Teen Titans: Raven by Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo

Ok. It took me a little time to get over the amnesia opening plot device. A car accident with her foster mother sends Rachel Roth from Atlanta to her foster mother’s sister in New Orleans. Rachel has a new foster sister in Max and a new high school. She slowly is realizing that she is different than everyone else. Rachel is an empath and has a special way of influencing others, but there’s also an evil voice in her head. Her journey to discovery is clouded with others who know much more than Rachel does. Everyone is hiding something and there are many who will try to manipulate Raven’s slipped memory.

After the first trip, there were many things I enjoyed about this one. The artwork is different. Drawn mostly in black, white, and greys, but splashed with color when emotion is ‘heard’ by Raven or experienced by the characters. It’s a unique way of experiencing Raven’s condition.

The typical high school drama took on more serious effects as the depth of the consequences are alarming. There’s also a great scene of homophobia smack down that I particularly loved!

Raven is a good new story arc in the Teen Titan story. Read it for some mystery and a promise for more fun to come.