Reviews with content warning for Police brutality - Hench

I had a decent time with this, as an inattentive sort of background audiobook read while doing other things. Speaking of which -- don't listen to the audiobook lmao. It sounds like it was recorded inside a tin can. I am forgiving of that fact given that it, frankly, probably was recorded in a tin can, given the production was during 2020. People did their best under the circumstances, I suppose, but...um...read the text version haha if you're gonna read this!
I kind of like that the whole thing reads like a monologue by a cartoon villain. A lot of things get glossed over, for instance, as "and then we had a conversation about" or "and then I wrote an email about" or...y'know. Not actually showing us the email or the conversation in question, just narrating that it happened. Stylistically, the choice is interesting; not sure I really like it much, though. A lot of the cast are pretty flat; we get a lot of names and assertions about what they're like without much depth beyond surface characterization. They are, uh, "types", essentially. I guess it's fair given how superhero stories are sort of like myths that deal a lot in archetypes, just not entirely something that's totally my taste.
I suppose I appreciate the queer rep. It's something that's becoming more and more just baseline "yes this is going to be represented" nowadays in the SFF genres, and I love that for us. When middle-of-the-road, bog standard media with queer rep as a given in it just exists, that's a small triumph imo!
I will say, btw, that some reviews I saw on that site beginning with A about this book seem to be under the impression that it is somehow saying the bad guys are Good, Actually, while the good guys are Bad, Actually, but like...that misses the point lol? Just because the main character maybe seems to think that (I doubt she thinks that exactly as I've stated it, but you do get a bit of that vibe, yeah) doesn't mean it's actually true lmao. The villainous side does some horrific shit, just to be clear, a lot of it probably not justifiable. The point you're supposed to come away with as a reader is that we should examine things with more nuance than just simple binary "good/bad" categorization for every person we meet or see out there in the world! Now, a lot of that is obviously the readers' problem lmao, but I think it is worth keeping in mind that a book that doesn't adequately convey its own themes to many readers is um...maybe not well executed. Just a thought.
I was tempted to give 3 stars because I'm always on board with understated monster romance. That said, though...it's a personal thing, but the amount of discussion of medical trauma, injuries, and esp body horror towards the end are...I mean, it serves a purpose in the narrative, but I just personally didn't really care for how it was handled here. Be warned if you also are not up for reading that sort of thing, esp. the medical stuff.

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mollywill's review

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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morevna's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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

5.0

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sarah984's review

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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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

I feel bad for saying this, but I genuinely hated this book. The opening portion with the temp agency was interesting and I feel like there was probably a sharp satirical short story hidden in there, but that premise is soon abandoned in favour of mean-spirited pranks, bad math, boring rich-girl power fantasy writing and ridiculous romance.

Anna has a vendetta against heroes because of the damage they rack up, but villains seem to somehow be mysteriously exempt from her equations (at one point she blames heroes for creating villains at all, which handily puts any damage they do back on to the heroes anyway). By the end of the book she has her own terrible death toll, which she associates with the stupid romance so I guess it's fine now. The idea that things are this bad and it has gone on for years with no one until Anna mentioning it is kind of unbelievable, and the worldbuilding behind the structural issues surrounding superheroes is introduced so late that basically nothing happens with it.

Most of the characters including the protagonist are cardboard cutouts with identities glued to them - we are introduced to an autistic physics prodigy at one point and she is never mentioned again, I couldn't tell you a single fact about any of the minor character work friends. I've already forgotten most of their names. They obviously all love our main character. The one who showed even the slightest bit of resistance came around almost immediately. Most of the characters with even a tiny spark of life wind up written out of the narrative by the end. The twist involving her evil boss comes up so late that it's almost nonsensical.

I couldn't recommend this book to anyone.

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rini's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really hope there's a sequel!!

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