Teen Titans Raven

Upon first hearing about this graphic novel, I was excited to read it; however now that I have, I must admit I am slightly disappointed. I was waiting for a swarm of action, waiting for unexpected plot twists, and waiting for an intensity that got my heart racing. However, the action was lacking until the last ten percent of the novel, the plot was just as predictable as the results of a math formula, and my excitement was as still as a corpse. 

Now it would not be fair to say the book was a total disappointment with no positives. Once I bought the book and began reading on my living room couch, I finished the book in that one sitting. Honestly, whether it was because I was extremely invested in the storyline at the time or I just wanted to get through the novel, I cannot remember. If you are just emerging in the world of graphic novels as I was, the book was easy to understand with a simple plot. In the same way, if you have found yourself stuck in a book slump for quite some time this may also be a good book to pull you out. Due to the fast-paced nature of the novel it has you opening and closing it before you even notice. 

The fast-paced nature also comes with its own negatives I might add. The fast-paced plot led to a simplicity in the plot as well. This made for a lack of development within the story; everything in the graphic novel from the characters, action, and plot screamed two dimensional. The simplistic level of this novel did not create a memorable experience for the reader due to its half-cooked development. I felt the beginning of the novel felt rushed and there was no actual build up to the events but rather they just shoved Raven’s traumatizing storyline in our face from page one. In addition, I felt as though the book would introduce a new cool idea just to leave it half charged and not expand in order to create more depth to the story. The storyline felt very elementary in the sense that there was a beginning, middle, and end with no added flavor to make it more surprising. I also felt like some concepts introduced were there with the intent to produce shock value, but ended up being mediocre and making absolutely no sense.

Overall, there were elements left underdeveloped and that took away from how much better I believe the novel could have been. However, the book was not a total loss and was a good introduction into graphic novels and I see myself continuing my journey in the Teen Titans graphic novel series and reading the following books. This was my first graphic novel and an extremely easy read and I would recommend it to others for the same reason.