MY THOUGHTS
I had been seeing this book around but until I read the excerpt on Bookish First, I didn't know that I absolutely needed to read it. This book was a lot like what was promised, superheroes meets Fangirl, with LGTQ rep.
In a world where superheroes called Extraordinaries exist, Nick is ordinary. He spends his time writing fanfiction about Shadow Star, his city's biggest hero (and Nick's crush). When Nick decides to become Extraordinary himself, he ropes his friends into the adventure, but he ends up pulled into the Extraordinaries more than he expected.
It's weird that I don't like watching superhero movies, but I absolutely love reading books featuring superheroes. Once I realized this was a book featuring a world where superheroes are real, I was on board. I was definitely on board after reading the first few chapters. The world in this book is ordinary with the exception that these superheroes are celebrities. There was no confusion on the world, and I understood quickly how the extraordinaire worked. As close to our world this book is, it still felt extraordinary, especially when we see the world through Nick's eyes. I'll admit that since reading this book I've been daydreaming about a world with superheroes.
I did have some difficulty with this book, though. There were a couple of major plot points that were obvious to me from the get-go, but it took so long for Nick to figure out. This made for some cringey moments. At the start, I was excited for Nick to know these things, but I grew tired of waiting. This also made the pacing feel slow in the first half. The pacing did pick up and once Nick started putting the puzzle pieces together, I grew excited once more.
Nick's voice was very strong in this book. He has humor, and while we don't live in a world with superheroes (that we know of), his obsession with Shadow Star was completely relatable. He also has ADHD and while I can't speak of how great the rep was, it felt genuine in the book and was just a part of him. He honestly read like a teenage boy. He makes a lot of mistakes in this book, and there are so many cringey moments, but that's what it is like being a teenager. I did want to shake him sometimes because there are things that were so obvious to me, but it took 80% of the book for Nick to figure things out. Even though things were obvious to me, I did like seeing Nick try to figure things out.
As for other characters, this book has such a great cast. Nick has a group of supportive friends that don't really understand Nick's obsession with Shadow Star, but they still try to help him and lovingly joke with him about it. They also try to talk some sense into him when he gets into dangerous situations. Nick's friendship with Seth is adorable. I also loved Nick's relationship with his dad, which we don't always get to see in YA books. It was so comfortable and I loved their back and forth humor.
The ending of this book was huge and made up for the early pacing issues. I'm not sure how I feel about the last chapter. Either way, I'm excited for the next book!
IN CONCLUSION
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. The pacing was slow at first, and some plot points were obvious, but I enjoyed the characters, the extraordinary abilities, and seeing everything come together!
I had been seeing this book around but until I read the excerpt on Bookish First, I didn't know that I absolutely needed to read it. This book was a lot like what was promised, superheroes meets Fangirl, with LGTQ rep.
In a world where superheroes called Extraordinaries exist, Nick is ordinary. He spends his time writing fanfiction about Shadow Star, his city's biggest hero (and Nick's crush). When Nick decides to become Extraordinary himself, he ropes his friends into the adventure, but he ends up pulled into the Extraordinaries more than he expected.
It's weird that I don't like watching superhero movies, but I absolutely love reading books featuring superheroes. Once I realized this was a book featuring a world where superheroes are real, I was on board. I was definitely on board after reading the first few chapters. The world in this book is ordinary with the exception that these superheroes are celebrities. There was no confusion on the world, and I understood quickly how the extraordinaire worked. As close to our world this book is, it still felt extraordinary, especially when we see the world through Nick's eyes. I'll admit that since reading this book I've been daydreaming about a world with superheroes.
I did have some difficulty with this book, though. There were a couple of major plot points that were obvious to me from the get-go, but it took so long for Nick to figure out. This made for some cringey moments. At the start, I was excited for Nick to know these things, but I grew tired of waiting. This also made the pacing feel slow in the first half. The pacing did pick up and once Nick started putting the puzzle pieces together, I grew excited once more.
Nick's voice was very strong in this book. He has humor, and while we don't live in a world with superheroes (that we know of), his obsession with Shadow Star was completely relatable. He also has ADHD and while I can't speak of how great the rep was, it felt genuine in the book and was just a part of him. He honestly read like a teenage boy. He makes a lot of mistakes in this book, and there are so many cringey moments, but that's what it is like being a teenager. I did want to shake him sometimes because there are things that were so obvious to me, but it took 80% of the book for Nick to figure things out. Even though things were obvious to me, I did like seeing Nick try to figure things out.
As for other characters, this book has such a great cast. Nick has a group of supportive friends that don't really understand Nick's obsession with Shadow Star, but they still try to help him and lovingly joke with him about it. They also try to talk some sense into him when he gets into dangerous situations. Nick's friendship with Seth is adorable. I also loved Nick's relationship with his dad, which we don't always get to see in YA books. It was so comfortable and I loved their back and forth humor.
The ending of this book was huge and made up for the early pacing issues. I'm not sure how I feel about the last chapter. Either way, I'm excited for the next book!
IN CONCLUSION
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. The pacing was slow at first, and some plot points were obvious, but I enjoyed the characters, the extraordinary abilities, and seeing everything come together!