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booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This does a lot of good things as far as trans rep and I'm going to talk about those before I discuss why I don't recommend it as a whole. It handles issues of dysphoria in a realistic way, as well as showing the way that socially transitioning helped Danny experience gender euphoria once the medical side of transitioning was handled by the superpowers. One of the main plotlines deals with domestic abuse from a parent, with an ebb and flow to the verbal abuse which showed how the general pattern of yelling and silence created an overall situation which was worse than any one incident. She doesn't have everything solved by her body being transformed, which provides a narrative opportunity to show transphobia. When depicting scenes with transphobic slurs and other very cruel language it's often first depicted as a summary of what hearing those words made Danny feel, then later when she's able to unpack it and start dealing with it the reader is told what some of those words were. It helps to center Danny and how she was hurt by misogyny and transphobia before it presents those slurs for the reader.
I like how the world in the book is presented as morally grey, with various factions vying to Danny to join their side. For most of the book it felt like it really was a morally grey world, but I was disappointed that towards the end it seems to pick a specific side. I hope the sequel proves me wrong on that, if I decide to read it. Calamity is a great mentor, she's my favorite character. I also like Doctor Impossible but that got trickier as the story progressed. The worldbuilding works well, sketching the idea of this world that is very different from ours because of when the superheroes showed up, but recognizable enough because of what was chosen to parallel our real developments.
Now for the main reason I don't recommend this: I'm disturbed by the way it handles disability and ableism, both with the casual use of ableist slurs (from characters of all cape factions, so this wasn't just how to mark the villains) and with the treatment of physical disabilities. There’s a disturbing battle scene where Danny is fighting goons in mech suits, but it turns out they’re embedded in the suits instead of having their organic limbs controlling the suits. One of the goons is someone Danny met earlier and he had all four limbs in that earlier scene, so the implication is that the villain removed his limbs in order to put him in the suit. He also still is on the villain's side while he's in the suit, so I see three possible scenarios: He lost his limbs in some undescribed accident and is being further exploited by the villain he's been helping; His limbs were unwillingly removed by the villain but decided to help them anyway; or He had his limbs were willingly removed by the villain because he believed in the plan so much that he gave up his limbs to get a mech suit. No matter which of the three scenarios is in play, what happens is that the protagonist and supposed hero forcibly removes a quadruple amputee from his mech suit (which is also an assistive device), causing great pain to him, the hero notices that it causes great pain, and then proceeds to do the same thing to the other four amputees in mech suits, narrating each time how much it hurts them to be ripped out of the suits. I'm, frankly, uninterested in trying to hash out exactly what I wish Danny had done differently (though leaving the goon on a roof after removing his assistive device is definitely NOT something I think she should have done), I'm more concerned with how callously this treats multiple disabled characters, both named and unnamed, and how the reveal that this previously-limbed character now has fewer limbs is treated as shocking and horrific. The villain is a cyborg, and exactly which parts of her body are organic or inorganic are described in a way that feels like it's supposed to be disturbing. Finally, there's a friendly character who also loses a limb and expresses feeling like there's nothing to live for now, which, while certainly something a real person in that scenario might express, seems narratively bad in the context of the earlier ableism.
Overall this seems like pretty good handling of trans stuff and domestic abuse by a parent, but mediocre to terrible handling of ableism and disability, and therefore I don't recommend it. Maybe the sequel could win me back, but that won't be enough to make me feel good about this particular book.
I like how the world in the book is presented as morally grey, with various factions vying to Danny to join their side. For most of the book it felt like it really was a morally grey world, but I was disappointed that towards the end it seems to pick a specific side. I hope the sequel proves me wrong on that, if I decide to read it. Calamity is a great mentor, she's my favorite character. I also like Doctor Impossible but that got trickier as the story progressed. The worldbuilding works well, sketching the idea of this world that is very different from ours because of when the superheroes showed up, but recognizable enough because of what was chosen to parallel our real developments.
Now for the main reason I don't recommend this: I'm disturbed by the way it handles disability and ableism, both with the casual use of ableist slurs (from characters of all cape factions, so this wasn't just how to mark the villains) and with the treatment of physical disabilities. There’s a disturbing battle scene
Overall this seems like pretty good handling of trans stuff and domestic abuse by a parent, but mediocre to terrible handling of ableism and disability, and therefore I don't recommend it. Maybe the sequel could win me back, but that won't be enough to make me feel good about this particular book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, and Vomit
Minor: Drug use and Rape
liddrose's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The beginning is a bit difficult to read because of the MC’s gender dysphoria, but that passes quickly after she gains the mantle and transitions This is one of my favorite superhero stories I’ve ever seen! The MC is complex and struggling but she’s a bright light, and it’s very enjoyable to watch her journey. I also appreciate how her most significant relationships are with other women and it’s really interesting how her understanding of herself and the world changes after she transitions and comes out
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Dysphoria
Minor: Toxic friendship
bardic_llama's review
dark
emotional
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Transphobia
Moderate: Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Medical content
domtheknight's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I was going to give this book less than a 5 but I was thinking about what else I'd want from it, what could have been better, and I could not come up with anything.
I really liked this book. It made me cry several times. There's some heavy stuff and at the bottom of my review I've put some additional explanations of the content warnings I listed in spoiler tags; they're probably not spoilery per se so they're safe to read if you have questions about the content and don't want other kinds of spoilers. I'm not sure if there's a way to message on this site but if there is and you want to ask me any questions about the content warnings, I'd be happy to answer.
The characters in this book were very polarizing for me. Some of them I loved and wanted to hug all the time and cried because I loved them. And others I hated and wanted to shout at or put in time out or just... vanish them from Danielle's life. She's just a kid, and she saves the day several times, and she's perfect. She's got these really strong morals and her uncertainty and hesitations are so real - sometimes those kinds of things feel fake like they're just inserted to draw the story out but her self-discovery on the page was fantastic.
The pacing worried me a bit, but that's because a) there was a pretty big preview for book two at the end of the book I read, about 12% of it, and also b) the story built differently than I thought it would so the actual climax was bigger and in a different place than I was expecting. I like it when a story surprises me by being better than I thought it was.
I'm not sure I'd reread this because parts of it were really hard to read (emotionally... see content warnings) but I am real excited about the sequel.
I put some content warnings on about transphobia, abuse, and some others - these are verbal threats and not physical assault. Some of them are graphic in nature and go on for a long time and the character has very serious emotional reactions to them. Some of them come from close family or friends. There is physical violence in this book but it's all super hero fighting. The main character has plenty of superpowers and could immediately take out anybody who tried to assault her, and nobody actually tries physical assault. But there is definitely emotional trauma and the effects are explicit.
I really liked this book. It made me cry several times. There's some heavy stuff and at the bottom of my review I've put some additional explanations of the content warnings I listed in spoiler tags; they're probably not spoilery per se so they're safe to read if you have questions about the content and don't want other kinds of spoilers. I'm not sure if there's a way to message on this site but if there is and you want to ask me any questions about the content warnings, I'd be happy to answer.
The characters in this book were very polarizing for me. Some of them I loved and wanted to hug all the time and cried because I loved them. And others I hated and wanted to shout at or put in time out or just... vanish them from Danielle's life. She's just a kid, and she saves the day several times, and she's perfect. She's got these really strong morals and her uncertainty and hesitations are so real - sometimes those kinds of things feel fake like they're just inserted to draw the story out but her self-discovery on the page was fantastic.
The pacing worried me a bit, but that's because a) there was a pretty big preview for book two at the end of the book I read, about 12% of it, and also b) the story built differently than I thought it would so the actual climax was bigger and in a different place than I was expecting. I like it when a story surprises me by being better than I thought it was.
I'm not sure I'd reread this because parts of it were really hard to read (emotionally... see content warnings) but I am real excited about the sequel.
I put some content warnings on about transphobia, abuse, and some others - these are verbal threats and not physical assault. Some of them are graphic in nature and go on for a long time and the character has very serious emotional reactions to them. Some of them come from close family or friends. There is physical violence in this book but it's all super hero fighting. The main character has plenty of superpowers and could immediately take out anybody who tried to assault her, and nobody actually tries physical assault. But there is definitely emotional trauma and the effects are explicit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Minor: Rape and Suicidal thoughts
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