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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
This book has been on my currently reading shelf for 4 years so I'm very glad to have finally finished it.
So The Ables is about Phillip, a blind kid who learns that he and everyone in his city have superpowers. They are custodians, in charge of protecting the world and fighting villains. Philip befriends a gang of superhero kids with disabilities and participates in a villain fighting competition while also trying to deal with a mysterious figure.
As an idea, this is awesome. I love the idea of combining disabilities with superpowers- it makes me think about Greta Thunberg describing her Asperger's as a superpower that allows her to focus. However, the execution of this book is not great, unfortunately.
About halfway through this book, Philip finds a way to see. I think this is a massive disappointment. Writing a blind superhero is challenging. As I see it, if you decide the best way to face this challenge is to find a way for the blind character to see, it's a cop out. You asked the question, "what would happen if there was a blind superhero?" and then answered it with, "so they weren't blind because they found a way to see!".
A few years ago, I worked as a director and one of my actors was blind. Sure, there were things that were harder for her but she also had the best memory I've ever seen. Her hearing was remarkable. She could imitate other people's intonation easily. Heck, she once gave me a hug and then said, "did you know this other person from the cast uses the same shampoo as you?". In some ways, her blindness gave her abilities that seeing people don't have- might I even say superpowers?
So this book could have found creative solutions. Scott decides that telekinesis requires being able to see/ visualize the thing you're moving. This is an odd decision that seems to exist solely in order to create conflict. Surely telekinesis rests upon knowing where the things are, instead of being able to see them?
I might be overly analyzing this but you don't need to see something to know that it's there. As a blind person, Philip is constantly using things without seeing them. He knows where he places them so why can't he easily move them with his mind, without seeing them? Isn't it the same?
We've got to ask what message we're sending. I'm thinking, if I knew a kid who was blind, using a wheelchair or any other disability described here, I'd want them to know that their lives aren't less rich than other people's. I'd want them to know that being blind does present challenges but there are solutions. I'd want to send an empowering yet realistic message. This book just fails on both counts and for no real reason. For most people, disabilities don't suddenly disappear through an easy way out. The author could have found an elegant way to show how a blind kid can be a superhero, without eliminating it.
In general, the rest of his gang of friends have disabilities that hardly play a part. It seems like Scott was trying to create underdogs and felt this would be the best route, rather than engage genuinely with the topic. It doesn't go beyond skin deep.
These problems shows up in the rest of the plot as well. Philip and his gang of friends ask to participate in the competition. Initially, they are told they can't because they're disabled. They fight for their right to participate and then promptly spend the next 300 pages proving to everyone that they shouldn't have been allowed to participate. Not because of their disabilities but because Philip constantly leads them into making bad decisions. I suppose that's an accurate description of teenaged superheros but Philip's sheer stupidity drove me insane.
If all of this wasn't enough, this book is slow and way longer than it should be. It's over 550 ebook pages and could have easily been 300. There are plot points that seem meaningless, things happen and get solved without any actual importance. The big reveals were not very exciting. There was so much dialogue that didn't serve any purpose. Some good editing would have done wonders as right now, it just isn't a very compelling book.
To conclude, it's a shame that this idea didn't work out as well as it should have. I think it's important for future readers to know that this book is middle grade, rather than ya. I feel like I'm just grumpy because it took me way too long to finish this. I'd feel bad about this critique but I'm pretty sure Jeremy Scott has said worse things about other people's work in CinemaSins.
What I'm Taking With Me
- This book literally doesn't have any women in it, up to the point that it's a little weird.
- I find it hard to believe that Philip could get used to seeing so quickly. Like, there's research about this type of thing, it's not that easy. While writing this review, I learned that visually impaired people have been able to improve their sight through cameras and bionic eye implants. That's wild.
- There's a character who's supposed to be super smart but I just found them annoying. Like sheesh, can't you be super intelligent and not insufferable?
--------------------
Oh my, this day is practically over and I haven't done anything and my Logics homework is not making any sense and Statistics might end up making me cry, ahhhhh.
Also, all of my favorite courses are now over, leaving only the evil ones. How could Government in Israel and Identity Politics in Europe do this to me?
Review to come!
So The Ables is about Phillip, a blind kid who learns that he and everyone in his city have superpowers. They are custodians, in charge of protecting the world and fighting villains. Philip befriends a gang of superhero kids with disabilities and participates in a villain fighting competition while also trying to deal with a mysterious figure.
As an idea, this is awesome. I love the idea of combining disabilities with superpowers- it makes me think about Greta Thunberg describing her Asperger's as a superpower that allows her to focus. However, the execution of this book is not great, unfortunately.
About halfway through this book, Philip finds a way to see. I think this is a massive disappointment. Writing a blind superhero is challenging. As I see it, if you decide the best way to face this challenge is to find a way for the blind character to see, it's a cop out. You asked the question, "what would happen if there was a blind superhero?" and then answered it with, "so they weren't blind because they found a way to see!".
A few years ago, I worked as a director and one of my actors was blind. Sure, there were things that were harder for her but she also had the best memory I've ever seen. Her hearing was remarkable. She could imitate other people's intonation easily. Heck, she once gave me a hug and then said, "did you know this other person from the cast uses the same shampoo as you?". In some ways, her blindness gave her abilities that seeing people don't have- might I even say superpowers?
So this book could have found creative solutions. Scott decides that telekinesis requires being able to see/ visualize the thing you're moving. This is an odd decision that seems to exist solely in order to create conflict. Surely telekinesis rests upon knowing where the things are, instead of being able to see them?
I might be overly analyzing this but you don't need to see something to know that it's there. As a blind person, Philip is constantly using things without seeing them. He knows where he places them so why can't he easily move them with his mind, without seeing them? Isn't it the same?
We've got to ask what message we're sending. I'm thinking, if I knew a kid who was blind, using a wheelchair or any other disability described here, I'd want them to know that their lives aren't less rich than other people's. I'd want them to know that being blind does present challenges but there are solutions. I'd want to send an empowering yet realistic message. This book just fails on both counts and for no real reason. For most people, disabilities don't suddenly disappear through an easy way out. The author could have found an elegant way to show how a blind kid can be a superhero, without eliminating it.
In general, the rest of his gang of friends have disabilities that hardly play a part. It seems like Scott was trying to create underdogs and felt this would be the best route, rather than engage genuinely with the topic. It doesn't go beyond skin deep.
These problems shows up in the rest of the plot as well. Philip and his gang of friends ask to participate in the competition. Initially, they are told they can't because they're disabled. They fight for their right to participate and then promptly spend the next 300 pages proving to everyone that they shouldn't have been allowed to participate. Not because of their disabilities but because Philip constantly leads them into making bad decisions. I suppose that's an accurate description of teenaged superheros but Philip's sheer stupidity drove me insane.
If all of this wasn't enough, this book is slow and way longer than it should be. It's over 550 ebook pages and could have easily been 300. There are plot points that seem meaningless, things happen and get solved without any actual importance. The big reveals were not very exciting. There was so much dialogue that didn't serve any purpose. Some good editing would have done wonders as right now, it just isn't a very compelling book.
To conclude, it's a shame that this idea didn't work out as well as it should have. I think it's important for future readers to know that this book is middle grade, rather than ya. I feel like I'm just grumpy because it took me way too long to finish this. I'd feel bad about this critique but I'm pretty sure Jeremy Scott has said worse things about other people's work in CinemaSins.
What I'm Taking With Me
- This book literally doesn't have any women in it, up to the point that it's a little weird.
- I find it hard to believe that Philip could get used to seeing so quickly. Like, there's research about this type of thing, it's not that easy. While writing this review, I learned that visually impaired people have been able to improve their sight through cameras and bionic eye implants. That's wild.
- There's a character who's supposed to be super smart but I just found them annoying. Like sheesh, can't you be super intelligent and not insufferable?
--------------------
Oh my, this day is practically over and I haven't done anything and my Logics homework is not making any sense and Statistics might end up making me cry, ahhhhh.
Also, all of my favorite courses are now over, leaving only the evil ones. How could Government in Israel and Identity Politics in Europe do this to me?
Review to come!
I received this work from the author, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Recently, diversity has become a key word, and concept, within any discussion of; writing, publishing, reviewing or reading. Concerned individuals have lamented the absence of; women, members of other cultures/countries, and members of the quiltbag communities, from our books and stories. There have been calls, and active moves, for these groups to get more attention from; publishers, editors, reviewers, and readers. But, one group remains in the shadows of these debates, continually delegated to the end of that list of oppressions/inequalities. Disabled people, people with disabilities, have been underrepresented within discussions of underrepresentation. However, this situation is gradually changing. Publishers, such as Twelfth Planet Press are beginning to produce works that incorporate disabled characters. Ables is another of those works that have actively brought disabled characters to the forefront of the story.
Like most superheroes, the protagonist of this story has super powers. But, unlike most of those heroes he also has a disability/impairment. He is blind. One of the main storylines of this work concerns his attempts to prove himself, and his friends, worthy to be included within his new school. We see him on his first day at his new school. We see his excitement at being at a school especially designed for kids with superpowers. We share his confusion at trying to navigate a new world that he cannot see. We see his disappointment when he finds out that he has been placed within a segregated unit for people with disabilities. We see his trepidation about being with other disabled individuals. But, we, also, see him forming friendships with his class. Then we follow their united struggle to justify their place within this unique environment. This ultimately leads them to fight the school authorities for the right to compete in a school contest, from which they have been excluded. They win and they begin to learn how to combine their special skills to beat, both; their disabilities, and the tasks set for them as part of the competition.
If that had been the entire story, and if the author had let the characters focus on the competition and continue growing into their special powers, then this book would have been almost perfect. However, the author diverts the characters, as well as the readers, attention into a rather over dramatic fight against a cartoon villain for the Future of the world. This turned what could have been a new take on the superhero story into; a well written, but overly busy, and somewhat clichéd tale of the chosen one. This, and the lack of really strong female characters, limits the work.
But, having said that, this, with its band of disabled characters, is still an interesting, exciting, and important work. It is an exciting adventure story that would be a very pleasant summer read. Check out the publisher’s website
Recently, diversity has become a key word, and concept, within any discussion of; writing, publishing, reviewing or reading. Concerned individuals have lamented the absence of; women, members of other cultures/countries, and members of the quiltbag communities, from our books and stories. There have been calls, and active moves, for these groups to get more attention from; publishers, editors, reviewers, and readers. But, one group remains in the shadows of these debates, continually delegated to the end of that list of oppressions/inequalities. Disabled people, people with disabilities, have been underrepresented within discussions of underrepresentation. However, this situation is gradually changing. Publishers, such as Twelfth Planet Press are beginning to produce works that incorporate disabled characters. Ables is another of those works that have actively brought disabled characters to the forefront of the story.
Like most superheroes, the protagonist of this story has super powers. But, unlike most of those heroes he also has a disability/impairment. He is blind. One of the main storylines of this work concerns his attempts to prove himself, and his friends, worthy to be included within his new school. We see him on his first day at his new school. We see his excitement at being at a school especially designed for kids with superpowers. We share his confusion at trying to navigate a new world that he cannot see. We see his disappointment when he finds out that he has been placed within a segregated unit for people with disabilities. We see his trepidation about being with other disabled individuals. But, we, also, see him forming friendships with his class. Then we follow their united struggle to justify their place within this unique environment. This ultimately leads them to fight the school authorities for the right to compete in a school contest, from which they have been excluded. They win and they begin to learn how to combine their special skills to beat, both; their disabilities, and the tasks set for them as part of the competition.
If that had been the entire story, and if the author had let the characters focus on the competition and continue growing into their special powers, then this book would have been almost perfect. However, the author diverts the characters, as well as the readers, attention into a rather over dramatic fight against a cartoon villain for the Future of the world. This turned what could have been a new take on the superhero story into; a well written, but overly busy, and somewhat clichéd tale of the chosen one. This, and the lack of really strong female characters, limits the work.
But, having said that, this, with its band of disabled characters, is still an interesting, exciting, and important work. It is an exciting adventure story that would be a very pleasant summer read. Check out the publisher’s website
Listened to the audio. The narration was done by the author, and was good - although a little fast. I slowed down the narration a notch at first until I got used to it. The basic concept of a world where kids come into their superpowers at a certain age after their whole town has hidden it from them is a bit of a stretch - I never quite bought that the powers would have been hidden. I was hopeful regarding the rest of the concept - that a bunch of superhero kids with disabilities could be done well. It was in some ways but in others it annoyed me. Did we really basically have to come up with a cure for his disability through his super smart friends use of technology? Oh well. It was a good start. Enjoyable enough.
Pretty solid read, better than most young adult fiction that I think it is in the vein of. Having a blind narration was an original take on a standard hero prose. I have always been a sucker for the bureaucracy of superheros however.
I remember hearing about The Ables in a passing reference on a vlog, but hearing the description alone got me hooked. Disabled superheroes? An ancient prophecy? Superpowers!? As someone who loves both superheroes (Just ask Marissa Meyer!) and disabled representation, I quickly added it to my Barnes and Noble Cart. It finally arrived few days ago, and with my cup of coffee and a curated playlist, I quickly started to read.
Phillip Salinger, expecting to begin superhero school to develop his telekinetic powers, finds himself unpleasantly surprised when he is placed in a Special Ed class for disabled powered kids. Feeling like an outsider and bullied by his other schoolmates, Phillip bonds with the other kids in his class and works to establish themselves as superheroes deserving of equal treatment. With a new threat on the rise, Phillip and his friends find themselves caught in an twisted plan and an old prophecy by a sinister villain.
I decided to rate this book 3 stars. While this book was an incredible action-packed adventure, there were some parts where the plot thinned or didn't make sense. There also were some things I wish the author would have either elaborated on or focused on more than others.
Another big thing that contributed to the review was some of the representation and handling of disabilities throughout the book and how it affected the narrative. I don't know what it is like to be blind and I won't act like I do, but I have read extensively about writing disabilities as both a writer and someone who has a chronic condition that impacts my life. I'll be providing some links for you to peruse and look over!
Now, onto the review! (Slight spoilers ahead to around a third in)
What I Loved
If you like action this is a, hundred percent, the book for you. I love some good action sequences and tense scenes, and this book delivered every scene with a bang. It was like reading the equivalent of a Mission Impossible Movie. It was at a nice pace in the beginning, but right around the halfway point it dials everything to a hundred and races toward the end. It was an incredible heart-pounding adventure, I could not put it down. No wonder why I was up until 2 AM finishing it!!
One thing that really stood out to me was the lack of visuals. Phillip Salinger, the narrator, is blind. Thus, we don't have a lot of visuals in the first half of the narrative unless they are described by other characters or by Phillip's other senses. I thought it was such a creative and fascinating way to tell a story while also reflecting Phillip's blindness. I've never read a book that told a story like that and I totally loved it. I honestly wish he continued it for the rest of the book (More on that later).
I LOVED the characters. They all leapt off the page and straight into my heart. From the grumpy and cynical Henry, to the shy intellectual Bentley, and the novice entrepreneur James, ahhh!!!!! They all had their own voices and motivations and bonds, I adored them and I want to adopt them all. I was so happy to see that the main character Phillip didn't fall into the bland main character trope. I rarely ever see a healer, voice of reason main character. Hearing him try and corall his friends while they all do reckless things was very priceless. He was very sweet and adorable, and I...wanted to protect him.
The friendship was the absolute best. I'm a sucker for found family/friendship tropes so this book served my favorite things to me and I'm so happy. The book does a great job of establishing the bonds between the characters. The bonding scenes and sleepovers made me laugh so hard. I was so engaged in all the character's friendships. If you like adorable and healthy male friendships, this book delivers it on a silver platter!
In most books, there is little to none when it comes to disabled representation. So having an entire book's main characters ALL have disabilities? It was very refreshing to read about. And the disabilities were diverse as well, ranging from a boy with ataxic cerebral palsy and a penchant for tinkering and a blind teleporter who runs his own business. The characters all had their own passions and interests along with being disabled, which is something most books with disabled characters fail to do. They were people with disabilities, with passions and friendships and lives. And superpowers.
What I Disliked
I wish he would have emphasized the superhero school aspect!! Like, whoa, a superhero school? How does it work, what classes does Phillip take, are they different from what the other kids learn because he’s in a Special Ed class? But the only reference to the school at all was a Q/A they had in the beginning of the story and this training competition called the SuperSim. Otherwise, nothing about the school or what they did. I was a bit disappointed, I was looking forward to more information about the school and how they operated and taught classes!
This book falls into a weird category of both doing a really good job at portraying those with disabilities to falling really, really short of accuracy and portrayal. Let's break it down, shall we?
Such as the case of Phillip and his ability to 'see'. Around a third in the book, Phillip and his friends find a way to project images to Phillip's mind so that he can see. They manage to develop it so Phillip is basically able to 'see' without using his eyes.
This...was basically the magical cure trope. To sum it up, the 'Magical Cure' trope happens where a disabled character finds a way to cure their disability so they are basically able-bodied. It felt cheap to show a blind main character who worked to be included and fought to use his powers only to turn around and basically cure him. I mean, Daredevil doesn't have magic mental pictures to help him?
I think they're could have been a myriad of better ways to show Phillip being a superhero without needing to have sight. And that opens up a whole other Pandora's box of issues. Phillip was only able to be a hero when he could 'see'? Yeah, that's giving me some yucky vibes.
It was a easy way to advance the narrative. Instead of finding a creative way for Phillip to use his powers while he's blind, he instead decided that Phillip had to see to fight crime, even thought that isn't true at all. I mean, look at David Black, Lee Hoy, Johnny Tai, and the other countless blind martial artists. There's even an entire foundation dedicated to Blind martial arts! And, giving him this 'sight' also affected the way the rest of the story was told and allowed Scott to basically portray Phillip as an able-bodied character who was blind...sometimes?
Another one was the treatment of Freddie. Oh, Freddie. He was described as having chronic asthma. When I first read about him, I was really excited as I have chronic asthma and have never even read a book with a character who had the same condition as me. But then...every scene he was described as using his inhaler, or refilling his inhaler, or getting his inhaler, you get the drift?
Jeremy Scott does not know how asthma, or chronic asthma, works. For one thing, if Freddie is using a rescue inhaler every five minutes, something is very very wrong and he needs to go to the hospital. And secondly, to make Freddie's character basically 'Asthmatic kid' made me upset. Especially when you have him in the same book with other disabled characters who all had their own interests and personality. Freddie didn't have any characterization or personality other than 'He had asthma! He's using an inhaler!" I'm still bitter about that.
Consensus
So, what did I think about this book? I think it was a great action book and an interesting take on the superhero genre. This was a good attempt, and in some parts Scott really hit the nail on the head for writing disabled characters accurately, but sometimes he just fell short. The double-handed portrayal of disabilities and the cheap use of the ‘Magical’ cure trope ruined my enjoyment of the book. If they had characterized Freddie and fixed the narrative without relying on the whole, ‘He has to see!!!” standard, I would have easily rated this 4, maybe even 5 stars.
Will I read the next books? Yes, I will. I really like the characters and he left me on a cliffhanger so I do want to continue. Maybe with the next coming books he may have changed his approach to some of his writing. So, here’s to hoping!
- That Book Girl
Check out my blog or my instagram!
Phillip Salinger, expecting to begin superhero school to develop his telekinetic powers, finds himself unpleasantly surprised when he is placed in a Special Ed class for disabled powered kids. Feeling like an outsider and bullied by his other schoolmates, Phillip bonds with the other kids in his class and works to establish themselves as superheroes deserving of equal treatment. With a new threat on the rise, Phillip and his friends find themselves caught in an twisted plan and an old prophecy by a sinister villain.
I decided to rate this book 3 stars. While this book was an incredible action-packed adventure, there were some parts where the plot thinned or didn't make sense. There also were some things I wish the author would have either elaborated on or focused on more than others.
Another big thing that contributed to the review was some of the representation and handling of disabilities throughout the book and how it affected the narrative. I don't know what it is like to be blind and I won't act like I do, but I have read extensively about writing disabilities as both a writer and someone who has a chronic condition that impacts my life. I'll be providing some links for you to peruse and look over!
Now, onto the review! (Slight spoilers ahead to around a third in)
What I Loved
If you like action this is a, hundred percent, the book for you. I love some good action sequences and tense scenes, and this book delivered every scene with a bang. It was like reading the equivalent of a Mission Impossible Movie. It was at a nice pace in the beginning, but right around the halfway point it dials everything to a hundred and races toward the end. It was an incredible heart-pounding adventure, I could not put it down. No wonder why I was up until 2 AM finishing it!!
One thing that really stood out to me was the lack of visuals. Phillip Salinger, the narrator, is blind. Thus, we don't have a lot of visuals in the first half of the narrative unless they are described by other characters or by Phillip's other senses. I thought it was such a creative and fascinating way to tell a story while also reflecting Phillip's blindness. I've never read a book that told a story like that and I totally loved it. I honestly wish he continued it for the rest of the book (More on that later).
I LOVED the characters. They all leapt off the page and straight into my heart. From the grumpy and cynical Henry, to the shy intellectual Bentley, and the novice entrepreneur James, ahhh!!!!! They all had their own voices and motivations and bonds, I adored them and I want to adopt them all. I was so happy to see that the main character Phillip didn't fall into the bland main character trope. I rarely ever see a healer, voice of reason main character. Hearing him try and corall his friends while they all do reckless things was very priceless. He was very sweet and adorable, and I...wanted to protect him.
The friendship was the absolute best. I'm a sucker for found family/friendship tropes so this book served my favorite things to me and I'm so happy. The book does a great job of establishing the bonds between the characters. The bonding scenes and sleepovers made me laugh so hard. I was so engaged in all the character's friendships. If you like adorable and healthy male friendships, this book delivers it on a silver platter!
In most books, there is little to none when it comes to disabled representation. So having an entire book's main characters ALL have disabilities? It was very refreshing to read about. And the disabilities were diverse as well, ranging from a boy with ataxic cerebral palsy and a penchant for tinkering and a blind teleporter who runs his own business. The characters all had their own passions and interests along with being disabled, which is something most books with disabled characters fail to do. They were people with disabilities, with passions and friendships and lives. And superpowers.
What I Disliked
I wish he would have emphasized the superhero school aspect!! Like, whoa, a superhero school? How does it work, what classes does Phillip take, are they different from what the other kids learn because he’s in a Special Ed class? But the only reference to the school at all was a Q/A they had in the beginning of the story and this training competition called the SuperSim. Otherwise, nothing about the school or what they did. I was a bit disappointed, I was looking forward to more information about the school and how they operated and taught classes!
This book falls into a weird category of both doing a really good job at portraying those with disabilities to falling really, really short of accuracy and portrayal. Let's break it down, shall we?
Such as the case of Phillip and his ability to 'see'. Around a third in the book, Phillip and his friends find a way to project images to Phillip's mind so that he can see. They manage to develop it so Phillip is basically able to 'see' without using his eyes.
This...was basically the magical cure trope. To sum it up, the 'Magical Cure' trope happens where a disabled character finds a way to cure their disability so they are basically able-bodied. It felt cheap to show a blind main character who worked to be included and fought to use his powers only to turn around and basically cure him. I mean, Daredevil doesn't have magic mental pictures to help him?
I think they're could have been a myriad of better ways to show Phillip being a superhero without needing to have sight. And that opens up a whole other Pandora's box of issues. Phillip was only able to be a hero when he could 'see'? Yeah, that's giving me some yucky vibes.
It was a easy way to advance the narrative. Instead of finding a creative way for Phillip to use his powers while he's blind, he instead decided that Phillip had to see to fight crime, even thought that isn't true at all. I mean, look at David Black, Lee Hoy, Johnny Tai, and the other countless blind martial artists. There's even an entire foundation dedicated to Blind martial arts! And, giving him this 'sight' also affected the way the rest of the story was told and allowed Scott to basically portray Phillip as an able-bodied character who was blind...sometimes?
Another one was the treatment of Freddie. Oh, Freddie. He was described as having chronic asthma. When I first read about him, I was really excited as I have chronic asthma and have never even read a book with a character who had the same condition as me. But then...every scene he was described as using his inhaler, or refilling his inhaler, or getting his inhaler, you get the drift?
Jeremy Scott does not know how asthma, or chronic asthma, works. For one thing, if Freddie is using a rescue inhaler every five minutes, something is very very wrong and he needs to go to the hospital. And secondly, to make Freddie's character basically 'Asthmatic kid' made me upset. Especially when you have him in the same book with other disabled characters who all had their own interests and personality. Freddie didn't have any characterization or personality other than 'He had asthma! He's using an inhaler!" I'm still bitter about that.
Consensus
So, what did I think about this book? I think it was a great action book and an interesting take on the superhero genre. This was a good attempt, and in some parts Scott really hit the nail on the head for writing disabled characters accurately, but sometimes he just fell short. The double-handed portrayal of disabilities and the cheap use of the ‘Magical’ cure trope ruined my enjoyment of the book. If they had characterized Freddie and fixed the narrative without relying on the whole, ‘He has to see!!!” standard, I would have easily rated this 4, maybe even 5 stars.
Will I read the next books? Yes, I will. I really like the characters and he left me on a cliffhanger so I do want to continue. Maybe with the next coming books he may have changed his approach to some of his writing. So, here’s to hoping!
- That Book Girl
Check out my blog or my instagram!
Jeremy,
Good job, man.
Good job, man.
I hated you a little bit.
And I knew it!
Good job, man.
Good job, man.
I hated you a little bit.
And I knew it!
(first book in series) I picked this book up on a whim even though the premise of this book sounds dreadful. It was well executed and I enjoyed this book a lot more than I would have expected.
The MC is blind and has been all his life. During a father/son talk, he discovers he has superpowers. In fact, he comes from a long line of superheroes. What is his power? He is telekinetic. The problem: he needs to be able to see an object to use his power. So when he begins going to a high school for superpowered individuals, he gets put into a special ed class. Of course he is with a group of other interesting misfits, of course there is a villain trying to take over the world, of course they are caught up in it. It is how these things go.
The MC is blind and has been all his life. During a father/son talk, he discovers he has superpowers. In fact, he comes from a long line of superheroes. What is his power? He is telekinetic. The problem: he needs to be able to see an object to use his power. So when he begins going to a high school for superpowered individuals, he gets put into a special ed class. Of course he is with a group of other interesting misfits, of course there is a villain trying to take over the world, of course they are caught up in it. It is how these things go.
2 out of 5 stars. It was okay.
I really wanted to like this book. I'm subscribed to CinemaSins, I love their videos, and when I found out Jeremy Scott had written a book, I was excited to read it. The cover looks intriguing, the title is short but interesting. It's a story about a kid who's blind but has superpowers in a town full of superpowered-people. How could it not be good?
Well. Here we are.
The main thing that really ruined this book for me was the monumental amount of telling instead of showing. There are times where someone will say something in dialogue and the narrator, Phillip, will then tell the reader what it means was just said. Or, something funny will happen and Phillip will proceed to explain why it was funny. That's not including all the times we don't even get to see something happen or be said, we just get Phillip TELLING us it happened. For example:
"We talked to Donnie plenty -- don't get me wrong. We would say something about Old Lady Crouch -- that's what we called her, somewhat affectionately -- and then turn to him and say things like "Isn't that right, Donnie?"
The reader isn't show that this is how they talk to Donnie, we're just told that.
Another example:
"Now it's important to note that Henry's wheelchair was relatively new -- it had been a birthday present several weeks prior."
This is about halfway into the book, and this is the only mention of Henry's birthday. We don't get to see Henry's birthday celebrations. We never hear any of the characters mention Henry's birthday. Nope. We're just told it happened several weeks after the fact.
And one more example, for good measure:
"He'd talked for almost fifteen minutes straight as he and I sat on the picnic table in Mr. Charles' cornfield."
I can't give details about that scene because it has spoilers, but I'll sum it up as best I can. A character and Phillip have a long and important conversation, and we aren't show about 99% of it. There's like 4 or 5 lines of dialogue, and the rest is summed up by Phillip after the fact. It would be like if you didn't get to see the final play of the Super Bowl, you just got the play by play told to you by someone who didn't anything about sports.
The characters aren't very interesting. All the adults are incredibly one sided and dull. Even the hero, Phillip, doesn't have any personality beyond being the hero. His friends have some sort of resemblance of identities. For example, there's Bentley, whose superpower is that he's really smart. Now, that could give potential to some complex character arc, but nope. The author just uses him as a means to spout out a lot of exposition.
As for the plot, by the time anything really important started happening, I was so bored and so uninterested in these characters I couldn't care less when something really bad happened.
I really wanted to like this book. I'm subscribed to CinemaSins, I love their videos, and when I found out Jeremy Scott had written a book, I was excited to read it. The cover looks intriguing, the title is short but interesting. It's a story about a kid who's blind but has superpowers in a town full of superpowered-people. How could it not be good?
Well. Here we are.
The main thing that really ruined this book for me was the monumental amount of telling instead of showing. There are times where someone will say something in dialogue and the narrator, Phillip, will then tell the reader what it means was just said. Or, something funny will happen and Phillip will proceed to explain why it was funny. That's not including all the times we don't even get to see something happen or be said, we just get Phillip TELLING us it happened. For example:
"We talked to Donnie plenty -- don't get me wrong. We would say something about Old Lady Crouch -- that's what we called her, somewhat affectionately -- and then turn to him and say things like "Isn't that right, Donnie?"
The reader isn't show that this is how they talk to Donnie, we're just told that.
Another example:
"Now it's important to note that Henry's wheelchair was relatively new -- it had been a birthday present several weeks prior."
This is about halfway into the book, and this is the only mention of Henry's birthday. We don't get to see Henry's birthday celebrations. We never hear any of the characters mention Henry's birthday. Nope. We're just told it happened several weeks after the fact.
And one more example, for good measure:
"He'd talked for almost fifteen minutes straight as he and I sat on the picnic table in Mr. Charles' cornfield."
I can't give details about that scene because it has spoilers, but I'll sum it up as best I can. A character and Phillip have a long and important conversation, and we aren't show about 99% of it. There's like 4 or 5 lines of dialogue, and the rest is summed up by Phillip after the fact. It would be like if you didn't get to see the final play of the Super Bowl, you just got the play by play told to you by someone who didn't anything about sports.
The characters aren't very interesting. All the adults are incredibly one sided and dull. Even the hero, Phillip, doesn't have any personality beyond being the hero. His friends have some sort of resemblance of identities. For example, there's Bentley, whose superpower is that he's really smart. Now, that could give potential to some complex character arc, but nope. The author just uses him as a means to spout out a lot of exposition.
As for the plot, by the time anything really important started happening, I was so bored and so uninterested in these characters I couldn't care less when something really bad happened.
Review Excerpt The Ables is an interesting book on a few levels. Its a non-graphic novel super-hero book (as far as I know. I listened to the audio book.) Its a book about middle-grade disabled kids (how often does that get done?) and its a book that reinforces to the reader that people with disabilities are, first and foremost, people. Its also a story of friendship, working together, fighting to be granted the same privileges other people have, and overcoming life-altering events like parental death.
This is not a perfect book. I won’t say that it is. Its not nearly the best example of a middle-grade/young-adult book featuring people with disabilities in it that I’ve ever read. But the story is entertaining, the author is trying his best to send a good message, and it was better (to me at least) than reading yet another entry into the YA Dystopian field (which seems to be all there is right now!). Every time things start to go right for the kids, something goes horribly wrong, so its not like its a “Yay, we’ve got super-powers and are going to kick butt!” story. Bad things happen. People die. Kids are unfairly treated and villainized.
For a full review, including some discussion of disability in kidlit, please click here.
This is not a perfect book. I won’t say that it is. Its not nearly the best example of a middle-grade/young-adult book featuring people with disabilities in it that I’ve ever read. But the story is entertaining, the author is trying his best to send a good message, and it was better (to me at least) than reading yet another entry into the YA Dystopian field (which seems to be all there is right now!). Every time things start to go right for the kids, something goes horribly wrong, so its not like its a “Yay, we’ve got super-powers and are going to kick butt!” story. Bad things happen. People die. Kids are unfairly treated and villainized.
For a full review, including some discussion of disability in kidlit, please click here.