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A review by obscurepages
The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune
5.0
I received an e-arc of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much Tor Teen!
I have such high expectations for this book. The cover is beautiful, the synopsis sounds promising, and having read Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea, I have nothing but excitement and faith for it. And after reading it, damn, I am so glad those expectations are met and more.
tl;dr: This funny, wholesome, and unapologetically queer book will make you laugh, break your heart, and lure you into the start of what seems to be a great trilogy. Superheroes and villains! Fan fictions! Best friends to lovers trope! You will love this!
~
This book is just perfect. It’s hella funny, it’s poignant, it’s relatable, it’s heartbreaking, it’s shocking, it’s angsty (two boys pining, come on), it’s heartwarming, the plot twists are amazing, it’s wonderfully-written, it’s EVERYTHING.
But let’s start with the writing style. Klune knows how to tell a story. Yes, he does. The book opens up with a fanfic (a freaking FANFIC, formatted just like in AO3) and I knew this is going to be one hell of a ride. It was funny all throughout, but there were heartbreaking and heartstopping moments as well.
Being neurodiverse himself, I feel like Klune managed to encapsulate Nick’s ADHD onto the pages perfectly. There were times when I just wanted to give Nick a hug, and tell him it’s going to be okay. (This is obviously a clear sign that I got invested with the characters AGAIN) Speaking of characters, I loved that everyone in this book had a part. The minor characters weren’t just there for the sake of it. Instead, they added their own flair and stories, they helped Nick, they helped the plot, they made the story alive, and I loved that.
As for the romance, oh boy. Get ready for a lot of pining and cluelessness and angst. But also, get ready for the fluff and the wholesomeness. Best friends to lovers is one of my favorite romance tropes, and the author wrote that well.
When it comes to the plot of The Extraordinaries, it was definitely entertaining. Nick decides he wants to become an Extraordinary and starts all these crazy methods, and then some…other things happen (which I will not spoil, of course!). I liked that the author knows how to build up a plot twist or revelation. He does that really well all throughout the book using flashbacks, a number of foreshadowing, and more. And though, I already had a hunch early on about a specific big plot twist, it was still so exciting and thrilling to read the book.
The world-building, I feel like it can use a little more polishing. However, this is just the first book, and I have faith that we’ll get to know more about the origin of these Extraordinaries in the next installments.
Overall, The Extraordinaries is such an amazing journey of self-discovery, self-love, the beauty of friendship and family, and challenging the very trope that is “superhero versus villain”.
Now, how do I rate this a million stars?
(This review was first published on Enthralled Bookworm.)
I have such high expectations for this book. The cover is beautiful, the synopsis sounds promising, and having read Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea, I have nothing but excitement and faith for it. And after reading it, damn, I am so glad those expectations are met and more.
tl;dr: This funny, wholesome, and unapologetically queer book will make you laugh, break your heart, and lure you into the start of what seems to be a great trilogy. Superheroes and villains! Fan fictions! Best friends to lovers trope! You will love this!
~
This book is just perfect. It’s hella funny, it’s poignant, it’s relatable, it’s heartbreaking, it’s shocking, it’s angsty (two boys pining, come on), it’s heartwarming, the plot twists are amazing, it’s wonderfully-written, it’s EVERYTHING.
But let’s start with the writing style. Klune knows how to tell a story. Yes, he does. The book opens up with a fanfic (a freaking FANFIC, formatted just like in AO3) and I knew this is going to be one hell of a ride. It was funny all throughout, but there were heartbreaking and heartstopping moments as well.
Being neurodiverse himself, I feel like Klune managed to encapsulate Nick’s ADHD onto the pages perfectly. There were times when I just wanted to give Nick a hug, and tell him it’s going to be okay. (This is obviously a clear sign that I got invested with the characters AGAIN) Speaking of characters, I loved that everyone in this book had a part. The minor characters weren’t just there for the sake of it. Instead, they added their own flair and stories, they helped Nick, they helped the plot, they made the story alive, and I loved that.
As for the romance, oh boy. Get ready for a lot of pining and cluelessness and angst. But also, get ready for the fluff and the wholesomeness. Best friends to lovers is one of my favorite romance tropes, and the author wrote that well.
When it comes to the plot of The Extraordinaries, it was definitely entertaining. Nick decides he wants to become an Extraordinary and starts all these crazy methods, and then some…other things happen (which I will not spoil, of course!). I liked that the author knows how to build up a plot twist or revelation. He does that really well all throughout the book using flashbacks, a number of foreshadowing, and more. And though, I already had a hunch early on about a specific big plot twist, it was still so exciting and thrilling to read the book.
The world-building, I feel like it can use a little more polishing. However, this is just the first book, and I have faith that we’ll get to know more about the origin of these Extraordinaries in the next installments.
Overall, The Extraordinaries is such an amazing journey of self-discovery, self-love, the beauty of friendship and family, and challenging the very trope that is “superhero versus villain”.
(This review was first published on Enthralled Bookworm.)