Thank you to NetGalley and DC Comics for providing me an advanced reader copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was a very sweet story. Each of the characters were developed with realistic thoughts and emotions and I appreciated that the protagonists and their parents were written like individuals and not plot elements. I enjoyed the romance and how it expressed that romantic feelings and relationships can be complicated and confusing, and effort is required to further understand your partner. I felt the teenage characters were written with a good balance that some other storytellers fail to capture. Their emotions could be extreme, but they never read as melodramatic. They process hurt and betrayal with emotional intelligence and empathy that often is simplified in young adult stories to move the narrative along. 

I was also glad that none of the central characters or their parents were portrayed as outright villains, even when they're unfair towards each other. While the parents make mistakes and hide important knowledge from their children, they're given reasonable motivations and eventually increase their efforts to respect how their children need to be supported. The only one-dimensional characters were the homophobic bullies, as it wouldn't have been appropriate to characterize them otherwise.

It seems like the largest criticism of this book given by other reviewers was that including homophobic bullies who receive little to no punishment from their school administration for being violently bigoted "dated" the story. Unfortunately, in my own experience and from hearing about my sisters', I don't feel this is an inaccurate depiction. At our high school, bigoted students would spout slurs and dehumanizing statements regularly, and within teachers' realm of hearing. Yet they were never met with disciplinary actions or even criticism. It's insensitive to decide that bigoted aggression in a public setting is something young people aren't threatened with anymore, just because you have not encountered it recently or ever. 

Overall, I felt this story was definitely created with care. Each of the graphic novels in this new imprint seem to suffer from the briefness demanded of them, but I thought this was one of the better ones. Self-discovery is the central theme of this narrative, and explored from multiple angles. I do hope this book receives a sequel since it only scratches the surface of Jake's origin as a hero.