Easiest 5 ⭐️ in a very long time!!!
Y'all, this book is a damned masterpiece. If The Extraordinaries wasn't on your TBR before now, you need to stop everything and go add it now. It has everything you could ever want: superheroes, queer dorks, diversity galore, realistic characters, and snappy, relatable writing. I TRULY believe this is going to be the next big book and I'm just blown away that I got to read it early.
The Extraordinaries follows Nick Bell, a self-indulgent fanfic writer with ADHD who's on a quest to become an Extraordinary. After a chance encounter with his beloved (read: he's obsessed) Shadow Star, Nova City's queen jewel, he becomes determined to become something more. We follow his journey with his best friends Seth, Gibby, and Jazz, and a full cast of wonderful side characters. There's a secondary plot intertwined in this between the two Extraordinaries: Shadow Star & Pyro Storm which Nick gets wrapped up into, so it's partially contemporary, partially sci-fi/fantasy, but entirely amazing.
I'm genuinely blown away by how much I love this book. I'm not a fan of superheroes (except for Spider Man (what can I say...I love Tom Holland)), but this is such a unique twist on that generic genre. The characters are fun and relatable and you immediately fall in love with them. In one of my early status updates, I commented that Nick is like if Simon Snow and Simon Spier had a baby and I think that is the best description of how great it is to be inside his head. He's scattered and, at times, overwhelming, but he genuinely feels like a 16 year old boy. You follow his harrowing struggles with acceptance and grief while simultaneously laughing at his oblivious nature, witty banter, and internal monologue. I could read another 10 books inside Nick's mind and be completely happy.
The side characters are also fantastic and flesh out the story in the best way. Seth Gray has been Nick's best friend since first grade on the swings and when they're interacting, you can feel that history between them, even though there are only 400 pages. Sometimes friendships feel forced but Klune's writing transports you to this world and leads you to believe that there is history outside of this confinement. Gabby & Jazz are also really fun additions and they play nicely off of each other. Gibby is a butch badass-internal softie, while Jazz is sweet and quirky with internal badass. They hype up the story and give the relationships more depth. One of my favorite things between them is their banter - this feels like a real friend group. I feel like I could pluck some of these lines directly out of my high school theatre friend group meetings and it wouldn't feel out of place.
My absolute favorite part of this story, however, is Nick's relationship with his dad. I am a sucker for great family dynamics in stories and this has one of the absolute best I've ever read. They are both unsure how to act after Nick's mother and his wife was tragically killed, but they are making things work, even if they don't always get it right. Their relationship is endearing and heartwarming and I felt the love that they had for each other.
Klune is a master storyteller and has a unique writing style that draws you in on every page. He understands teenagers and he understands nuances of language and slang that make up a casual conversation - Nothing ever feels forced or unnecessary. He understands character development and knows how to make you feel for characters you've never met before. The writing is snappy, witty, emotional and laugh-out-loud funny. There were several points where I had to stop reading because I was laughing so hard. It starts early and often and never feels out of place or overdone.
There is so much that I want to say about The Extraordinaries, but I don't want to spoil anything because this book is truly a journey that you need to take for yourself. Please read this book. Please pre-order it and give it the love that it deserves. I never pre-order books, especially ones that I already own, but immediately after finishing it, I bought it just so I could support the author.
Come for the stunning cover and fun synopsis, stay for the amazing characters and diversity, snappy writing, and beautiful story within.
Y'all, this book is a damned masterpiece. If The Extraordinaries wasn't on your TBR before now, you need to stop everything and go add it now. It has everything you could ever want: superheroes, queer dorks, diversity galore, realistic characters, and snappy, relatable writing. I TRULY believe this is going to be the next big book and I'm just blown away that I got to read it early.
The Extraordinaries follows Nick Bell, a self-indulgent fanfic writer with ADHD who's on a quest to become an Extraordinary. After a chance encounter with his beloved (read: he's obsessed) Shadow Star, Nova City's queen jewel, he becomes determined to become something more. We follow his journey with his best friends Seth, Gibby, and Jazz, and a full cast of wonderful side characters. There's a secondary plot intertwined in this between the two Extraordinaries: Shadow Star & Pyro Storm which Nick gets wrapped up into, so it's partially contemporary, partially sci-fi/fantasy, but entirely amazing.
I'm genuinely blown away by how much I love this book. I'm not a fan of superheroes (except for Spider Man (what can I say...I love Tom Holland)), but this is such a unique twist on that generic genre. The characters are fun and relatable and you immediately fall in love with them. In one of my early status updates, I commented that Nick is like if Simon Snow and Simon Spier had a baby and I think that is the best description of how great it is to be inside his head. He's scattered and, at times, overwhelming, but he genuinely feels like a 16 year old boy. You follow his harrowing struggles with acceptance and grief while simultaneously laughing at his oblivious nature, witty banter, and internal monologue. I could read another 10 books inside Nick's mind and be completely happy.
The side characters are also fantastic and flesh out the story in the best way. Seth Gray has been Nick's best friend since first grade on the swings and when they're interacting, you can feel that history between them, even though there are only 400 pages. Sometimes friendships feel forced but Klune's writing transports you to this world and leads you to believe that there is history outside of this confinement. Gabby & Jazz are also really fun additions and they play nicely off of each other. Gibby is a butch badass-internal softie, while Jazz is sweet and quirky with internal badass. They hype up the story and give the relationships more depth. One of my favorite things between them is their banter - this feels like a real friend group. I feel like I could pluck some of these lines directly out of my high school theatre friend group meetings and it wouldn't feel out of place.
My absolute favorite part of this story, however, is Nick's relationship with his dad. I am a sucker for great family dynamics in stories and this has one of the absolute best I've ever read. They are both unsure how to act after Nick's mother and his wife was tragically killed, but they are making things work, even if they don't always get it right. Their relationship is endearing and heartwarming and I felt the love that they had for each other.
Klune is a master storyteller and has a unique writing style that draws you in on every page. He understands teenagers and he understands nuances of language and slang that make up a casual conversation - Nothing ever feels forced or unnecessary. He understands character development and knows how to make you feel for characters you've never met before. The writing is snappy, witty, emotional and laugh-out-loud funny. There were several points where I had to stop reading because I was laughing so hard. It starts early and often and never feels out of place or overdone.
There is so much that I want to say about The Extraordinaries, but I don't want to spoil anything because this book is truly a journey that you need to take for yourself. Please read this book. Please pre-order it and give it the love that it deserves. I never pre-order books, especially ones that I already own, but immediately after finishing it, I bought it just so I could support the author.
Come for the stunning cover and fun synopsis, stay for the amazing characters and diversity, snappy writing, and beautiful story within.