Book Reviews

review; masked

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Masked
by J.D. Wright

Vada’s To-Do List:

– Turn 18 (check!)
– Register super name
– Order supersuit
– Attend superhero indoctrination
– Graduate high school
– Start kicking criminal tail

Vada Lawson can’t wait to be a superhero. Born into a family with special powers, she’s been training to fight criminals and villains her whole life. But her indoctrination into the underground super community is derailed when normals start breaking out in superpowers themselves.

Not trained to control their new abilities, the normals are frightened and vulnerable. Then their mutilated corpses begin turning up all over town. What the heck?

Somehow, with the help – and hindrance – of an annoying newly-minted super named Orion, Vada has to stop the chaos before it destroys her and everything she holds dear… and ruins her superhero debut.

Review:

I received this copy in exchange for an honest review from Limitless Publishing. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you Limitless!

I don’t think I’ve read a superhero book before. This was a fun read. It reminded me of Sky High in places – the main character being the child of famous superhero parents, one who has flight and the to other super strength, the whole high school aspect of it, the other teen supers reactions to the Vada’s famous parents.

Even a bit of the dialogue gave me Sky High flashbacks. Particularly the bit where Nick broke up with Scarlet. It was almost word for word with the movie.

But the main plot was a lot darker than Sky High’s. again, similarity in the long thought to be dead villain not being dead and attempting to finish up their pet project. Still, the balancing of a normal life with a super life was interesting to read. It was predictable at times – the first mention of Nick already made it obvious that he would be Vada’s love interest. Victor and Henley’s first meeting foreshadowed his interest and her darkness.

Henley as a character initially annoyed me after she started blowing up at Vada. Female friendships in stories are important to me, and to see one disintegrating for apparently no reason made me a little annoyed. But the explanation about ‘turning’ made some sense as to why the seemingly flighty but not evil girl we see in the beginning fully embraces her role as a villainous. It came a little late in the story, but at least we got that one explanation.

The stark difference between Majestic and Vada as characters was a little startling. We see glimpses of it, but her treatment of Orion right off the bat just did not mesh well with what I knew of Vada prior to that. She seemed to dislike him on sight for no reason, and then her competitive side reared its head. It might have made more sense if her reaction had been the other way around, with a casual acquaintance turning a little sour over mutual competitive spirits and stubbornness.

Still, it was an easy read with an engaging plot and lots of banter.

I’m Ara, a Southeast Asian writer who someday hopes to have published a novel, and who is currently losing herself in the worlds created by others. I love books and food and television and blogging and I get distracted and sidetracked easily.

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