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sankrum's review
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? No
4.0
erikaq's review against another edition
4.0
Described as a mix of Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl and Marissa Meyer’s Renegades series, this book follows a gay teenager that writes fanfiction about his city’s real life superhero, Shadow Star whom he’s been crushing on for forever.
I’ll admit that while I was interested in the book and the premise, at times the main character, Nick really annoyed me (enough that I had to stop reading at times and pick up the book again later). But all of that is part of his character seeing as he has ADHD and that aspect of his meandering mind is portrayed really well.
At times he just makes stupid decisions and he’s naive and yet he is likable and someone that you root for. But this is a coming of age story and as the book progresses, Nick does grow and come into himself while retaining a lot of what makes him him.
Overall, I enjoyed it. I think it’s really well written and that it does an amazing and realistic portrayal of what it’s like to be a teenager with all the confusing parts that come with figuring out who you like and friendship and the relationship with parents and grief. This book is also a book about superheroes and about hidden identity and what being a hero is. Enjoyable. Easy to read. And written by a queer author. There's not much more you can ask for. Can't wait for book 2.
I’ll admit that while I was interested in the book and the premise, at times the main character, Nick really annoyed me (enough that I had to stop reading at times and pick up the book again later). But all of that is part of his character seeing as he has ADHD and that aspect of his meandering mind is portrayed really well.
At times he just makes stupid decisions and he’s naive and yet he is likable and someone that you root for. But this is a coming of age story and as the book progresses, Nick does grow and come into himself while retaining a lot of what makes him him.
Overall, I enjoyed it. I think it’s really well written and that it does an amazing and realistic portrayal of what it’s like to be a teenager with all the confusing parts that come with figuring out who you like and friendship and the relationship with parents and grief. This book is also a book about superheroes and about hidden identity and what being a hero is. Enjoyable. Easy to read. And written by a queer author. There's not much more you can ask for. Can't wait for book 2.
danwyn's review
4.0
Nick epitomizes the pure of heart, dumb of ass character archetype, and I found that really enjoyable.
ogbertthenerd's review
The bones of this are great, but it’s about 100 pages too long and weirdly preachy? The main character is a teenage boy who says, does, and thinks typical silly teenage boy things but then often goes into diatribes about how he knows that thing was wrong and all the reasons why. It reads like the author is afraid of letting the character make mistakes that might get any kind of pushback from readers (which based on some of these reviews I can’t blame him for). Even stranger, the one area there is no moral grandstanding is around the police, including an out-of-left-field brutality incident that is mostly brushed under the rug, an off-putting running gag about the teens joking that one of the cops is a pedophile, and a lot of “they’re very brave heroes” talk that can only partially be chalked up to the protagonist loving his dad. Almost all of the adult characters share one voice that’s only slightly different from the main teen character’s and the teens definitely have an-adults-idea-of-teens voice. Overall I’m rounding up from three stars because it ends strong and I still enjoyed it, particularly the relationship between Nick and his dad.
lee_noel's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
ebarrett3's review against another edition
5.0
Really cute story appropriate for highschoolers and up. MMC has lost a parent and struggles with ADHD. Oh and superheroes are real.
I haven't read the sequel yet but it's heavily set up that I don't like the implications that has for real-world kids so I'm hoping the author treads carefully there.
I haven't read the sequel yet but it's heavily set up that
Spoiler
Nick is also Extraordinary but his ADHD meds keep him from realizing his powers.borrowedfriend's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
bibliobrandie's review
4.0
This was such a fun queer superhero coming of age love story! I laughed out loud at some of the dialogue and liked how it read like a comic book because of the dialogue. I enjoyed the characters but I thought some of the fight scenes were a little long and cumbersome. I liked how Nick was caught in the middle between his loyalty to his police officer father and his loyalty to his superhero crush. I will definitely read the next one. Bonus: the audio narrator is FANtastic!
cobaltbookshelf's review
1.0
Infuriating predictable but worse of all it's police propaganda...anyway defund the police.
spacekitty_77's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0