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foreverinastory's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
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
Rep: white transgender lesbian MC, sapphic Latina side character, genderqueer Iranian-American side character, AI side character fighting alcohol abuse.
CWs: Ableism/ableist slurs, alcohol consumption (including underage), alcohol abuse, blood, confinement, death, gun violence, injury/injury detail, kidnapping, misogyny, murder, physical abuse, sexism, torture, toxic relationship (parent/child), transphobia/transmisia, violence.
CWs: Ableism/ableist slurs, alcohol consumption (including underage), alcohol abuse, blood, confinement, death, gun violence, injury/injury detail, kidnapping, misogyny, murder, physical abuse, sexism, torture, toxic relationship (parent/child), transphobia/transmisia, violence.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Violence
hanathemah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia and Deadnaming
Moderate: Alcoholism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Violence
dwdillydally's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Torture, and Gore
Moderate: Deadnaming, Death, Gore, and Transphobia
Minor: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
mxfahrenheit's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Vomit
tshepiso's review against another edition
4.5
Sovereign went above and beyond the foundations laid by its predecessor. This is a novel that starkly plays out the effects of its previous installment adding more depth and nuance to its characters than I thought possible and ultimately culminated in a deeply satisfying sequel.
Sovereign takes place months after the ending of the first book in the Nemesis series, Dreadnought. At the start of the book, Danny has truly come into her own as a superhero, she’s seemingly at the top of her game with public support and the respect of her fellow capes. But under the surface, Danny is dealing with a rage that causes her to toe the line of hero more often than not. Her PTSD from both growing up in an abusive household and caping is compartmentalized and ignored and her relationships are deteriorating. With a new supervillain threat on the horizon, Danny has to deal with both the repercussions of her superhero life and that looming evil presence.
What’s standout in this sequel is April Daniels’s willingness to address the fall out of the last book in the series. There are real consequences to what Danny went through and we see them all in gritty detail. Danny’s brutal rage and often cruel behavior is sympathetic because April Daniels explores where it comes from. Daniels never excuses or glorifies the extreme violence Danny herself relishes in but unpacks where those feelings come from. We are truly in Danny’s mind and while we might not love what we see it was hard for me not to respond to it with anything less than radical empathy.
This book goes to a darker place than I expected it to, we delve into the dark side of Danny’s psyche and see her at her absolute lowest and see her become better and find her strength, not through her physical power but in her friends and in her genuine desire to do good. I don’t have all the wards to describe how emo this metamorphosis made me.
I loved the antagonists of this book. Our primary antagonist, Sovereign initially felt like a generic rich asshole, yet Daniels managed to capture the kind of people who become neofascists extremely accurately. I’ve spent a lot of time watching deconstructions modern white supremacy and the personalities who grift off of it and Daniels boils down their talking points and how they see the world succinctly. I tip my hat to that.
Our other antagonist, Greywytch (Queen of the TERFs) was such a powerful symbol. The Nemesis series, like most superhero narratives, are power fantasies and I don’t mean that in a derogatory way. There is so much catharsis in seeing an individual in the margins of society gain the power to stand against people would see her erased. Watching a trans girl find the strength to show compassion to someone who sees her as less than human, to win the fight, not my punching harder but by refusing to play the game they designed has so much power and I loved it.
The worldbuilding in this series while stock-standard superhero world in some ways is filled to the brim with originality and creativity in others. Daniels fills her world with details that I find fascinating and often aren’t addressed in blockbuster superhero spectacles. I for one really loved the discussion of the different relationships capes have with the police and the government. Or how contract work differs from superhero to superhero and how their individual backgrounds can give them different privileges. It’s small details like this that make this superhero world feel lived in and thought through rather than artificial and derivative.
There are so many small things to love about this book. The fact that Daniels surrounds our protagonists with adults who while not perfect love and support Danny. The beautifully awkward romance between Danny and Sarah. The nods to comic history embedded in Daniel’s word building. I could really feel a lot of the care that went into crafting this book.
I loved Sovereign so much. I hope we get to see more of April Daniels’s world because this was absolutely fantastic and I know wherever she takes the story next it will be just as interesting and intricate.
✧ ✧ ✧
Content Warning: transphobia, parental abuse, graphic torture
Sovereign takes place months after the ending of the first book in the Nemesis series, Dreadnought. At the start of the book, Danny has truly come into her own as a superhero, she’s seemingly at the top of her game with public support and the respect of her fellow capes. But under the surface, Danny is dealing with a rage that causes her to toe the line of hero more often than not. Her PTSD from both growing up in an abusive household and caping is compartmentalized and ignored and her relationships are deteriorating. With a new supervillain threat on the horizon, Danny has to deal with both the repercussions of her superhero life and that looming evil presence.
What’s standout in this sequel is April Daniels’s willingness to address the fall out of the last book in the series. There are real consequences to what Danny went through and we see them all in gritty detail. Danny’s brutal rage and often cruel behavior is sympathetic because April Daniels explores where it comes from. Daniels never excuses or glorifies the extreme violence Danny herself relishes in but unpacks where those feelings come from. We are truly in Danny’s mind and while we might not love what we see it was hard for me not to respond to it with anything less than radical empathy.
This book goes to a darker place than I expected it to, we delve into the dark side of Danny’s psyche and see her at her absolute lowest and see her become better and find her strength, not through her physical power but in her friends and in her genuine desire to do good. I don’t have all the wards to describe how emo this metamorphosis made me.
I loved the antagonists of this book. Our primary antagonist, Sovereign initially felt like a generic rich asshole, yet Daniels managed to capture the kind of people who become neofascists extremely accurately. I’ve spent a lot of time watching deconstructions modern white supremacy and the personalities who grift off of it and Daniels boils down their talking points and how they see the world succinctly. I tip my hat to that.
Our other antagonist, Greywytch (Queen of the TERFs) was such a powerful symbol. The Nemesis series, like most superhero narratives, are power fantasies and I don’t mean that in a derogatory way. There is so much catharsis in seeing an individual in the margins of society gain the power to stand against people would see her erased. Watching a trans girl find the strength to show compassion to someone who sees her as less than human, to win the fight, not my punching harder but by refusing to play the game they designed has so much power and I loved it.
The worldbuilding in this series while stock-standard superhero world in some ways is filled to the brim with originality and creativity in others. Daniels fills her world with details that I find fascinating and often aren’t addressed in blockbuster superhero spectacles. I for one really loved the discussion of the different relationships capes have with the police and the government. Or how contract work differs from superhero to superhero and how their individual backgrounds can give them different privileges. It’s small details like this that make this superhero world feel lived in and thought through rather than artificial and derivative.
There are so many small things to love about this book. The fact that Daniels surrounds our protagonists with adults who while not perfect love and support Danny. The beautifully awkward romance between Danny and Sarah. The nods to comic history embedded in Daniel’s word building. I could really feel a lot of the care that went into crafting this book.
I loved Sovereign so much. I hope we get to see more of April Daniels’s world because this was absolutely fantastic and I know wherever she takes the story next it will be just as interesting and intricate.
✧ ✧ ✧
Content Warning: transphobia, parental abuse, graphic torture
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia and Torture
Moderate: Child abuse
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