Verona Comics by Jennifer Dugan

Published by GP Putnam’s Sons

I WAS first drawn to this book because of the desire for a light and fluffy romance novel and though it, in some aspects of its story, fulfilled that, the darker themes explored came as a welcome surprise.

With this new take on the classic story of Romeo and Juliet, it’s easy to worry that this sort of thing has just been done too many times, but the fresh and current plot, flawed and relatable protagonists and the subversion of genre tropes makes Jennifer Dugan’s new novel its own sort of romance. With the many variations, even modern ones, that take their inspiration from Shakespeare I’ve seen, none of them yet have dealt with so much more than just the main plot in the way this does.

The story is told from the perspective of the two main characters Ridley and Jubilee. Jubilee is 17 and aiming for a spot in a prestigious summer programme for her cello skills and her stepmother Vera is a well respected indie comic artist that runs a small shop named Verona Comics. Vera has a bitter rivalry with the owner of the corporate comic chain The Geekery, whose son Ridley has spent most of his life feeling like a disappointment to his family for his issues with mental health and anxiety.

At a comic book convention they’re both attending to help their parents, Ridley and Jubilee meet without knowing who each other are and begin a texting relationship. When Ridley discovers who Jubilee is, but she’s still unaware of his real name, he becomes caught up in an attempt to gain his father’s approval through taking his job offer to spy on Verona Comics to aid his goal of buying it.

This creates a conflict for Jubilee in not knowing that the boy she’s been talking to online that wore a Batman mask the whole time they spoke, and the new frequent customer in her family’s business, are the same person. Through miscommunications and navigating the very real issues with their families’ rivalry, their intense and exhilarating romance begins.

With Ridley’s anxiety that feeds his low self-esteem, fear of disappointing his father and keeping too many secrets, along with Jubilee’s need to focus on her music, loyalty to the integrity of her family’s business and the concern of her friends, the fate of their relationship is uncertain but fascinating.

There’s a distinct focus in this book on the individual issues that the main characters face and the changes in their lives after meeting each other. They each find some form of escapism in each other and the book does not shy away from the clear positives and negatives of this.

In relying on each other they create a significant and enviable bond, but also make things complicated not just for their families, but for all the other things in their lives. When Ridley picks up effective coping mechanisms for his anxiety from spending time with Jubilee, he also picks up a sort of dependency on her, and when Jubilee finds more passion for her music in Ridley, the technical side and focus on her ambitions in relation to it begin to slip. Though it’s a romance novel with a heavy sense of drama, it doesn’t romanticise the negative impacts of becoming completely lost in each other, and emphasises the importance of a healthy middle ground for them both.

This is not only a meaningful modern re-telling of Romeo and Juliet, but also a well written exploration of relationships, sexuality and mental health.