weecha22's review
5.0
A kick-ass superhero, a little bit of angst, a lot of sarcasm, and a sexy smart love interest. As Zola says, "Fort somehow turned the symbol of nerdiness into a visual aphrodisiac—Spanish fly in the form of solid black frames."
It's out now! Yay! Just $1.99!
It's out now! Yay! Just $1.99!
buuboobaby's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this, but wish there had been more worldbuilding.
full review
I love comics and superheroes. so when I saw To the 5th Power, I really wanted to read it. I’ve had good luck with other Entangled Ever Afters, too, so I was quite eager to dive into this one. I enjoyed it a lot. The world building was a little weak, but for a novella, I wasn’t expecting a highly detailed explanation behind all of the super powers the heroes possessed. Instead, this is a kick ass adventure, following Zola on her path to rediscovering herself. The romance wasn’t as prevalent, with the focus instead being on Zola’s battles with the escaped villains. The tension between Fort and Zola is nicely established, though, and because Zola is so strong, Fort’s character was painted with the complexity to deal with her. He’s a stubborn, strong-willed man, and he has to be, or Zola would call all of the shots, and that’s just a little boring.
Fort approaches Zola and requests her assistance recapturing three escaped criminals that were under his care. They are all powerful, convicted murderers, and insane. Sounds like fun, huh? Zola is still suffering from a mental breakdown after her sidekick was murdered in front of her. She is consumed with guilt because she couldn’t protect and defend one of the people closest to her, and she blames herself for his death. Every second of the day. She’s hung up her superhero costume and is trying to be a “normal” person, though in her case, “normal” is far from it.
Fort was her psychiatrist, and he tried to put the shattered pieces of her mind back together after her breakdown. Zola doesn’t trust him, and she knows that he’s not giving her the whole story about the escapees, but she’s attracted to him so she’ll at least hear him out. When the villains attack her one after the other, she is thrust into survival mode. She is forced to pick up her super powered persona, to fight for the lives of all she holds dear. Will the battle cost her her already fragile mind?
To the 5th Power is basically a comic book in prose. I loved it. Despite some occasional confusion at some awkwardly explained background, Zola’s race to recapture the bad guys and save herself at the same time was impossible to put down. She is a legendary superhero, suffering from a complete, and quite possibly, permanent, mental breakdown. She doesn’t want to have anything to do with heroes (or villains, for that matter), but she still feels obligated to protect the citizens around her. She is grappling with serious, overwhelming issues, and it made for a compelling read. How can you be expected to save the world when you are two steps away from being committed to the insane asylum?
While there is a romance between Zola and Fort, this is primarily an action read, with an engagingly damaged protagonist. I hope we can visit with Zola and Fort again in the near future.
Grade: B/B+
full review
I love comics and superheroes. so when I saw To the 5th Power, I really wanted to read it. I’ve had good luck with other Entangled Ever Afters, too, so I was quite eager to dive into this one. I enjoyed it a lot. The world building was a little weak, but for a novella, I wasn’t expecting a highly detailed explanation behind all of the super powers the heroes possessed. Instead, this is a kick ass adventure, following Zola on her path to rediscovering herself. The romance wasn’t as prevalent, with the focus instead being on Zola’s battles with the escaped villains. The tension between Fort and Zola is nicely established, though, and because Zola is so strong, Fort’s character was painted with the complexity to deal with her. He’s a stubborn, strong-willed man, and he has to be, or Zola would call all of the shots, and that’s just a little boring.
Fort approaches Zola and requests her assistance recapturing three escaped criminals that were under his care. They are all powerful, convicted murderers, and insane. Sounds like fun, huh? Zola is still suffering from a mental breakdown after her sidekick was murdered in front of her. She is consumed with guilt because she couldn’t protect and defend one of the people closest to her, and she blames herself for his death. Every second of the day. She’s hung up her superhero costume and is trying to be a “normal” person, though in her case, “normal” is far from it.
Fort was her psychiatrist, and he tried to put the shattered pieces of her mind back together after her breakdown. Zola doesn’t trust him, and she knows that he’s not giving her the whole story about the escapees, but she’s attracted to him so she’ll at least hear him out. When the villains attack her one after the other, she is thrust into survival mode. She is forced to pick up her super powered persona, to fight for the lives of all she holds dear. Will the battle cost her her already fragile mind?
To the 5th Power is basically a comic book in prose. I loved it. Despite some occasional confusion at some awkwardly explained background, Zola’s race to recapture the bad guys and save herself at the same time was impossible to put down. She is a legendary superhero, suffering from a complete, and quite possibly, permanent, mental breakdown. She doesn’t want to have anything to do with heroes (or villains, for that matter), but she still feels obligated to protect the citizens around her. She is grappling with serious, overwhelming issues, and it made for a compelling read. How can you be expected to save the world when you are two steps away from being committed to the insane asylum?
While there is a romance between Zola and Fort, this is primarily an action read, with an engagingly damaged protagonist. I hope we can visit with Zola and Fort again in the near future.
Grade: B/B+
prationality's review
3.0
TO THE FIFTH POWER was an unconventional superhero romance. Dubbin takes our main character, Zola and hands her to us so broken and unstable that when she's overwhelmed she astral shifts leaving behind a dust afterimage. She was the Best. She was Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman all rolled into one and was revered as much as she was feared. We see the team she used to lead and without any apparent bitterness her former teammates admit they can't keep up with the workload without her.
I've often wondered how superheroes bounce back from watching their sidekicks brutally killed or vice versa. Batman alone has lost several of his sidekicks to violence (either to death or to handicap), and his sidekicks' have lost their families because of their association with Bats (sorry Tim). Yet without fail at some point the Hero returns, probably grimmer and whole lot more gruff and caustic (Tim had to almost blackmail Bruce into accepting him as Robin after Jason Todd's brutal death), but we rarely see the fall out.
Dubbin shows us just how bad that fall out can get. Its been several years since Zola's sidekick was brutally beaten by her arch-nemesis, but she never forgets. The sounds of bones crunching, blood splattering, the bravery that kid showed--every detail is indelibly seared in her mind and she can't handle it. So she runs. She hides out as a normal person and avoids all things Superhero.
Honestly what choice does she have? Even if she suffered such a meltdown what does the world notice? Like our celebrities humanity just assumes that they will shed their tears, mourn privately for a little while and then be back in action before the soil has set on the grave. There's a price to pay to be a hero and Dubbin shows just what that price is through Zola.
And that? That's what kept me hooked. Oh the chemistry between Arturo and Zola was good, and I was genuinely interested in the mystery that were the rampaging criminals (which I'll give Dubbin credit, I was surprised by the answer), but watching Zola pick up the pieces that kept me reading. You could feel how painful it was for Zola to talk to her fellow comrades, what strained she felt trying to keep it together so what happened to her sidekick wouldn't happen to more people. Her utter horror when Arturo reveals why the criminals are fixated on her.
As a romance this was okay, but as an analysis of what it takes to be a hero...this was out of this world.
I've often wondered how superheroes bounce back from watching their sidekicks brutally killed or vice versa. Batman alone has lost several of his sidekicks to violence (either to death or to handicap), and his sidekicks' have lost their families because of their association with Bats (sorry Tim). Yet without fail at some point the Hero returns, probably grimmer and whole lot more gruff and caustic (Tim had to almost blackmail Bruce into accepting him as Robin after Jason Todd's brutal death), but we rarely see the fall out.
Dubbin shows us just how bad that fall out can get. Its been several years since Zola's sidekick was brutally beaten by her arch-nemesis, but she never forgets. The sounds of bones crunching, blood splattering, the bravery that kid showed--every detail is indelibly seared in her mind and she can't handle it. So she runs. She hides out as a normal person and avoids all things Superhero.
Honestly what choice does she have? Even if she suffered such a meltdown what does the world notice? Like our celebrities humanity just assumes that they will shed their tears, mourn privately for a little while and then be back in action before the soil has set on the grave. There's a price to pay to be a hero and Dubbin shows just what that price is through Zola.
And that? That's what kept me hooked. Oh the chemistry between Arturo and Zola was good, and I was genuinely interested in the mystery that were the rampaging criminals (which I'll give Dubbin credit, I was surprised by the answer), but watching Zola pick up the pieces that kept me reading. You could feel how painful it was for Zola to talk to her fellow comrades, what strained she felt trying to keep it together so what happened to her sidekick wouldn't happen to more people. Her utter horror when Arturo reveals why the criminals are fixated on her.
As a romance this was okay, but as an analysis of what it takes to be a hero...this was out of this world.
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