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readingthroughtheages's review against another edition
5.0
Being new to the Marvel world, I’m just starting to get my bearing on characters, locations and powers. I loved getting to know more about Black Panther, T’Challa and Wakanda. I’m excited to add this to my middle grade collection. Well done, Ronald L. Smith and Disney!
storytimeshon's review against another edition
4.0
This book kept me entertained though it is juvenile fiction. It was an easy read. Reading about young T'Challa and M'Baku was full of adventure and mystery. T'Challa was tested as the future Black Panther and gained friends along the way. I really enjoyed Ronald L Smith's writing style as well.
renatasnacks's review against another edition
3.0
Listen: if you'd handed me this book like 2 years ago I'd have been stoked to have a quality prose novel about a comics character! But it's 2018 and now I'm hella spoiled by like Jason Reynolds' Spider-Man book and Leigh Bardugo's Wonder Woman book, which were amazing! And this one was...fine.
I'm super glad it exists and I think especially tweens who are excited about the Black Panther movie will be into it! For me it was a little clunky, especially with the friendship/bullying dynamics. (This is definitely more of a middle grade novel than YA; which doesn't necessarily mean it's bad but I think in this case it is more simplistic than some of the recent YA superhero novels.)
I also kind of suspect that when Marvel commissioned this book they were like "oh but you can't do it in Wakanda though because we're saving that shit for the movie, so just IDK put it in Chicago I guess" and it's like....
It is great that they got a black author to write a book about a black superhero but I'm stuck wondering if Ronald Smith's Southern gothic horror background is the best fit for Black Panther?? IDK I mean it's interesting but also...like why not a sci-fi thriller? HMM
But also I do like unexpected directions for comics characters sometimes, I guess this one just didn't especially gel for me personally.
I'm super glad it exists and I think especially tweens who are excited about the Black Panther movie will be into it! For me it was a little clunky, especially with the friendship/bullying dynamics. (This is definitely more of a middle grade novel than YA; which doesn't necessarily mean it's bad but I think in this case it is more simplistic than some of the recent YA superhero novels.)
I also kind of suspect that when Marvel commissioned this book they were like "oh but you can't do it in Wakanda though because we're saving that shit for the movie, so just IDK put it in Chicago I guess" and it's like....
It is great that they got a black author to write a book about a black superhero but I'm stuck wondering if Ronald Smith's Southern gothic horror background is the best fit for Black Panther?? IDK I mean it's interesting but also...like why not a sci-fi thriller? HMM
But also I do like unexpected directions for comics characters sometimes, I guess this one just didn't especially gel for me personally.
hecateherself's review against another edition
3.0
more of a 3.5
This is a middle school book, so I shall be lenient. No in all honesty, this wasn‘t half bad. Some plotlines sort of wander off and some explanations are never really given; but I think T‘Challa is well done as a middleschooler. He, just like all the characters could use some dimension, but I see the potential.
The story itself is a nice and easy read, but it could have been better expanded. Half the book is an introduction to the main event, which all happens in the blink of an eye with no real aftermath. Its the same with the ideas that were introduced, they were interesting but not really followed up.
But those are just my high expectations, I think a younger me would have loved this!
This is a middle school book, so I shall be lenient. No in all honesty, this wasn‘t half bad. Some plotlines sort of wander off and some explanations are never really given; but I think T‘Challa is well done as a middleschooler. He, just like all the characters could use some dimension, but I see the potential.
The story itself is a nice and easy read, but it could have been better expanded. Half the book is an introduction to the main event, which all happens in the blink of an eye with no real aftermath. Its the same with the ideas that were introduced, they were interesting but not really followed up.
But those are just my high expectations, I think a younger me would have loved this!
jbrooxd's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this. The character of T’Challa as a young man was everything I expected. The incident that the book is moving toward is dark and occultish but mild in my opinion. Curious to see if anything from the book will tie into the movie. There are a couple fun Marvel references in the book.
britterization's review against another edition
3.0
Super solid MG superhero story. Booktalkable. Loved the audiobook narrator.
niknakola's review against another edition
3.0
I started off listening to the audiobook and was enjoying the performance until I started noticing how few women/girls were part of the story. The main female character--Sheila--one of T'Challa's school friends felt like she was only there to fill a quota. Like she was the only female character of note (there were hardly any female teachers or even random characters who drove buses or anything else) and she was into science, so put a checkmark next to strong, smart woman. But Sheila would say some kind of science-y remark or a filler question/statement and that was it. Admittedly, all of my knowledge of the Black Panther storyline is from the movie, but when that movie is filled with nuanced, kickass women, this was such a disappointment.