Scan barcode
strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Alcohol, Grief, Mental illness, Addiction, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Child death, Toxic friendship, Torture, Blood, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Murder, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Alcoholism, Self harm, and Suicide
Moderate: Cursing
coelwa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Child death, Self harm, Death, Religious bigotry, and Animal death
catsnebulareads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Death, Violence, Animal death, and Child death
cursed_sapphire's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Our main cast of characters were entertaining and fun, and I really found myself rooting for them even as they did some deplorable things. This should be a case study for how to write likeable villain protagonists. The world was also well fleshed out and the lore made sense. I liked the very simple and limited power sets most characters had, as it made everything feel more like a tense struggle. The writing and tone were also consistently great.
However, my main problem was with the villain. While Eli and Victor's relationship was well defined in the flashbacks, they barely interacted in the present. Perhaps they'll get more time in the sequel, but as it is, this was not the "Superman and Lex Luthor" or "Professor X and Magneto" style rivalry promised. While Victor constantly thought about Eli and craved vengeance, Eli did not have the same level of hatred for Victor. I even felt like Victor's reason to want revenge in the first place was a little anti-climactic.
I actually thought the secondary antagonist, Serena, was more interesting than Eli. Her struggle with her powers and her relationship with her sister were all extremely interesting and paid off in satisfying ways for the most part.
Also, as an Asexual myself, I appreciate that Victor is a canon biromantic asexual, and I just want to say how happy I was to realize that he was ace. Overall I personally approved of the representation.
I definitely recommend this for fans of darker superhero content, like Joker. While it falls a little short of its true potential, the story is still a satisfying ride with characters you hate to love.
Graphic: Death, Murder, Gun violence, Violence, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Drug abuse, Animal death, Torture, and Blood
Moderate: Chronic illness and Child death
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content
naleyisms's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Child death
Moderate: Animal death
videnovs's review against another edition
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicide attempt, and Murder
lilylovestoread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Child death, Suicide, Genocide, and Death
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Gaslighting
totallymaegz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Blood and Death
Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Child death, and Violence
Minor: Animal death
stardustvein's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, and Hate crime
Moderate: Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Religious bigotry, Torture, Child death, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Alcoholism and Medical content
leweylibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Some things in particular that I love:
The entire premise really lol I've been telling people it's giving X-Men but darker. It feels like a more realistic and plausible version of superheroes.
The characters, especially Victor and Eli. I am such a sucker for morally gray characters, and they are both that to a freaking T lol. Eli's religion and how it guides him is so interesting to me, and Victor's jealousy and his mutilating books (especially his parents' self-help books lol) is also interesting. And, of course, their powers
The pacing was perfect, idk how anyone could think it's slow (and I know someone who did).
The discussion around what makes a hero, sidekick, and villain is 🤌 Those might be the parts that I love the most.
Quotes:
- All Eli had to do was smile. All Victor had to do was lie. Both proved frighteningly effective. (18)
- The moments that define lives aren't always obvious. They don't always scream LEDGE, and nine times out of ten there's no rope to duck under, no line to cross, no blood pact, no official letter on fancy paper. They aren't always protracted, heavy with meaning. (58)
- It could work, and if it did work, he wanted the chance to hold the power, the evidence, the proof. He wanted to be the proof. Without it, this was Eli's monster, and he was merely the wall off which Eli bounced his ideas. With it, he was the monster, essential, inextricable from Eli's theories. (60)
- Eli, who showed up in the hallway sophomore year with a suitcase and a smile. Eli, who believed in God and had a monster inside him just like Victor, but knew how to hide it better. Eli, who got away with everything, who had slipped into his life and stolen the girl and the top rank and the stupid holiday research grant. Eli, who, despite it all, meant something to Victor. (78)
- The years had worn on Victor in more obvious ways, hardening him, but they hadn't left Eli untouched. He didn't appear a day older, but the arrogant smile he'd often flashed in college had given way to something crueler. Like that mask he'd worn for so long had finally fallen off, and this was what lurked behind it. (90)
- And Victor, who was so good at picking things apart, at understanding how they worked, how he worked, looked at the photo, and felt...conflicted. Hate was too simple a word. He and Eli were bonded, by blood and death and science. They were alike, more so now than ever. And he missed Eli. He wanted to see him. And he wanted to see him suffer. He wanted to see the look in Eli's eyes when he lit them up with pain. He wanted his attention.
Eli was like a thorn beneath Victor's skin, and it hurt. He could turn off every nerve in his body, but Victor couldn't do a damned thing about the twinge he felt when he thought of Cardale. The worst part of going numb was that it took away everything but this, the smothering need to hurt, to break, to kill, pouring over him like a thick blanket of syrup until he panicked and brought the physical sensations back. (90-91) - If Eli really was a hero, and Victor meant to stop him, did that make him a villain?
He took a long sip of his drink, tipped his head back against the couch, and decided he could live with that. (91) - Victor Vale was not a fucking sidekick. (96)
- "You thought our powers were somehow a reflection of our nature. God playing with mirrors, but you're wrong. It's not about God. It's about us. The way we think. The thought that's strong enough to keep us alive. To bring us back. (133)
- There had been an excerpt, blown up large and pasted on the window, and in a passage studded with overwrought gems--his favorite being "out of the ruins of our self-made jails..."--he had seen the perfect opportunity to spell out a simple but effective" we...ruin... all...we touch." (168)
- There was a moment of such perfect quiet, the kind he used to feel in church, a sliver of peace that felt so... right. It was the first time he'd felt like himself, like more than himself, since he'd come back to life.
Eli crossed himself. (212) - Serena remembered sitting cross-legged on her bed and listening to the news, her friends huddled on the comforter around her-- but not touching; there seem to be a thin wall, separating them from her, fear, or maybe awe-- and it was then she realized that she wasn't a ghost, or a god.
She was a monster. (236) - "I hope Victor hurts him," she said cheerfully. "A lot."
"Jesus. Three days and you're already taking after him." Mitch sagged into a chair, ran his head over his shaved head. "Look, Sydney, there's something you need to understand about Victor--"
"He's not a bad man," she said.
"There are no good men in this game," said Mitch.
But Sydney didn't care about good. She wasn't sure she believed in it. "I'm not afraid of Victor."
" I know." He sounded sad when he said it. (276) - But these words people throw around--humans, monsters, heroes, villains--to Victor it was all just a matter of semantics. Someone could call themselves a hero and still walk around killing dozens. Someone else could be labeled a villain for trying to stop them. Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human. (288-289)
- ...a decade in and out of prison had taught him this: there were some people you had to stay away from, people who poisoned everything within reach. Then there were people you wanted to stick with, the ones with silver tongues and golden touches. And then, there were people you stood beside, because it meant you weren't in their way. And whoever Victor Vale was, whatever he was, and whatever he was up to, the only thing Mitch knew was that he did not want to be in his way. (304)
- She readjusted the shovel on her shoulder, and wondered if Eli would live forever, and how much of forever someone could reasonably remember, especially when nothing left a mark. (361)
Graphic: Murder, Torture, Violence, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Child death, Body horror, Religious bigotry, Death, Self harm, Grief, and Addiction
Moderate: Animal death