I remember the last Kissing Chaos leaving me with a lot of unanswered questions, but the smaller scope and more focused first issue of this one made me think that might not happen again. I'm a little more nervous about it after this issue, which seems to jump around more and which reintroduces the mysterious men in black who were following Damien and Angela, but I'm still plenty interested in the story, largely due to the strong cast of characters. While I liked the original cast of Kissing Chaos, Dela Cruz has created a much more complex cast of characters, with more complex relationships, for Nonstop Beauty, and seeing how those relationships develop and resolve will keep me reading.
Last issue, what really had me fascinated was the question of what Jersey and company were going to do. So I was a little disappointed to find that their plan involved little other than turning out all the lights and starting a riot, but I'm hoping that a little more explanation of what he was hoping to accomplish is forthcoming. Because while it has been made clear that Jersey is one of those "all talk, no real message" youth activists, he hasn't necessarily come across as stupid and random.
I guess, however, that the violence is just a backdrop for the real meat of the story, which has to do with two parallel relationships developing. One, between Eric and Kim, has a fairly important turning point during the violence, and the other, between Ashley and Everett, develops either before (or after... it's not clear) it. The Eric/Kim relationship is actually the most interesting thing in the book to me, even though Ashley is the character I like the most. Unrequited romance, a girl dating someone who isn't good enough for her, and a sympathetic friend trying to help out... that's an experience just about any guy who went to high school can probably relate to.
While Eric and Kim interest me because I can relate, Ashley interests me because of who she is. Her Internet addiction and initial meeting with Everett speak of someone who keeps people at a distance, and the way she thinks about most of the other characters as shown in her narration indicate that as well. Despite this, however, I get a sense that she's probably one of the most compassionate characters in the book, smart enough to see what's going on, and I suspect that's what lead Angela to contact her and what's going to get her into trouble. While I sure could use a little more explanation of who these mysterious stalkers are, given that it was left unexplained in the previous series, for the time being I'm plenty interested to see a capable character like Ashley get involved in whatever they want, as it seems more likely to yield answers in the end.
Dela Cruz brings an unusual style to the page in both his writing and his artwork. The somewhat sketchy and sometimes overly dark artwork in this book doesn't always suit my tastes, but I have to admit that I love his character designs and his work on city elements, especially the technology of Everett and Ashley and the subway locations. Kissing Chaos: Nonstop Beauty is quite a different experience from the first Kissing Chaos, and so far I'm enjoying this experience a little bit more than the original.
