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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Some books you pick up in spite of the fact that you are NOT the target audience.
The Ables has a unique and refreshing idea - a group of superheroes-in-training who all have disabilities. Phillip (our main protagonist) is a blind telekinetic. Henry is a wheelchair-bound mind reader. James is a blind teleporter. Bentley has supersmarts but a condition that makes it difficult for him to walk far distances.
I actually really liked the premise of this book. And think that we definitely need MORE characters like these in the mainstream. Unfortunately, the whole plot and scenario just didn't work at all. While there were two girls in their "special education" (the author's words, not mine) class, they felt like tokens since they literally had nothing to do with the story. The three big "twists" at the end were all super predictable.
But, then I remembered, I'm a adult woman - not a 12 year old boy. If I were a 12 year old boy, I probably would have loved this book. Action, revenge, superheroes.... :)
The Ables has a unique and refreshing idea - a group of superheroes-in-training who all have disabilities. Phillip (our main protagonist) is a blind telekinetic. Henry is a wheelchair-bound mind reader. James is a blind teleporter. Bentley has supersmarts but a condition that makes it difficult for him to walk far distances.
I actually really liked the premise of this book. And think that we definitely need MORE characters like these in the mainstream. Unfortunately, the whole plot and scenario just didn't work at all. While there were two girls in their "special education" (the author's words, not mine) class, they felt like tokens since they literally had nothing to do with the story. The three big "twists" at the end were all super predictable.
But, then I remembered, I'm a adult woman - not a 12 year old boy. If I were a 12 year old boy, I probably would have loved this book. Action, revenge, superheroes.... :)
If you have seen the Cinema Sins videos ("Everything Wrong With...") this is the guy that makes those videos. He is the author and the narrator of "The Ables". It is kind of a "young adult" novel, nothing super original. A bunch of kids who have super powers and live in a world where super heroes exist and are going to school to learn to become super heroes. Except these kids have disabilities. The protagonist is blind and has telekinetic abilities (which require sight in order to use them). His best friend is in a wheel chair and can read minds. There is a kid who has downs. It felt like the book Wanted to be told from the perspective of a blind person and all that comes with that, but it really failed miserably in that goal. BUT it didn't take away from the story and their disabilities did feel real and they had real hurdles to over come. It was very well done and an excellent addition to all of the super hero media we have right now.
Would have given it four stars instead of three if it passed the Bechdel Test.
I love CinemaSins, but I did not feel engaged. The writing style feels disjointed and the story under developed. Nevertheless, I like supporting Jeremy!
adventurous
dark
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I remember when I first listened to this in my teens and I loved it. I re-listened to it recently and I still liked it but I did look at it more critically. I do like it, I think it's pretty interesting in concept and execution and I plan to read/listen to the rest of the books. I also find it quite funny and I do love a lot of the characters.
Donnie is my fav. I love him, he's very charming and his loyalty is great. Though the idea that people try to get him banned from attending school is sooooo unrealistic. Henry is pretty cool, I do think his sarcasm is fun but it does suck a bit that he turns into Philph eyes 2 after they realise (tho Henry sending images is pretty cool). Bently is fun I find him a bit relatable (though never in 1000 years would he not check if the plant pots were plastic or not). James is a little entrepreneur and it's pretty endearing actually. I also love the blind humour between James and Philph. Philph is such a complicated character in my brain, I feel like he's incredibly stupid but also it kinda makes sense? His character is just a bit stupid and that's fine but also sometimes he's REALLY stupid. Arson Philph? You're gonna blow up cars in the supersim?? He is still a bit endearing tho.
I can't really comment on the quality of the disabled representation in this book as someone who's not disabled physically but I feel like Philph getting sight in the second half isn't the best. Also there's a lack of women (at least women who don't serve almost not purpose or straight up get fridged). There's not a tone of racial diversity either.
My biggest problem comes in the finale. It starts with the pacing of this book. Everything goes just a bit too fast so you don't get as much detail as would be best. This directly relates to my biggest issue: Chad. He goes from a bully to a disabled kid and we spend barely any time with him. His turn around doesn't feel convincing because we spend NO time with him to see his supposed turn to the light. Then he turns out to be evil and there's NO motive. Chad LOSES a whole ARM he becomes PERMANENTLY DISABLED and we have NO idea why! Is his family long-time believers??? Is Finch holding something over his head?? All we can assume is he's just evil. He leads to the destruction of his home and straight up SHOOTS someone in the head and we don't have any idea why. He's just evil. Also as a twist, pretty bad. We as the viewer don't get a real chance to notice his suspicious behaviour other than him doing the same trip move. All the suspicious happens off screen until it's needed to shock the viewer. I think it just isn't good. I hope we get some Chad lore next book.
I found the finale frustrating. Everyone kept fucking up shit I feel they shouldn't have. I mean I like Finch his mad logic makes sense to me. He's forcing Philph into the prophecy and I think it does work. However the bomb shouldn't have gone off. You're telling me of half the town of Freepoint, double the heroes than believers, not one could stop a button being pushed?? Philph couldn't pull it out of Finch's hand? Stop the button decompressing? A speedster couldn't have grabbed that shit? An invisible hero couldn't have nicked that shit? someone couldn't have fucking murdered Finch on the spot???? Also it has the if you kill the villain you're as bad as them trope which I think it's dumb for Finch, mass murderer. The idea that Philph (a traumatised 12 year old) would be seen as a villain forever for killing a mass murderer who is threatening the lives of a whole town is batshit and makes Freepoint look a lot less utopia. I did think the Thomas reveal was alright but the idea that Thomas got struck by lightning, fell thousands of feet off a building and lived and no one checked on him. Did they not go back for a body to bury??? I did enjoy the book mostly but there were some flaws I couldn't overlook.
Donnie is my fav. I love him, he's very charming and his loyalty is great. Though the idea that people try to get him banned from attending school is sooooo unrealistic. Henry is pretty cool, I do think his sarcasm is fun but it does suck a bit that he turns into Philph eyes 2 after they realise (tho Henry sending images is pretty cool). Bently is fun I find him a bit relatable (though never in 1000 years would he not check if the plant pots were plastic or not). James is a little entrepreneur and it's pretty endearing actually. I also love the blind humour between James and Philph. Philph is such a complicated character in my brain, I feel like he's incredibly stupid but also it kinda makes sense? His character is just a bit stupid and that's fine but also sometimes he's REALLY stupid. Arson Philph? You're gonna blow up cars in the supersim?? He is still a bit endearing tho.
I can't really comment on the quality of the disabled representation in this book as someone who's not disabled physically but I feel like Philph getting sight in the second half isn't the best. Also there's a lack of women (at least women who don't serve almost not purpose or straight up get fridged). There's not a tone of racial diversity either.
My biggest problem comes in the finale. It starts with the pacing of this book. Everything goes just a bit too fast so you don't get as much detail as would be best. This directly relates to my biggest issue: Chad. He goes from a bully to a disabled kid and we spend barely any time with him. His turn around doesn't feel convincing because we spend NO time with him to see his supposed turn to the light. Then he turns out to be evil and there's NO motive. Chad LOSES a whole ARM he becomes PERMANENTLY DISABLED and we have NO idea why! Is his family long-time believers??? Is Finch holding something over his head?? All we can assume is he's just evil. He leads to the destruction of his home and straight up SHOOTS someone in the head and we don't have any idea why. He's just evil. Also as a twist, pretty bad. We as the viewer don't get a real chance to notice his suspicious behaviour other than him doing the same trip move. All the suspicious happens off screen until it's needed to shock the viewer. I think it just isn't good. I hope we get some Chad lore next book.
I found the finale frustrating. Everyone kept fucking up shit I feel they shouldn't have. I mean I like Finch his mad logic makes sense to me. He's forcing Philph into the prophecy and I think it does work. However the bomb shouldn't have gone off. You're telling me of half the town of Freepoint, double the heroes than believers, not one could stop a button being pushed?? Philph couldn't pull it out of Finch's hand? Stop the button decompressing? A speedster couldn't have grabbed that shit? An invisible hero couldn't have nicked that shit? someone couldn't have fucking murdered Finch on the spot???? Also it has the if you kill the villain you're as bad as them trope which I think it's dumb for Finch, mass murderer. The idea that Philph (a traumatised 12 year old) would be seen as a villain forever for killing a mass murderer who is threatening the lives of a whole town is batshit and makes Freepoint look a lot less utopia. I did think the Thomas reveal was alright but the idea that Thomas got struck by lightning, fell thousands of feet off a building and lived and no one checked on him. Did they not go back for a body to bury??? I did enjoy the book mostly but there were some flaws I couldn't overlook.
adventurous
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
From ableist tropes, racist stereotypes, a lack of any important female characters except one that gets fridged, characters that are forgotten, and twists that are easily spotted. I did not enjoy this book at all. The only character I cared for was Donnie and that was not enough to make up for everything else. Overall I cannot recommend this to anyone and I will not be continuing this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Child abuse
I love the superhero world and the characters! It was so much fun to read and I really liked how it was written from the point of view of a blind person. I thought it was unique since I never read a story written that way before.