Thank you net gallery for the advanced copy of this book. This is the story of an orphan that is given the chance to do something good when he has never had the opportunity due to living in survival mode. I like all the comic references and homages. I enjoyed it and would recommend.

Keeping an organization like the Super Justice Force running demands a lot of people without super powers. As David F. Walker tells it, they like to hire ex-cons to help rehabilitate. The Second Chance of Darius Logan( hard from Scholastic Press) is about a young man whose life had gone downhill after his parents were murdered in a mad robot attack. Luckily Darrius is given a second chance to work at the headquarters and meets some rehabilitated supervillains and even some superheroes. Darius is basically a good person in bad circumstances and when the headquarters come under attack proves he too can be heroic. I’d like to see more.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Scholastic for providing me with an eARC of The Second Chance of Darius Logan in exchange for my honest review!

With its heart and its action, this book makes for an enjoyable ride that's able to weave in thematic layers of racism and the injustice of our punitive incarceration system. Darius himself is a compelling protagonist who I'm able to root for throughout his journey, and I like following a lot of the supporting characters around him as well. Sure, he has to deal with a thinly written romance subplot, but it's just a minor gripe. I appreciate the surprisingly optimistic outlook on superheroes, something that contrasts with the cynicism you see more often with media like The Boys and Invincible—media that aims to deconstruct superheroes and supervillains. That being said, I do think the optimism can gloss over the tone too much sometimes and lead the book into missing out on opportunities to flesh out its themes of police corruption and capitalism more deeply.

Overall, I'm officially rating The Second Chance of Darius Logan 3.5 out of 5 stars, which I'm rounding up to 4 stars. I'm interested in checking out more of David F. Walker's work.

This book was written well, and nothing was wrong with it in that way. It just was not for me. The hero aspect could have been expanded more, the MC i could not connect with his personality, and lastly idk why but some things felt like a stereotype.

I liked the storyline of this book but it lacked so much for me. Unfortunately I did not finish the book and only read half of it. I just could not get into it.

This book has some good points, especially towards the end. However, much of the beginning and middle was very slow and dragged the story down. It wasn’t a bad book but it needed some more happening earlier on to really hold interest.

Note: ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the idea, about somewhere past the first third I faltered and finally put the book down, reluctant to read again. Darius never came alive, and despite all the frenetic doings, the narrative seemed more journalistically flat than like a story in which I could immerse.

Darius Logan lives in a world that was devastated by an alien attack and is now protected by the Super Justice Force, a team of superheroes and crime fighters led by Captain Freedom. But ever since his parents and brother died in The Attack, Darius hasn’t felt particularly protected. He stayed with an abusive uncle for a while, and then he spent years bouncing around the foster system.

Unfortunately, Darius had a few run-ins with the law while part of the foster system, so when Darius is caught with drugs in his possession and assaults a police officer, he’s headed to prison.

That is, until Captain Freedom himself invites Darius to join Second Chance, a program that tries to rehabilitate criminals by providing jobs and career training to convicted felons. They don’t ordinarily take on people before they’re sentenced to prison, but they make an exception in Darius’s case, and he’s quickly moved into the Super Justice Force headquarters and placed under Manny’s supervision on the night shift.

As Darius adjusts to his new world, he finds himself interacting with the superheroes and supervillains he’s read about in comic books, and it’s not long before he makes friends and becomes a valuable part of the community.

When a traitorous attack threatens everything Darius has come to love, it’s up to him and his new friends to save the world.

Out of curiosity, we looked up David F. Walker, and his writing experience has largely been in comics (Marvel and DC), which makes perfect sense. His comic book world is rich, interesting, and utterly delightful, and we loved following along with Darius and his friends as they attempted to save the world. The book will appeal to a wide range of students and would be appropriate for middle and high schoolers.

Thank you NetGalley and Scholastic for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are our own.

This review will be posted at https://threeheads.works/category/blog/ya-books/ on June 17, 2024.

This is some really great potential that isn't quite able to hit the mark. The world building is robust, but writing is telling more than showing, making it a flatter read through than the story deserves. The Super Justice Force should be exciting but accidentally feelings like a middling bureaucracy. The are too many things happening at once (hi aliens), but it all feels like chaos instead of a well honed machine.

I really enjoyed this book. It had a very quick pace and honestly needed to slow down a bit at times. The action is great and I found the characters to be likeable. I hope to follow this series if it continues. Great for high school students who love superhero stories.

This was an engaging well written story about a young man, Darius, who is chosen to join a second change program run by the a conglomerate Superhero team It's an apt allegory for the criminal justice system and the power of redemption as this characetr faces all the challenges of emerging in a new life and having to prove himself to his co-workers, society and mostly, himself.

It's a solid, page turner of a read and should be a welcomed addition to libraries everywhere. Including yours.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book fell flat for me. I liked the superhero aspect, but wish there was more of them. The main character Darius, had no personality, though I did enjoy Manny and Otto. Once again, I would have liked to have seen more of them. There was a lot of telling but not showing in the plot and relationships. The side plot of romance was really cute, but could have been more developed. I think this is a first in a series, and if so, this had first book syndrome. I do believe a sequel would be a lot better.

I like the idea of this story. After what would’ve been his third strike, Darius is able to avoid a prison sentence. By agreeing to work for the Super Justice Force, a league of people with powers protecting the world, he gets a second chance to get his life on track.

Maybe I should’ve stuck it out longer, but I decided to DNF at 38% because I was bored. After the scene with the cop, I found the plot to be pretty flat. I did enjoy that what I read reminded me of Star Trek and DC Comics. Men in Black also comes to mind.

Thank you to NetGalley and Scholastic for an advanced eARC.