I loved the quippy banter, Gibby, Jazz, and literally all of the adults. I think Nick himself falls a little too short. I see what Klune was getting at, but to me, Nick wasn't endearingly quirky but self-absorbed and annoying. Still, I'm going to read the second one in hopes of things improving because I did enjoy it!

The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune was interesting enough while I was reading but ultimately mostly forgettable and I skim read most of it. I do want to give this book another try when I'm not in a reading slump though.

Agh! I was LOVING this -- well, the first three chapters -- and then my ARC expired. *Sad sigh.*

What I DID read of it, though? I loved it. I mean, I'm a huge superhero fan. I love all things Marvel, DC, comic-inspired. And yes, my youth was filled with quite a lot of fan fiction (mostly reading, but a little writing too). ;D
So, the character of Nick was immediately gripping.

And the writing was FUN?! And SMART?!

I may not have finished more than just three chapters, but I'll DEFINITELY be going out of my way to pick up a copy of this title and read the rest of it. It really was that good, and I can't wait to find out where Nick's adventures take him.

"Why would you want to be normal when you can be something more?"

I wasn't really sure what to expect going in to this book. I've read The House in the Cerulean Sea but I haven't read anything else by T.J. Klune. I should have known based on how much I love The House in the Cerulean Sea that I would also love The Extraordinaries. I saw several reviews that described this book as what they wanted Renegades to be, and I have to admit, I agree. I enjoyed Renegades, but not nearly as much as I enjoyed The Extraordinaries. Nick Bell was one of my most delightful narrators I have had the opportunity to spend time with recently.

In Nick's town, there are a few superheroes who make their presence known at various times. Nick is hopelessly in love with Shadow Star, the hunky superhero saving citizens one crime at a time. Nick is so obsessed with Shadow Star he writes fan fiction from his account ShadowStar744. I think Nick might have obsession beat even by Cath's standards (oh hey, Fangirl). When Nick encounters Shadow Star after an attempted mugging, his obsession takes on a new form: Nick wants to become an extraordinary. Thus begins an adventure of Nick trying just about every ridiculous stunt to gain his own powers to make him a superhero in the same league of Shadow Star. Among all of this, Nick and his dad are still grappling with the sudden loss of Nick's mom and Nick is falling in love with his best friend, Seth.

This book was delightfully funny and endearing. Klune writes characters so well it's impossible not to fall in love with them. I found myself cackling out loud every single time I listened to this book, so I had to be careful when I was listening out in public. Nick Bell reminded me so much of my crushes in high school: that all consuming feeling of thinking about the other person and spending all your spare time imagining situations with them. Nick's group of friends was essentially a warm hug and I enjoyed scenes with them as well. The pinnacle of Nick's friends was Seth. Picturing Seth in his little bow ties and sweater vests gave me butterflies on behalf of Nick.

A huge shoutout to narrator Michael Lesley who made the 13-hour listening experience of this book an absolute delight. I am so excited to read the sequel, Flash Fire, and gear up for the final installment of the trilogy, Heat Wave in 2022.

TW: death of a parent (past), grief, violence, anxiety, panic attack, fire, hospitalization, attempted mugging, risk of self-harm

**Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan for an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Going by my own gut feeling, this book was ok, but not much more. I had to make a third attempt in order to finally read this, because I could tell from the beginning that it just wasn't for me. It was a little too YA. So this would probably be a fantastic book for the younger audience!

In my opinion, the book was too straight-forward and it was too pushy. Nothing was left for me as a reader to interpret or guess, it was all sort of shoved down my throat. No plottwists, no surprises, just a straight line from beginning to end. (The cliffhanger though!! It actually made me want to continue with the series, so kudos for that one I guess)

Though I have to say, I loved reading the book from Nick's pov. The way his mind works really shone through the writing, and it was wonderful. The added bonus of him essentially being a fanboy and writing fanfiction was also fun. I think T.J. Klune is a phenomenal writer, but now I know that his adult books are my cup of tea, and I'll leave the YA books for the actual young adults!

Absolutely the funniest book I've ever read! This had me laughing out loud multiple times throughout the novel, which almost never happens for me. Nick was relatable, real, and so freaking funny.

I was surprised that the fanfic element wasn't as present as I thought it was going to be, but I liked its inclusion a lot. I thought the fic chapters we got to read were SO funny and sounded exactly like a sixteen-year-old boy writing his self-insert wish-fulfillment fanfic. Honestly, I feel like TJ Klune has probably written/read fic in the past, because it was so dead on. Like, change out Shadow Star for Captain America and I'm sure you could find a similar fic on FF.Net

I loved the side characters, as well! Jazz and Gibby were wonderful and so cute together, Seth was adorable and a great friend (+ something more) to Nick. His relationship with his dad was really complex and interesting to see how it played out. Even the characters that played smaller roles, like Martha or Officer Rookie, were memorable and stuck out. TJ Klune is definitely great at crafting characters.

I will say, I did see "the twist" coming from a mile away. It wasn't my initial guess, but I figured it out long before it was revealed. But then, I'm not sure if it was intended to be a huge twist— Nick is written to be really oblivious and it ends up revealed that literally everyone else figured it out on their own.

I'm probably going to jump into the next one pretty quickly!! I really want to know if my theory is true...

So yeah... Nick got on my nerves SO BAD. But I enjoyed the pacing of this and the friend group and the father son relationship, so I THINK I'll continue with the series... But I'm not going to be too pressed to finish it if Nick does not show any character growth. There were some hints dropped that I'd like to see play out so I am intrigued. I guess we shall see.

Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

Do you ever start a book that sounds like everything you love thrown together and then you just struggle reading it? This is what happened to me with The Extraordinaries. I wanted to love it so much because QUEER. SUPERHEROES! I think Teen Rose Red would have adored this because it is peak cheesy superhero comic book goodness but Adult Rose Red had issues.

I loved the fanfiction aspect of this book and I could get behind the humor and ADHD/anxiety rep. My problem was that I found the main character hard to take because he is a bit chaotic and whiny. And I struggled connecting with the book because of it. There was also a part of the book where Nick's actions felt a little out of character and it just dropped me out of the story. Also, the whole police force portion of this book felt pretty out of touch with current events and that made me super uncomfortable while reading.

I can't help but wonder if I would have enjoyed this book if I wasn't trying to read it while trying to teach online during a pandemic and trying to power through it when my brain wasn't in the right headspace for it. I know of several blogger and IRL friends who loved this so I might retry it in the future (maybe this next summer) on audio.

Unfortunately, for now, this book wasn't for me.

Loved this YA debut from one of my favorites authors!

I loved the heart in this story and in all the characters, These characters were delightful and the story epic.

I’ve read every TJ Klune book and been a fan a long time. And one thing is clear, he just gets better and better. Loved The Extraordinaries. It was exactly what I needed this summer. Perfect book is perfect.

Holy cow. How and why did I not read The Extraordinaries sooner?! This is by far the most hilarious and entertaining superhero novel I have ever read. Seriously. Written by T.J. Klune, this novel is a masterpiece.

Nick Bell lives in a world where superheroes are real. They're called extraordinaries, and all Nick has ever wanted was to be one of them. He wants it so desperately that he even writes fanfiction (totally not of the insert variety) of his favorite hero – Shadow Star.

Unfortunately, Nick is more than a little bit obsessed with the idea of becoming extraordinary himself, and so he'll do whatever it takes, even if that means pulling stupid stunts or putting his life on the line.

“But sometimes, there are things greater than us. Things we must do to keep those we love safe. And he loves you. He loves you.”

Next time somebody asks me for a fun superhero read to try; I am going to shove The Extraordinaries in their hands. This novel is amazing! It's funny, charismatic, and delightfully gay all at once. I loved it.

Nick is a determined and quirky character, one who isn't afraid to let his passions take control of his life. Or his friend's lives, if we're totally honest. I found his character to be endearing, even when he let his hero worship go to extremes.

One of the many things that made this novel so amazing has to be the supporting characters, Seth, Owen, Gibby, and Jazz. They flesh out this world so much, and I mean it when I say that the story wouldn't be the same without them.

Or a strong sense of humor, for that matter. I have never read a novel that made me smile SO much. I certainly haven't read a superhero one that did that. It was comical and light and yet had some amazing messages woven into the narrative.

“Sometimes, the people we want to protect the most might not understand why we do the things we do. But that doesn't mean they love us any less. Only you can decide where your faith lies.”

This is not your ordinary 'kid gets powers, kid becomes ultra-special' story. It is so much more than that, and I just can't get enough of it. Thankfully, Flash Fire is ready and waiting for me to read. I better not keep it (or myself) waiting any longer.

3.75 stars.

When I started reading this, I had to force myself through it a little bit. The narrative voice was difficult to get used to and I wasn't sure how I was going to trudge my way through the rest of the book. Then, one day, it was like I flicked a switch in my head and decided to fully embrace the cheesiness and the dumb ideas - and from that point forward I LOVED this. The key to success with this one is allowing yourself to be sucked in by the craziness of Nick's ideas and the atmosphere of the wonderful friend group he has.

I laughed, I cried, and I cringed a whole lot, and I can't wait to do it all again with the next one!

Massive thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy!

A book I wish I'd had when I was a kid. This is beautiful, The friendship these kids have is extraordinary and something that makes hope every kid in the world can experience at some point in their lives. This is a book that I want to give to all my nieces and nephews, so they can read and see how important cultivating true friendships is. So that they can see how important love and understanding, loyalty and trust is. It's superlative.

TJ Klune is a mastermind of witty banter, lovable characters, and hair turn plot twists. The Extraordinaries, is the story of Nick — the ADHD quirky fanboy of Extraordinary Shadow Hunter and his merry band of friends, Gibby, the tough yet lovable realist, Jazz, the beautiful cheerleader who has moments of true genius, Owen, the hot jerky rich boy, and Seth, the best friend who rocks bow ties and penny loafers. Through the course of Nick gushing over Shadow Hunter we are also introduced to Pyro Storm, arch nemesis of Shadow Hunter. TJ Klune finds a way to includes some sweet romance and wonderful adult characters to round out the story. This is a must read and the readers will be clamoring for the sequel!

This is the debut YA novel of TJ Klune, and I was super excited to read it. I have to admit that I didn't love it. It follows the story of a teen with ADHD who is on the heels of a traumatic time, and his desire to become extraordinary, in other words, a super hero. Supers are a thing in their town, and he's already writing more than his share of fan fiction about them. Yes, the story is touching and you feel for the main character. Yes, I understand that the internally monologue of a main character with ADHD is likely to feel a bit scattered and rambling. But I found the story impossible to get invested in because of the rushed feeling of the writing. I'm a fan of the author, and while I understand what they were going for, I don't think it hit the mark.

All in all, I liked the characters, and liked the concept, but I truly feel like this felt like a first attempt that needed some polishing and editing to get the storyline nailed down a bit.

It took me a little while to get into the book and the characters however when I did I was hooked.

Some fun twists making you think the story is going one way when it goes the other.

Fun characters that I was increasingly invested in as the story continued. I really enjoyed the ride with Nick and his best friend Seth, as well as the beauty of journey with nick and his father Aaron.

Great set up for book 2, wonderful LGBTQ representation , some content (sexual, language)

This one is long overdue mainly because i tried reading it over and over and i just could not get into the story. Which makes me quite sad because I do enjoy this author's adult works and I was really hoping to enjoy this one as well.

I read The Extraordinaries after I devoured Cerulean Sea and I walked into it filled with excitement on what was to come. And while I really enjoyed the Extraordinaries it didn't fall in love with it in the same way as I did with Cerulean Sea. I know that comparing the two stories is unfair to both but its hard not to compare one authors work to another as you read them. Extraordinaries was a quick read and I loved Nick but parts of the story seemed a little forced and there were times I just wanted to shake Nick for being so clueless about his BFF. (Though admittedly there are benefits to being an outsider looking in on a story.) But it was also hard to ship Nick and Seth as a couple as we so rarely got to see them together. Extradinaries was filled with heart and humor and I am looking forward to seeing where this series goes and I feel as though as I get to know these characters and world better that I'll grow to love them just as much as Chauncy and the gang from Cerulean Sea.

I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoy any other T.J. Klune book, it was funny and cute. Yet, unlike The House by the Cerulean Sea, this wasn't as memorable and it was kind of predictable at the end.

The thing that really drew me to this book was the fanfic and fandom aspect and I think that was done really really well! I thought the super power aspect would be really interesting but it’s kind of where it lost me. To be honest, I don’t think I was in the right mindset when reading this so I might come back to it eventually and give it another try!