Super Adjacent
by Crystal Cestari
My rating: 4 hearts
Genre: Young Adult, Superheroes, Romance
Publication date: March 17, 2020
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Synopsis:
Claire has always wanted to work with superheroes, from collecting Warrior Nation cards as a kid to drafting "What to Say to a Hero" speeches in her diary. Now that she's landed a coveted internship with the Chicago branch of Warrior Nation, Claire is ready to prove she belongs, super or not. But complicating plans is the newest WarNat hero, Girl Power (aka Joy), who happens to be egotistical and self-important . . . and pretty adorable.
Bridgette, meanwhile, wants out of WarNat. After years of dating the famous Vaporizer (aka Matt), she's sick of playing second, or third, or five-hundredth fiddle to all the people-in-peril in the city of Chicago. Of course, once Bridgette meets Claire-who's clearly in need of a mentor and wingman-giving up WarNat becomes slightly more complicated. It becomes a lot more complicated when Joy, Matt, and the rest of the heroes go missing, leaving only Claire and Bridgette to save the day.
In this fresh and funny take on the world of supers, author Crystal Cestari spotlights what it's like to be the seemingly non-super half of a dynamic duo with banter-filled romance and bold rescues perfect for readers seeking a great escape.
The characters were great. I loved the main characters, Claire and Bridgette. They were both interesting to read about and well-written characters. They were layered and flawed, which I loved. But I also loved the side characters. Teddy, Joy, Matt... I could go on. Really, I'd read a book about either one of the side characters, because I can tell that they all have their own stories. It's been a long time since I read a book that had such interesting side characters.
The romance was really sweet. The romance between Claire and Joy felt a little rushed, and I would've preferred if it got to take more time, because I felt like they went from hating each other to kissing - a lot - in very little time. But Bridge and Matt are such a cute couple, and it's very obvious they love each other very much. I also have to say I appreciate that at the end of the book, you could tell there was more to the story than just this book. The romance wasn't done. The couples still has quite a few challenges ahead of them. It was really refreshing.
The plot was well-paced. I struggled a little to get into it, but after a few chapters, I was caught. And I really like the premise. The idea of an organization - a very secretive, fairly mysterious organization - that hires people with superpowers and makes them into superheroes is really interesting, and it was very well-executed. And the insight we got into how the superheroes were marketed - they weren't just born superheroes, but there was actual thought and planning put into each superhero persona - it added another layer to an already quite layered world. And I loved how things weren't just black and white.
It's rare for me to be truly surprised by books nowadays. Often, I see plot twists coming from miles away. But this particular plot twist threw me for a loop. I was totally blind-sided. And I loved it! And the ending was very fitting. I don't want to say too much, but let's just say I hope we get more books about this universe, because there are so many more stories that need to be told. And I really want to see how the world deals with the aftermath of what happened. Especially Warrior Nation - the organization behind the superheroes. But I can also see this being a standalone.
Overall, I cannot recommend this book enough. It was light and fun, but also layered and complicated. And I have to say it was a lot of fun to get to read about the sidekicks this time.
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