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A review by sarahanne8382
Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee
4.0
I came into this one without a lot of expectations, but ended up really enjoying this fun YA superhero story set in a somewhat bleak future where solar flares in 2028 wreak havoc on the electrical systems of the planet, but also unlock the "superhero" gene in a small percentage of the population.
Jessica Tran is the daughter of the two C-level superheroes who keep her town safe from villains. As she approaches her 17th birthday she desperately tries to uncover any superpowers she may have inherited from her parents. When it seems clear she hasn't inherited any, she agrees to a mysterious internship at a major robotics company that turns out to actually be in the secret lab of her parents' sworn enemies, and also happens to be with her longtime crush.
As Jess begins to unravel the carefully spun narratives that hold her world together, what she discovers may have consequences for the whole world. Another plus is that it's set in a generally LGBTQ+ accepting world (Jess is bisexual, her best friend is trans, and plenty of side characters fit somewhere in the queer rainbow), so plenty of sensitivity is shown to characters not automatically falling into heterosexual or cisgender norms, without having to make a big deal about it.
Jessica Tran is the daughter of the two C-level superheroes who keep her town safe from villains. As she approaches her 17th birthday she desperately tries to uncover any superpowers she may have inherited from her parents. When it seems clear she hasn't inherited any, she agrees to a mysterious internship at a major robotics company that turns out to actually be in the secret lab of her parents' sworn enemies, and also happens to be with her longtime crush.
As Jess begins to unravel the carefully spun narratives that hold her world together, what she discovers may have consequences for the whole world. Another plus is that it's set in a generally LGBTQ+ accepting world (Jess is bisexual, her best friend is trans, and plenty of side characters fit somewhere in the queer rainbow), so plenty of sensitivity is shown to characters not automatically falling into heterosexual or cisgender norms, without having to make a big deal about it.