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zluke's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
tiarala's review
4.0
This definitely leans toward the teen side of YA, but once I got sucked into the story I couldn't stop reading. Gender and sexuality are handled in a really cool way, and the struggles that protagonist Jess has when dealing with her crush are universal. While the mysteries are a little more predictable and tropey than I would've preferred, I don't know that most teen readers — the actual intended audience — would see the tropes so clearly. And tropes exist for a reason, right? It makes for a really fun story. Not Your Sidekick ended up charming me completely by the end and I look forward to reading #2.
steph_davidson's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
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? No
4.0
elizafaerie's review against another edition
adventurous
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
3.75
lemon_the_emu's review against another edition
Not really enjoying - I can't get into it.
melissah's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-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
5.0
ariannemaya's review
4.0
This is the kind of book that makes me wish it existed back when I was a teenager. It was all kind of delightful, and it means so much to me to have a bisexual teen girl as the MC :)
bex_knighthunterbooks's review
adventurous
funny
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? Yes
3.5
An entertaining read, with a cute Sapphic romance, lovable characters, and a new take on the superhero genre.
To be honest, I'm pretty uninterested in superheroes, having suffered pretty early from the oversaturation, however this was different enough to keep my interest. The story is set a few hundred years in our future, after a period of 'disasters' following a massive solar flare. I did enjoy this as a starting point, but for me I found the setting too familiar given the huge upheaval - I'd have liked to see more differences against our contemporary world to make it feel real, but this might not be a complaint I'd have had if I'd read this as a teenager.
I liked that the characters were generally diverse and queer, although on the world building side they are diverse and queer in very similar ways to people today, without the questioning of these norms (e.g. around gender). I did find the characters really likeable though, and especially enjoyed the main romance with it's good length build up. Jess was quite frustratingly oblivious and naïve for most of the book, but once I realised that was just what the story was going for I stopped eye rolling quite so hard.
I was initially concerned that this was going to play 'straight' the heroes vs. villains dichotomy, and so was very pleased when the story started to ask the questions of what makes a hero and are the villains really evil, and explore the government's role in all this and the purpose of celebrity culture. It took a while to get to this interesting stuff though, and I'd say this doesn't standalone well - the sequels are needed to actually resolve the main plot! The plot itself felt very convenient at times, with decisions not always making sense to me.
This is fun if you don't think about it too deeply!
To be honest, I'm pretty uninterested in superheroes, having suffered pretty early from the oversaturation, however this was different enough to keep my interest. The story is set a few hundred years in our future, after a period of 'disasters' following a massive solar flare. I did enjoy this as a starting point, but for me I found the setting too familiar given the huge upheaval - I'd have liked to see more differences against our contemporary world to make it feel real, but this might not be a complaint I'd have had if I'd read this as a teenager.
I liked that the characters were generally diverse and queer, although on the world building side they are diverse and queer in very similar ways to people today, without the questioning of these norms (e.g. around gender). I did find the characters really likeable though, and especially enjoyed the main romance with it's good length build up. Jess was quite frustratingly oblivious and naïve for most of the book, but once I realised that was just what the story was going for I stopped eye rolling quite so hard.
I was initially concerned that this was going to play 'straight' the heroes vs. villains dichotomy, and so was very pleased when the story started to ask the questions of what makes a hero and are the villains really evil, and explore the government's role in all this and the purpose of celebrity culture. It took a while to get to this interesting stuff though, and I'd say this doesn't standalone well - the sequels are needed to actually resolve the main plot! The plot itself felt very convenient at times, with decisions not always making sense to me.
This is fun if you don't think about it too deeply!
hereforthefunofit's review against another edition
some of the most uninspired writing I've encountered in some time
hannahhmh's review
3.0
Okay, so the plot may be predictable and bad but the romance was so cute it made up for everything.