Michell Plested wrote a book about a boy who wants to be a superhero. It’s easy to read and beautifully written.
This is one of the novels nominated for this year’s Aurora Awards.
Below is my review. For more information on how and why I review books read my posts Part 1 and Part 2.
Characters
I liked
Writing from a child’s perspective is difficult. It’s tempting to try and write the way a child would speak, or what we think a child speaks. Plested didn’t fall into this trap he used a vocabulary and writing style that was elevated but accessible. The greatest strength of this novel is how authentic it feels. Mik is believable as a character because of his thought process, logic, and reference points.
I didn’t like
If I have one complaint about the book, it is its lack of fleshing out all the characters. I feel I understood his parents, and a few of his teachers but it was hard for me to fully understand the other secondary characters. I would have liked to know more about them. Especially the librarian.
For characters, I give it 4 out of 5
Writing Style
I liked
The book was structured around a series of events that form Mik’s personality and show his quest to be a hero. With that structure, it felt like a series of short stories about the same character. Despite its modular feel I never lost interest. I was impressed how well the author wove the stories together.
I didn’t like
There was a certain frustration I had while reading. I kept trying to decide if this was speculative fiction or just a coming of age story. It was never clear until one particular point and when that point arrived I had already decided the opposite and I found this a little jarring.
I give it 4 out of 5.
Story
I liked
The biggest pet peeve I have with YA writing is the stereotype that parents are not only the enemy but stupid. It happens more often in Horror, or urban-fantasy but it happens a lot in superhero stories too. Plested took this stereotype and stripped it down to its simplest form. That being that parents aren’t stupid but they are biased, and fallible. It also helps that Mik tries to protect his parents and often has to worry about them figuring him out. Never does he treat them as a villain but as an obstacle.
The story flows well and the general suspense of whether he really is going to get powers is written perfectly. There was a point of the book that I just stopped worrying about it and let things happen.
Several Story points weren’t finished, which is fine considering he’s writing a sequel.
I didn’t like
The problems with a modular style is separating the stories in the readers head. Everyone is looking for Chekhov’s gun and we’ve been trained by the stories we grew up with that things come back. So when characters that seem important don’t come back it’s disconcerting.
I give the story 4 out of 5
Fun
I liked
This book was a fast and fun read. I felt drawn into the story and the character. I enjoyed it all the way through.
I didn’t like
The worst thing about this book was that it ended.
I greatly anticipate the sequel.
I give it 5 out of 5 for fun
Overall
I highly recommend this to anyone who likes superheroes, coming of age stories, or reading.
Final score is 85%
