I want to start this review by saying a quick thank you to the publishers over at Katherine Tegan Books and NetGalley for allowing me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review. How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) is a New Adult book about what life might be like if suddenly you find out the guy you’ve been dating is a superhero. Astrid might not be a superhero like the people she sees on the news, but her not so super-superpower is her sense of time. And all of her time is accounted for with her multiple planners and calendars because it has to be. Being pre-med gives her no other choice. But chaos is brought into her life the day she finds out about her boyfriend’s secret identity as Kid Comet. Can Astrid find a way to deal with all the things being a superhero’s girlfriend entails? How do you even schedule in a kidnapping? How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) comes out on August 2nd and is available for pre-order now.

There is so much to love about this superhero story. I love that we’re seeing it from an outsider’s perspective and not the superhero’s. And I love that Astrid really tries to make it work once she knows Max’s big secret. But juggling pre-med with self-defense classes is hard work. I thought the author did a great job making the focus of the story Astrid and making sure the reader never forgot. I feel like a lot of superhero stories/supernatural creature stories make the other person fawn all over them and Astrid isn’t like that. She loves her boyfriend, but Kid Comet is just a guy to her. But don’t get me wrong, I still loved Max as a character. I think he’s such a sweet guy and you get to see him come into his own during a particularly fast paced fight scene. I just love that it’s about Astrid and how she copes and her struggle to decide if this relationship is worth everything she has to go through or if she should focus more on her academic career. We also get some side characters who are great and I would love whole side stories about. Particularly the adults in her life who try to help her once she does find out she’s dating a superhero.

I struggled a bit in this one with Astrid herself. I think she’s a bit of an unlikeable character. You don’t have to like a character to like a story, but I felt like she dragged it down in rating a bit for me. I know she has her perfect sense of time but it results in a little of things that would make me anxious. Like practically planning her whole life down to the second and never being flexible when things pop up. This was her main flaw throughout the novel, but at times it kind of drove me crazy. And her reaction post-fight scene made me want to throw my tablet across the room. It makes sense with the story and gives us a bitter sweet moment a few chapters later, but at the time it was frustrating. I also don’t feel like the final conflict in the story got fully explained. I wish there had been a couple more pages there.

Overall, I think this is a great debut novel from a pretty young author. Especially given that the story is told in two timelines. It’s a fast read that bridges the gap between YA and New Adult. Perfect for people who are tired of all the usual superhero stories.

There wasn’t a lot of action in a book meant to be about superheroes. That being said, the characters were cute and sweet and the story was fun and easy to follow. For a debut novel, I think the author did very well!

Astrid is in her sophomore year of college working on her premed courses to someday become a doctor. It's not that she really wants to be a doctor but more that she feels she needs to really do something with her life after she almost died in high school when a supervillain attacked her school bus.

Yup. That's right. Supervillain. In this alternate universe New York, superheroes and villains are everywhere and just a part of life.

When Astrid is kidnapped by a villain from her dorm room, Kid Comet saves her from a fate worse than death and just admits that he's really Max Martin, her boyfriend and the clumsy guy she's known since high school.

Now Astrid must add in to her very busy schedule time for The Program, which is designed to teach the significant others of superheroes how to survive all things that may happen to them when (not if) they are kidnapped.

If she can't find some balance in her life, Astrid may not survive college let alone the murderous rage of a supervillain intent on revenge.

Final thoughts: The idea of this alternate universe is cool. I would love to see how people who are in the world of the Avengers deal with all of the new complications in life. Unfortunately, this story is more about Astrid's personal issues dealing with time, planning, and over-scheduling. Some interesting ideas but just not enough world building for me.

Rating: 3/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Who ever said dating a superhero was easy? Astrid isn’t a superhero, she works relentless and is currently a premed student. Her schedule and life is packed with school and spending time with her best friend David and her nerdy but sweet boyfriend Max. Max, who is constantly flaking out on things, disappearing, and hiding something... and when a villain tries to kidnap her, Max Martin, the guy she’s known since high school and is currently dating, saves her... in his superhero persona. Astrid is then thrust into the world of superheroes, she has to take actual classes on what it’s like dating a superhero, how to survive attacks, and prep for situations. Astrid doesn’t have time for this, juggling her school work, her lab work, extracurriculars, all in the hopes of going to med school... and now she’s just found out the one person she thought she knew is a superhero and she has to take on more classes. Astrid will have to find a way to balance regular school life with dating a superhero... but things start piling on and the question is can Astrid handle the pressure or is it time to let go of Max? This was a great look on the pressures of dating a superhero, we all ask ourselves how these love interests do it, from Lois Lane with Superman to Spiderman and Mary Jane, how do regular people end up dating superheroes and have their entire lives upend, with the constant threat of villains, or being kidnapped or killed and busy work schedules?? Astrid’s struggles are relatable and she knows she loves Max, but is love enough to make it through all the difficulties or will their relationship work despite everything. The story jumps back and forth between high school Max and Astrid and college Max and Astrid, with how they first met, how they fell in love, and how they are now. This was a wonderful read for fans of romance and superhero stories!

*Thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books, Katherine Tegen Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I really liked and enjoyed reading it. The writing was simply but the story was thought provoking. Also the MCs were easy to connect with. It was definitely a full 5 stars read for me!

This was a super cute novel. I am really impressed with this author's debut novel. I am looking forward to future work by this author.

How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) is the perfect book for people who have always been fascinated by the extraordinary. It's also the perfect book for people who are fascinated by the ordinary itself.
Astrid Rose is just trying to survive her sophomore year of college when she finds out that her boyfriend, Max Martin, is leading a double-life as superhero Kid Comet while being kidnapped by one of Kid Comet's rivals. In order to safely date a superhero (and not die trying), "super"-dating expert Eleanor Olsen recruits Astrid to a program specially designed for the significant others of both superheroes and supervillains. Now Astrid has to learn how to avoid being targeted by any of Kid Comet's enemies and figure out whether dating Max is really worth it, all while balancing being a pre-med student at one of the most prestigious institutions in the country.
More than anything else, this book was about how complex people and their relationships are. Astrid Rose is the first main character I've read in a while who felt like a tangible human being. Her worries, her hopes, her outlook on life, were all so incredible real and relatable that if not for the casual mention of "super"-related events, I might have even mistaken this book for creative nonfiction. The way she interacts with others and herself is delightfully realistic, and Fernandez is able to sprinkle in little bits of life advice in a way that seems natural to the story's progression. Another aspect I really enjoyed was the pacing of the novel. Chapters switch between being in the present (Astrid's sophomore year) and the past. which really helps the audience understand Astrid and Max's relationship as she struggles with the discovery that Max is a superhero. It also contributed to my perception of Astrid as a real person with real problems.
The only let-down in this book was that one of the major plot points was something that I saw coming very early on in the story, so when the Big Reveal actually happened, I wasn't surprised the way I wanted to be. That being said, I did really enjoy the way Fernandez built up to the final conflict throughout the book and how she handled the resolution. Furthermore, minor disappointment wasn't nearly enough for me to stop turning pages like my life depended on it.
By this point, this book and its characters feel like old friends, and I'm a little upset that this is Fernandez's debut novel, since it means I can't read any of her other books yet. I genuinely cannot wait to see what she writes next.

I was lucky enough to receive and ARC of this novel from the publisher in exchange for a voluntary and honest review. All thoughts and comments about this book are my own.

I just couldn't get into it. I liked the main character but just had a hard time connecting. I might have just not been in the right mood for it.

✨Book Review: How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) by Cristina Fernandez ✨
📖: Astrid has planned every moment of her day. She is the epitome of a stress planner. What she didn’t plan on was having her window smashed in by a super villain in the middle of the night. Turns out her boyfriend, Max, is a super hero. Suddenly Astrid is not just juggling a busy premed college schedule. Now she has to fit in superhero significant other training, squeeze in time with Max, and try not to die in the process.

🎭: This book was definitely unlike anything I’ve read in a long time! I really enjoyed it! It was relatively predictable, but I appreciate that in a novel, actually. There is quite a bit of language, so if that bothers you, be warned. This story was really fun and a nice change of pace from a typical superhero novel!

⭐️: 4/5 stars

Thanks to Harper Collins and NetGalley for this ARC! I enjoyed it!! It’s pub date is August 2, 2022, so keep an eye out!

Cheers to Cristina Fernandez for her debut novel How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying).

The book begins by introducing us to Astrid who schedules out her days to the minute (her internal clock always keeps her on time.) We meet the main men in Astrid’s life, her charming roommate David and Astrid’s adorably clumsy boyfriend Max. Living in a world where superheroes fight crime and villains, they are very familiar with extraterrestrial beings crashing into buildings and flying crusaders fighting evil. But when some superhero action happens close to home, a big secret is revealed to Astrid and she must figure out how to cope with the ever changing circumstances.

As a Type-A, planner-loving, tends-to-overextend-themselves kind of person, I felt a kindred spirit in Astrid. A main character who schedules out her whole week and doesn’t care who knows really resonated with me. Even in the moments that she started to feel stretched thin and overwhelmed, she felt very human.

I was a bit taken back at how just completely head over heels Astrid is with Max. It sometimes comes to a fault where I felt neither character was fully and truly developed and their interactions felt repetitive.

I loved seeing Astrid use her bookish brain to save the day. I would have loved to see Astrid and Max working as a team to overcome obstacles as many times it felt like they were working alone.

Overall, I liked reading HTDAS and moved through it quickly. I am rounding up to 4 stars from 3.75 hope Cristina Fernandez will continue to produce bright and enjoyable novels in her future.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for access to an advance copy so I could provide a review

Kind of new to a Superhero Romance but this was a fun spin to be introduced into it and I loved it! And good style too!

Thank you NetGalley and Harper.Collins for allowing me the opportunity to read this arc copy.

How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) is a book where superheroes and villains are an everyday occurrence. Astrid is an average college student that ends up in extraordinary circumstances and how she has to deal with them.

The world building where the superhero, alien invasion, and parallel dimension are the norm was fun to read. Little things that happened in the book gave incites into how a normal person lived in that sort of world.

There are a a bunch of different characters that hop in and out of the story. There are Astrid, Max, and David, which are the three main characters. Each have unique traits like being uptight, laid back and clumsy.

A second group of people come into Astrid’s life with varying degrees of importance. Some are more memorable than others.

The story line is broken into present and past chapters. The past chapters pop up randomly , which was a little confusing at times. I
At one time, I thought I was reading a past scene when it ended up being a present scene and I had to got back to reread it.

Other than than this book was a plethora of interesting people and action.

Thank you again NetGalley and HarperCollins.

I wanted to enjoy "How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) but I just couldn't. When you read a book's description involves superheroes you are expecting some action and maybe some humor. Sadly, this didn't have either.

The superheroes in this story are a combination of human's that had accidents or purposely did things involving radiation and chemicals. Some of the superheroes were aliens. Our main character's boyfriend got his powers through an accident in high school.

After she is almost kidnapped by a villain, he admits his identity and has her enroll in a self-defense type course for significant others of heroes. The relationship itself was well-written and you can tell they are truly in love even with the obstacles they face but that's about all the story had going for it.

Overall I thought the relationship between Astrid and Max was really cute but I found the flipping back from present to past was also a little confusing. Since this book is written for teenage readers, I think it will be even more frustrating for them to keep up.

If you love rom-coms and superheroes then you will love this book! What a fun book! The story instantly sucks you in and you'll have a hard time putting it down. Highly recommend!

I loved this fun and unique romance. “How to date a superhero and not die trying” will be a perfect poolside companion this summer.

This was a fun and easy read! I enjoyed the superhero aspect of it. I also enjoyed the main character and how smart she was.

I thought this was a cute book. Definitely happy I picked it up and I absolutely cannot wait to read more by this author. Have fun and enjoy this when you pick it up.

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to be a civilian caught up in the superhero world - look no further. This book takes you on a wild ride of life as the significant other of a superhero.

I love this book beyond words. It’s not a perfect book by any means; honestly, it’s lacking in several areas – fully fleshed-out characters (I’m looking at you, Max) being the main one – but it took me two hours to read because I was so absorbed in the story instantly. So much so that I forgot to say I’d update that I’d started reading it on here and only realized when I hit the halfway mark.

All this to say that no, this book isn’t perfect – Max is basically a Good Guy Archetype who’s unfailingly earnest (take a shot every time that word is used in here and you’ll be blackout drunk) and a human love bot when it comes to Astrid; several characters who won’t be named for spoiler purposes are somewhat underdeveloped as villains/antiheroes; Astrid starts off the story as a caricature that readers might find it hard to like.

All that aside, I love this book so much. The premise is great. The plot and subplots might not be the most “original” things in the world, but at the same time, what made everything so fun to me was how the story plays with traditional capes-and-spandex superheroes, ones with funny names like Kid Comet and Dr. Midnight. It’s like a comic book come to life, from the point of view of a character who’s supposed to die off to serve the hero’s story. All that to say, How to Date a Superhero made me fall in love with Max and Astrid, and the rest of the cast. As simple as they might be, they’re so fun to read and I absolutely recommend this book to anyone looking for a romcom with a twist.

A perfect coming-of-age story about the struggle of balancing everything that comes with growing up. This book was a quick read that I could recommend to anyone looking for a coming-of-age story that is not too young.