March 1, 2013
Proving that the power of teen love trumps even Heavenly directives, a budding graphic artist hooks up with an ethereally handsome new classmate. Morning Glory's miserable life at her clique-heavy high school takes a turn for the better with the arrival of hot, strangely naive Gabriel DiAngelo. A supposedly chance meeting at the local thrift store escalates into movie dates and breathless snogging. Complications arise with the subsequent appearance of Gabriel's catty but equally stunning relative Luci DiAngelo, who displays a gift for inciting divisiveness and violence. In the black-and-white art, Morning Glory--dark-skinned and serious-looking in rimless glasses--and Gabriel, with his manga-style features and artfully disheveled blond hair, make a cute couple. In the end, Luci is sent back where she came from. After a climactic revelation ("You had wings!" "Did not." "Did too! What are you?" "Can't you guess?"), Gabriel confesses that he's a Guardian actually sent to help Morning Glory's friend Julia through some family troubles, freshening up the now-tired guardian-angel-falls-in-love-with-human-ward trope considerably. Another fresh and funny outing in a mostly solid satiric series. (Graphic paranormal romance. 12-14)
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July 1, 2013
In these lightweight graphic novels, amateur witches accidentally reanimate Incan mummy Pachacutec, who falls in love with high-schooler Staci (Wrapped); popular Serena is involved in a love triangle--with strange parallels to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Loves Me); and Glory gets with new-kid Gabriel, who may just have a heavenly mission (Match). Holes in logic detract from what should be breezy reads.
(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)