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stlkatiek's review
adventurous
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? No
4.0
This was a fun superhero story, with plenty of action and irreverence to keep it entertaining. I'll definitely pick up the next in this series.
Read it Because:
Impulse borrow from the library
Read it Because:
Impulse borrow from the library
raucous's review
5.0
This is the first new Gardner book I've seen in over a decade. It’s great to see him back. This book shows the same inventiveness, humor, and character development that I enjoyed in the League of Peoples series except with, well, more explosions. There’s a lot about superheroes (“sparks” here, for legal reasons) that I didn’t understand until I read this book. In particular, this book contains the best justification I've ever seen for why superhero secret identities work. It's also fascinating to me how he wove together our world with the alternate history that forms the basis for this one. Finally it's clear that he spent way too much time at some point hanging around university science research complexes and did a nice job integrating that setting into the book. +1 for including a reference to the CRC Handbook.
chukg's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Lots of local colour about the University of Waterloo (or an alternate fictional version of it, anyway), and the book itself feels like a cross between a prose superhero novel and an urban fantasy with vampires in. While I was reading it I kept thinking that it almost seemed like a role-playing game -- there are ground rules established, the author goes into detail about how the various powers and creatures work, and there is a lot of creative use of abilities and interesting situations. It also has some good character development, especially of the narrator and her diverse roommates/teammates. (In the afterword, the author mentions specific RPGs and it was exactly the ones I was thinking of while reading it. That said, the book does stand on its own -- it doesn't read like someone just wrote down what happened in their gaming sessions. I would read a sequel for sure.)
callen_charlemagne's review
4.0
I was a bit conflicted about this book. All the action takes place within about 24 hours, which makes it a bit breathless. And while I love the main character, they and I are alike in hating mind control and psionic attacks, so I had a fair bit of anxiety whenever they were vulnerable. But overall a hilarious homage to superhero culture, and a great piece of nonbinary representation.
clyssandre's review
3.0
All Those Explosions Were Someone Else's Fault was a pleasant read, unfortunately it wasn't more than that. It has a lot of potential: it's humorous, the characters are fairly well defined, the plot was obviously well planned, but it just fell short. The jokes made me smile but not laugh out loud. I liked the characters but didn't love them or found them inspiring. The plot worked well and didn't leave any loose ends, but it was simple. I found that the book lacked of depth. It also had a YA vibe that I didn't expect.
It definitely felt like the typical superheros movies (and it might make a good movie).
It definitely felt like the typical superheros movies (and it might make a good movie).
apatrick's review
4.0
The title caught my eye at the library, and of course after I read the blurb about superheroes and vampires, I had to check it out. Plus, the first paragraph talks about which Earth you (the reader) are in. It hits so many things I like: Superheros, a la Austin Grossman and Carrie Vaughn; possibilities of a multiverse; science-y sci-fi.
It's tongue in cheek, and doesn't take itself too seriously, but at the same time, it deals with really personal issues like identity and friendship, and how we relate to one another, and it deals with those questions on deeper than a surface level. The conflicts the characters experience are a mix of things we never have to deal with (whose jurisdiction for saving the world are we in?) and things that everyone has had to deal with (when to ask your friends for help; how to deal with an ex; being a geek). I'm excited for the second installment, because I came to really like the narrator and her friends.
A few favorite things about this book: 1) The superheroes are science students, in keeping with comic book tradition. 2) The narrator is a gender-queer Chinese Canadian. I like different perspectives! 3) The fun mix of occult-type stuff and science-fiction type stuff. 4) As a geology student, the narrator titles her chapters with geologic words and phrases, and (bonus) they actually relate to the part of the story happening in that chapter.
It's tongue in cheek, and doesn't take itself too seriously, but at the same time, it deals with really personal issues like identity and friendship, and how we relate to one another, and it deals with those questions on deeper than a surface level. The conflicts the characters experience are a mix of things we never have to deal with (whose jurisdiction for saving the world are we in?) and things that everyone has had to deal with (when to ask your friends for help; how to deal with an ex; being a geek). I'm excited for the second installment, because I came to really like the narrator and her friends.
A few favorite things about this book: 1) The superheroes are science students, in keeping with comic book tradition. 2) The narrator is a gender-queer Chinese Canadian. I like different perspectives! 3) The fun mix of occult-type stuff and science-fiction type stuff. 4) As a geology student, the narrator titles her chapters with geologic words and phrases, and (bonus) they actually relate to the part of the story happening in that chapter.
jayknowsit's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This book failed to build to something massive when it really had the potential to do so. The heroes in this universe gain their powers through a wish-fulfilment system but they made frustratingly little attempt to utilise this to any logical conclusion.
The bad guys felt like act 1 or 2 bad guys, just placeholders for the real villains to come. If you’re going to write about this eternal war between dark and light, don’t just tell me about some minor skirmish!! Add some bloody weight to it!!
Also the representation felt plasticky. You can tell me a character is queer all you like, but if they aren’t treated as such by anyone AT ALL then what’s the point?
ALSO also, if you’re a man and you’re trying to write women, why do you feel the need to mention their tits ALL THE TIME??? It got real weird, real fast.
I dunno, this book and this premise had potential that fizzled out like Poundland fireworks on bonfire night. Learnt new words though so that was fun.
The bad guys felt like act 1 or 2 bad guys, just placeholders for the real villains to come. If you’re going to write about this eternal war between dark and light, don’t just tell me about some minor skirmish!! Add some bloody weight to it!!
Also the representation felt plasticky. You can tell me a character is queer all you like, but if they aren’t treated as such by anyone AT ALL then what’s the point?
ALSO also, if you’re a man and you’re trying to write women, why do you feel the need to mention their tits ALL THE TIME??? It got real weird, real fast.
I dunno, this book and this premise had potential that fizzled out like Poundland fireworks on bonfire night. Learnt new words though so that was fun.
star1412's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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? No
4.5
Fun book. Enjoyed the story but it didn't really draw me in like some books. Looking forward to getting the sequel