Home Sweet Own Challenge 20

I love this concept. A world full of heroes who now must cope with those powers being gone? Brilliant. I even met the writer last year and he was a rather nice fellow. He signed my copy with the line you hear throughout the book “Everyone comes back.” I was very excited to finally read it. I really enjoyed the mix of B&W panels with the text. I wanted to like this book so badly. I’m mostly out of nice things to say.

I loved some of these hero concepts. They sounded fascinating and I would have loved to have seen a bit more of them in their heyday. Most of the back story comes is too little for some characters, too much for others, and most is too late to resonate. It’s hard starting with former heroes losing what defined them and trying to figure out how to be vulnerable mortals. There was no glory before it got depressing so the whole thing had a dismal tone.

So much time is spent on long drawn out expositions. It’s exhausting and grating. If those had been cut down to size, I’d have made it through a lot faster. I would literally think “Are we done yet?” in several chapters. I’m not a slow reader but this writing style made this drag on for at least another week since I’ve got a life too.

Then there was the oft repeated phrase “We all come back.” [SPOILER ALERT] They lied. Nobody’s powers were restored. Why the hell is that the damn catchphrase of the book if it doesn’t happen!?!

Some of the plot twists were good. The terrorist attacks and the true villain and the true nature of the blue. I also enjoyed the shifting perspectives which added to the story, just not enough. Some of the characters were less than likeable. I wanted to like Pen but he was cowardly. Sicko was all sorts of annoying and Strength irked me with her recklessness. Shouldn’t your protagonist be someone you can root for and get a better ending out of? I finally finished it and I remember thinking “What was the point of that?”

I’m a fan of comics and most of those have better, faster story telling. Anyone who says if you like comics, you’ll like this, is wrong. This book has so much potential but it was such a letdown.

1) Fiction – A Once Crowded Sky by Tom King

2) Nonfiction – The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett

3) Sci-Fi – Redshirts by John Scalzi

4) Fantasy 

5) Mystery – Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer

6) Horror 

7) Memoir/Biography – Data, A Love Story by Amy Webb

8) Chick Lit – Me and Mr. Darcy by Alexandra Potter

9) Feminist – Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan

10) Teen – What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen

11) Holiday 

12) Essays – What Was I Thinking? ed. by Barbara Davilman & Liz Dubelman

13) Short Stories 

14) Library 

15) Animal 

16) Book about Books – Judging a Book By Its Lover by Lauren Leto

17) New – Pitch Perfect by Mickey Rapkin

18) Old – Dark and Stormy Knights edited by P. N. Elrod

19) Pop Science – Why Men Fake It by Abraham Morgentaler, MD

20) Near 

21) Far 

22) Graphic Novel – Love and Capes: Do You Want to Know a Secret? by Thomas F. Zahler

23) Reread – Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

24) Wild Card 

25) Otherworldly Creature 

26) Free – Point Your Face at This by Demetri Martin

27) Noteworthy 

28) Bestseller – How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran

29) Themed Anthology – Red edited by Kris Goldsmith

30) Steampunk 

31) Movie-Book 

32) Media – Doctor Who: Touched By an Angel by Jonathan Morris

33) Travel 

34) Food 

35) Classic 

36) Humor 

37) Poetry 

38) Past – Stasiland by Anna Funder

39) Future 

40) Dystopia/Post-Apocalyptic 

41) Zombie 

42) Sports

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