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stormeno's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcoholism and Panic attacks/disorders
readingthroughinfinity's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
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? Yes
4.0
I stumbled across this while scrolling through Scribd and thought it would be my kind of thing (superheroes + mystery). Cut to a year later and I finally picked up the audiobook as part of my Asian readathon TBR, and it surprised me in all the best ways.
The narrative is funny and direct, the mystery surrounding the protagonists' amnesia is gripping, and the world-building feels very believable. Jamie and Zoe's friendship was definitely my favourite part of this novel. They begin the story as nemeses (though they don't stay that way for long) and end it as close friends, whose quest to recover their lost memories has bonded them for life. I really liked the fact that Zoe had super strength and near-invincibility, and she often had to save Jamie from moments of peril, as this subverts the usual stereotyped gendered roles we get in superhero-themed media.
Perhaps my favourite element of this book is the fact that there's no romance at all (apart from a minor side-romance (we only see the aftereffects of this)). Jamie and Zoe's friendship is a wonderful, strong, fulfilling bond and they don't share a romantic connection or sexual chemistry, which I LOVED. The author shows us that friendship is just as strong as a romantic relationship and that platonic love is in no way inferior to romantic love, and I adored that.
The narrative gets a little convoluted during some of the explanations of the antagonist's plans and a few parts of the final climax felt a bit too 'convenient' for me, but forgave these issues pretty easily because the great final twist and satisfying conclusion.
Content warnings for violence, amnesia, past death of a partner, on-page death of a spouse, building fires, gun violence, emotional manipulation, alcohol addiction.
The narrative is funny and direct, the mystery surrounding the protagonists' amnesia is gripping, and the world-building feels very believable. Jamie and Zoe's friendship was definitely my favourite part of this novel. They begin the story as nemeses (though they don't stay that way for long) and end it as close friends, whose quest to recover their lost memories has bonded them for life. I really liked the fact that Zoe had super strength and near-invincibility, and she often had to save Jamie from moments of peril, as this subverts the usual stereotyped gendered roles we get in superhero-themed media.
Perhaps my favourite element of this book is the fact that there's no romance at all (apart from a minor side-romance (we only see the aftereffects of this)). Jamie and Zoe's friendship is a wonderful, strong, fulfilling bond and they don't share a romantic connection or sexual chemistry, which I LOVED. The author shows us that friendship is just as strong as a romantic relationship and that platonic love is in no way inferior to romantic love, and I adored that.
The narrative gets a little convoluted during some of the explanations of the antagonist's plans and a few parts of the final climax felt a bit too 'convenient' for me, but forgave these issues pretty easily because the great final twist and satisfying conclusion.
Content warnings for violence, amnesia, past death of a partner, on-page death of a spouse, building fires, gun violence, emotional manipulation, alcohol addiction.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Gun violence, and Addiction
Minor: Death
sarah984's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.0
This was a fun little popcorn movie of a book about a hero and villain with superpowers who meet by chance at a memory loss support group meeting. I noticed a few typos and I think the plot started to unravel a bit towards the end with a lot of revelations all at once (and the way things went down with the cop was kind of wishy-washy) but overall I enjoyed my time with this one. The characters weren't super deep but they were fun to watch and for the most part the action and comedy balanced well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, and Violence
Minor: Addiction, Car accident, and Dementia
aerialcataloger's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gun violence, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Alcoholism
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
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
5.0
“A superhero and a super villain meet in AA and decide to team up” is a remarkably simple and excellent premise, brilliantly told and nearly flawlessly executed in WE COULD BE HEROES. Their changing relationship feels really natural, with a lot of give-and-take of trust and information, slowly building into a finale where I was on the edge of my seat to find out what would happen.
Above all else this book is fun. Yes, there’s danger (sometimes a lot of danger), and the stakes are really huge for the characters, but watching them was an adventure. The way they went about their heroics and their villainy totally fit their personalities and helped tell me more about them, long before they were explaining themselves to each other. It’s heartfelt and earnest without being sappy. The main characters are vibrant and very distinct from each other, they have totally different ways of seeing the world and it was really easy to track who was who. I liked the way their individual goals fit into their eventual shared goal without feeling like either of them completely changed just to suit the plot.
I love this and I’d happily read more in this setting if it ever gets a sequel, but it’s very satisfying as a stand-alone superhero story.
Above all else this book is fun. Yes, there’s danger (sometimes a lot of danger), and the stakes are really huge for the characters, but watching them was an adventure. The way they went about their heroics and their villainy totally fit their personalities and helped tell me more about them, long before they were explaining themselves to each other. It’s heartfelt and earnest without being sappy. The main characters are vibrant and very distinct from each other, they have totally different ways of seeing the world and it was really easy to track who was who. I liked the way their individual goals fit into their eventual shared goal without feeling like either of them completely changed just to suit the plot.
I love this and I’d happily read more in this setting if it ever gets a sequel, but it’s very satisfying as a stand-alone superhero story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Gun violence, and Violence
Minor: Drug use
CW for drug use (backstory), alcoholism, blood, gun violence, violence, major character death, death.
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