A review by elboe
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

5.0

The overall premise of this story was really interesting for me. I like how the typical trope of superheroes was turned on its head and there was no hero answer to the villain as many stories typically take. The expectation for the hero to come save the day wasn’t met and so it was the ordinary people who had to respond to the threat working against a seemingly all powerful and controlling threat. Was interesting to see them struggle with the morality of their actions. In theory you know that you want to take out the bad guy because they're bad, but when this will result in worsened conditions for the innocent people living in the city, should you do it? Megan's perspective and general reluctance to go along with their plot added to this and really showed that the good guys don't always do good and that sometimes you can believe in the overall goal, but dislike how that goal is reached. It was also interesting to see how this was managed by David who had previously not considered the results of this actions. I thought that all the characters were well rounded, and added different perspectives and humour. Their sense of mystery surrounding their histories is intriguing and I hope it’s explored more in later books.
World building: A+, from the first second chapter the world was already forming and immersive for my imagination. Although the epilogue is set on modern Earth, the hints towards what is to come, really help set the scene. Although it might have been a bit info dumpy at the beginning, I don't believe that this was at a detriment to the immersion and story, rather it set me firmly into the world and let me further understand the situation. Humorous moments were scattered throughout the book. I partially called the ending and a few other plot points towards the end

Spoiler

Megan and Prof being epics and half got Steelhearts vulnerability

; however, this didn’t detract from it all. The way it was written really did it justice.
There was one element specifically I didn't really enjoy; the insta love. For example, when David first met Megan although he admired her style and actions whilst in combat, it felt too much like insta love (like) and he kept mentioning how much he liked her. I didn’t think this relationship was all that bad though. You are given moments where their interactions demonstrate them developing friendship. I just feel like if the mentions of liking her were lessened a little bit and the reader was left to be shown the development it might have been more enjoyable.
Overall, a well written, intriguing story that kept me wanting more from the moment it started.