This contemporary YA story is a Romeo and Juliet-esque story filled with geekery and comics.

Miriam is the granddaughter of Micah Kendrick, who was the original artist for and co-creator of the TomorrowMen comic book entity. Weldon is the grandson of Joseph Warrick, the other co-creator of the TomorrowMen comics. Legal battles over the rights of the company have led to the Kendricks and Warricks filled with animosity toward each other, much to the chagrin of Mir and Weldon.

The only thing I felt the story lacked was more character development. I would have liked to see a bit more depth within the characters in the story, however, I felt like the atmosphere and plot made up for it.
I recommend this story to anyone who enjoyed Geekerella or Queens of Geek!

Comics Will Break Your Heart was an adorable story with hattips to geeks of all kinds - from the greats of British literature to, obviously, comic book fans! The plot is loosely based on Romeo and Juliet, only the two families in question are descendents of patriarchs who together birthed one of the greatest comic book franchises of all time, only to have a bitter falling out.

Mir and Weldon are both likable characters, young people approaching the end of high school with the usual amount of trepidation and flailing about as they try to figure out their place in the world and what they want to do with their lives. They meet by sheer accident, when Weldon's misbehavior prompts his high-powered, fame and fortune focused father to send him away for the summer, to his aunt and uncle's house in the small town he has rarely seen. Despite his undercurrent of resentment and propensity for lying, Weldon is charismatic and charms just about everyone he meets. Mir has a work ethic to rival most adults, desperate to rise above her family's extreme economy of existence. I liked that she didn't seem embarrassed by her admittedly rather eccentric parents, but she knew that their choices were not going to be hers. I could understand her resentment of being forced to the extremes of frugal living - such as buying a second hand Monopoly and painting rocks to replace the missing pieces.

The cast of side characters was endearing too, even if I felt that their stories were left unfinished. I loved Mir's friends Evan and Raleigh, and I hope maybe the author plans to write more about them at some point. Evan especially! He was just so sweet and kind and clearly cared so much about Mir. I really liked that even though he wanted to care about her in a more-than-friends way, when she said made it clear she wasn't interested he completely dropped it, but remained a great friend. A lot of guys could take a lesson! :P

The Romeo/Juliet plot was a little weak, mostly because of its predictability. The adults of the two families have had some hard feelings in the past, but their reasons for estrangement sound weak, especially the way Weldon's aunt presents her case.

4/5 stars. I loved the descriptions of fandoms and comics, and Comic Con. It definitely appeals to the inner (and not so inner) nerd!


A full review will be coming shortly on GoodReads, and will be posted at the link below on February 11, 2019.

This is a sweet romance about two teens, Miriam and Weldon, whose families are on the opposite sides of a feud (and lawsuit) over the rights to a comic book franchise. The premise is inventive but the actual story feels very familiar. The family history with comics informs both of the main characters in different ways, but it doesn't define them. This story really shines when exploring Mir's uneasiness with her desire to leave her small town for university and Weldon's growing understanding of his parents as adult humans with problems. Miriam's uncertainty and the reactions of her friends and family really stood out to me. The setting is a small, remote town where the expectation isn't that everyone will leave for school/adulthood, which is different from a lot of suburban-set YA I've read.

I would recommend this book alongside Geekerella and Now a Major Motion Picture, and I hope these fandom inspired romances will draw in readers who might be new to the genre!

let’s talk about the book you are here to talk about! Comics Will Break Your Heart by Faith Erin Hicks. I received this book as an ebook ARC from the publisher a few weeks ago and chose it to read out of my list of ARCs and I am super glad I did.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Mir lives in a small town in Canada and works at a small comic book store that also sells toys and games. Her grandfather was a famous comic book co-creator who worked on the TomorrowMen series, however, her family is not famous like you think they would be. Instead, there was a rather large lawsuit over the rights for the comics and Mir has no idea exactly what her family got, other than knowing it paid for their home. Mir’s mother makes these amazing paintings of the TomorrowMen characters but she does not sell them for more than what the supplies cost. This and the fact that her family lives so frugal kind of drives Mir insane. One day a boy comes into the comic shop. One Mir has never seen before. This is kind of unusual for the town but the boy buys one of her mother’s paintings and then exits the store. However, before he gets into his car other boys from town come and start beating him up. Mir is stunned and unsure of what to do. She runs out of the store and helps the boy the best she can and this is where she learns that the boy is Weldon Warrick. He is from the Warrick family, the other half of the comics that her grandfather created. From here Weldon and Mir seem to have several accidental and on purpose meet ups and we the reader get to see both Mir and Weldon’s lives and how the comics have affected them both. Weldon’s family has all the comic money and is currently creating a massive movie about the comics.

The story of Mir and Weldon and the comics is interesting and unique. I really have not read another story about comics that also kind of has Romeo and Juliet undertones. Overall, I thought this book was a fun and interesting read and I gave it four and a half stars on Goodreads! It comes out on February 12th!

3.5, rounded up to 4.

This was a cute and quick read. The plot was fairly predictable, very Canadian, and nothing ground-breaking. The strength was in the main character interactions and just a generally warm feeling around everything. The side characters felt expendable and there were a few that just disappeared mid-story without another mention - which made me wonder about their purpose to begin with.

In summary; cute story, cute characters, feels-good ending, and a quick read.

That was one of the most adorable and geeky stories I have ever read, and I loved it with all my heart! I honestly love stories that have cons in them (like Geekerella and Queens of Geek), and this one did not disappoint. I loved the Romeo and Juliet feel of the family animosity between the Warricks and the Kendricks, and how Weldon and Miriam defied that feud.

I loved the characters a lot. Weldon and Miriam were both really lovable and also flawed, and I loved that about them both. Mir's family was kind of the best, and Weldon's parents were...not always the greatest, but they were both trying in their own ways. I wish we could have gotten more of Uncle and Alex and maybe his past with Mir's mom and why the two of them like and respect one another. Evan was the greatest and I love how he, Mir, and Stella are going to make comics together.

Overall, there isn't too much of an overarching plot, or even too deep a conflict. The family history gets between them, but they resolve it quickly both the first and second times it happens, and most of the story is pretty low key and happy, which was lots of fun. It was a really good story and I loved the influence of the comics and the modern superhero trend playing a big part. I loved the details we got about the TomorrowMen and the whole story of the family feud between them.

I definitely recommend this book to the fans of superheroes and comics, to the geeks, and to anyone wanting to read an adorable little love story between two teenagers who refuse to let their families get between them <3

A Romeo and Juliet type tale about a girl whose grandfather drew very famous superheroes (think Justice League) who meets and falls for the grandson of the creator of the superheroes. The book took awhile to find its groove and spend some more time on ancillary plots and characters, but still was a satisfying read. Recommended for fans of Ashley Poston.

This was a very sweet comic book romance. The story follows two teens who grandfathers each helped create a massive comic book franchise, but later one bought the other out, which created resentment. The two start to strike up an attraction to each other but have to deal with the past and feuding families. It was a very sweet and quiet story. There were a lot of very Canadian references that I didn't get, but it was a light and fun read. It played with familiar tropes but I liked the characters. It was a little slow at times, but overall I enjoyed reading it, and would recommend to fans of other YA that involves comics and fandoms.

A cute, contemporary Romeo and Juliet esque YA love story. Perfect for comic book fans. Miriam and Weldon fall in love with each other despite past disputes between their families. Both are grandchildren of comic book creators who ended up at odds with each other regarding their collaboration together. Miriam and Weldon see past the ire between the two families to fall in love while working through issues of their own.

This was a very sweet, geeky romance with a little Romeo and Juliet thrown in, but with a happy ending. Miriam is the granddaughter of Micah Kendrick, the original artist for and co-creator of the TomorrowMen comic book. Weldon Warrick is the grandson of Joseph Warrick, the other co-creator of the TomorrowMen comic book. Joseph unfairly (although legally) took control of the TomorrowMen rights, essentially cheating Micah out of any real profits from their joint creation causing a rift between the Warrick and Kendrick families. Miriam and Weldon meet, there are sparks, but also all this complicated family history. Can they make it work?

Comics Will Break Your Heart is a tender love story and an ode to comic books and all the various kinds of people that love them.

Mir(iam) Kendrick has some important decisions to think about, largely around the, “What are you going to do with your future?” variety. Her family is well off enough but not the type where it’ll make going to college any easier for her, and she doesn’t even know what she wants to focus on. Her best friend is growing distant from her the closer she gets to her boyfriend, who is unusually hostile to Mir, and her other best friend has a crush on her that she doesn’t reciprocate.

Weldon Warrick has been shipped off to spend the summer with his aunt and uncle to keep him out of trouble and underfoot of his father whose about to bring the comic book series Tomorrowmen to cinematic glory after a messy legal battle that’s kept it on hold for years. Weldon is struggling to find himself after his parents separation and his fathers obsession with his work. Shipped out to a small town, lacking the kind of life he’s used to in L. A., Weldon finds himself stumbling into Mir and then deliberately searching her out as he finds himself drawn to her and she to him.

Things aren’t easy for these two. The messy legal battle that held the movie made up? Was from Mir’s grandpa, the original artist for Tomorrowmen, who felt he was cut out of profits he deserved.

Mir struggles with jealousy, anger and a whole host of insecurities and what ifs that hold her back. Thankfully for Mir she has two really great, present parents. I loved Henry and Stella, they were a dynamic couple and I loved how important they were to Mir and she to them. Weldon wants the family that Mir has and Mir wants the life Weldon has access to. The romance is slow and sweet and by the end, very hopeful and filled with potential.

I loved this story and can’t wait for it to be published and other readers to love it too.

I loved this book! The full review will be posted soon at kaitgoodwin.com/books! Thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity to connect books to their readers!

COMICS WILL BREAK YOUR HEART capitalizes on the current Marvel movie crazy by showcasing the star-crossed relationship of Miriam Kendrick and Weldon Warrick, the children on either side of a copy-right legal dispute over the TomorrowMen comic series. (Just in case you missed the obvious parallels, a discussion of Romeo and Juliet is shoehorned into the story for good measure.) Although I really enjoy nerd!lit as a general rule, I felt as though COMICS WILL BREAK YOUR HEART lacked a punch. Everything felt a little too cookie-cutter, a little too easily resolved. If you enjoy the "after school special" formula for YA romance, you'll enjoy it, but don't expect anything revolutionary. Other contemporary YA Lit works exploring fandom do so with much more nuance. Regardless, fans of GEEKERELLA, CHAOTIC GOOD, and SHIP IT will enjoy.