Saver 1

When Lena Ha discovers that she has fallen in love with her long-lost half-brother, Hye-Min, she runs away and has a near-death experience that takes her to a strange kingdom, where her destiny is changed forever.

Grade 7 Up—In this manwha (Korean manga), Hyun-Min is trying to fit in at his new school, his father is strict and domineering, and his mother is worse. Lena is the captain of the kumdo (swordfighting) team, and she often wishes she had been born a boy. Her father is strict and domineering, and her mother is weak. It's only after Hyun-Min and Lena have shared their first kiss that they learn that they have the same father. Even after they learn that they're related, they're still attracted to one another. With the incestuous/androgynous attraction (Hyun-Min thinks she's a boy when he first meets her), the swordfighting, and a strange parallel world that Lena sees in her dreams, teens will be amazed. These intertwining plots may confuse some readers, but they'll be more likely to want to reread the book than put it down. The black-and-white artwork is striking at times, capturing not only the prerequisite pointy hair and pooling tears but also reflecting the emotional states of characters in uniquely pixilated and crosshatched details. The title probably applies to Lena, although she doesn't actually save anyone. In fact, Hyun-Min tries to save her more than once, and she is inadvertently responsible for the deaths of several people. However, at the end of the book, readers learn that in volume 2 she will reemerge as the savior of the world that she's only visited in her dreams.—Andrea Lipinski, New York Public Library
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