Scan barcode
thinde's review
3.0
This is a decent superhero novel that skips over the origin story and gets straight into the meat of the protagonist's life. The trouble is, he's a shallow, self-centred young man that can't seem to take anything seriously.
Spit-Ball's fame-seeking behaviour turns out to be the meaning behind the book's title. Fame is a hungry god. That line gave me hope that the story would offer a deep look at the shift in Western culture toward fame as an end in itself. Kids used to dream of growing up to do something great, with fame being a side-effect. Now they just want to skip the messy middle bit and simply be famous. But no, the book ends as it starts, with Spit-Ball seeking publicity and fame without taking a moment to understand a broader context.
As with many recent superhero novels, we see no sign of training or government oversight. I found it particularly disheartening to see Spit-Ball assaulted several times by another supposedly "good" super, only to be victim shamed for "provoking" the situation. Am I asking too much of this genre? Probably.
Spit-Ball's fame-seeking behaviour turns out to be the meaning behind the book's title. Fame is a hungry god. That line gave me hope that the story would offer a deep look at the shift in Western culture toward fame as an end in itself. Kids used to dream of growing up to do something great, with fame being a side-effect. Now they just want to skip the messy middle bit and simply be famous. But no, the book ends as it starts, with Spit-Ball seeking publicity and fame without taking a moment to understand a broader context.
As with many recent superhero novels, we see no sign of training or government oversight. I found it particularly disheartening to see Spit-Ball assaulted several times by another supposedly "good" super, only to be victim shamed for "provoking" the situation. Am I asking too much of this genre? Probably.
More...