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jadedarkness's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.0
selinamarcille's review against another edition
2.0
I so so so wanted to like this novel! The idea is fun and unique. The characters, at first, seemed fully fleshed out and engaging. However, this is a great example of good ideas with poor execution and sloppy writing.
From just a reader perspective: Phrases and ideas are constantly repeated, and the same few character ticks are constantly used for the same characters, making them all seem very two dimensional. While this does leave room for sequels, I felt like there was very little emotion anywhere in the book. Why is Henry always so angry? How does Bentley feel about his family life? How does Phil actually feel about everything beyond violent rage?
From a writing POV, I feel like this book has a lot of issues. One major issue is the utter and complete lack of almost ANY female characters apart from the mother and the old teacher. While I recognize that this book is middle grade, it is unrealistic to think that only men exist in this super hero town. Women are 51% of the population... so while I don't expect women to be 50% of the characters, having more female presence would be more realistic.
Also, when writing about characters with disabilities, it is great that the author did not define the characters solely by them. However, he also does not portray disabilities in a realistic way that explores some of the limitations. By this, I mean Phil being able to see. There were multiple times where Phil would glance around to see what was happening, which is impossible because he is blind! Even if he is wearing the camera that Bentley put together, this is not always clear. If he is wearing the camera that Henry looks at, it should be more obvious. Also, another BIG issue I had was Phil's ability to read. Braille is NOTHING like printed letters. When Phil can read the word "Archives," it totally pulled me out of the book because it was too unrealistic.
The writing was also clunky. I can appreciate the occasional pull away where you end the chapter with "I have a plan!" and then cut to a scene later without spoiling the plan, but there were many places where there was no coherent flow from chapter to chapter.
While I didn't love this book for all of the reasons above, I do think this would be a good book for middle grade readers who might be able to relate to some of the characters.
From just a reader perspective: Phrases and ideas are constantly repeated, and the same few character ticks are constantly used for the same characters, making them all seem very two dimensional. While this does leave room for sequels, I felt like there was very little emotion anywhere in the book. Why is Henry always so angry? How does Bentley feel about his family life? How does Phil actually feel about everything beyond violent rage?
From a writing POV, I feel like this book has a lot of issues. One major issue is the utter and complete lack of almost ANY female characters apart from the mother and the old teacher. While I recognize that this book is middle grade, it is unrealistic to think that only men exist in this super hero town. Women are 51% of the population... so while I don't expect women to be 50% of the characters, having more female presence would be more realistic.
Also, when writing about characters with disabilities, it is great that the author did not define the characters solely by them. However, he also does not portray disabilities in a realistic way that explores some of the limitations. By this, I mean Phil being able to see. There were multiple times where Phil would glance around to see what was happening, which is impossible because he is blind! Even if he is wearing the camera that Bentley put together, this is not always clear. If he is wearing the camera that Henry looks at, it should be more obvious. Also, another BIG issue I had was Phil's ability to read. Braille is NOTHING like printed letters. When Phil can read the word "Archives," it totally pulled me out of the book because it was too unrealistic.
The writing was also clunky. I can appreciate the occasional pull away where you end the chapter with "I have a plan!" and then cut to a scene later without spoiling the plan, but there were many places where there was no coherent flow from chapter to chapter.
While I didn't love this book for all of the reasons above, I do think this would be a good book for middle grade readers who might be able to relate to some of the characters.
wheelygoodreads's review against another edition
1.0
This book was so bad and I'm really upset by it because I was so excited by the premise!
This book was supposed to be a great alternative to stories like that of Daredevil and other heroes with disabilities who end up getting super powers that not only negate their disabilities, but actually make them even better or more powerful than they would be without a disability. I had such high hopes for a book that wasn't all about overcoming one's disability. As a disabled person, I was excited to see where the book would go with that angle, which made the let down even worse.
This book came to my attention a few years ago, but until recently, I wasn't intrigued enough to actually start it. I'm currently doing an own voices reading challenge, and this book popped up on one of the lists since author Jeremy Scott has some disabilities himself. He does not, however, have the same, or even a related, disability as any of the main characters in the book. In fact, the way that he portrays many of these disabilities is really negative and harmful, especially if it's being validated as an accurate portrayal, labelled as own voices. The character that uses a wheelchair is described as "wheelchair bound," and the character with Down Syndrome is called "mentally handicapped" which are pretty universally acknowledged amongst disabled folks as harmful descriptions. Also, the character with Down Syndrome it's seriously infantilized throughout the entire story. Other people forget he is there or that he even exists if he isn't actively useful. In a book about disabilities, by a disabled author, I shouldn't have to be surprised that the R slur wasn't used to describe a character but that wouldn't have been necessarily out of place with the tone and descriptions in this book.
While I am on the topic of representation, for being a book about an aspect of diversity, there was very little diversity in this book at the hall. There was only a handful of female characters, many of which were mentioned once and then never seen again. One of the girls in Phillip's class is also given probably the saddest combination of disability and superpower in the entire book--deafness and super hearing, and then never mentioned again, even though hearing loss is a disability the author actually experiences, and therefore could portray more accurately. At one point Phillip just off-handedly says that it makes sense that a female character would need an escort home. No more thought is put into that, just that the girl, of course, can't take care of herself. Even the two female characters that got the most attention, the special education teacher and Phillip's mom, were very flat characters that only only exist to advance Phillip's character. The teacher is just there to answer a few world building questions, and then fade into the background until we need more exposition. Intentional or not, there are some serious issues with how women are portrayed, and left out of, this book.
There are also no great representations of characters of color in the book. There is one character that is noted as non-white. Henry, who is black, is also the student who ends up in the biggest service role. Henry isn't included because he is one of Phillip's best friends, but because Phillip needs Henry's superpower. At that point, he's little more than a tool for Phillip to use. People of color only existing to serve white main characters is a horrible trope that really should not have made its way into the story.
Also, does Jeremy Scott know what special education is? A majority of the students in this special education class have disabilities that wouldn't prevent them from being in a general population class. They might need accommodations, sure, but they don't need to be in a special education environment. Students aren't even allowed (or able) to use their powers at school, in which case I could see them being in a separate super powered physical education class, for example, if they were worried for the safety of themselves or others. They don't need to be in a separate class for normal English, science, math, etc. Heck, one of the students even has genius level brain power as his super power! If he was in any kind of special class, it should be honors something.
The writing also just isn't great. There are so many parts that run on and on. (The whole opening scene is needlessly long, for example.) Some things that are brought up but never again addressed. Elements that should maybe only be mentioned once or twice as foreshadowing are repeated so much that you just KNOW what's going to happen And while I listened to the audiobook, I've been told there were a lot of formatting issues in the print version as well.
This book really could have used an editor to make a few (more) passes over the whole book, and maybe a few diversity/sensitivity readers to address the harmful presentations and tropes attached to characters and identities.
This book was supposed to be a great alternative to stories like that of Daredevil and other heroes with disabilities who end up getting super powers that not only negate their disabilities, but actually make them even better or more powerful than they would be without a disability. I had such high hopes for a book that wasn't all about overcoming one's disability. As a disabled person, I was excited to see where the book would go with that angle, which made the let down even worse.
This book came to my attention a few years ago, but until recently, I wasn't intrigued enough to actually start it. I'm currently doing an own voices reading challenge, and this book popped up on one of the lists since author Jeremy Scott has some disabilities himself. He does not, however, have the same, or even a related, disability as any of the main characters in the book. In fact, the way that he portrays many of these disabilities is really negative and harmful, especially if it's being validated as an accurate portrayal, labelled as own voices. The character that uses a wheelchair is described as "wheelchair bound," and the character with Down Syndrome is called "mentally handicapped" which are pretty universally acknowledged amongst disabled folks as harmful descriptions. Also, the character with Down Syndrome it's seriously infantilized throughout the entire story. Other people forget he is there or that he even exists if he isn't actively useful. In a book about disabilities, by a disabled author, I shouldn't have to be surprised that the R slur wasn't used to describe a character but that wouldn't have been necessarily out of place with the tone and descriptions in this book.
While I am on the topic of representation, for being a book about an aspect of diversity, there was very little diversity in this book at the hall. There was only a handful of female characters, many of which were mentioned once and then never seen again. One of the girls in Phillip's class is also given probably the saddest combination of disability and superpower in the entire book--deafness and super hearing, and then never mentioned again, even though hearing loss is a disability the author actually experiences, and therefore could portray more accurately. At one point Phillip just off-handedly says that it makes sense that a female character would need an escort home. No more thought is put into that, just that the girl, of course, can't take care of herself. Even the two female characters that got the most attention, the special education teacher and Phillip's mom, were very flat characters that only only exist to advance Phillip's character.
Spoiler
The mom only really exists to die, and doesn't even do that in a way that makes you feel anything, really, since she wasn't a developed character to begin with.There are also no great representations of characters of color in the book. There is one character that is noted as non-white. Henry, who is black, is also the student who ends up in the biggest service role.
Spoiler
He becomes Phillip's seeing eye friend, and Phillip drags him around, even outside of superhero situations, just so he can see things. He drags him to the hospital so he can see his mom, he brings them to family dinner so he can see his family's faces for the first time.Spoiler
Even in superhero situations, there are times where Henry's whole job in a plan is just to be Henry's eyes.Spoiler
While we're at it, I also just want to acknowledge how frustrating it was that about halfway through the book there was just a magical solution to Phillip being disabled in the form of Henry sending him visions. Especially at the end, after Phillip gets the camera glasses, and Henry has a computer monitor mounted to his wheelchair just so he can look at the screen to show Phillip what he would otherwise be seeing if he wasn't blind. And even when he does get the ability to see things through Henri, it isn't done in a remotely convincing way. Someone who has never seen anything ever would not know the names of colors right away, he also wouldn't visually know what a gavel looks like, especially across the room. He shouldn't be able to read things by sight.Also, does Jeremy Scott know what special education is? A majority of the students in this special education class have disabilities that wouldn't prevent them from being in a general population class. They might need accommodations, sure, but they don't need to be in a special education environment. Students aren't even allowed (or able) to use their powers at school, in which case I could see them being in a separate super powered physical education class, for example, if they were worried for the safety of themselves or others. They don't need to be in a separate class for normal English, science, math, etc. Heck, one of the students even has genius level brain power as his super power! If he was in any kind of special class, it should be honors something.
Spoiler
And why doesn't the school bully end up in the special ed class after he loses his arm, if it really is for all disabled students?The writing also just isn't great. There are so many parts that run on and on. (The whole opening scene is needlessly long, for example.) Some things that are brought up but never again addressed. Elements that should maybe only be mentioned once or twice as foreshadowing are repeated so much that you just KNOW what's going to happen
Spoiler
(seriously, when you mention that the grandfather is dead like 30 times in a 350-ish page book, it's kind of obvious that he might actually be alive)This book really could have used an editor to make a few (more) passes over the whole book, and maybe a few diversity/sensitivity readers to address the harmful presentations and tropes attached to characters and identities.
carlosmp98's review against another edition
5.0
For any fan of the super hero genre, this interesting take on it is a fun story while helping shine understanding handicapped people in a new light.
urlphantomhive's review against another edition
3.0
Read all reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
I wanted to like this book so bad! I'm a big fan of the YouTube Channel CinemaSins and when I heard the voice behind it had written a book, I thought that was right into my alley. When I got an eARC of the book, I was very happy!
Jokingly I told my friends I would certainly go and sin the book just as the movies, but I didn't know that would be such a massive job. The premise of disabled super heroes working together to save the world and overcome their disabilities was nice enough. Unfortunately, it was filled with almost all the clichés in the book and that was something I didn't expected (as in the CinemaSins they always make fun of clichés in movies). Besides in the beginning I found it far too easy to put the book down and read something else instead. I some times need to do that if I have another review book that needs to be read first, but it was simply too easy this time. It took about the halfway mark before I was really invested in the story. After that point it was a nice and quick read. And please, let me explain: I did enjoy reading it, it just wasn't as original as I hoped it would be.
Some minor spoilers may follow as I try to explain this.
The MC, Philip, is blind, which is inconvenient to say the least with his flowering superpower of telekinesis. After moving to a city that is completely filled with superheroes (and some of their minions), even though his little brother isn't to know about all this for some time (which I think is hard in a city filled with superheroes) and which seemed like a terrible strategic choice because if I were a super villain, I'd know just which city to nuke!
Philip attends the special high school for super heroes, but is put in a weird hodgepodge class of disabled children. I was wondering why all these children were put in that class in the first place. Many of them seemed to be ABLE to attend regular classes I'd say. There's for example a deaf girl (but can't she lip read? and if not, what is the use of placing her together with blind kids for sign language) and a boy with I think some kind of spasms in his leg. Why would you need to go to a special class for that? I spent my whole secondary school with a boy in my class who also suffered from leg spasms and we just helped him from room to room and there wasn't a single problem.
The deaf girl's superpower is superhearing, which is utterly useless to her and proves that life's a bitch. It's said that the whole superpower thing has something to do with genetics, since it's mostly familial, but then again it's said that only 10% of the children inherit the same power as their parents. How does THAT work? I wonder.
On this High School, and brace yourself: clichés are coming, an old tournament, that's been abandoned for years because of safety issues, has been brought back but our band of disabled super heroes is banned from participating. (I'm quite sure you also thought for a moment I was talking about The Goblet of Fire). For some reason, they are then allowed to participate, they find some evidence that a certain villain is on the rise but when they're back at school no one believes them? Sounds familiar, huh?
The rest I'll leave to yourself to figure out, but believe me: it doesn't end their. Also featured:
dead parents cliché, prophecy of a chosen one cliché, 'Luke, I'm your father'-cliché
From the blurb I'd gotten the idea that The Ables was also going to be about overcoming disabilities, and I thought that would be a wonderful message to spread. But 'overcoming' in this context mostly meant using other powers to fill in the gap. It's not about using telekinesis as a blind person, it's about borrowing someone else's vision to do it more easily. That felt a bit like cheating...
All in all, while enjoyable it was also cliché-ridden and that made me cringe more than once. Would I read the sequel? I probably would, but I wouldn't set my expectations quite as high as I did for this one.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I wanted to like this book so bad! I'm a big fan of the YouTube Channel CinemaSins and when I heard the voice behind it had written a book, I thought that was right into my alley. When I got an eARC of the book, I was very happy!
Jokingly I told my friends I would certainly go and sin the book just as the movies, but I didn't know that would be such a massive job. The premise of disabled super heroes working together to save the world and overcome their disabilities was nice enough. Unfortunately, it was filled with almost all the clichés in the book and that was something I didn't expected (as in the CinemaSins they always make fun of clichés in movies). Besides in the beginning I found it far too easy to put the book down and read something else instead. I some times need to do that if I have another review book that needs to be read first, but it was simply too easy this time. It took about the halfway mark before I was really invested in the story. After that point it was a nice and quick read. And please, let me explain: I did enjoy reading it, it just wasn't as original as I hoped it would be.
Some minor spoilers may follow as I try to explain this.
The MC, Philip, is blind, which is inconvenient to say the least with his flowering superpower of telekinesis. After moving to a city that is completely filled with superheroes (and some of their minions), even though his little brother isn't to know about all this for some time (which I think is hard in a city filled with superheroes) and which seemed like a terrible strategic choice because if I were a super villain, I'd know just which city to nuke!
Philip attends the special high school for super heroes, but is put in a weird hodgepodge class of disabled children. I was wondering why all these children were put in that class in the first place. Many of them seemed to be ABLE to attend regular classes I'd say. There's for example a deaf girl (but can't she lip read? and if not, what is the use of placing her together with blind kids for sign language) and a boy with I think some kind of spasms in his leg. Why would you need to go to a special class for that? I spent my whole secondary school with a boy in my class who also suffered from leg spasms and we just helped him from room to room and there wasn't a single problem.
The deaf girl's superpower is superhearing, which is utterly useless to her and proves that life's a bitch. It's said that the whole superpower thing has something to do with genetics, since it's mostly familial, but then again it's said that only 10% of the children inherit the same power as their parents. How does THAT work? I wonder.
On this High School, and brace yourself: clichés are coming, an old tournament, that's been abandoned for years because of safety issues, has been brought back but our band of disabled super heroes is banned from participating. (I'm quite sure you also thought for a moment I was talking about The Goblet of Fire). For some reason, they are then allowed to participate, they find some evidence that a certain villain is on the rise but when they're back at school no one believes them? Sounds familiar, huh?
The rest I'll leave to yourself to figure out, but believe me: it doesn't end their. Also featured:
Spoiler
dead parents cliché, prophecy of a chosen one cliché, 'Luke, I'm your father'-cliché
From the blurb I'd gotten the idea that The Ables was also going to be about overcoming disabilities, and I thought that would be a wonderful message to spread. But 'overcoming' in this context mostly meant using other powers to fill in the gap. It's not about using telekinesis as a blind person, it's about borrowing someone else's vision to do it more easily. That felt a bit like cheating...
All in all, while enjoyable it was also cliché-ridden and that made me cringe more than once. Would I read the sequel? I probably would, but I wouldn't set my expectations quite as high as I did for this one.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
bequibuho's review against another edition
5.0
He thought he was going to get the sex talk. When his dad took him out for a long drive, Philip thought he was going to have the heart to heart talk with his dad, instead he gets told he has super powers. As a blind almost teenager he has been given the ability to move things with his mind. . . And he will now being going to school with other kids that have abilities. He is so excited all throughout that first day until he finds out he is in a classroom with other disabled students with special abilities.
I loved this book so so so very much. I don’t even think I can produce enough words to talk about how much I adored this.
This book had just the right amount of nerdiness. There were superheroes of all types; people with the ability to move objects with their minds, people that have super strength, people that are far more intelligent than any man could ever be.
AND THIS IS SUCH A DIVERSE BOOK.
Not only is our main character blind but his whole group of friends have some sort of disability. Their disabilities hinder them in certain ways, whether it is running after bad guys or trying to save a damsel in distress.
Mild spoilers
Philips best friend, Henry, has the ability to read people’s thoughts, and as the book progressed Henry was able to project his sight into Philip’s mind. This gave Philip the ability to see but only when he was with Henry.
I thought this was a clever way to show how the kids’ powers are increasing but it also bummed me out that the author found a way to “fix him”. That was the only thing that really bothered me about the book.
This book had me laughing, crying, and explaining to my coworkers how brilliant I find this book to be.
I give this book an A.
Perhaps the best part of this book was the fact that it was written for adults. I didn’t find this book in the middle grade section, even though all the main characters are twelve years old. This allowed the book to be so much darker.
I loved this book so so so very much. I don’t even think I can produce enough words to talk about how much I adored this.
This book had just the right amount of nerdiness. There were superheroes of all types; people with the ability to move objects with their minds, people that have super strength, people that are far more intelligent than any man could ever be.
AND THIS IS SUCH A DIVERSE BOOK.
Not only is our main character blind but his whole group of friends have some sort of disability. Their disabilities hinder them in certain ways, whether it is running after bad guys or trying to save a damsel in distress.
Mild spoilers
Philips best friend, Henry, has the ability to read people’s thoughts, and as the book progressed Henry was able to project his sight into Philip’s mind. This gave Philip the ability to see but only when he was with Henry.
I thought this was a clever way to show how the kids’ powers are increasing but it also bummed me out that the author found a way to “fix him”. That was the only thing that really bothered me about the book.
This book had me laughing, crying, and explaining to my coworkers how brilliant I find this book to be.
I give this book an A.
Perhaps the best part of this book was the fact that it was written for adults. I didn’t find this book in the middle grade section, even though all the main characters are twelve years old. This allowed the book to be so much darker.
jinnyshollow's review against another edition
5.0
OH EM GEE THIS BOOK!
(Okay.. I just needed to get that out.)
The premise of the book is that there really are superheroes in the world, that go by the term custodians. And the main character, Phillip Sallinger, has superpowers but is also blind, therefore having to overcome his blindness to be able to use his superpower. The book starts with him going to school and building a team with his other disabled superhero friends and just goes on from there… (I’m trying to avoid spoilers here.)
STOP READING HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T READ YET!
So the team, which call themselves the Ables after a legendary team of superheroes, join a hero simulation at their school, but while on the simulation they witness a true villain breaking into the public library. (THE PUBLIC LIBRARY??) And they try to find out what happens and BAM! he gets in the way of that! But who could he be?!? (Seriously, it’s probably you who think it will be but you should still read to find out because HOLY TOLEDO, BATMAN! THIS IS SUCH A GOOD TWIST!)
And what is the super-villain after?! Well…. the reincarnation of the superhero equivalent of an all powerful god (part of the original Ables legend.) Le duh. You didn’t see that coming?! (Neither did I.)
How do Phillip and his friends stop the super-villain and save the town? Read and find out! :)
Reveiwed on personal blog: A good book and a cup of coffee...
(Okay.. I just needed to get that out.)
The premise of the book is that there really are superheroes in the world, that go by the term custodians. And the main character, Phillip Sallinger, has superpowers but is also blind, therefore having to overcome his blindness to be able to use his superpower. The book starts with him going to school and building a team with his other disabled superhero friends and just goes on from there… (I’m trying to avoid spoilers here.)
STOP READING HERE IF YOU HAVEN'T READ YET!
So the team, which call themselves the Ables after a legendary team of superheroes, join a hero simulation at their school, but while on the simulation they witness a true villain breaking into the public library. (THE PUBLIC LIBRARY??) And they try to find out what happens and BAM! he gets in the way of that! But who could he be?!? (Seriously, it’s probably you who think it will be but you should still read to find out because HOLY TOLEDO, BATMAN! THIS IS SUCH A GOOD TWIST!)
And what is the super-villain after?! Well…. the reincarnation of the superhero equivalent of an all powerful god (part of the original Ables legend.) Le duh. You didn’t see that coming?! (Neither did I.)
How do Phillip and his friends stop the super-villain and save the town? Read and find out! :)
Reveiwed on personal blog: A good book and a cup of coffee...
rat_girl_'s review against another edition
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? Yes
3.75
kwadwo_anansi's review against another edition
5.0
Quick Thoughts and Rating: 5 stars! I can’t imagine how challenging it would be to tackle the voice of a movement like Black Lives Matter, but I do know that jeremy did it with a finesse only a talented author like himself possibly could. With an unapologetically realistic delivery packed with emotion, The ables Give is a crucially important portrayal of the difficulties people with disabilities face in our country every single day. I have no doubt that this book will be met with resistance by some (possibly many) and slapped with a “controversial” label, but if you’ve ever wondered what it was like to walk in a POC’s shoes, then I feel like this is an unflinchingly honest place to start.
It is normal to be abnormal...
It is normal to be abnormal...
opusfra's review against another edition
2.0
This book doesn't work for several reasons, the quality of the writing being the primary one, of course. The book reeks of self-published amateurism. The characters themselves have both redeeming and annoying features, and the fact that I cared what happened to them accounts for the two stars (I struggled with the second one, to be honest). The massive plot holes are extremely frustrating.