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katebrownreads's review against another edition
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Homophobia and Police brutality
emjrey's review against another edition
medium-paced
2.5
2.5 stars. I wanted to like this book more than I did. I had loved the two other T J Klune books I read.
I liked the premise but found it so awkward and cringey to read. It does portray a teenagers staggering lack of self awareness in great detail.
Some parts were cute, some were hard to read. Ultimately I found it hard to finish
I liked the premise but found it so awkward and cringey to read. It does portray a teenagers staggering lack of self awareness in great detail.
Some parts were cute, some were hard to read. Ultimately I found it hard to finish
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent
sssssoup's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Drug use, Medical content, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Blood, Bullying, Violence, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, and Police brutality
jen_b's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Really fun and queer BUT I hated the cops-as-heroes theme so I just can't figure out how to rate it. Definitely will read the sequel bc (see first sentence)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Police brutality
theoldestbennetsister's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, and Mental illness
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, and Ableism
Minor: Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Addiction, and Child abuse
stitchnlich's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book is so achingly charming it almost makes my teeth hurt. It’s a little predictable and even a little cringe-worthy in the most delightful way. TJ Klune managed to capture the enormity of teenage emotions. The main characters are so sweetly sincere and Nick especially is a kaleidoscope lens back upon my own neurodivergent-queer-fandom-teenagerhood that gives me space to look at the Weird Girl that was me fondly and with more grace than I usually afford her. The superhero aspect of the story may be fantastical (and fantastic), but the heart of the book is the heart of the othered teenage experience. More than a decade out from my own weird 16 year old self, my heart aches for the characters in this story, and rejoices with them, in a way that feels deeply cathartic. I enjoyed almost every moment of this book. What holds me back from as exuberant a rating as I want to give it is that it did at points, gloss over and downplay the effects and severity police brutality while glorifying the police force which was more than a smidge tone-deaf. I can see how Klune used the police characters to drive the plot, but it was uncomfortable all the same, bringing my rating down from 5 stars to 4.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Police brutality and Panic attacks/disorders
ginfizz's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- 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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Violence
Minor: Police brutality and Toxic relationship
bunnybunny_mp3's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
2.5 stars - this may contain some minor spoilers
I have many feelings about this book. Most of them aren’t nice feelings. Also, I’m not that good at making reviews or writing in English since it's not my first language, but I’ll try my best because I feel like ranting about this book.
First of all, I decided to read this book after reading that it had a neurodivergent main character. I was super excited to read it since I found out recently that there is a very high possibility that I myself am neurodivergent. I have been learning more about the community and was anticipating reading this book as fast as I could.
At first, I was having a blast reading this. The book starts with a fanfic. It was really fun and it made me feel connected to the main character right away because of it. I loved to see the cliché fanfic tropes, it was extremely fun and I gave this book 4 stars right away. The fanfiction elements are strong in this book, they gave that sweet nostalgia of late-night questionable fic stories that I used to and still read sometimes.
The characters play with the inverse cliche trope and the plot is a cute superhero cliche story that should warm your heart. Should. But I had a few issues with some parts of the story.
The description of some of the characters did not sit well with me, especially the minorities. There's one BIZARRE scene at the end of the book with a homeless lady that made me cringe so bad I had to stop reading for a few minutes.
Also, as many people have highlighted over the reviews, this book has a weird relationship with the police. First of all, the work that the police do in this book is more of a real-life firefighter than the police, in my opinion. Second, there is a glorification of the police that is really hard to swallow. It gets weird around the 180 pages mark, Nick's dad is described as this great, hard-working guy with a big heart that made a mistake - the so-called mistake was to actually physically assault a witness (?) and it's said in the book later on that his friends helped him so he would get just a demotion instead of being fired as he should. That... was really weird. Really really weird. If he's violent he should be fired and the fact that his friends could influence the final decision was such a weird thing to put on a book that should be heartwarming? There's also a scene where his dad slams his hand on the table so hard that it shakes, he also says in this scene "why do you have to be the way you are?" and there's also another scene where he - for some reason- forgets the ONE thing about Nick that is really important and it leads to Nick having a panic attack. He does apologize but these other scenes plus the physical assault to the witness made me feel like this guy really should be fired. Nick also seems to have knowledge about police brutality and the fact that he doesn't see a problem about his dad punching a witness could have been more explored so it didn't seem like one of those "he made a mistake but I promise he's a nice guy!" kind of excuse that is normally used. This kind of excuse takes away the responsibility of the cop's own acts. The way that nick's dad handles Nick's ADHD is also disappointing. He forgets Nick's triggers and when Nick is grounded he makes Nick live without wifi, games, tv, or anything that could be used as comfort for Nick to the point that it made me think "if I were in Nick's position I would have multiple panic attacks as I would have nothing to comfort me". Everyone knows that Nick has special needs but no one seems to actually understand and respect said needs. And that's actually another thing that made me a little pissed. The way that people react to Nick's hyperfixations.
Through all the book there's this funny habit of every single character where they repeatedly mock Nick's interests to the point that I was like "OK, WE GET IT, EVERYONE THINKS NICK'S INTERESTS ARE STUPID, I GET IT" Because it happens ALL THE TIME, OVER AND OVER. Friends tease each other sometimes, that's normal. But the fact that hyperfixations are described as cringy, stupid, annoying and the fact that "obsession" is used almost as a synonym to hyperfixation was so frustrating. The only time that someone seems ok with the fact that Nick has a hyperfixation with superheroes in this book that I can remember now is around page 270 where Owen is trying to manipulate Nick.
Hyperfixaations are normally healthy and are used for comfort for neurodivergent people and I'm just so tired of seeing it being mocked over and over. It can be something healthy as long as it's managed well and it can bring so much knowledge. Even with things not seen as important. Nick loves superheroes, the story could focus on showing how because of it he learned more about the history of Extraordinaries or the biological aspects of superheroes or even what materials are best for costumes. Even with fanfiction and/or fan art, there are elements of creativity and writing strategies/visual art knowledge that could be explored more. I'm just tired of seeing hyperfixations being mocked. The author says at the end of the book, in the "about the author" that "Being queer himself, Klune believes it's important -now more than ever- to have accurate, positive queer representation in stories" and I love that! I really do! but I wish that at least one character treated Nick as a person that is allowed to have feelings and interests that are not usual without making it negative or seen as annoying. I'm sure that the author had good intentions but I also wish that he had been more gentle with the way that he wrote about Nick's ADHD because there are a bunch of neurodivergent youth reading this.
Besides that, I love Jazz, Seth is an adorable romantic interest and the main plot twist was really nice. The final battle is satisfying and funny.
Overall, there were some elements that I hated about this book but I did have a good time. Not really sure if I'll recommend this. I heard that there's a second book, if I read it, I'll be updating this review :]
Favorite quote:
"French toast waits for no man"
Thank you for reading this and please remember to drink water today. My apology for any spelling errors :D
(Fun fact – I started reading this book while waiting in the line for my first shot of the vaccine. It could have been the worse 2/3 hours of waiting in line of my life if I didn’t have this book with me and for that I am grateful)
I have many feelings about this book. Most of them aren’t nice feelings. Also, I’m not that good at making reviews or writing in English since it's not my first language, but I’ll try my best because I feel like ranting about this book.
First of all, I decided to read this book after reading that it had a neurodivergent main character. I was super excited to read it since I found out recently that there is a very high possibility that I myself am neurodivergent. I have been learning more about the community and was anticipating reading this book as fast as I could.
At first, I was having a blast reading this. The book starts with a fanfic. It was really fun and it made me feel connected to the main character right away because of it. I loved to see the cliché fanfic tropes, it was extremely fun and I gave this book 4 stars right away. The fanfiction elements are strong in this book, they gave that sweet nostalgia of late-night questionable fic stories that I used to and still read sometimes.
The characters play with the inverse cliche trope and the plot is a cute superhero cliche story that should warm your heart. Should. But I had a few issues with some parts of the story.
The description of some of the characters did not sit well with me, especially the minorities. There's one BIZARRE scene at the end of the book with a homeless lady that made me cringe so bad I had to stop reading for a few minutes.
Also, as many people have highlighted over the reviews, this book has a weird relationship with the police. First of all, the work that the police do in this book is more of a real-life firefighter than the police, in my opinion. Second, there is a glorification of the police that is really hard to swallow. It gets weird around the 180 pages mark, Nick's dad is described as this great, hard-working guy with a big heart that made a mistake - the so-called mistake was to actually physically assault a witness (?) and it's said in the book later on that his friends helped him so he would get just a demotion instead of being fired as he should. That... was really weird. Really really weird. If he's violent he should be fired and the fact that his friends could influence the final decision was such a weird thing to put on a book that should be heartwarming? There's also a scene where his dad slams his hand on the table so hard that it shakes, he also says in this scene "why do you have to be the way you are?" and there's also another scene where he - for some reason- forgets the ONE thing about Nick that is really important and it leads to Nick having a panic attack. He does apologize but these other scenes plus the physical assault to the witness made me feel like this guy really should be fired. Nick also seems to have knowledge about police brutality and the fact that he doesn't see a problem about his dad punching a witness could have been more explored so it didn't seem like one of those "he made a mistake but I promise he's a nice guy!" kind of excuse that is normally used. This kind of excuse takes away the responsibility of the cop's own acts. The way that nick's dad handles Nick's ADHD is also disappointing. He forgets Nick's triggers and when Nick is grounded he makes Nick live without wifi, games, tv, or anything that could be used as comfort for Nick to the point that it made me think "if I were in Nick's position I would have multiple panic attacks as I would have nothing to comfort me". Everyone knows that Nick has special needs but no one seems to actually understand and respect said needs. And that's actually another thing that made me a little pissed. The way that people react to Nick's hyperfixations.
Through all the book there's this funny habit of every single character where they repeatedly mock Nick's interests to the point that I was like "OK, WE GET IT, EVERYONE THINKS NICK'S INTERESTS ARE STUPID, I GET IT" Because it happens ALL THE TIME, OVER AND OVER. Friends tease each other sometimes, that's normal. But the fact that hyperfixations are described as cringy, stupid, annoying and the fact that "obsession" is used almost as a synonym to hyperfixation was so frustrating. The only time that someone seems ok with the fact that Nick has a hyperfixation with superheroes in this book that I can remember now is around page 270 where Owen is trying to manipulate Nick.
Hyperfixaations are normally healthy and are used for comfort for neurodivergent people and I'm just so tired of seeing it being mocked over and over. It can be something healthy as long as it's managed well and it can bring so much knowledge. Even with things not seen as important. Nick loves superheroes, the story could focus on showing how because of it he learned more about the history of Extraordinaries or the biological aspects of superheroes or even what materials are best for costumes. Even with fanfiction and/or fan art, there are elements of creativity and writing strategies/visual art knowledge that could be explored more. I'm just tired of seeing hyperfixations being mocked. The author says at the end of the book, in the "about the author" that "Being queer himself, Klune believes it's important -now more than ever- to have accurate, positive queer representation in stories" and I love that! I really do! but I wish that at least one character treated Nick as a person that is allowed to have feelings and interests that are not usual without making it negative or seen as annoying. I'm sure that the author had good intentions but I also wish that he had been more gentle with the way that he wrote about Nick's ADHD because there are a bunch of neurodivergent youth reading this.
Besides that, I love Jazz, Seth is an adorable romantic interest and the main plot twist was really nice. The final battle is satisfying and funny.
Overall, there were some elements that I hated about this book but I did have a good time. Not really sure if I'll recommend this. I heard that there's a second book, if I read it, I'll be updating this review :]
Favorite quote:
"French toast waits for no man"
Thank you for reading this and please remember to drink water today. My apology for any spelling errors :D
(Fun fact – I started reading this book while waiting in the line for my first shot of the vaccine. It could have been the worse 2/3 hours of waiting in line of my life if I didn’t have this book with me and for that I am grateful)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Death, Death of parent, Grief, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, and Violence
there's a major glorification of the police, some weird ways of describing minorities and some aspects of the ADHD of the main character is seen as annoying and cringyjitterbugbear's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Police brutality
dryadsreadingnook's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- 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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent and Violence
Minor: Police brutality