Someone tell Nicky that the sequel was even better so he can Nicky YES at us all

I enjoyed tf out of this. This cast of characters is outstanding. Jazz (and her heels) and Gibby are some of the best scene stealers out there. Nick and Seth were my favorites because … just because.

Super glad some things with Nick’s dad were addressed - never totally resolved tho. Never written off as okay. But confronted and difficult and hopefully show others that you can become a better person, but that doesn’t mean those you hurt have to condone or forgive what you’ve done. And I think that’s important.

excellent post credits scene. Looking forward to book three.

Wow, all I can say is wow! I am always nervous about sequels to amazing books, but once again TJ Klune does not disappoint! Flash Fire picks up right where the extraordinaries left off and is full of ridiculous Nick Bell antics, heartfelt moments, and some hard realities along the way. There was a lot of pushback about minimizing police brutality in the first book, and I don’t think a sequel could have addressed it in any better of a way. I don’t want to give any of it away, but I left the book feeling like the issue was addressed incredibly well, as well as resolved completely. I will 100% recommend this book series time and time again.

Copy Recieved by Netgalley in exchange for honest review

T.J. Klune, you have no right writing cliffhanger endings like that! I should have learned my lesson from book one of this series...

Book two of The Extraordinaries series picks up a few months after the end of the first. Seth and Nick are together, fighting crime with the help of their friends Gibby and Jazz. Seth struggles to balance the responsibilities of being a son, a student, a boyfriend, and a superhero. Nick has to come to terms with some secrets his dad has been keeping from him. Entrenched within all that YA goodness, there is a mysterious plot unfolding starring none other than Rebecca Firestone and Simon Burke.

As with the first book in the series, I enjoyed the narrative style of Nick. Klune navigates Nick's brain for his readers well, clearly expressing Nick's ADHD and personality while remaining narratively clear for us. I enjoyed the romantic subplot between Seth and Nick, as well as learning more about the truth of Nick and his dad, Aaron's, past. I still felt like the major developments for the characters were predictable as I did in the first book. And the overall plot line of this one seems to be transitional, setting up larger, more dramatic/exciting events to come in the last book of the series.

I commend Klune for reversing and attempting to correct gaffes made in the previous book with Aaron's dad.</a> For me, as with other readers, however, it does seem a bit forced. It parallels the growth Aaron's dad has to experience with his son and as a character, but some of the direct conversations felt a bit out of place or extended. It's a challenging thing to do in fiction, so I applaud Klune for taking that step nonetheless.

This series is still completely binge-able. Even though Nick is super annoying most of the time, you'll continue to be interested in his story. And you'll never see what's coming at the end...

I was so excited for this sequel! Sometimes you want to shake your fist at Nick for not figuring things out, but I love him. The friendship, hormones, and witty banter will draw you right in.

I freaking love this series!!!!! Totally saw the twist coming but didn't even mind because it was epic. I love Nick, Seth, Gibby, and Jazz, they are the friends everyone wishes they had in high school.

I hope there are many more books in this series because I want to keep reading more adventures involving Lighthouse.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK AND THE EXTRAORDINARIES TO EVERYONE!!!

4 stars

OH MY GODS THAT ENDING?! I NEED THE NEXT BOOK ASAP!!

But also like I really loved how the dynamic between all the characters keeps growing. The friendships, relationships and family relationships just keep getting stronger. And all the talk about the police and corruption is so good. I'm looking forward to seeing what all Aaron and Cap do. ALSO NEW EXTRAORDINARIES?! HELL YEEESSSS. I love them.

This book just wasn't for me. I was not really into it but I think that may be because I didn't realize it's a sequel to a previous book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Teen for an arc of this book.

I am sad to say that I did not enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed The Extraordinaries. I felt like the campiness and humor of the first book was much stronger than the sequels. I found myself getting bored a lot while reading this book but I’m also aware that it could just not be for me. I love TJ Klune’s writing, but for some reason this book felt like it was written too quickly and there could have been more thoughts put into some of the things that happened. I do appreciate him addressing the police issue that was brought forward as a critique of The Extraordinaries, a critique I also had of the book. However, I will say it did make it feel like these characters motivations and feelings changed drastically from the first book to the second, which made me feel like he didn’t put enough effort into rectifying his mistakes from the first novel. I will most likely pick up the third book in the series, just because I would like to see where these characters end up, however I don’t think this type of writing plays to TJ Klune’s strength. I prefer is more whimsical and heartwarming books versus these teenage superhero ones.

I'm a big fan of TJ Klune so was very excited for this, especially as this is one of the few series that features an ADHD protagonist. If you liked the first book then this carries on the plot and provides the same feels and excitement as the first. I did feel that the pacing was a bit off which is often the case when there's clearly another book on the way, Overall, this is a great sequel to an already beloved book.

This is fun, funny and full of teenage angst and humor and super powers!!
This is one instance where I wish I had read the first book to get more of the backstory of the characters, but nonetheless I was still able to enjoy it. There were so many emotions and I was cheering for the main character and I loved the action at the Prom!
Nick, Seth, Jazz and Gibby all have to face the normal teenage issues-planning for the future, crushes and loves, hormonal drama and also new Extraordinaries and secrets coming to light.
Nick’s relationship with his dad is something worth noting. Parents of teenagers know how hard it is, now imagine how hard it would be to parent a teen with super powers! Yet their bond is strong and funny and deep.
I will totally go back and read the first book at some point.
Thanks to Tor Teen and Netgalley for this Arc in exchange for my review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4112990996

https://www.instagram.com/sixreasonsreviews/

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1. Pace- Though I hate to start off with something a little negative, I must admit the pace of Flash Fire was not perfect for me. I equate it to the ocean’s tides. Beginning = high tide: Laugh out loud funny and entertaining; Middle= low tide: Kind of slow, waiting for the action, predictable. End= Back to high tide: epic fight scenes, intense drama, very engaging.

2. Spice- Hot, no. Sweet, yes. Safe? Always. While I would not say there is any spice in Flash Fire beyond some making out and raspberries on bellies, Klune does not shy away from thoughts and discussions of sex. Again in a perfectly YA way, Nick is exploring his sexual desires in a way that feels very real. Passionate, anticipatory, and a healthy amount of nervous energy. Be prepared to learn a lot about dental dams.

3. Story Development- Flash Fire is definitely a “middle book.” It takes you to the destination of the third book while wrapping up some loose ends from the first book. I think that is why the pace was less than ideal for me. That said, we do get to explore the characters as they learn and grow. We are introduced to some new Extraordinaries, and get some back stories for some old ones. All of which was very fun to read. On another note, I definitely wasn’t expecting Klune to incorporate some real-life issues into the story. Flash Fire faces issues of police brutality and racism head on throughout the story. While I typically read fantasy because I need an escape from “real life,” I applaud Klune in using his platform to speak out and make a very important message heard.

4. Pros & Cons- You WILL laugh out loud. Picture this: Me, waiting in line for Chinese pick up, probably about 5 or 6 groups of people around me also waiting for their food. I’m looking down at my phone when suddenly I practically go into convulsions. Is she having a seizure or just trying to not pee herself from laughing??? No one knows because I’m trying to not laugh out loud like a weirdo staring at her phone AND I have a mask on! I’m pretty sure several people were staring and at least partially concerned. It was great.

5. Pros & Cons- Cliffhanger Alert! This book ends on a pretty epic cliffhanger- one I am pretty pissed about TBH. Prepare yourself!

6. Readability- So, my very old Kindle Fire finally bit the dust and I had to resort to reading only off of my phone, which I don’t love. Further, we finally decided to step back into the world and within a week I have 2 kids with bronchitis and I have a sinus infection and a double ear infection. Fast forward a bit, I finally get a new Kindle Paperwhite, but I still have a sick baby. What can I do? I wait for the audiobook release, then binge the last few chapters to the narration of Michael Lesley who does an AMAZING job bringing these characters to life. If you haven’t listened to the audiobook yet, do it! Seriously, it’s fantastic!

This was another wonderful book by TJ Klune. Right up front I want to say that Klune took seriously the criticism he received when The Extraordinaries came out and you will have no doubt about his point of view on police brutality and defending the police after reading this. He listened and concerns and criticisms were absolutely addressed.

Once again I was charmed by the wonderful cast of characters and story. I don't want to give anything away about the plot, but this is another laugh out loud (at times) and wonderful book. It is heavier than the first book but that takes nothing away from this gem! Love TJ Klune and heart he is able to give his books and characters.

The Extrodinaries was adorably angsty friends to lovers with a superhero twist and it was such a fun escape.
This sequel was all of that and more.
There are some heavier themes in this sequel, so it does feel more significant and less, light and escapist than the first one, but Nick is still Nick, and the dialogue is both off-kilter and hilarious.
There are so many secrets, reveals, and new bombshells that it's hard to write a review without spoiling major parts of the story. So stop reading this and get to reading this book. You need to get to the end and then get back to me with your theories on where it is going in Book 3!

I was a huge fan of the first book, but this one just didn’t work for me. Though the plot is fantastic, and the queer representation great, the dialogue was so unrealistic and for a YA book, there was FAR too much talk of sex.

This review contains MAJOR spoilers for The Extraordinaries (book 1). There are no spoilers for this sequel.

Cute Mutants meets One Last Stop (kind of) but achillean.

First and foremost, I love how queer this book is! There are mentions of different gay cultures, discussions of safe sex, etc. It is written by a queer author for queer teens. Also, I love the friend group so much! The ever chaotic Nick (17, gay, ADHD), his hot boyfriend Seth (17, bisexual), Jazz (17), and Gibby (18, lesbian). I also love some new Extraordinaries, especially the drag queen Miss Conduct. She brings having super powers as an analogy for being queer to the next level.

Note that this book by a white author deals with the subject of police brutality as well as defunding the police. I cannot say if Klune did well on incorporating discussions of the police in Flash Fire (Nick’s dad, Aaron Bell, is a cop), but I am glad to see that he tried. Also note that there is at least one instance of cissexism where “female anatomy” is supposed to include vaginas. I’m hoping that is only in the ARC. There are also a few inappropriate jokes on child labor and war from Nick.

So, about this book. In the final scene in The Extraordinaries, it was revealed that Aaron has been keeping a huge secret from Nick, and that secret is that Nick’s mom, who passed away two years ago, was Guardian, a telekinetic Extraordinary, and that Nick’s Concentra, which was supposed to be his medication for ADHD, is a superpower suppressor. In Flash Fire, we see Team Pyro Storm navigates high school where Gibby is graduating and the aftermath of the McManus Bridge incident that ended with Shadow Star (Owen Burke, 17) being locked away. Seth is struggling with his dual identity of being a high schooler and Pyro Storm, and Nick is beginning to show some of his telekinesis when provoked. There are also multiple scenes where Nick is confronted with his own privilege of being white and skewed view on the police since his loving father is a cop. I personally think it’s nice to have Nick learn and grow along the way.

And ew Simon Burke and Rebecca Firestone. They are just... no.

Again, the book ends with a short scene in Aaron’s POV. I don’t love revealing information in his scenes especially since some things were already alluded to in the story, but I guess they function as little cliffhangers.

Despite some of the imperfections that I hope are not in the final copy, the overall experience of reading Flash Fire was amazing, and I love seeing how awkward Nick and Seth are and how adorable Gibby and Jazz are (go sapphics!). The aspect of friendship and love and family is wonderful, and I love that all their parents (and Seth’s uncle and aunt) are loving and somewhat involved in their lives. I look forward to book three of the series and learn more about Guardian!

[content warnings: blood, police brutality, racism, kidnapping, forced medication, jokes on child labor/war, cissexism, discussions of sex, conversion therapy (for Extraordinaries), fire]

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book!

In this highly anticipated second entry to T.J Klune’s “The Extraordinaries” series, Nicholas Bell and his loved ones have to navigate the ever-changing landscape of extraordinaries. New heroes are appearing, as are new villains, and the lines between the two are getting blurry.

Klune has once again created a very appealing and entertaining narrative. Superhero stories are a dime a dozen nowadays, but this one manages to be unique. Though there are certainly high powered antics happening here, the strength of the novel is in the love and care that is clearly put into these characters. The cast of important characters, both main and supporting, nearly doubled with the inclusion of new Extraordinaries and family members. Yet all of them are extremely well done. The characters are all flawed and have moments which will frustrate readers, but still being able to love them despite this is a sign of great writing.

I also want to shout out a particularly important part of this novel. Though it is played for laughs and character development, Klune includes important bits of queer sex-ed throughout the book. For many kids who pick up this novel, this will be the first time they’re hearing of this important topic. When I realized what Klune was doing by including this, I was moved to tears. I can only imagine the impact this will have on so many young people who will feel seen and catered to for the first time through this novel. This is why it is incredibly important for queer authors and stories to be published on a large scale.

The final battle in this novel is also very well done. Action scenes are not always easy to follow in books, but that was not a problem in this story. It keeps the stakes high - but not unbelievable. There is also enough back and forth in the action scenes to keep tension high.

I do think this book fell victim to a problem I noticed in the first novel as well, a clunky beginning. There is a lot at play both plot-wise and thematically in this novel, and trying to insert too much of it right at the beginning instead of letting it come naturally made things a bit awkward. Important lessons and perspectives on police brutality and racism ended up coming off as more of a lecture than I would have liked. I agree with all the points made, but I wish there had been a bit more nuance than a wall of text explaining them to me. In that scene and others like it, I did find myself wishing that there would be a bit more showing and less telling.

It was also very clear that this novel is here to build. It builds upon the first novel and builds up to the third. It would not stand very well on it’s own, and wouldn’t have enough plot to sustain itself if it were not already known that another book were coming. I wanted the book to pack a bit more of a punch (pun not intended) plot-wise. This is a common issue with middle books in a series, and this novel didn’t handle it as well as some others have.

All in all, this book was entertaining, kept me wanting to read more of the series, and expanded an already interesting world. There was a few pitfalls, but they didn’t stop me from enjoying reading. I will certainly be reading the next book in the series, and am hopeful it can overcome the issues this book had for me. 3.5 stars⭐️.

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

Flash Fire is the sequel to The Extraordinaries. If you have not gotten your hand on The Extraordinaries, I highly recommend you do, or you'll be confused.
.
There is nothing I can say that won't give this book away. I absolutely adore book 1 and have enjoyed Flash Fire even more. The character growths in this novel is truly amazing and you are in for a crazy plot! It is beautiful and funny and in regular TJ Klune style, there are a diverse and various representation that you'll fall in love with!

3 out of 5 stars (3 / 5) One thing I love about TJ Klune is his ability to make me laugh. I listened to the audio of book 1 last year and adored it. The narrator had the perfect voice with overwhelming drama- just as Nick is. While I didn’t receive the audio this time, I received the book and still loved it. I could hear the narrators voice in my head. I missed the audio, but the book is just as funny.

Nick is easy to love. He’s eccentric with the biggest heart. His friends are perfect and I adored each of them.

While I love Nick, I really despise his “teen boy brain.” Nick has no filter- which is absolutely hilarious in most circumstances. But when it comes to teen boy thoughts? Um no. I’ll pass. I was bothered many times! So yes he’s still funny but to really love it, I’d need it toned down. A lot! So while I love the story, the “teen boy brain” brought it way down for me.

There were some great twists, some predicted and some not but the ending will hook many!

Content Summary: Confession time; I did not fully review the content on this one. The first few chapters are so full of sex talk, porn, dirty phrases and more that I had to take a break. I do not love reading teen romance but when the details are given, I cringe. There’s nothing worse than hearing about a teen boy’s porn, his masturbation and more. It was too much for me. So I continued reading but without noting the content. The first two chapters are definitely the worst for the sex talk, and while it continues sporadically throughout the book, it’s not as condensed. Not noting each scene made it easier for me to skip when I wanted and just enjoy the rest of the story. So be warned, the sex is very high in this book. It talks about everything from porn and masturbation to “lubed bananas” and protected sex. All in great detail.

The violence included a lot of fighting between the heroes with civilians sometimes getting injured in the process. There was not a lot of detail with blood (if any) but there was aggressive fighting. The language was high throughout but I only noted 2 F words. My assumption is that the language and intimacy would be 100, the violence about 50-70 and the rest zero to minimal.

I stopped noting the content after I finished chapter 4.

Thank you to Tor Teen for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

The book releases July 13, 2021.

Nick, Seth, Gibby, and Jazz are the very best group of friends -- can I join in? As a reader, I found myself loving each and every one of them. They made me laugh out loud more than once and while I don't want to share too much of the plot, I will say "Flash Fire" is filled with action, family dynamics, humor, true friendships and the perfect amount of angst. I found that I enjoyed the adventures and characters more in book 2 because I truly feel connected to the people with Klune's work.

4.5*

TJ, no.

Ok, I guess that's not an acceptable review, although I'd really like to leave it at that!

The cliffhanger at the end of The Extraordinaries had me impatient for this book, and let me tell you, T.J. Klune did not disappoint. Not in the least. Flash Fire was all that and a bag of Skwinkles Salsagheti. (I still need to track some down to try.) And talk about cliffhanger- if I thought it was tough waiting for today to get here, how the h e double hockey sticks am I supposed to survive until 2022??? You evil genius TJ!

Oh how I adore Nick Bell. Like completely and utterly adore and would do anything to protect him from this cold, cruel, ugly world. But as adorably clueless as he still is, Nick really comes into his own in Flash Fire and I don't think he'd actually need my protection. No, scratch that, he still needs protecting, if only from himself.

There is a lot packed into FF- action, suspense, silliness, love and friendship, surprises, so many surprises. This book gave me so much more than I ever anticipated, and I loved it so very much. It's laugh out loud hilarious at times- see chapters 1 & 2 for reference. It's so endearing, thanks to the sweetest romance between Nick and Seth, I can hardly contain my heart. The friendships between Nick, Seth, Jazz, and Gibby are still the best, I love how they always have each others backs, no matter what. Like The Extraordinaries, it's full of feels, especially when it comes to Nick and his dad. They have such a wonderful relationship, even when things between them get tough, and they definitely do in this book.

I know there were quite a few people upset with how certain things were handled in book one, when it came to Aaron Bell and the way the police force was portrayed. I think most people will be satisfied with the way TJ addressed that in this book, although I'm sure there'll still be those who won't think it's enough. I appreciate that he took the feedback to heart and made some changes-still giving us that heartwarming father/son relationship which is so pivotal to these books, while at the same time having Nick realize that his father isn't infallible.

With this series TJ Klune has created a world I know I'll never want to leave, I will always want more. Hopefully 2021 will continue to fly by because I cannot wait to see what it's in store for Nick, Seth, Gibby, and Jazz. If that cliffhanger is any indication, it's sure to be explosive!