Scarlett M. (the-red-dame) reviewed on 6/21/2014 + 31 more book reviews

!! SPOILER ALERT !!

The main thing I like about this book is that it tries to approach super heroes and super villains as humans. If these types of characters existed, what would they really be like? Even supers are unlikely to have perfect lives that revolve around their masked lives. So Grossman has their supposedly invincible leader die, the teams new leader is bulimic, and the happy couple is divorced. Thats kinda different, right?

But wait! The invincible leader isnt really dead, the new leader isnt really bulimic, and the (un)happy couple seemingly get back together.

So that kinda ruins everything. At the very end of the story, Grossman yanks away some of the most serious flaws/problems with this superhero team. I mean, I was starting to like the book almost really like it and then in the climax, all of that happens. Granted, there are some minor issues still around. For example, the female narrator - a new member of the team - decides to resign; she wasnt that interesting of a character though, so who cares? Its like Grossman couldnt decide if he wanted a happy ending or and this wouldve fit better a bittersweet ending, so it ended up with something that was neither, and thus didnt work.

Then there were some parts of the book that were just random. There was an encounter between Mister Mystic and Impossible that lead you to think thered be more about Mystic in the book, but there never was. It was like a loose thread. Then Fatale starts accusing Elphin of not being a real fairy. Shes on a team with a cat-man, a glass woman, a shadowy magician, a near-invincible flying woman, and she herself is a cyborg, but she cant believe Elphin is a fairy?

Speaking of Fatale, she never really seems to do anything. She misses the first big fight, then is quickly disabled in the main fight. She talks about her past and all the cool things she did, but its the past; the reader never gets to read it. Since the reader never actually gets to read about her doing anything good, shed pretty much useless in the book. Her only role is to serve as an outside perspective on the super team.

Also, Corefire is a rip-off of Superman, which I guess is the point, but Damsels weakness is ripped off Superman too, which makes me question Grossmans creativity.

Ultimately a decent book at least, I dont regret reading it but it has issues and falls short of what it couldve been.(less)

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