Review by Ian Keogh
Svetlana Chmakova’s third visit to Berrybrook Middle School confirms she’s hit on a viable premise for a series by concentrating on the varied emotional states teens experience. She switches the focus to different pupils from those seen in Brave, the star this time being Jorge Ruiz, as seen on the cover. He’s a good guy, and because he’s so much bigger than others in his year not only does nobody mess with him, but he’s also able to use his size to prevent others being picked on. He’s known his best friend Liv forever, but friendship is as far as their relationship goes no matter what others think, and she’s brought new kid Garrett into their group.
Jorge is quiet, but has an inner confidence, and is thrown for a loop when he suddenly starts going weak at the knees at the sight of Liv’s friend Jazmine. Unfortunately she has a boyfriend.
It’s more difficult to transmit the personalities of quiet members of a cast, but Jorge’s feelings forming the narrative captions and every scene being from his point of view ensure he’s understood. Equally good is how through his eyes we understand others also, as Chmakova’s characterisation is nuanced. Jorge, for instance, sees past the adulation James earns as the school’s star quarterback to the unpleasant person he really is.
Contributing greatly to this is the personality-rich art. He might be a withdrawn lump, but a look of the eyes or an ungainly pose tells much about Jorge, and others with different personalities are all visually strong. It’s essential that Chmakova excels at this because the art concentrates almost entirely on people with backgrounds non-existent or minimal.
There is some drama, but it comes naturally from the way people are shown rather than being contrived for story purposes. Honesty is shown as decency and when the crisis comes towards the end, the way Chmakova has the cast solve it is true to what’s come before. Crush is accessible, charming and compelling, and the only shame is next time Chmakova will move on to another cast.
