Andrea is just another typical teen girl, from the outside looking in. She goes to the rich kid high school, thanks to her adopted father who happens to be one of the richest men in the world. She's also a social media super star, which just adds to her hype. But on the inside, she's the only person in the world with super powers. She's able to control, and talk to, technology with her mind.

But her story goes back so much further than that. Her parents were killed, leaving her an orphan. She also tried (and failed) to make a music video. The kids at her old school found out about it and teased her relentlessly about it. That was all before she was Andrea, though. And everything changes when someone comes back from the future and is ordered to kill her in order to save the fate of humanity. This is just the beginning.

A good story, I found the plot and the characters really interesting, but story wise, it just wasn't my new favourite. I loved the time travel aspect, and all the lore and future information to unravel. It was pretty easy to sink into as well, and it definitely made me want to check out other books by the same author. Great for someone who's looking for a young adult/teen story about superpowers.

This is a fun tech thriller that skews toward coming of age as well! Fans of action packed sci-fi thrillers with unique main characters will love this one!

Thank you to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for the free digital arc of Livewire.
I rated this a 2 because I just did not enjoy this at all. Even from the beginning, I wasn't feeling it, no matter how much I wanted to. From the writing to the chaotic plot and pacing, I wasn’t invested at all. Even though this was less than 300 pages, it both felt too short and too long. There was a point when I thought the worldbuilding was getting interesting, but then it went completely south and derailed for me. I was not aware that Amanda McKee is based on a superhero comic, but I think I would prefer it that way because I just don’t think this was a good story at all. I also wasn't aware that this was an adult novel because it read as YA.
I really wanted to enjoy this one, especially because I plan to read multiple books by the author, but this didn't inspire any confidence in my potential enjoyment of her other works. Overall, I don’t think I would recommend this one.

3.75 ⭐
I thought Raughley wrote a story that is full of action and also connects with your feelings. She does a good job of creating a world where superpowers are not just something that looks cool, but a main part of the social and political fights. I found Amanda's journey from a shy teen to a confident young woman to be really interesting, and her struggle to control her powers is a strong example of learning to accept who she really is.

However, I found some parts of the story annoying. The story moves very fast, which can sometimes make it jump around without much to link it all together. Also, while the other characters are well-thought-out, a few of them seemed too immature and could be annoying, which made me lose patience at times.

I enjoyed this book so much!

I can't wait for the book to make its debut so I can purchase it!

Thank you Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review!

*Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for early copy for review*

I did dnf 30% in because I could not stand the writing style anymore.

They say don't judge a book by itcover and that could not be more correct than for this one. So based on the cover I believed that Amanda or Andrea was in her 20s and doing the whole vigilante thing. No this starts with her in high school as influencer with a very young ya writing style. This needs a new summary, cover and to be advertised as a teen book.

I was first drawn to this book by the cover. After reading the synopsis, I was intrigued. I'm always up for a good superhero story, but I had never heard of Livewire until I did an internet search. This made me curious to see if and how the author would integrate our modern tech and social media into her story.

I was under the impression that this book was general adult, so I was caught off guard by teenager, "Andy P" the rich influencer, in the first several chapters. I was not prepared for teens, high school, the language, the angst and all the things that come with a kid who had to grow up too fast. Definitely YA! Honestly,I had to put the book down and mentally reset before diving back in. As someone who works with teens, I usually read to escape that world—not revisit it. But, I did pick the book up again. The second time, I was able to prepare myself for the read and get through it. I actually enjoyed parts, especially when Sho made an appearance. But, I still struggled in spots throughout.

I enjoyed the author's world-building for both the real world and the digital world. I also liked the action scenes and felt they were well written. Many of the characters may be relatable to teens. Amanda was a dynamic character with several struggles within, without, past, present and future; not that being a teen is hard enough! I liked that she was a person of color being portrayed as intelligent despite her struggles. I liked that despite the things Amanda went through, she had a great friend in Lily. While this is a sci-fi read, I think students would appreciate Amanda's flaws, her grit, and her journey.

Overall, this story was just okay for me. The pacing dragged a bit in the middle, and I wanted more depth from side characters like Sho and Lily. Having more info about a psiot and maybe even more of Amanda's past will help readers understand and appreciate her story more, especially if they've never heard of Livewire. The ending left me with more questions.

With the revival of popularity of comic heroes and anti-heroes, I think YA readers who enjoy action and a strong female leads will be interested in trying out this book. I think they will have a positive reaction to this new read.

I appreciate the author, Sarah Raughley, Blackstone Publishing, and Netgalley for the arc. All thoughts are my own.

My rating 2.5-3 stars: That means...There may have been a few moments that I liked. There maybe have been a few things that bothered me while reading this book and it may have been slow in parts. I would still recommend this book; it just wasn’t a favorite of mine.

A dnf for me, unfortunately. Since this was an origin story, I thought I would be able to go in without knowing anything about the comics, but it was difficult to follow. More editing was definitely needed, unfortunately. However, I did like the main character's personality + powers and would be open to reading some Valiant comics one day.

I think by and large the writing/voice put me off too much. It felt too young, and not something I wanted to continue reading.

This was such a special read and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The plot twist was so well done and I loved reading the character growth of Amanda

ARC review | ⭐️⭐️ | YA Sci-Fi

Release date: September 2, 2025

Publisher: Blackstone

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was sooo excited when I got approved for this ARC but unfortunately it was another big let down for me. My biggest gripe is that this felt - at best - like a first draft. The plot, pacing, and writing was all over the place. The reveals never felt exciting because they were so obvious. The characters were painfully juvenile. Overall, I wish this had about 2 more years of editing to go through because the concept itself was interesting and fresh. Unfortunately I won’t be recommending anyone pick this up :/

Thank you for this book !!! It was way different from my usual reads I kind of didn’t expect the content I got from it but it was pretty good even though it was weird

This was an interesting story. There was a complex magic system. The story focuses on her as she navigates using her psychic powers while also trying to figure out herself. The story does tackle issues such as racial disparities and other issues.

Amanda McKee is a Psiot. A person born with powers. She can access and talk to machines with her mind. She’s trying to live a relatively normal life, when things get out of control.
I’ve been a fan of Valiant Comics for years. Livewire is a character that I’ve never gone out of my way to read about, but I’ve been looking forward to these Valiant novels.
For a character that I’m not really fond of and a writer I’ve never read before, I enjoyed this book. Amanda McKee was a fantastic character. Her supporting cast was great. The ways in which she used her powers were inventive and exciting.
Whether you’re a long time fan of the comics or you’ve never heard of them before, take a chance on Livewire. You won’t regret it.

sadly had to DNF. I had no clue this was so linked to the DC superhero universe and I was left feeling a little confused, Wanted to love it!

thank you to netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

dnf @20%

unfortunately i think this book is suffering from being mismarketed, and because of my reasons for dnf-ing i don't want to give it an undeserved low rating which is why i will leave it at 3 stars (since i cannot abstain from rating at all given the structure of netgalley).

on netgalley and every online retailer i could find, this is listed as "general fiction (adult)/scifi fantasy" and that combined with the description had me believing this would be an adult protagonist and an adult novel, but the main character is 16. maybe there is more further along in the story that warrant this not being labeled as YA, but the content within the first 20% is almost entirely high school style drama and activities, and the characters express that level of juvenility, which is not my personal cup of tea to read about.

along with this, while i saw the note saying this was a "valiant origin story" i was sort of under the misunderstanding that this might be related to the author's other works (i.e. if they had a whole universe of other novels i'd never read) but it's actually a superhero/DC thing? it was confusing because this wasn't mentioned anywhere else, even on the goodreads/bookseller pages. i think this needs to be labeled much clearer.

lastly, and this is more understandable given that this is an advanced copy, but this is in need of some line/copy editing. lots of grammatical errors, word rep, logical/narrative inconsistencies (like if the mc hasn't spoken english since she left america, then how is she recording videos for her tiktok in english?) and other bits that need a nice sweep to be fixed. this is doable of course and no critique to the author over it, since sometimes these things can be hard to catch, but i would hope that these are edited out before release.

unfortunately this book was just not for me, and though i really liked the setup and found some of the potential conflict build up to be interesting (i had questions that i wanted answered!) as well as enjoying amanda's early character traits, i think this is a bit too far out of my realm of interest to continue in good faith. however i do think this has a lot of potential, and a great premise, and i hope that it finds the audience it deserves.

Thank you to Blackstone publishing and NetGalley for a chance to read this early!

This was very fun.

I really enjoyed our main character Amanda. She was spunky, fun, kind, but also she was a teenager who made a lot of mistakes and is trying to figure out her life and her not so natural abilities.

Now I’ve never read any of the valiant comics or anything so I did feel a little just thrown into this world and the working of pisots but I feel like the author made it to where Amanda feels like that too since she is the only known one. I do wish there would’ve been a little more building on that in the beginning but I will probably now read those comics because learning about Amanda has made me very interested in more of this world and story.

The middle did feel very bogged down but the ending really saved this for me. I loved the fight scenes I thought they were pretty well crafted and they get quite brutal which was a nice surprise I wasn’t expecting the fight scenes to be so intense.

Overall it was a favorite but it has a lot of potential and has made me super interested in other works in this world and I’m excited to explore those too.

16 yr old FMC was adopted by billionaire Toyo Harada. Andy's hidden superpower is used to save humanity by Harada. That's until an assassin arrives wanting to kill Andy.

💾 Black FMC
💾 Technology Superpower
💾 Character Growth
💾 Romance
💾 Digital World

The story didn't pull me in immediately. It definitely took a little to set everything up and get going with the main plot but once it started I was really enjoying it. I loved the idea of the Digital World and the journey that Andy and Sho went through. This really added another added layer that made the story exciting. The world-building of that world was done well, I liked that I could picture it.

ARC Reader Review – Livewire by Sarah Raughley

Thank you for the chance to read an advanced copy of Livewire. As an ARC reader, I was eager to see Sarah Raughley’s interpretation of this complex DC character, and overall, the story offered a compelling and introspective take on what it means to wield power in the public eye.

What I Loved:

Livewire’s Character Arc – Her inner conflict was portrayed with nuance, and I appreciated how the story gave space for her emotional and psychological journey. She felt like a fully realized character navigating the consequences of past choices.

Themes with Depth – The narrative touches on redemption, power dynamics, identity, and control in a way that feels timely and thought-provoking. It adds weight to the action and makes the story stand out in the superhero genre.

Writing Style – Raughley’s writing is clear and compelling. The tone strikes a balance between introspection and momentum, making it easy to read while still hitting emotional beats.

What Could Be Stronger:

Supporting Characters – Some side characters felt underdeveloped, especially compared to the depth given to Livewire. A bit more attention to their backgrounds or motivations could elevate the overall narrative.

Pacing in the Middle – While the opening and ending are strong, the middle of the book slowed a little. A tighter progression there would keep the energy more consistent.

DC Universe Context – For readers less familiar with Livewire or her history, a touch more background or grounding in the world would improve accessibility and immersion.

Final Thoughts:

Livewire is a thoughtful and character-driven story that goes beyond standard superhero fare. It offers a unique lens on power, responsibility, and public perception—all while staying true to the comic book spirit. I think readers will appreciate its intelligence, heart, and emotional-honesty

After a rocky start, I have to admit I quickly began looking forward to the rest of the story. I feel like the FMC's characterization is a little inconsistent, but she moves the plot along at an excellent clip. The magic and action is fun, maybe especially so if you enjoy anime in general. This book is best suited for a younger audience. It pretty directly lifts from a lot of references that stand out starkly - Persona 5 is a big one, and I get hints of Evangelion, Pacific Rim, maybe a little Carrie, and strangely "Friday" by Rebecca Black. It does a lot of telling instead of showing.

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.