Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - The Extraordinaries

Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune

76 reviews

kllyholt's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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? It's complicated

3.0

Content Warnings

thebookbin's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted 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

5.0

Finally. Finally. Now this is what I want when I read a YA novel. The target audience is clearly teens and it's not pandering to middle-aged women. This book would have meant so much to me if I had been able to read it as a teen, and as it stands, I thoroughly enjoyed it as an adult. This book is so excruciatingly embarrassing, perfectly encapsulating the mortifying experience of puberty.

Nick, our main character, is riddled with ADHD, so endearingly earnest, the most popular fanfiction writer in his fandom, and is obsessed with superheroes. The only difference is that in Nick's world, superheroes are real, and they're called Extraordinaries. Nick would do anything to be extraordinary, including microwaving a cricket to... eat?

He has the queerest group of friends because Klune knows we stick together and form packs. Jazz and Gibby's relationship was so sweet and pure, and I identify so much with Jazz. I also recognize how much Klune has grown as a writer, because the women and their relationships have so much more care put into them. Also I think Klune has such an insight into the minds of Gen Z. It felt so real.

But in my opinion, the best relationship in the book is Nick relationship with his dad. Don't get me wrong, the puppy-love romance is tooth-rottingly sweet, but Aaron truly is a great father. Maybe it's just my daddy-issues talking, but the way Aaron is so involved in Nick's life from the in-depth safe sex talks that he had to do research to prepare for because Nick is gay. This man cares. He's also a cop. Now, ACAB but also I do appreciate that this is a part of the genre: vigilantes and cops are two sides of one messed-up American coin. So I get it and I do think the story handles this well.

Overall, this is exactly what I want from a YA novel. Something that doesn't take itself too seriously, but to the teen characters it's just serious enough that the stakes are interesting. Even though I'm no longer a teen, I am so happy to have read this book.

5/5 angsty teen superhero stars

Content Warnings

franklola's review against another edition

Go to review page

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? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

btwnprintedpgs's review

Go to review page

funny reflective tense 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

4.0

Content Warnings

courtneydindin's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted slow-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

5.0

Absolutely amazing. Very quickly I fell in love with Seth and Nick, and their adorable dynamic, and loved how the theme of queer romance mixed with action and superheroes. I was also pleasantly surprised by how funny this novel was. The amount I laughed while reading it made it extremely enjoyable, and I know I’ll be talking about this book for a long time.

Content Warnings

annoyedhumanoid's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

there's something about men in the TJ Kluniverse (yes, i am proud of myself for that, thank you) that's a lot better than irl (in my experience of course), especially dads… consider it part of the apologetic parents canon: https://www.vox.com/culture/23025832/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-parental-apology-fantasy-turning-red. however, this romanticizing of characters also extends to cops, making for some strong copaganda—especially awkward given the book's release in summer 2020. one of its major themes is the myth of good vs. evil and of black & white thinking, yet this only applies to our fictional superheroes and not the institution of policing we actually live with—no no, the police are always unquestionably "the good guys" 🙃. there's even a moment where we're made to sympathize with a cop in a literal act of police brutality, punching a witness (a witness, not even a suspected perpetrator) for not cooperating. we see how much he was going through at the time; maybe we should extend that understanding to other cops who abuse their power? or, maybe a different superhero story got it right: "with great power comes great responsibility," and as such it's reasonable to expect protection from those whose job it is (supposedly) to "protect and serve". another of Klune's books, The House in the Cerulean Sea, used fantastical metaphor to make a political statement; i can't help but see as a glaring omission how The Extraordinaries falls short in that regard.
big thought out of the way, here are some scattered ones:

there was a lot of build up and the climax seemed to drag on, but insufficient payoff. (though, at least there was any payoff at all, unlike Fence: Striking Distance. that's not relevant here, i just hold a grudge.)
for the amount of times the narration described what teenage boys are like, i started to think maybe it was the author trying to convince us that he knew, like "how do you do fellow kids"
it was genuinely funny
audiobook reader was top tier 👌
"I'm young and queer and in a fragile place right now." me

Content Warnings

i_readsandbujos's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.25

Content Warnings

ramintah's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny 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

3.75

Content Warnings

cluckieduck's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Look. I love me some TJ. The Green Creek series is perhaps one of the most beautiful series I’ve ever read so I was really looking forward to starting this newest series. I’m afraid to say, however, that this foray into YA was a bit of a miss.

TJ’s typical humorous, effervescent narration comes to us through the eyes of our lead, Nick, a teen with ADHD who’s life has been divided into the Before & After of his mother’s death. Nick’s had a tough go of things and wishes to be an Extraordinary, this universe’s version of a superhero. There was a lot of borrowing from other universes - a little bit Marvel, a little bit Kick-Ass, and some others sprinkled here & there, but in the end it was a very predictable story. That is unless you’re Nick, who has got to be one of the most clueless leads in existence, to his detriment, because he got rather annoying by the end.

I appreciate the voice that TJ gives to queer and neurodivergent characters, but there is a fine line between representation and stereotyping. Here they’re borderline played for jokes (ex. the angry, Black baby-dyke who’ll kick everyone’s ass if they look at her wrongly & our lead’s ADHD is maxed-out to the point of him being dumb) and it’s a bit cringy. I’m apprehensive about how Nick’s ADHD will be handled

alongside his telekinesis. I hope his symptoms don’t get brushed aside as his latent powers because that would be a major disservice to including his diagnosis in the first place

.

All in all, it was an ok read and I’ll continue the series, but probably my least favourite of TJ’s.

Content Warnings

fictionaladventures's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

This was amazing! I laughed out loud on several occasions. It hooked me right away and the audiobook narrator is perfect. Nick is the sweetest, most oblivious cinnamon roll. I’ve never cared for a superhero story so much! It also got super touching at times! I can’t wait to read the rest of the series. I’d recommend this to fans of Fangirl, Carry On, Renegades, and anything else by TJ Klune!

Content Warnings

More...