Reviews

The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune

danwyn's review against another edition

4.0

Nick epitomizes the pure of heart, dumb of ass character archetype, and I found that really enjoyable.

ogbertthenerd's review against another edition

The bones of this are great, but it’s about 100 pages too long and weirdly preachy? The main character is a teenage boy who says, does, and thinks typical silly teenage boy things but then often goes into diatribes about how he knows that thing was wrong and all the reasons why. It reads like the author is afraid of letting the character make mistakes that might get any kind of pushback from readers (which based on some of these reviews I can’t blame him for). Even stranger, the one area there is no moral grandstanding is around the police, including an out-of-left-field brutality incident that is mostly brushed under the rug, an off-putting running gag about the teens joking that one of the cops is a pedophile, and a lot of “they’re very brave heroes” talk that can only partially be chalked up to the protagonist loving his dad. Almost all of the adult characters share one voice that’s only slightly different from the main teen character’s and the teens definitely have an-adults-idea-of-teens voice. Overall I’m rounding up from three stars because it ends strong and I still enjoyed it, particularly the relationship between Nick and his dad.

lee_noel's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

ebarrett3's review against another edition

5.0

Really cute story appropriate for highschoolers and up. MMC has lost a parent and struggles with ADHD. Oh and superheroes are real.

I haven't read the sequel yet but it's heavily set up that

Spoiler

Nick is also Extraordinary but his ADHD meds keep him from realizing his powers.

I don't like the implications that has for real-world kids so I'm hoping the author treads carefully there.

borrowedfriend's review against another edition

emotional funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

bibliobrandie's review against another edition

4.0

This was such a fun queer superhero coming of age love story! I laughed out loud at some of the dialogue and liked how it read like a comic book because of the dialogue. I enjoyed the characters but I thought some of the fight scenes were a little long and cumbersome. I liked how Nick was caught in the middle between his loyalty to his police officer father and his loyalty to his superhero crush. I will definitely read the next one. Bonus: the audio narrator is FANtastic!

cobaltbookshelf's review against another edition

1.0

Infuriating predictable but worse of all it's police propaganda...anyway defund the police.

spacekitty_77's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

professor_kei's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced

5.0

Love, love, love this book. The main character is a neurodivergent person, and the author does a really good job reflecting the constant running inner commentary of a neurodivergent person. Plus - superheroes, friendship, loyalty, and love. I'm on to book 2!

milo_bove's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0