Reviews

Dreadnought by April Daniels

shae_purcell's review against another edition

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

2.0

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ledade503's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I don't like modern superhero stuff, so this book had it's work cut out for it. Definitely worth a read for people more into the genre than I am, though! The gender stuff was handled pretty well (if bluntly), but I didn't vibe with all of it. Well-written action, and the social/emotional challenges Danny faced definitely evoked emotion in me as well. Will try to get around to the sequel this year.

rsbchamp's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

3.5

bookish_phoenix's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

alyssaplacey's review against another edition

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5.0

*read in 2024*

Danny Tozer has a problem: she just inherited the powers of Dreadnought, the world's greatest superhero. Until Dreadnought fell out of the sky and died right in front of her, Danny was trying to keep people from finding out she's transgender. But before he expired, Dreadnought passed his mantle to her, and those secondhand superpowers transformed Danny's body into what she's always thought it should be. Now there's no hiding that she's a girl. 
It should be the happiest time of her life, but Danny's first weeks finally living in a body that fits her are more difficult and complicated than she could have imagined. Between her father's dangerous obsession with "curing" her girlhood, her best friend suddenly acting like he's entitled to date her, and her fellow superheroes arguing over her place in their ranks, Danny feels like she's in over her head. 
She doesn't have time to adjust. Dreadnought's murderer--a cyborg named Utopia--still haunts the streets of New Port City, threatening destruction. If Danny can't sort through the confusion of coming out, master her powers, and stop Utopia in time, humanity faces extinction.

curiouscat17's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful 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

priya_amrev's review against another edition

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4.0

Really fantastic. Great portrayal of some of the struggles that trans people face on a daily basis. It’s my own naïveté but I never thought that a trans person (I don’t want to say acknowledging but I can’t think of a better word rn) their true gender could be considered an assault to that gender by close-minded cis people. This makes me more aware of the education and appropriate mindset that needs to be perpetuated in society.

As for the MC, I liked her. Yes there were times when I thought she was being stupid and unnecessarily rash but overall I liked her. She was far from perfect - she was human. Parts of the book kind of seem as if this is a villain origin story, which would be really interesting. One thing that kept surprising me was whenever the book highlighted her blonde hair/being white because my brain from the beginning just thought of her as brown. Hmm now that I’m considered if I wonder what that says about my own unconscious biases.

Parts of the story also reminded me of that new Amazon prime animated show, the one about superheroes - invincible. Although I only watched the 1st episode so

lines__lines's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

4.0

I'm not usually big on superhero stories, but that was a bingo square I had to fill, so I picked this one for the trans rep in particular. It was definitely the best of the three I read for that square, even though I didn't finish it on time to make the official card. Danny is an achingly realistic trans kid, and even with the most perfect transition physically she still has to deal with issues that so many face when coming out, from basic misunderstanding to outright hate and persecution. Plus, you know, a whole new set of superpowers and the world of white, gray, and black capes to navigate. There's also moments of ferocious joy and wild freedom. The overlap of a transition story with a "new superpowers" story worked really well, and the author built a great cast of characters to fill out this narrative. I might get around to the sequel eventually, though that was a lot of superheroes in a short amount of time for me.

teyn's review against another edition

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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

3.75

I would've loved this if not for the gendered fatphobia and ableism that added absolutely nothing to the story.
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fussl's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

4.5