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A review by stolenpostit
Fallout by Gwenda Bond
3.0
This was an good first book in a series. That's the first thing I can think of. It definitely feels like the beginning of a series rather than a standalone so I hope that there will be more books in the future. I'd really like to read more about Lois, her new friends, her family, Perry, and this "SmallvilleGuy."
Lois Lane is one of those characters I love in theory but is rarely portrayed in the way that hits the sweet spot for me. It's too easy to make her a set of "iconic" traits rather than a person who would reasonably act in the way she does. Gwenda Bond has made it easy to understand that Lois is eternally in trouble because she genuinely wants to stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves; she uses journalism as a method for truth and justice. On another note, it's also easy to see that Lois is afraid to get attached to people because she more than likely will have to separate with them in the future and that previous separations have been painful. Brief mentions of past attempts at friends and, sadly, her sister's fear that she'll be sent away make this clear. That is why the it's so sweet to read her actually making friends, whether it's people at her new school, Perry White, or "SmallvilleGuy."
Some Nitpicks:
-Not that I don't love Clark, and not that I don't ship it from here to eternity, but I really could have done without SmallvilleGuy. It would have been nice to just have a Lois Lane story that's just Lois.
-Lois is super judgemental. I have no problem with this itself, but I hope it's meant to be a flaw. With this genre I can't tell anymore; immediate judgements on people are sometimes just shorthand to designate villains and allies. She was proven wrong about one person, but proven mostly right about another. A third person was judged negatively based on a superficial glance the actions of someone else but Lois never even spoke to her!
-We got a good sense of who Lucy and General Lane were, but Lois' mom was barely there. I don't even remember if she even spoke actual words.
-Lois can't spell here either. That was never a cute quirk.
Lois Lane is one of those characters I love in theory but is rarely portrayed in the way that hits the sweet spot for me. It's too easy to make her a set of "iconic" traits rather than a person who would reasonably act in the way she does. Gwenda Bond has made it easy to understand that Lois is eternally in trouble because she genuinely wants to stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves; she uses journalism as a method for truth and justice. On another note, it's also easy to see that Lois is afraid to get attached to people because she more than likely will have to separate with them in the future and that previous separations have been painful. Brief mentions of past attempts at friends and, sadly, her sister's fear that she'll be sent away make this clear. That is why the it's so sweet to read her actually making friends, whether it's people at her new school, Perry White, or "SmallvilleGuy."
Some Nitpicks:
-Not that I don't love Clark, and not that I don't ship it from here to eternity, but I really could have done without SmallvilleGuy. It would have been nice to just have a Lois Lane story that's just Lois.
-Lois is super judgemental. I have no problem with this itself, but I hope it's meant to be a flaw. With this genre I can't tell anymore; immediate judgements on people are sometimes just shorthand to designate villains and allies. She was proven wrong about one person, but proven mostly right about another. A third person was judged negatively based on a superficial glance the actions of someone else but Lois never even spoke to her!
-We got a good sense of who Lucy and General Lane were, but Lois' mom was barely there. I don't even remember if she even spoke actual words.
-Lois can't spell here either. That was never a cute quirk.