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mneiger's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
nancy33's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting story, unique approach to the plot development.
jwanz86's review against another edition
3.0
And now for something completely different. :) The narrative changes, but in a really intriguing way. It re-examines the characters at their core versus their super powered personas and it makes for an interesting character study. Lot less zombies in this one though.
nicolleelizabeth's review against another edition
5.0
By far the best one out of the series yet :) a whole new view on the characters that give you so much more insight.
teachinsci's review against another edition
3.0
An Ok book and a quick and fairly enjoyable tale from the world of Exes. Not near so good as the first few, but I still look forward to the next.
****** Spoilers Below*******
First-off, I enjoy the world Peter Clines has created, and like any good super-villains (or anyone on soap operas), his will come back even from complete destruction. That being said, because I have come to enjoy Clines' world so much, I was a bit disappointed that it made such a limited appearance in this novel. To me, these tales were about the heroes, but also about the everyday people who were part of the community the heroes helped save. This time, however, the people were, at best, backdrop to the hero's tale. They were almost absent, and all were as easy to replace as a lightbulb (with about as much personality).
The story itself was fun, and you got to learn a bit more about Stealth (always good), but straying from what made the other books a success is where I think Clines went wrong.
****** Spoilers Below*******
First-off, I enjoy the world Peter Clines has created, and like any good super-villains (or anyone on soap operas), his will come back even from complete destruction. That being said, because I have come to enjoy Clines' world so much, I was a bit disappointed that it made such a limited appearance in this novel. To me, these tales were about the heroes, but also about the everyday people who were part of the community the heroes helped save. This time, however, the people were, at best, backdrop to the hero's tale. They were almost absent, and all were as easy to replace as a lightbulb (with about as much personality).
The story itself was fun, and you got to learn a bit more about Stealth (always good), but straying from what made the other books a success is where I think Clines went wrong.
grimm147's review against another edition
2.0
I was hoping, as I kept reading, that it would all go back. Instead I read forever about something that wasn't happening, didn't advance the storyline of the entire series and gave me no additional insights to the characters beyond Stealth and her father... I wanted more.
eatenbysharks's review against another edition
4.0
Not as strong as previous books in the series but still enjoyable.
unknowinglystoic's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I love the Ex series. This one was different. Good, but not as good as the others I think. Still solid.
ktjawrites's review against another edition
5.0
This is definitely “the weird one” within the Ex-Heroes series, but Clines continues to amaze.
alice_digest's review against another edition
3.0
I'm finally up to date with this series and while I'm still finding it highly entertaining, and I read this book in a little over a day, I'm starting to wish Clines would find a little more direction.. and maybe some new ideas rather than recycling the same stuff from the first two books.. again.
So yet another character we thought was dead from book two is back again, and while the plot is quite a neat idea the device he uses to pull it off is too similar to how Rodney/Peasy/Legion managed to survive. Things get very Matrix, or Inception - whichever your preferred dream state world - with the opening of the books seeing George and the other heroes living their pre-superpowers pre-zombie apocalypse lives. Only Maddy seems aware that it isn't real and she tries to convince George and the others so they can wake up and deal with whatever the latest threat to The Mount is.
It was a refreshing change to have our heroes in a functioning recognisable world and relearning their powers to an extent. Stealth also is out of her masked ninja fetish outfit and in normal clothes (so we get a billion descriptions of her impossibly beautiful face). It definitely mixed things up in a way that was refreshing, although the pop culture references that I usually enjoy began to reach a critical mass as they tried to figure things out. I'm never adverse to a Monty Python sketch though.
George is still in the main protagonist seat, and once again there was maybe too little of my favourites Barry and Danielle. I enjoy learning more about Stealth's backstory (her father in this case). The action is still as ridiculous as you'd expect from these books - pretty epic "boss fight." There is a particularly awesome bit of window jumping from Stealth! I felt it was a bit cruel to dangle Gorgon and Banzai in front of me.. I'm still not over that! (Goddamn I loved Gorgon). Plus in true comic book style the rules of the universe and what the limits of people's powers are continue to change on a whim.
I've got to a point now though where I feel after four books there should be a bit of an overall direction or story arc to this now. 'Monster of the week' only is interesting for so long before it gets repetitive.. especially when you are recycling the same three bloody villains! (There is no Legion, for which I am eternally grateful for). Please, please get some new ideas Peter Clines. I love these books, they're insane fun but I need something actually new to happen now.
The ending was kind of cool so I still have hopes for another books!
So yet another character we thought was dead from book two is back again, and while the plot is quite a neat idea the device he uses to pull it off is too similar to how Rodney/Peasy/Legion managed to survive. Things get very Matrix, or Inception - whichever your preferred dream state world - with the opening of the books seeing George and the other heroes living their pre-superpowers pre-zombie apocalypse lives. Only Maddy seems aware that it isn't real and she tries to convince George and the others so they can wake up and deal with whatever the latest threat to The Mount is.
It was a refreshing change to have our heroes in a functioning recognisable world and relearning their powers to an extent. Stealth also is out of her masked ninja fetish outfit and in normal clothes (so we get a billion descriptions of her impossibly beautiful face). It definitely mixed things up in a way that was refreshing, although the pop culture references that I usually enjoy began to reach a critical mass as they tried to figure things out. I'm never adverse to a Monty Python sketch though.
George is still in the main protagonist seat, and once again there was maybe too little of my favourites Barry and Danielle. I enjoy learning more about Stealth's backstory (her father in this case). The action is still as ridiculous as you'd expect from these books - pretty epic "boss fight." There is a particularly awesome bit of window jumping from Stealth! I felt it was a bit cruel to dangle Gorgon and Banzai in front of me.. I'm still not over that! (Goddamn I loved Gorgon). Plus in true comic book style the rules of the universe and what the limits of people's powers are continue to change on a whim.
I've got to a point now though where I feel after four books there should be a bit of an overall direction or story arc to this now. 'Monster of the week' only is interesting for so long before it gets repetitive.. especially when you are recycling the same three bloody villains! (There is no Legion, for which I am eternally grateful for). Please, please get some new ideas Peter Clines. I love these books, they're insane fun but I need something actually new to happen now.
The ending was kind of cool so I still have hopes for another books!