A review by gameoftomes
Dreadnought by April Daniels

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Amazing. The book really gives a payoff for its superhero genre, transgender representation, and first person POV. It uses all of these well, and towards a conclusion with physical and emotional stakes involved. 

There are good action sequences, a bit of gore, and a good bit of body horror. But none of it overwhelms the novel. The supers don’t feel regurgitated and cliché. It feels like it could fit in with comic book superheroes, yet isn’t weighed down with tropes. The world of superheroes and hypertech is fleshed out without being exposition heavy. 

Warning that there is a significant amount of transphobia, including slurs, deadnaming, emotional abuse, and parents kicking out their 15 year old kid. But none of this stops main character Danielle from being super, from being flawed, from being a beacon of hope. Individuals are not a monolith, and I think at the author is transgender herself helps. 

This is a first person perspective YA novel that feels like you’re in the head of a real teenager. Danny clearly had reactions with a lot of self-hate because of how actively awful her dad is and how passively awful her mom is. So negative self-talk happens in stressful situations. Her journey as a superhero starts out as finally getting her body to match her gender identity, then fighting crime becomes an escape from reality, and finally starts to become a community, a newfound family. 

I honestly came in thinking I would be lightly enjoyable fun, but I’m really blown away with the characters, world-building, and balance of emotional, fun, and tense moments. I might have to break my book buying ban to grab the sequel. 

9/10 objectively a good time.
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