Teen Titans: Beast Boy (Teen Titans #2) by Kami Garcia and Gabriel Picolo

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ARC was provided by NetGalley and DC Ink in exchange for an honest review.

This review is being published before the release date (September 1st, 2020)

👻 Teen Titans: Raven | Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Content/Trigger Warnings: Body shaming/insecurities, bullying, talk of animal euthanization, animal testing/experimenting, child experimentation (on MC), underage drinking

For starters, I’m so very honored to have received an arc of this graphic novel. After reading Teen Titans: Raven and how beautifully Kami Garcia captured her, I was even more excited when I heard Beast Boy was the next in the series! I love the Teen Titans and I have been a fan of DC Comics for a very long time. However, I never owned any Teen Titans comics (they’re just to hard to track down in unused, unopened). So this series has a special place in my heart and I’ll let you in on a little secret, Beast Boy is my favorite Teen Titan. Needless to say, I really loved this graphic novel.

17-year-old Garfield Logan has spent much of his time being ignored or overlooked. So when he can’t check anything off his bucketlist and the clock for senior year running short, Gar realizes he needs a way to get noticed. If he can’t impress the Chosen Ones at his school, Gar may never know what it’s like to matter. So when the opportunity arises for him to partake in a wild dare that no one before him has ever been able to accomplish, Gar can’t help seizing the chance to show he has what it takes to fit in with the Chosen Ones. But soon Garfield will realize, many things are starting to change and he’ll uncover the truth of what’s really happening with him.

I loved Beast Boy. Throughout everything; the shows, the comics, movies, videos games, etc… Beast Boy is still fantastic and amazing like he’s always been. And I truly believe many readers who are younger, who pick this graphic novel up, they’ll connect with Gar and the way he struggles with fitting in and wanting to be more. He’s just a really relatable character and I think that’s why I’ve always been a fan of Beast Boy. He’s just everything it means to find your place in the world and finding a place where you matter to people despite your flaws.

“There’s a lot more to me than pulling pranks and cracking jokes.”

We have to talk about Gar’s best friends. They were great characters to add into this book. Stella is a Black gamer and streamer, who just so happens to work at the local shelter. Daniel “The Tank” (possibly Asian-American) is on the school track team and later on we learn he has dyslexia. Both of these character were fantastic and even though they don’t understand why Gar wants to be part of the Chose Ones, they still love and support him. Ever time the three of them are all together, it melts my heart and they’re friendship is so pure.

Of course I have to talk about the art style! Gabriel Picolo is so talented and every time I read another book in this series, I swoon because the art work is truly beautiful. It has a way of setting the tone especially in those moments where Gar’s body was shifting to the skills of one of the animals. You can tell how much love Picolo poured into this novel and how they express their adoration for Beast Boy.

Overall, I really loved this graphic novel. I don’t want to talk about it too much because I don’t want to spoil this graphic novel for anyone especially if they’re just discovering Teen Titans. But this book gave me everything that I hoped fore. And of course, we also see Slade again in this graphic novel! It was just everything and I can’t wait for other fans to pick it up. If you haven’t read Teen Titans: Raven yet, definitely check that out because that was done so well and just really showed what you would expect of Raven in her younger years. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Kami and Gabriel continue doing this series together and I’m hoping, really hoping Cyborg is the next one in the series! Then I can have my three favorite all together!

Read for The Reading Rush 💚