Series or stand alone: stand alone at the moment
Genre: young adult, fantasy, science fiction, glbtq, superheroes
Copyright: 2007
Publisher: Corgi Books
Pages: 432
Tagline: Every superhero has a secret.
Blurb: Thom Creed is used to being on his own. Even as a high school basketball star, he has to keep his distance because of his father. Hal Creed had once been one of the greatest and most beloved superheroes of the League – until the Wilson Towers incident. After that Thom's mother disappeared and his proud father became an outcast.
The last thing in the world Thom would ever want is to disappoint his father. So Thom keeps two secrets from him: first is that he's gay. The second is that he has the power to heal people. Initially, Thom had trouble controlling his powers. But with trial and error he improves, until he gets so good that he catches the attention of the League and is asked to join. Even though he knows it would kill his dad, Thom can't resist. When he joins the League, he meets a motley crew of other heroes, including tough-talking Scarlett, who has the power of fire from growing up near a nuclear power plant; Typhoid Larry, who makes everyone sick by touching them, but is actually a really sweet guy; and wise Ruth, who has the power to see the future. Together these unlikely heroes become friends and begin to uncover a plot to kill the superheroes.
Along the way, Thom falls in love, and discovers the difficult truth about his parents' past. This moving, funny, and wonderfully original novel shows that things are not always what they seem, and love can be found in the unlikeliest of places.
First line: I never thought I’d have a story worth telling, at least not one about me.
Reason for reading: SUPERHEROES!!!
Cover: I seriously love all of the covers for this book. I am a superhero nerd.
Verdict: awesome. 10/10. 5/5. 100%. A+. Whatever your own personal method for rating a book is, this deserves the highest score.
Thoughts: I love this book. I want more. Many, many more.
There is a lot going on: Thom’s developing superpowers, his agonising over his sexuality, his troubled and somewhat distant relationship with his father and his mother’s disappearance. The fact that his parents used to be superheroes themselves. But after his father’s public shaming, these things are no longer mentioned in his house. So Thom feels that needs to keep his sexuality, his powers and the fact he is now a probationary member of the League a secret.
Thom is a wonderful character. I found it very easy to get inside his head and to understand his actions and decisions. He wants to please his father but still be true to himself. He works a few different jobs for money and is on the basketball team to make his father proud. He is by no means perfect but I loved him. My heart broke for him when he was kicked out of the League for being gay and telling the truth and his father’s reaction to this. The unfairness of it overwhelmed me and I teared up a little.
It is also a humorous novel with tongue planted firmly in cheek on occasions. Thom finds himself in a predicament with porn, the superhero names are amusing (Typhoid Larry’s power is making people ill) and they do gently poke fun at the mainstream Marvel and DC characters in a goofy sort of way.
All characters were well developed but my favourites were the other probationers in Thom’s group. We have the initially loathsome Golden Boy (the shamed sidekick in charge of the group) and Miss Scarlett, Typhoid Larry and the fantastic Ruth, a rather droll near-elderly lady who just happens to be a bit psychic. My favourite parts of the book were where this motley crew were bickering at each other.
There was all of this characterisation going on and yet the world building was equally as fantastic. Okay, so the characters may be familiar to those who read comic books, I get that, but it is not a complete rip-off of the worlds from the big comic book publishing houses. The plot was great and full of twists I genuinely never saw coming. The ending blew me away and had me bawling my eyes out.
I loved this book and it may actually be my favourite read this year. In fact, I hope it is.
Currently reading: Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris.