Sometimes I love innocently adorable YA Romance books. I tend to freeze up when books are compared to Romeo and Juliet… it might be time for us to find another book to compare feuding families with.

Comics Will Break Your Heart

By Faith Erin Hicks

Published Date: February 2019
Read Date: February 2019
Format: Physical Arc
Genre: YA, Romance, Geek Romance
Rating: 4/5 Moose
Number of Pages: 340 Pages

Synopsis

Many years ago, Micah Kendrick and Joseph Warrick created the well known, internationally famous comic heroes TomorrowMen. This should mean that both families are incredibly well off; however, Micah Kendrick sold his rights years ago for $900. Now a days, their grandchildren Miriam Kendrick and Weldon Warrick meet in a bookshop, forging a rocky potential friendship. Miriam is worried about how she’s going to pay for college, while Weldon is annoyed that he’s been shipped off to small town Canada after a run of delinquent  activities. Will their complicated relationship make it through years of fighting over comic book rights?

Main Characters

Miriam Kendrick: Grand daughter of Micah Kendrick, one of the TomorrowMen creators. Intelligent student who is uncertain about her future and if she wants to leave her small town life.

Weldon Warrick: The son of the head of Warrick Industries, who is on the verge of releasing the biggest superhero movie! Which means Weldon is doing whatever he can to get his parents’ attention. Unfortunately the fights and car stealing gets him shipped from LA to small town Canada life.

Rants, Raves, and Thoughts

First off, this book cover is gorgeous. It looks deceptively simple, but the letters are pictures from the TomorrowMen comics. I LOVE IT.

This book is delightfully pleasant. It is a great book for a teenager who is looking for a protagonist to relate to. At least, Miriam reminded me of myself as a high school student. What kind of future should Miriam follow? Go off to college, stay in a small town, write comics, do what exactly?

This book is partially about the budding romance between Miriam and Weldon, partially about finding yourself. It would be nice if it was a little longer and more in depth, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be. I really hate the R&J comparisons too — overall the families don’t hate each other and don’t go out of their way to completely forbid the relationship. In fact, Miriam’s parents might be entirely cool with it?

The whole concept of the comic book copyright is a fascinating twist. Hicks works in the industry from what I can see (I am adding some of her comics to my list ASAP!) and it is wonderful to write about what you know and love. And the book, thanks to a dual narrative, does a decent job of portraying both sides of the fight. What could seem as black and white easily — in other words, this book could have easily just pushed the narrative that Weldon’s family screwed over Miriam’s. But it isn’t that simple. Weldon’s family views Miriam’s as trying to take something that legally was theirs — something that Joseph didn’t try to swindle from Micah. They also view Joseph as being the marketing and doing more than just writing comics. Again, a nice grey line.

Also, can I add that romance at a comic convention is my new favorite trope?

Final Moments

Overall, despite the gorgeous cover, I don’t particularly see myself reading this book again, but it was adorably sweet for a February Valentine’s Day-esque romance. If you like your YA romances light and sweet, give it a shot.