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kmpuzzled's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Very LGBTQ+ friendly with a non-binary char as BFF
ajp71088's review
4.0
Long one of my favorite authors, Coe's latest is a modern day, supernatural thriller. A fraction of the world's population develop superhuman abilities (levitation, electrical manipulation, etc.) during adolescence, similar to X-Men except without every power being unique to the individual. Generally, they can only use their powers for about 60-90 seconds. Called Radiants, the existence of these people is mostly a secret to the world at large. But governments worldwide covet them.
DeDe Mercer, our main character, has the ability to enter someone's mind, to read their thoughts and even control them. This makes her exceptionally rare and powerful. Still in high school, she uses these powers to defend and protect her nonbinary best friend (and crush), Kyle, from an unjust punishment. Soon after she talks about her powers with a colleague of her late father, DeDe, her 12 year old brother, Miles, and their mother are pursued by multiple branches of the US government, all of whom want to study DeDe and force her to use her powers for their benefit (interrogation, treaty negotiation, etc.). Some of their pursuers could care less who they harm, so long as they get DeDe under their control.
What follows is an engaging, YA thriller across the Pacific Northwest. At its core is this lovely family unit doing anything they can to stay together. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who finds the premise interesting.
DeDe Mercer, our main character, has the ability to enter someone's mind, to read their thoughts and even control them. This makes her exceptionally rare and powerful. Still in high school, she uses these powers to defend and protect her nonbinary best friend (and crush), Kyle, from an unjust punishment. Soon after she talks about her powers with a colleague of her late father, DeDe, her 12 year old brother, Miles, and their mother are pursued by multiple branches of the US government, all of whom want to study DeDe and force her to use her powers for their benefit (interrogation, treaty negotiation, etc.). Some of their pursuers could care less who they harm, so long as they get DeDe under their control.
What follows is an engaging, YA thriller across the Pacific Northwest. At its core is this lovely family unit doing anything they can to stay together. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who finds the premise interesting.
terriaminute's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
3.5
3.5 stars. I liked the characters, or at least appreciated them (some are terrible people). The main character (the only one written in first person) is the girl we first meet. The other point of view characters are told in third person, and they're quite an assortment. I dislike when writers use so many, but that's just me. I'd recommend this to any teen reader, but particularly queer teens. Understated representation, I love to see it.
There's one timeline flaw that I noticed, the rest of the plot hangs together pretty well. Some parts were a little boring for me, but I am not a Young Adult, the target audience, so I just skimmed a bit here & there. I don't regret reading it, which is very important! I liked how embedded in the world the powers were, how each action had consequences, and I liked the best how the kids reasoned their way through each problem.
Given that federal agents are often armed, there is on-page violence. But the kids do as little as they can get away with, aware of consequences.
There's one timeline flaw that I noticed, the rest of the plot hangs together pretty well. Some parts were a little boring for me, but I am not a Young Adult, the target audience, so I just skimmed a bit here & there. I don't regret reading it, which is very important! I liked how embedded in the world the powers were, how each action had consequences, and I liked the best how the kids reasoned their way through each problem.
Given that federal agents are often armed, there is on-page violence. But the kids do as little as they can get away with, aware of consequences.
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