Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - The Extraordinaries

This was a super cute book. I had to see it aside at first because I had trouble getting into it, but once I did, I thoroughly enjoyed it. That said, there wasn’t anything special enough to get this to four stars. The other odd good books I’ve read were much better, but I think this was his debut YA book, and it was a solid very good, and there were several moments I nearly spit up my drink while laughing.

Content Warnings

djierie's review

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.75

It was good for a laugh here and there, but all the copaganda put a damper on most of the fun.

Content Warnings

keiwald's review

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-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

The book is written is such a delightful tone. The author did a great job of narrating in a way that makes you feel inside the main characters head and follow his scattered ADHD fueled thoughts.
Also the secondhand embarrassment is real.

Content Warnings

booksandmagic's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Content Warnings

pkc's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

Nick is an incredible protagonist and this book has

one of the finest double bluffs I’ve ever read

.

What I loved is while this book leans into many of the superhero tropes we’ve come to expect in the age of MCUs and a resurgence of popularity in graphic novels, this book explored queerness and neurodivergence in relation to those tropes and made it a really fruitful, twisty reading experience. I have friends who have ADHD and some of their experiences that they have shared were identical to the MC. I imagine he’ll bring comfort to so many readers. Ugh. Just exquisite.

Content Warnings

btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

there's something about men in the TJ Kluniverse (yes, i am proud of myself for that, thank you) that's a lot better than irl (in my experience of course), especially dads… consider it part of the apologetic parents canon: https://www.vox.com/culture/23025832/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-parental-apology-fantasy-turning-red. however, this romanticizing of characters also extends to cops, making for some strong copaganda—especially awkward given the book's release in summer 2020. one of its major themes is the myth of good vs. evil and of black & white thinking, yet this only applies to our fictional superheroes and not the institution of policing we actually live with—no no, the police are always unquestionably "the good guys" 🙃. there's even a moment where we're made to sympathize with a cop in a literal act of police brutality, punching a witness (a witness, not even a suspected perpetrator) for not cooperating. we see how much he was going through at the time; maybe we should extend that understanding to other cops who abuse their power? or, maybe a different superhero story got it right: "with great power comes great responsibility," and as such it's reasonable to expect protection from those whose job it is (supposedly) to "protect and serve". another of Klune's books, The House in the Cerulean Sea, used fantastical metaphor to make a political statement; i can't help but see as a glaring omission how The Extraordinaries falls short in that regard.
big thought out of the way, here are some scattered ones:

there was a lot of build up and the climax seemed to drag on, but insufficient payoff. (though, at least there was any payoff at all, unlike Fence: Striking Distance. that's not relevant here, i just hold a grudge.)
for the amount of times the narration described what teenage boys are like, i started to think maybe it was the author trying to convince us that he knew, like "how do you do fellow kids"
it was genuinely funny
audiobook reader was top tier 👌
"I'm young and queer and in a fragile place right now." me

Content Warnings

i_readsandbujos's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

4.25

Content Warnings

More...