The cover sold me on this one. Not just the art, which I’m an easy target for, but the fact that it was endorsed by Rainbow Rowell. I think I might buy a Hayes manual for a 1988 Chevy Nova if Rowell gave it a blurb.
Here’s the thing though; I kind of forgot that even though young adult books are often enjoyed by (nominal) adults such as myself as well as teens, the majority aren’t written for adults. There was nothing really wrong with the book, it was just not written for a thirtysomething, even one as obsessed with comics as I am.
The story is basically a retelling of Romeo and Juliet where (spoiler?) no one dies. Hell, it even has a (spoiler again?) happy ending. Which is fine! But I’ve lived long enough to have seen Romeo and Juliet in 18 iterations and at least six Taylor Swift songs, so I’m all full up on star-cross’d lovers, thanks.
Hicks acknowledges the parallel and has our Romeo even acknowledge that the romance isn’t that compelling in R+J, which our Juliet parries by pointing out the warring families carrying on a useless feud is the real tragedy and the real focal point of the play, which is doubly true of this book. There’s no real tension with the protagonists’ romance, they aren’t given real competitors or real impediments, so the relationship is essentially a given. Their parents and the legacy of their grandparents’ creation (The Tomorrowmen, a comic that’s about to break Avengers-big with a huge movie) is far more interesting, with a more nuanced take than expected on who the heroes and villains are in an undercompensated artist vs the big studio story. I kind of wish that had been written as the main story as adult fiction, but who knows? Maybe I’m just a cynical old lady; I’m sure this is perfect for the actual young adult it was written for.