Personal Rating: 4 Stars Goodreads Rating (pre-release): 4.41 Stars Content Rating: Light R (for language) Trigger Warnings: Abusive parents, suicide is discussed and one of the character has panic attacks frequently. Jubilee has it all together. She’s an elite cellist, and when she’s not working in her stepmom’s indie comic shop, she’s prepping for the biggest audition of her life. Ridley is barely holding it together. His parents own the biggest comic-store chain in the country, and Ridley can’t stop disappointing them—that is, when they’re even paying attention. They meet one fateful night at a comic convention prom, and the two can’t help falling for each other. Too bad their parents are at each other’s throats every chance they get, making a relationship between them nearly impossible…unless they manage to keep it a secret. Then again, the feud between their families may be the least of their problems. As Ridley’s anxiety spirals, Jubilee tries to help but finds her focus torn between her fast-approaching audition and their intensifying relationship. What if love can’t conquer all? What if each of them needs more than the other can give? (goodreads.com) Before we get into this review, I want to mention that I won an ARC copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway. So, thank you very much to Goodreads and whoever set up this giveaway! With that out of the way, I am wondering where to start with this review. I have so much I want to say about this book, but I can’t say everything on my mind because of spoilers. I think the thing I want to start off saying is that this book is so much more than your typical contemporary teen romance. Although to be fair, I don’t read a ton of contemporary teen romances so I might not be the best judge of that. But I think I can say that this is so much more than a romantic retelling of Romeo and Juliet. And maybe I’m just saying that because I love comic books and superheroes and this book makes many references to characters that I love, but it also deals with mental health issues, issues of abusive parents, and issues of identity. It touches on what makes healthy relationships and where relationships can go wrong. And yeah, it does have a couple of comic loving geeks in it and some sweet-sappy romance in it, but it’s also way more than that. I think I gave you too much information at once. Maybe I should have waited a little longer after reading it to write this, but I have so many thoughts on this book and I need to write them down while they are still fresh. Anyway, Verona Comics, as you might have figured out, is loosely based off of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (I don’t know why I put down “William Shakespeare’s”, we all know who wrote that stinking play). A boy who is the son of the guy who runs a giant comic book publishing company meets a girl who is the stepdaughter of a woman who runs an indie comic book store and they have feelings for each other, how could their families ever allow it?! Like I said, it is loosely based off of the whole star-crossed-lovers mess by Bill. The two MCs have the same first initials as Juliet and Romeo, and there are a few characters that I can see fitting as characters like the Nurse and Friar Laurence, and there are some similar plot points, but it is definitely its own story (thank goodness for that). Not that I don’t absolutely love the classic tragic play about two teenagers becoming infatuated with each other, causing a slew of deaths, and ultimately deciding that they cannot live if they can’t be together, but I don’t love it. It’s not my jam, but no offense to you if you love it, you can like what you like. I personally prefer this book, Verona Comics, about two teenagers falling in love and learning how to deal with depression and anxiety in both unhealthy and healthy ways and also learning how to love themselves along the way and making a ton of comic references. Okay, with that out of the way, let’s talk characters. First we have Jubilee. The synopsis of this book sort of made me think that Jubilee was going to be your average overachiever character who talks about “oh my gosh, I must be perfect or I will die and my whole life is focused on academics”, which she is occasionally. However, she is also open to trying to get out of her perfectionist bubble and living life a little, which I like. It makes her less robotic than I was expecting. And, unlike other characters who tend to be perfectionists, she doesn’t completely give up on her dreams. I also like how, even when she is rebelling a bit, she still respects her two moms and doesn’t go full on obnoxious brat. She could be an irritating character at some points, but she still felt authentic and relatable. Then there is Ridley. This poor boy needs all of the hugs. All of them. He is, in a nutshell, a mess. His parents are disgusting, he has no friends, he has to handle falling behind in school, and on top of everything else he also has depression and anxiety. As I said, he needs hugs and warm cookies. Now, maybe I read the synopsis wrong, but when it said he keeps disappointing his parents I was very much picturing a “bad boy” character who gets into trouble for fun and to get attention. I did not realize that by “disappointing his parents” the book meant his parents are stupid poopy brains who treat their son like dirt because of his mental health and the fact that he’s bisexual. Can someone please transport me into this book so that I can personally slap Ridley’s parents in the face? They deserve it because they make their son feel so terrible and when he tries to get help they make him feel worse and I would really like to punch them. Thank you. I may have derailed for a minute there. What was I talking about? Oh yeah, characters. The rest of the characters of this book are exciting, fun, fairly diverse, occasionally unrealistic, possibly have a tendency to lean toward the trope-y at times, but as a whole pretty likeable. Except, of course, Ridley’s parents. Now, I could probably say more about this book, but it is past my bedtime and I don’t want to spoil things for you if you decide to read it. So today we shall leave it at that. If you are interested in reading Verona Comics by Jennifer Dugan its expected release date is April 21st, 2020. Well, I’m off to my local comic book store to browse (not really because they aren’t open this late), thanks for reading and I hope to see you next time! Image source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51901322-verona-comics?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=4wOMyeNgjW&rank=1
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