Though I’m very, very late to this review, it does mean I’ve had the chance to reread THE EXTRAORDINARIES at least four times since first receiving an advance reader’s copy, and I enjoy it more every time. TJ Klune writes ADHD so well (and as someone with ADHD, I can say that in my opinion, it’s accurate), and it was honestly really, really refreshing to read a superhero book where the superheroes aren’t all buff, all-American white men who express their feelings by punching holes in walls and pretending not to love their mothers, but are instead a bunch of dweebs who really only succeed thanks to pure luck—and as they should, because this is a much-needed book that deals with heavy things but ultimately delivers an equally much-needed happy ending. Thank you for this.

Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillanusa for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I just absolutely love Klune’s writing. I get lost in the stories, and this YA Superhero book is just as intriguing. Nick wants so desperately to be extraordinary. It’s tough being a teen boy with ADHD. With the reluctant help of his friends, he tries his best to become a superhero.

I enjoyed the light humor and lgbtq representation in Klune’s books. I love that there isn’t a big “coming out”, the characters “just are” and it’s accepted. So heartwarming!

4 stars

#books #bookishlife #booklover #readingisfun #iowabookstagrammers #iowabookstagram #netgalley #macmillanusa #ltbreaderteam #tjklune #theextraordinaries

It’s tough being a teen boy, especially one with ADHD. Balancing school, social life, and writing prolific fanfiction while keeping track of the actions of superheroes and villains throughout his city, life can be hard. Nick Bell now really want to be an Extraordinary, a superhero with special abilities. With the reluctant help of his friends, he’s going to try to get there.

TJ Klune is tackling the superhero/comic book world and it’s so much fun! His take is from the perspective of Nick, who dreams of becoming a superhero to ultimately get the attention of Shadow Star, his crush and the central star of his fanfiction writing, though he’s never met his hero. With whatever extraordinary ability he can get, Nick will help fight the evil villain, Pyro Storm. He’s also trying to start his new school year without getting in trouble, the last year’s problems partially being caused by the bad influence of his now ex, Owen. Nick has great friends – the lesbian couple Gibby & Jazz plus his childhood best friend, Seth, who he may or may not have feelings for but he can’t really decide. Now he’s suddenly in a situation that his superhero helps save him, and the story starts to unfold.

Told with light humor and some teenage angst, Klune spins his wonderful first YA novel – smart, clever, and never talking down. There are some mentions of sex and their language isn’t the best, but this is mild compared to what teens have to deal with today. The humbling aspect of the story is that there is no dealing with characters coming out as queer, they just are and the parents/family accept it, dealing with these characters aspects that are universal to teens – keep your door open when friends are over, here’s a banana to give you a demonstration, etc., and embarrassing kids just like parents are supposed to do. That alone makes it great – that our young people have an opportunity to read queer literature that wasn’t widely available even 10 years ago.

There are some surprises, though other parts you can sense what is coming, and it takes itself serious enough that lives are at stake but doesn’t overdo the epic universe life-changing drama that has permeated many recent superhero films. This is a smaller setting though there are amazing big battles, but it still is grounded in reality, as much as a superhero story can be. And adding the layer of Nick’s cluelessness and ADHD, Klune gives a nuance and voice to people growing up with the disorder – it becomes much more clear what someone who is truly affected is feeling and how it influences their behavior, including how prescription drugs can help or not help. Even in the real world of over-prescribed ADHD drugs, the book really throws light on the subject that some people truly need them to help function better.

Klune also gets a chance to take a stab at both making fun of and honoring fanfic, something that his books have fallen under (don’t venture in to tumblr, twitter, and other sites that have are dedicated to his writing unless you are prepared to read/see things…). He voices Nick’s fanfic with the subtle nuances and obviousness of a teenage queer boy writer, which makes the breaks where you read his fanfic chapters an amusing diversion. For the hardcore Klune fans, there are some subtle Easter eggs to his other books, as always, but this not the same universe as any of his other novels/series, so it’s not quite a direct line. I also love that there’s several pop references, especially comic hero stories and including picking up several phrases from one of my all-time favorite TV series about a certain vampire slayer. I think there’s enough diversity in the pop references that you’ll find at least one to coo about.

As always, Klune’s writing is sharp and it’s not dumbed down for it’s target audience – it even sent me to a dictionary for one word. This is what good YA writing should be, and it’s only Klune’s first foray in to this genre, though we had a nice warm up with The House on the Cerulean Sea, which is a book universal to all ages. The Extraordinaries is book one in the series and there’s a pretty clean wrap up at the end, with a post-epilogue bonus chapter hinting at what’s to come. I know that some people like to wait until all the books in a series are finished, but it’s worth it to read now because it’s just that good. Plus, it’s a long time until 2021.

TJ Klune has quickly become one of my favorite authors. His ability to create an engaging plot, characters you can sympathize with, and his use of humor make for books that you don't want to put down. This particular book is in conversation with fandom and fanfiction culture, which is something many of us can relate to. I definitely laughed out loud a few times while reading this one!

The cover for this book is stunning. Eye catching! It would make it a front facing book on my shelves! The story inside is just as amazing! :)

TJ Klune turns his considerable talents to the world of superheroes--and fan fiction--in this YA trilogy. Filled with big emotions, big action, and lots of affection for the genre this series has something for everyone. A great follow up for fans of Klune's adult market novels and a great starting point for readers who haven't found them yet.

Unfortunately due to the problematic author, I will be unable to review this title. Since requesting this book I’ve been made aware of the insensitivities it contains to indigenous and LGBTQ peoples.

I had a lot of issues with this book. Most importantly, it was full of copaganda and there was a strong disconnect between the history of police and the characters in this book. I understand the dad being a police officer connects to superhero comics norms, but it was weird that the MC's best friend went to BLM protests and the kid didn't question his dad being a cop at all

This book was CHAOS. I wanted to DNF from the prologue alone, and now that I've binged it, I am thoroughly invested in the characters and their stories and am on the verge of instantly picking up its sequel.

Nick is absolutely everywhere. If I knew how to, I'd insert a gif of Britta from Community yelling, "High on my own drama!?" cause that's Nick. He has ADHD and we meet him while he's hyper fixating on Shadow Star - a batman-esque hero who has power over shadows (Batman could only dream). Nick is chaotic, has grandiose ideas that often get him in trouble, and loyal friends who stick with him despite his wild ideas and slight self-centered-ness.

At its core, this book is very YA and, as such, fairly cringey at times. There are a lot of cheesy lines and moments that made me want to crawl into my shirt out of second-hand embarrassment; but these cheesy moments were also often hilarious and left me grinning like an idiot as I listened to their wild ideas and adventures. Then there were entirely deep and serious moments that made me tear up, especially between Nick and his dad. Klune, as ever, is a dynamic writer, and he made this book everything he wanted it to be - nothing about this was bad writing, only intentional storytelling and I have to give him credit for that.

I loved Nick's friends - they're odd, wild, and fiercely loyal. Their banter and wit had me laughing and grinning, and their absolute sass made it so easy to love them. I don't know how else to describe it, but they felt so authetic - like exactly how friends are in high school - that it just worked.

To sum up this book, picture Sky High but gay. It's a wild ride and absolutely worth the read!

TW: violence, injury detail, multiple panic attacks on page (three total), drug use (mostly medical), kidnapping, mentions death of parents (two in a train crash, one in a bank heist)

Rep: MC has ADHD, gay MCs, lesbian secondary characters

Plot: 4.5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 4/5
Writing: 4.5/5
Pacing: 4/5
Overall: 4/5

eARC gifted via NetGalley by Tor Teen in exchange for an honest review.

:spoilers included:
Objectively, I love the idea of this book. I love the gay superheroes, the power that they hold, the way that they fight against and for each other, and all of the longing that develops between the different pairings. And I also understand that those things are really what this book is about. But I struggled so much with the basic plot format that I had a hard time focusing on those important things. It seemed absolutely implausible that Nick would not figure out sooner that Seth was Shadow Star. The hints were absolutely everywhere and it's a common trope and he talks about such things like any person would be dumb not to notice and then he doesn't notice. I guess that could be intended to be cute, but it just made me dislike Nick a little bit because he seemed clueless and self-involved. I know a lot of people love this book and there was a lot about it that was great. It just wasn't for me, I guess.

“It's good to talk about how you're feeling, but it's even better to fight for the things you believe in.”

Okay, okay, so I’m going to be honest: this one was a bit of a struggle to get through. It has been raved about on Bookstagram, I absolutely loved Klune’s “House in the Cerulean Sea,” and a YAL about queer superheroes? Yes please! I had such high hopes when I first started. About 50 pages in, however, I was seriously debating DNFing this one. I asked @no_bookmarks_needed what the deal was and he told me that it took a minute to grow on him, but he loved it. I powered through. I got to the last 75 or so pages and things finally clicked in. Did I love it? Meh. Did I wind up actually seeing the bones of a series/world? Absolutely.

Maybe I spoiled myself reading HITCS first because dammit, I loved that book. With “The Extraordinaries” I just felt like the writing was a bit too adult trying to teen too hard? That might be a terrible way to explain it, but the tangential asides and punny humor that spread across every character made it seem a bit heavy handed in that regard. And while the plot itself was mildly predictable—some of those foreshadowing moments weren’t even in the shadows—overall, the story was great. It was how the story was told and the characters telling that story that were a tough pill to swallow (see, even that foreshadowing was a lot).

All things considered, I can’t wait for “Flash Fire” because of the secret chapter at the end of this book—that’s the kind of intrigue and deception I want from my superhero books! Not to mention, the cover are for this book is just beautifully rendered and that has to count for something right?

A queer superhero story that has all the thrills of a fantastic Marvel movie but it's diverse and fun and better than Marvel let's be real.

DNF'd at 23%

I have tried a couple of times to read <i>The Extraordinaries</i> but I simply cannot get into it. The humour is a miss for me, but more than that, the main character Nick is insufferable. He feels very self-centered and the amount of second-hand embarrassment this book has already had, I don't think it is a story for me. I was excited for the fanfiction aspect of the book, but unfortunately the fanfiction excerpts and comments don't feel like being written by "the most popular fanfiction writer".

There are many interesting secondary characters, which I would have liked to learn more. The set-up for the story seems solid, although I have already guessed the identity of Shadow Star and pretty much have an inkling what will happen with Nick. At the moment, I just don't feel enough intrigue from the story to continue when I don't like the main character.

Thank you to the publisher for approving my request for this book, but I’m afraid I am getting nowhere with this book.

TJ Klune was one of my favorite authors at one point and the biggest turn off from reading this book in particular was definitely because of the cop thing and that this had the misfortune of coming out at an unfortunate time in 2020. I’ve not been over to get over that, and the fact that the story and humor in this book is pretty one note from the author - where if you read one comedy romance from him, it kinda feels like you’ve read them all. So I’m afraid this book was a DNF for me.

First the good: this was a really fun YA novel with a twist on the typical superhero story, a lovably ridiculous, slightly self-centered, and sweet protagonist with ADHD, and an m/m love story. Now the not so good: there was a level of police glorification that I found uncomfortable, especially mentions of an instance of police misconduct / abuse that was totally brushed off. If not for the latter, I don't think I would've had such mixed feelings about this one, but especially coming off of how much I loved Klune's adult fantasy titles, The House and the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door, I was pretty surprised by all of that.

I love TJ Klune. The man could write the phonebook in a way that would make me sit down and read it. This was no different. I loved every second of this delightful book. I have recommended to everyone I know. absolutely perfection in my eyes!

5 huge big stars

As a teacher I appreciate the fact that the author, who has ADHD, chose to offer readers a glimpse to Nick's mind and how it races to make connections and leap to conclusion. I love that Nick's friends accept that he is neurodiverse, support him when he needs support, but also know when to walk him off the ledge when he has not thought things out as thoroughly as someone else could have. There is an added level of authenticity when the character struggles to try to live up to what he thinks his father expects of him and that makes Nick's struggles even more heartbreaking.

Nick has the fanboy enthusiasm that I see in my own students. He even writes fanfic about the Extraordinaries who live in his town. However, he is so caught up in his interests that he has failed to see what is literally in front of him. Things so obvious readers will wonder if the author is underestimating our capacity for inference. When Nick has his big reveal moment, readers do as well: Klune knew exactly what he was doing and just wanted us to experience the world through Nick's eyes.

I love the humor in these pages and I love Nick's dad. Yes, I would have been as embarrassed as Nick had Mr. Bell been my parent, but I cracked up with his comments... Cap's too for that matter.

I just couldn’t get into The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune. The beginning dragged and I just couldn’t go on. I do think it will be a book many middle and high school students would enjoy.

Was a slow-paced novel, setting up the series. Was not a fan of this one.

*I received an ARC from NetGalley. My review is my own.

What can I say? It's TJ Klune. TJ Klune and geeky lovable characters in a world where superheroes exist. I couldn't have asked for anything better than this. As usual, the writing is fun and pop and filled with great one-liners and sensibility.