In the midst of a bit of a reading slump, this book was a great re-entry - a little silly, a little serious, and extremely enjoyable.

Astrid's tiny superpower of perfect time and color coded schedules works for her, but as the story unfolds, we get a glimpse at what kind of world has prompted her extreme time management lifestyle.

This was a fun and different book! I really like superheroes so when I saw the title for this book, I was immediately drawn in. It sounded like an interesting book and I am glad that I got the chance to read it! How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) is written by Cristina Fernandez and it is a YA book.
The characters were unique and fun to read about. Astrid was a fascinating character, she was organized to a fault and had planned her howl life out. What she hadn’t planned for was having a superhero as a boyfriend and that threw everything a little off kilter. I liked Astrid's quirks, how she had to have everything planned down to the minute. She was smart and worked hard but she also did not know how to quite enjoy life. It was sweet to read about her finding herself and learning how to let go.
Max, Astrid’s superhero boyfriend, was a cute guy. I liked how he balanced Astrid and helped her to live for the moment. They were perfect for each other. I enjoyed reading their interactions. Astrid had to learn what was worth fighting for, her perfectly aligned life or getting to be with Max.
The side characters also added to the book. Astrid’s roommate, David, was really funny. I liked his relationship with Astrid. They were quite a pair. I also liked a couple of the other side characters that showed up later in the book. The plot was very interesting. It was a mix between Astrid learning what it meant to date a supero, including the dangers, and Astrid finding herself.
Although I really enjoyed this book there were a couple of things that I did not enjoy as much. I got confused at first with how the chapters were set up, there were a bit of time skips but I was able to figure it out. There was also a bit of cursing, it was more than I would have liked but not as much as it could have been. And there were some innuendos. I know that this is a YA book so I expected some of it but not all of it. However I still did enjoy How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying).
How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) is a YA novel set in a world full of superheroes. The characters were engaging and the story was interinesg. I would recommend it to those who are at least 16 years and older. There is some language, with some of the big curse words, and some innudoes. There are also LGTBQ characters too.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the publisher through Netgalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion, a positive review was not required.

Astrid is in college and, along with a very detailed life plan (she wants to become a doctor), she also meticulously plans each and every busy minute in each and every day. Advanced science labs, Organic Chemistry, volunteer hours, the opportunity to work in a research lab, study time; each has been carefully fit into her schedule leaving hardly any room for sleep, much less fun. So when she finds out her boyfriend is a superhero—and discovers the danger and time that’s involved with juggling things like abductions and a survival class for the hero-adjacent—her schedule may just fall apart—along with Astrid.
I’m on the fence about how I feel about this book. I love the concept of focusing on the normal people who end up in relationships with supers and I was thrilled that the main character is a female STEM student. Astrid also struggles with some anxiety and post-trauma issues, which makes her a very realistic and relatable character. What I didn’t love was that I didn’t feel like Astrid grew and developed as much as I’d like through the novel. There was an opportunity to have her really grow strong and confident in herself and that wasn’t really highlghted (though she did have a heroic moment in the end). I also felt like the superhero moments (the ones that draw superhero fans) weren’t shared. I know that the book is about Astrid more than her boyfriend Max, but I still wanted more of the hero moments and to know Max more.
Overall, How to Date a Suerhero (and Not Die Trying) is a very sweet and modern YA novel and Cristina Fernandez has brought about a memorable character and storyline.
How to Date a Superhero (and Not Die Trying) comes out 8/2/22.

*I received an ARC of How to Date a Superhero (and Not Die Trying) from Netgalley and Harper Collins Children’s Books in exchange for an honest review*

Aahhh I requested an arc from the publisher for How to Date a Superhero (And Not die Trying) by Cristina Fernandez – mostly because I thought it sounded funny – and I wouldn’t say it was particularly funny – I WOULD say that it was a SUPER sweet, charming, pure love story that I LOVED. In fact, I finished it in less that 12 hours. It was THAT good.

Here is the basic idea – girl (Astrid) falls in love with old high school acquaintance (Max). They have the most ADORABLE relationship and even though she is going through her pre-med courses at Columbia, she does her best to make time for him. But, Max keeps disappearing and he is always late to everything, UNTIL one night when a super villain kidnaps her to get back at Max. That’s when he explains that he is really Kid Comet, a superhero who is CONSTANTLY putting his life on the line to save people everywhere. She has to find time to join a program that helps the girlfriends and boyfriends of superheroes cope with the danger, and she has to find a way to juggle her normal life and pre-med schedule.

The gem here is the love story between the two. It is honestly SUCH a beautiful little love story. I loved their relationship more than anything and Max was just, honestly, the very best and more adorkable little superhero that was ever written. I definitely suggest this cute little love story for anyone who is looking for just a pure, quirky romance.

How to Date a Superhero (And Not Die Trying) is the debut novel from Cristina Fernandez. This young-adult romance novel comes out on August 2, 2022; the publisher Harper Collins provided me an early galley in exchange for an honest review.

First, kudos to the author for completing her first novel while still a college student herself. That is an amazing feat. It also helps being in the midst of her own collegiate years when writing about a college-aged heroine. It lends that authenticity to the setting.

I like the idea of a super-hero story that focuses on the significant others of the costumed champions. It is an angle that does not get as much focus; it has a wealth of potential for stories. However, when doing that you have to really make the normals engaging. I wish there was a bit more of that here. I felt that many of the characters came across as a bit flat and one-dimensional.

The other challenge when focusing on the normals is that all the super-hero action happens around them (for the most part). That means that the story ends up being more dialogue driven and not action driven. The super-hero genre thrives on that action element. Putting that in the background or provided via heresay means the characters need to be even more engaging to compensate for it. That was not what I found here.

Because the book is shooting at a YA (young adult) audience, all of that might be fine and expected. YA books tend to be more about relationships and dynamics between people anyway. They also tend to be more balanced when it comes to showing all kinds of relationships, even LGBTQ ones. As a man in his fifties, I'm very much outside of that target YA audience. Maybe it will work for younger readers in their teens and early 20's.

This was adorably cute. I identified way too much with Astrid and the whole concept of people who date superheroes and how that is navigated is a great plot theme. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

As someone who absolutely loves superheroes, I was very excited to read this book. It is a great concept, I just wish it was executed a little better. It’s a fun read and I definitely enjoyed it, but unfortunately it didn’t meet my expectations. This is a concept with so much potential that feels unmet in this book.

I read an early e-book edition of this one. I felt like the characters and their relationships weren’t fleshed out all that well. Like I’m still not seeing what makes Max a guy worth all of this hard work and life-risking. I do enjoy seeing a college student protagonist, and honestly the boy-girl dorm roommate situation was one I’d never seen, so that was an more interesting than. Astrid is at an interesting point in her life and you can see how it’s influencing her decisions. It’s an interesting world with superheroes, but it doesn’t feel fully fleshed out and believable to me. The superhero antics seem comically to silly and shallow.

For anyone who likes to read about superhero's, this is the book for you!
It is interesting to see the reality of dating a superhero and still maintaining your own sense of self.
I enjoyed how all the characters developed and matured.
Fun read.

In truth, I grew out of Teen/YA novels but the title was so clever and catchy I had to give it a try.

The story is great. A community of superhero significant others to help train and prepare you for the worse. A pre-med college student trying to balance it school, relationships, training, etc. kept my interest. It was original, well thought out, and practical. Despite sometimes wanting to knock sense into the characters I was excited to see what would happen next.

There were things I did not like about the book. Mainly the language. All of the swears were unnecessary in my opinion. And a lot for a Teen/YA book. They would fit better if the book was categorized as New Adult. But if this was a movie all the F bombs would make it Rated-R meaning no teen could see it.

But again original concept and well thought out story line were very well liked.

Thank you to the author, Net Galley, and publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this story. I thought it was cute and original. What would you do if you were a superheroes girl friend or boy friend. It would be helpful to have a class that helps you. What a fun read! I loved Astrid and David's friendship-best friends.

What a fun ride! A fun coming of age college superhero romance that had me laughing. Fans of superhero romance will eat this up and be ready for more.

This review is entirely my own. I absolutely loved the concept of this book. The arc has a few pacing issues and a really weird ending but overall a great original plot. If only we could all find our version or Max. Definitely loved the characters and wish I had seen more of the development as well in the main characters friendships.

This book was cute. I'm so glad it was set in college and not high school, and as a superhero fan who is kinda tired of the superhero world and remembering who has what powers yada yada yada it was great to read a book where all the superheroing was almost secondary.

As a girl who loved superheros, I got used to not seeing myself on screen as the hero. IF I was lucky there would be a love interest who might survive the movie, and as I aged I began to wonder a lot more about her. What is it like being the one waiting to be saved? Which is why I loved the premise of this book, I adored Eleanor and her stories and all she did to help.

While Astrid's story is understandable, and was presented really well and I loved her overall arc, she was also frustrating to read. I got so stressed on her behalf, and wished she had been less rigid, though that may have been the point.

Overall, a fun, sweet read.

This was light and cute. Personally I would've liked to see more depth and character development, but I can see this as being something a lot of our teen readers will enjoy. Happy to have this in our library.

It's okay being ordinary in an extraordinary world.

This was a cute a fun read and I enjoyed the superhero trope. The storyline was very 0riginal and unlike anything I have read before.

I LOVE stories center around college age protagonists. The struggles truly make it so real and relatable and that's what Cristina Fernandez provided on this novel.

Thanks to NetGalley for the free version of this book!
It took a minute to get into but once you do you don’t put it down.
The characters in this books were so cute but also so real. They seemed like actual college students just with a little bit of extra trouble.
I like seeing the superheroes partner side since we normally see the superhero side however I wish there was a bit more fight scenes.
Overall I loved the book and I stayed up way to late finishing it.

The more I read this book, the more I like it. It's a clever take on the whole Superhero trope. How does the significant others deal with superheroes and their jobs.

I struggled with whether I wanted to rate this one with three or four stars. I settled on three. It is not a bad read, but I didn't love it either. I enjoyed the premise of dating a superhero. However, I felt like I was reading a high school drama. It's an okay read when you're looking for something new and different.

This was cute.

Astrid is a sophomore in college, aiming to become a doctor. She is a ball of anxiety, rigid planning, and fear-driven, high-achieving perfectionism. She's a little bit too much of a caricature at first, but the more I read the more I was able to identify with her. She sometimes has panic attacks and freezes in social awkwardness, and sometimes snaps off bantery one-liners like it's her job.

Inconsistent characterization, or simply realism? You be the judge.

Her boyfriend is Max, a generally chill and sweet guy who also happens to be a superhero. Do we know anything else about Max? He likes Pokemon. That's all I can think of. I genuinely don't know what his major even is. But I know he loves Astrid, and is sweet, and a superhero.

A classic Mary Sue, or simply an ordinary bro doing his best? Who can truly say.

The story is simple: Astrid trying to balance the changes being a superhero's girlfriend has brought to her life with the rest of her intense, demanding goals. It's a coming-of-age story as much as it is a romance, and Astrid grapples with her trauma, her identity, and the WHY behind all her hard work. Astrid and Max kiss a lot, but they don't even have sex. Wholesome.

There is kind of an adventure and plot threaded in, and the "superhero girlfriend training camp" thing, but honestly it's not the main driver of the story.

Did I sometimes wish I was out on the streets with Max instead of once again in Astrid's dorm room as she color-coded her planner? Absolutely, but seeing the superhero story from this perspective was also interesting and I definitely had a good time. Anyone looking for an easy, fluffy read with a good balance of sweet and thoughtful should definitely give this a try.