It’s been a staple of science fiction for decades: the notion that that there are those among us with special abilities. Mutants is the term in X-men. Heroes was the term in the tv show of that title that ran for four seasons. Here, they are called resonants and they are born with special abilities that manifest as they get older. This book posits a special secret school for those with enhanced abilities. Snd, they have a shared inner world called a Hive where they communicate sort of like Card’s Ender.

And, there are good resonants who want to help the world and angry bitter ones who want to burn the world up. And, a third side of the battle with Homeland Security rounding up these strange beings and putting them in camps in the desert before someone goes Beserk and swallows a city.

It’s well told, initially through the point of view of Avi, a reporter who aims to tell their story and discovers his daughter is one. The focus is on how these new people are strangers in a strange land and how uncomfortable and scared everyone is of them and their powers.

Maybe 4.5 stars. The comparisons to X-Men are obvious but this is much more what it would be like to live through the revelation that a significant fraction of society has superpowers. I thought the writing and characters were solid and admire the sudden dark, violent turns that happen occasionally and upend expectations.

The ending left me dissatisfied at first but it has grown on me.

I was really excited to read this book; it was exactly what I'd been into reading lately. A non-fiction book with characters that have supernatural powers that didn't seem too "out there." Unfortunately, this book had too much going on, too many characters to keep track of without fleshing out anyone besides Avi, and jumped from scene to scene without a good transition. I kept on reading, utterly confused at what I was reading at first, hoping things would improve. They did at times; I enjoyed some of the abilities that the characters had and some of the "true life" issues a lot of them faced. But there were still too many issues for me to ever enjoy reading this book, which really bummed me out.

A fantastic premise with some promise, but ultimately uneven. Part X-Men, part WB, part social commentary: there is a lot thrown in here but it doesn't always come together, and there is a discord throughout with many unresolved story lines (ahem, what is Emmeline's power? What is Fahima's grand plan?) The reader is expected to empathize with characters but the author doesn't necessarily develop the character in depth enough to do so---it leaves the reader with the feeling of watching the story unfold from a distance rather than experiencing it. At some points I appreciated the coolness and distance, and at others found myself disengaged.

I got to the end and found myself thinking, "What? This must be a part 1."

All in all, enjoyable but flawed.

This almost felt like a screen play for a super heroes movie. There were plots and sub plots. There were multiple stories going on. They were all really interesting, but i wanted more depth to some of The people. This could have been improved by making this a series of books, with more detail in each story.

This novel was recommended by the publisher because I enjoyed Blake Crouch’s Recursion. While I found this novel entertaining, I would not necessarily find this to be a read-alike for Crouch. This one had more of a Heroes (the TV show) or x-men sort of vibe. And, there were a lot of stories going on here. As another reviewer mentioned this was episodic in feel in that way as well.

This was a really excellent story that grabbed me in the opening pages and never let go - although I must confess to being disappointed that it stopped rather than ended... There are a LOT of loose ends left hanging, and in a way that felt unfinished rather than cliff-hanger'ed.

Despite that, I loved the story - and for me, that's an unusual statement to make. I automatically knock a star off for an abrupt end that leaves the current elements of the story unfinished (as I did here). But usually that knock off also means I have to give an "I'm so disappointed" on the whole book - and no matter how much I might be, I just can't do that here. Proehl has done a magnificent job crafting a world that is utterly believable and
populated by a fantastic, in every sense of the word, mix of characters. The story resonates (no pun intended) with current events and extrapolates the plight of the Resonant to that of minority groups of all shapes and sizes. The story rings clarion-clear and delivers a fantastic punch all wrapped in a delightful package of witty, clever, original storytelling.

There are a lot of possibilities for a sequel/subsequent books - and frankly, the way the story ended demands at least one more. I hope it comes soon - there was so much going on here, with such a panoply of characters, that it would be tough to wait too long and still keep things straight enough in my head to fully enjoy the next installment. And if the next book is anything like this one, I fully intend to enjoy it. This was a fantastic story and I will definitely be keeping Proehl on my watchlist...

This review will run on my blog (www.Jill-Elizabeth.com) in Summer 2019.

There are at least 4, possibly 5, really good storylines in this novel. First, there is the story of Avi and Kay and their Resonant (i.e. gifted) daughter Emmaline. Resonants live among us, hiding various powers like invisibility, time travel, and wiping people into oblivion with a wave of their hand. They discover their daughter has powers and enroll her in the Bishop Academy, a school specifically for Resonant children. That's pretty much where their story ends. Avi is completely unlikeable, self-centered and more concerned about furthering his career than the welfare of his daughter or wife. Kay, not a contender for mother of the year, is a high powered lawyer, intolerant and unbending, who simply doesn't seem to care about her daughter or husband. Not surprisingly, they eventually divorce, leaving Emmaline in the capable hands of the school. After that we don't hear much from any of them again.

A second plotline follows a student at the school, Carrie, who can become invisible but is having trouble controlling when and where it happens. She had a rough home life as a child but at seventeen, is finally maturing into her own person. She secretly loves Miguel, an empath who can discern other peoples true feelings, but for some reason can't see how Carrie feels about him. They eventually leave the school, are kidnapped by Resonant haters, and held at a facility that keeps them powerless. One day they get their powers back, along with a chance to escape. Carrie takes it, leaving Miguel behind to care for the camps' children. We don't hear from either of those characters again.

The third story with promise, Fahima is a student turned teacher at the Bishop Academy. She lives with her lover Alyssa, a doctor who is sans power. Fahima can see and talk with machines, she can visualize and build a machine to do pretty much anything.. Her father and uncle were reported by neighbors and others who feared their Muslim ways, and taken into custody by police when she was young. She never saw them again and harbors fear and resentment, naturally, against almost everyone. She is the right hand woman of Kevin Bishop, the founder of the Bishop Academy.

A fourth plot I wish would have been given more meat is Kevin Bishop and the Academy. We know he is old, very old, but doesn't look his age. We know he is dying of cancer but has been able to keep it at bay with his power. However, that is draining him more than he lets on and he is getting weaker and weaker. He is also the creator of the Hive, where Resonants can go to communicate with each other in their mind. There is another co-creator of the Hive that is briefly mentioned and I thought he was going to figure in the story somehow, but after bringing it up, the author also lets that plotline drop into nothingness. Bishop turns over the running of the Academy to Sara who can... well honestly, I never did figure out exactly what her power was. Her brother Peter is also at the Academy as a teacher. He can stretch and rebound any and all of his body. A whole novel just about Bishop and the Academy and the students and teachers would have been great, but again, halfway through we lose contact with them. They do show up again briefly toward the end, but it's not nearly enough.


The fifth thread that could have been followed for a whole book was the story of Owen. Also just a teenager, but never a student at the Academy, he is an angry young man with the incredible power to simply wipe people and things out of existence. He has been 'taken over', if you will, by an evil Resonant who managed to get inside his brain and issue commands for Owen to follow. At first Owen is depicted as an out of control psychopath; sent to wipe out a church full of people, he does so with gusto and glee. But when he realizes there are other Resonants in the church, he leaves that one and destroys a different one. The evil Resonant is very angry with him for not following orders, but why would a Resonant, evil or not, want to destroy others of his own kind? Don't know, also a storyline that simply drops off into thin air until almost the end, when it is quickly tied up with a neat little bow but zero explanation.


Finally, although this book compassionately depicts the struggles faced by Muslims, gays, African-Americans and Resonants, I felt it slipped and fell over the edge with the character Hayden. I am well aware that transgender people want to be referred to as they instead of he or she. That is fine. But try making sense of that when reading that pronoun in reference to an individual instead of a group. It was very confusing. For example (not verbatim from the book): "Hayden is part of a band. They write their own songs, They are the lead singer. They draw big crowds. They love dressing in fancy clothes. Their voice is lovely." I never knew when the book was talking about Hayden, the individual, or the whole band. But it wasn't too bad; Hayden is only thrown into the mix a few times and then, like many other characters, never heard from again.

Final comment, this isn't a bad book but most assuredly, it is not a good one. It is very disjointed, very jerky in style and story. There are brief flashes of brilliance, like spotting a shooting star or a bolt of lightening. After that, you turn back around, having lost all interest in the rest of the quiet night sky.

Loved how well you knew the characters and you understand why they're doing what they're doing. This book is sad in a way because you know if something like this happened t hen the rest would surely still happen too. The book kept me trapped and I can't wait to continue the story whenever the next book comes out.

I read this over the weekend, and it was phenomenal. The first part is definitely XMEN, with a journalist discovering a school for kids with “special abilities” while investigating a terrorist attack by one of those kids. However, this book differentiates itself from XMEN in that this story is much more grounded and more believable than XMEN, and once the gifted people publicly come out, the book becomes more of an allegory on immigration, homophobia and racism and how our society would react under the circumstances. It explores what would happen to our criminal justice system (are those with powers considered an equal class with equal rights? Are superpowers akin to owning firearms?), healthcare (if a doctor uses her abilities to save a patient and the patient dies, what liability is there?), politics (what laws and policies should be enacted?). The world-building and attention to details is impressive, and the book does not shy away from going to dark places and I think it differentiates itself from what’s been done previously in the genre.

Oh boy! I requested this book because superpowers! but it was so much more. It makes you take a hard look at society when things happening in the book are mirrored in the current climate, or could be so easily. The abilities were interesting and the integration of them into the real world was great. I enjoyed and was challenged by this world and would read more.

Great plot. The story was easy to follow and the characters were well developed. The author used a very good flow for this Story.

The Nobody People by Bob Proehl is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary. This has good world building in that some kids are now forced out of being isolated. It is assumed by the government. Why is let to the imagination, we don't first know what is special with these kids or what they might do to them. It builds up the suspense. I liked it but they had so many kids telling their story at first. Good teen and pre teen book!

REVIEW
Based on the synopsis, I thought I would enjoy The Nobody People by Bob Proehl, but I was blown away by how captivating this novel is. It's like X-Men with an even deeper emotional core. Characters are "nobodies,"but they possess extraordinary abilities that can be used to fight against bigotry and fear. While set in a concept that is fantastical, parallels can certainly be drawn to our current xenophobic climate. It's a book that will leave readers thinking after it is done. It could benefit a bit from a deft edit, but it's not enough to keep readers from enjoying the world that Proehl creates.

PRAISE
“Smart, exciting, lyrical, and fun. This astonishing book brings the superhero universe of Marvel or DC into our own, with all its rough edges and ugliness. Once you start reading, you won’t be able to stop.”—Sam J. Miller, Nebula Award winning author of Blackfish City

“The epitome of a page-turner, with well-drawn-out characters, tense set pieces, and a cinematic feel.”—John Marrs, bestselling author of The Good Samaritan

AUTHOR
Bob Proehl is the author of A Hundred Thousand Worlds, a Booklist best book of the year. He has worked as a bookseller and programming director for Buffalo Street Books in Ithaca, New York, a DJ, a record store owner, and a bartender. He was a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow in Fiction and a resident at the Saltonstall Arts Colony. His work has appeared on Salon, as part of the 33 1/3 book series, and in American Short Fiction.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Review THE NOBODY PEOPLE by Bob Proehl and reviewing for Netgalley. A group of outcasts with unusual abilities and their hardships in trying to fit into mainstream society. I hate giving bad reviews but this book was overly long and could have been 3 different books! Too many different characters which made it hard to keep up with, along with too many discriptions of mundane things made it definitely not my cup of tea. 🌟🌟Two stars.

This book was great! I love dystopian/apocalyptic story lines and this one definitely did not disappoint. I felt like the characters were well developed, they felt like real people to me. The story line was so interesting and the writing style was easy to read. I would definitely recommend.