a box.

Possible trigger: the beginning starts with a car accident in which the parental figure doesn't survive. Also attempted kidnapping of a teenager by an adult. Nothing overly horrible as per this day and age, but it could be jarring to someone not prepared or more tender hearted. (Nothing wrong with that, I admit to tearing up while reading the beginning. But my heart has become a big ball of mush the older I've gotten.)

I really enjoyed this and want to continue with Raven's story. 4.5 stars, rounded down to 4, only because it didn't quite reach "keeper" status for me. Really good read, highly recommended!

My thanks to NetGalley and DC Entertainment/DC Ink for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

This comic was absolutely amazing!! I loved it SOOO much! Highly recommend to Teen Titans fans and comic Raven fans!

I went into this with very little prior knowledge of Teen Titans, but I’ve always been intrigued by Raven as a character, so I was excited to jump into this graphic novel. The art style was wonderful and I loved the use of a limited color palette to emphasize certain elements of the visual story. Unfortunately, I feel like I missed out a little on getting to know Raven with this being my first real introduction. Perhaps having more previous background information would have helped, but I mostly felt the story was just too short. I wanted more! Especially when it came to Raven and Max’s friendship, which was probably my favorite part of the story. So would I recommend this graphic novel? Yes, I think I would, but perhaps not as readily as I would have if it were longer and took more time to allow the reader to get to know the characters.

Teen Titans: Raven follows Raven (legally Rachel Roth) as she tries to remember who and what she is--and decide if she even wants to know--in the wake of car crash that killed her foster mother and left her with amnesia. It's a fun, quick read, and I know a handful of patrons who will snap it up as soon as our copy arrives. My review copy had only inks and partial colors, but the art is already beautiful and expressive enough that I'm sure the finished copy will be as well.

I have to admit I only know DC's Raven in broad strokes. This book seems aimed at teens attracted by the idea of Raven more than deep knowledge of her comics history, and I don't think that's at all a fault. It gives you everything you need to know to follow along and doesn't hinge on outside references.

There's a moment of homophobia aimed at Raven and Max's friends that feels unnecessary and jarring; I would have much preferred that the book let its one queer couple exist without pushback. The plot also hinges on voodoo and characters with a deep history in it, but I don't feel equipped to evaluate its presentation. That's my main reservation about "Raven," though, and otherwise I'd happily recommend it to my comic-hungry kid and teen regulars.

This was such a great graphic novel. I follow the illustrator, Gabriel Picolo, on Instagram and I love his illustrations. This is a fast read and the story captures you from the beginning. You don't need Teen Titan knowledge to understand what's going on in this. The illustrations in this were amazing! I can't wait to read Beast Boy next.

Teen Titans: Raven by Kami Garcia, Illustrated by Gabriel Picolo
Available now

Memory loss, high school drama, gods...what more can you want in a book?
After surviving the car crash that killed her adoptive mom and suffering from memory loss, Raven feels adrift and alone. With the help of her mom’s sister and daughter, Raven tries to move on with her life and navigate high school but she is plagued by nightmares and hearing the thoughts of other people.
What is happening to Raven and what does her aunt and cousin know? Who can she trust?

I loved Raven! Her character is so vulnerable as she deals with her memory loss and trying to find her true self. She is also incredibly powerful and can read the minds of others-although I don’t think that would always be the best gift. I loved the scenes inside Tallulah Saints House of Voodoo and would love to spend hours wandering around the shop and having my cards read by Miss Eliza.
Fast paced, well written, and with beautiful artwork, Raven will keep you captivated from start to finish.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

Fun story about super heroes! And the book is pure artwork! So visually stunning and entertaining story.

This was a beautifully drawn intro into Raven’s character. I really liked the illustrations and the portrayal of Raven as a human. She has no memory of being a half-demon and instead becomes a typical teen. She is faced with mean girls, navigating a high school setting, and talking to boys. While this may not be the Raven we know in the comics, I really liked this adaptation of her character. I mean, who’s to say Raven wouldn’t behave this way if her memory was completely wiped and she was taken in by her human aunt?

Even though I really liked this, I did feel like it was a bit rushed. I know Raven’s story because I’m a fan of her character, but for anyone new coming in, things are just thrown at the readers. The author did a good job trying to give the readers nuggets of her history in the form of Raven slowly getting her memory back, but there are still a lot of questions left unanswered. I know graphic novels are meant to be short, but a little bit more time developing her character, as well as her cousin and aunt’s characters , would have been nice.

This was a great graphic novel. I read it within an hour. I thought the artwork was beautiful and I can’t wait to see it in full color. I liked the portrayal of Raven as Rachel Roth and this humanized version of her as she navigated high school while regaining her memory. I wish it were a bit longer so that things could be more fleshed out, but I’m hoping that her character develops more as the series progresses.

I had a great time reading Teen Titans: Raven. It told a wonderful story that was a real page turner. Honestly it was hard to put this graphic novel down. We learn a bit about Raven’s past here and follow them on the journey to remembering who they are. There are some truly epic fights toward the end, and this story ends on a strong note. If you are a fan of Teen Titans then this is a graphic novel you may want to check out.

I am loving the reboot of DC characters. Raven has always been a favorite of mine so I was a little worried. Kami Garcia did a wonderful job with the story and the artist Gabriel Picollo really brought the words to life. Ms. Garcia’s story is a great coming of age tale that works in the context of the universe as well as a stand alone. I think all ages will enjoy the new take on Raven.

Erratum:
p110 "I don't feel like taking right now " should be 'talking'

This is the first day I can post this because of an embargo, although I see scores of reviews already out there from other reviewers. Oh well! Anyway, Raven is a DC comics character who is almost the same age as the mature author of this YA graphic novel, but given that, and unlike authors unfortunately, comic book heroes never die and are paradoxically constantly reborn. Raven is being rebooted here yet again as a high-school senior and it's a major fail for reasons I shall go into shortly.

This is written by the author of Beautiful Creatures, something which it turns out, isn't a good idea. The story had annoying issues pretty much from the off, such as the whole vudu thing, which doesn't ever work for me. I just can't get with any spirit who can be bribed with spirits.

Plus despite the reboot, the story offered nothing new - only tired and outdated tropes: the new girl in high school, the school bitch, the creepy guy who instantly latches onto her and is entirely inappropriate, her "instadore" response to him for no reason at all, and this despite several warning signs that the guy is a creep. Authors are just so obsessed with adding a "romance" (I use the term loosely) that they're quite evidently willing to do anything, including selling-out and otherwise cheapening their main character, just to get it on.

If you haven't read the comics before this and you missed the pretty decent TNT live-action television series (which is how I came to be interested in this comic), Raven's name is Rachel Roth - and no, we can't get away from DC's tedious alliteration! Sorry! Her new male friend's name is Tommy Torres! Barf! Her backstory is that she's a 'cambion' - the offspring of a demon and a human mother - some might call her the antichrist!

In this new rebirth, she's a teenager who survives an MVA that kills her prospective adoptive mother, and in another trope, robs Raven of her memory. She's taken in by an aunt. Why this didn't happen first - why she was about to be adopted by a stranger instead of moving in with an aunt who is family - remained a mystery, and no explanation for that was forthcoming. Since this is New Orleans, naturally, her 'aunt' is a vudu priest, and her aunt's daughter Max evidently has supernatural powers although there was little evidence of that here.

Max is short for Maxine, and I found myself wondering, "Who named their kids Tommy and Maxine, seventeen years ago?" No one I know of! Thomas was 36th on the list of most popular names in 2002. Maxine wasn't even in the top 100. Clearly the author, admittedly stuck with 'Raven', expended no thought whatsoever into the naming of her other characters, but these things matter, especially in a book about magic and demons! These are not even the original names from Raven's earlier incarnations: they were apparently dreamed up by the author.

On top of this, I have to say that Tommy comes off as a complete creep the way he's written here. He passes her a note in class essentially demanding that she meet him in the gym, and she passively goes along with it. She doesn't even know this guy. She hasn't interacted with him anywhere near enough to get any sort of vibe let alone a good one, much less be full-frontal crushing on him, so this debased Raven for me right from the outset.

It ruined the story, which was supposed to be about Raven trying to figure out who she was. As is so often the case in these YA efforts, the story instead became that of Raven melting like ice cream in the heat emitted by the torrid Tom cat. His grand gesture was to bring a bag full of candy bars to the gym rendezvous, like Raven was some sort of retard who couldn't figure out which she liked best on her own and so desperately needed this Tom foolery? This whole event had the vibe of some sick guy trying to lure kids into his panel van by offering them candy. It was downright creepy.

As if that wasn't bad enough, later we get a guy (who at first I had also thought was Tommy because of the average to below average illustration) asking Maxine for a kiss right in front of Raven in the school hallway, and neither of the two girls thought there was anything wrong with that. This is at the same time as Tommy is trying to 'move in on' Raven like he wanted to own her, yet she's never remotely suspicious about any of his behavior even though she's pretty much paranoid about everything else, and is also going through a time when she's hearing voices? It all felt unnatural and far too forced.

I have to confess, at this point, that it's possible, due to laxity in illustration, that I'm confusing one male character - Tommy - with another - a guy who has the decidedly odd name of 'name' backwards - Eman. The two looked so alike and were so interchangeable that I honestly couldn't tell the difference to begin with. Part of this problem was that the Eman (it's right there in the name how masculine he is: Eman and the Masters of the Wombiverse!) was not even a character in the story worth the mention, so rarely did he appear. It took me some time before I realized that I might have been confusing the two of them until I was about two-thirds the way through the novel, but even if it's true, it didn't make any difference because they were so interchangeable. All it actually meant was that there were two dicks instead of one and that Eman was just as bad as Tommy was.

As the school prom draws closer, one of the two (I guess Eman?) was going on and on about the girls buying roses (which are sent to the boys to ask them to the prom), and putting his arm around Maxine's neck uninvited. Despite being clearly told "No" several times, he keeps on trying to force the issue, offering to give them money or to buy the roses for them. Tommy was definitely a dick at this point, evidently willing to pimp the girls out, convinced that they do protest too much!

This wasn't remotely funny, and a female author - even a YA author - should know better than to do this to a female character - especially when she fails to have that female character react negatively to a clear #MeToo moment. This author is obviously out of touch and is a part of the problem. This is why I don't like YA relationships because they're usually so very poorly done - as badly as this one was. They're sending the wrong message in any era, let alone this one today.

I honestly don't know what the hell the problem is with YA authors; I really don't. They will gasp in horror when they hear of the latest abuse of women even as they're actively writing the next one in their latest book. The whole lot of them, with few exceptions, ought to be shipped-off to sensitivity training for sure. The problem is even spelled-out in this very novel, and still no one gets it. Max has made it clear to Enama that the answer is "No!" yet he will not, we learn, leave her alone. If Tommy had known Raven for years and they were friends, that would be one thing, but he doesn't. As he tells Raven earlier in the story, he's new to the school too. So no. Just no for either of these "relationships."

On top of all of this, we have the tired and antique trope of Raven tripping and pretty much falling into Tommy's arms. I felt almost literally nauseated at that point because it is so pathetic and such a tired and douche move by an author. He of course grabs her hand and almost drags her into the school like she's a child in desperate need of his guidance and protection, but I guess this is how this guy wants 'his woman': passive, compliant, and child-like, so he can own and manipulate her at will. This attitude is rewarded, because Raven falls for him, showing what a moron she is, too. Wrong message to send.

So the worn-out YA trope of the new girl in school, which I don't like because it's been done to death, and the ancient trope of a guy coming into her life to validate and rescue her, I can do without. New guys can be as much a curse on a story (particularly one by a YA author) as they can a blessing. In this case it was quite clearly a curse, unsurprisingly. Tommy was in no way needed for this story, and yet there he was. On top of those inexcusable issues, the problems Raven has with her memory seem curiously random: she can't remember her favorite song or candy bar, but she knows math and cooking?

But on with the story. Oddball things seem to happen around Raven for which she has no explanation. She can hear the thoughts of classmates which doesn't freak her out as much as you might imagine it would. Curiously, wearing earplugs drowns out the voices. I didn't get why that was, since she was clearly not literally hearing them. Maybe the earplugs had a psychological effect? Who knows? This story isn't deep enough to go into things like that, since there's a hot romance to cold brew.

Later, from unwilling interactions with the annoying, trope school bitch, Raven discovers that she can also have a physical impact on other people, like making this same girl trip over or choke on some food after she's said something mean. There's also another voice which she hears from time to time, like it's her conscience or her advisor. "Raven? Can you hear me? It's Trigon.

This ARC copy (which in my case was an ebook) seemed odd to me in that there were red lines around the borders of the pages. I don't know if this is a development thing - part of the creative process which will be removed from the final edition, or if it's actually a part of the finished book. I just found them annoying. Gabriel Picolo's art work was curiously basic, too, like he didn't care enough about this project to make any real effort. I mean it was okay in that it serviced the text, but it was certainly nothing spectacular and as I said, it really made the two guys indistinguishable for the most part.

Why there were references to Dracula, I do not know, but Raven has a copy of Bram Stoker's novel and it has notes inside that are in her handwriting. We're told it was her mother's favorite book, but it had nothing to do with the story, so maybe the author wanted to try and add some sorely needed literary cred? It didn't work. Neither did the inexplicable dichotomy between Raven's failure to remember even simple things - a memory which doesn't seem to be returning - and this blooming and seemingly endless growth of her powers. It was a bit much. Plus it's so amateurishly one dimensional.

Raven seems to be using only the sense of sight, not that of smell, hearing, or touch (though it's touched on, so to speak, in passing). I imagine someone who has lost their memory would be rather more attuned to her senses, drinking in everything, and hoping the experience will trigger locked-up memories, but no, not really. Not here, anyway. Again, the story is too shallow and limited to explore something like that.

Next she's 'astral projecting' - so we're told - in that she was, while sleeping, able to see this sacrificial plea for help her 'aunt' made at the local cemetery. So, another power popping up out of nowhere for no apparent reason. Again, it seemed so random. Whenever she needs a magical power, there it is at her fingertips! And she's an instant expert in using it!

This leads to her aunt declaring that Raven's powers are developing faster than expected, only a short while after this same aunt claims she has no idea what's going on with Raven. How would she? She and Raven's mom were estranged for a long time, but that doesn't explain why the aunt, now seemingly so concerned, apparently had never wanted to get in touch with Raven after her mother had died, to the point where Raven was going to be adopted by someone else. None of this made any sense.

Rather like the movie Carrie, based on the tedious Stephen King "novel" of the same name, this one once again fails to be original, and uses the same trope of a climax at the prom. By this point I was only glad it was over and I didn't have to read any more. There are so many ways this novel could have broken new ground, liberated young super-powered females, and set standards, but instead, it chose to wallow in worn-out and threadbare YA trope with the requisite weak, female main character. It abused the main character every bit as much as those macho male-authored comics which star improbably pneumatic and skin-tight costumed super hero women, and call them girls, yet doing it this way is so much more insidious isn't it? This is why I can't commend this comic at all.