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aunt_zeldaWhat a disappointing book this was. I mean, there were some interesting ideas, but they weren't presented well at all, things were barely explored when they should have been the focus, and almost every single character was an asshole with little to no motivation for being such. It was chock-full of terrible excuses for parents, law enforcement, and friends. There were numerous instances of victim-blaming, rape-culture, and blatant disregard for the law.
I was particularly struck by the scenes that followed after the main character, Celia, reveals (under oath in court) tthat she'd worked for a big bad supervillain for two months when she was 17 and feeling rebellious. She's fired from her job, shouted at by her best friend, and dumped by her boyfriend. The boyfriend's actions are particularly offensive to me, as he seems only concerned with whether she slept with the villain. This was almost eight years ago, people, this wasn't last week or yesterday ... you know, when they've been dating. Even if she had (she didn't, villain wasn't interested) it would have been statutory rape as she was underage at the time, not to mention whether he was messing with her mind with his superpowers. Nope, everybody just wants to know whether she was screwing him, and Mark (the boyfriend) doesn't want her now that she's "dirty" in his eyes. The whole exhange reads like: "Zomg, you might have slept with somebody when you were an angry teenager? I don't want you anymore! WHORE!" Lovely. I'm glad she didn't end up with him in the end, if she had I would have thrown the book against the wall. It made my blood boil that she didn't cut off all contact with that asshole. He didn't deserve to be "friends" or have a chance with her at all after that.
That's hardly the end of offensive relationships between Celia and a male character in this book, though. Her father deserves mention as well. He's a superhero, big and famous and a total Superman expy. Everybody in the city is in awe of him. Behind closed doors though, with his family, he's borderline abusive. I'm surrpised that nobody calls him out on this. People hint at chastizing him, but it's nowhere near what he deserves. His typical response to news/opinions/things he doesn't like is to punch holes in the wall. He emotionally abused his daughter Celia throughout her childhood and was shocked when she lashed out at 17 by joining his nemesis, and at that reveal came frighteningly close to physically harming her with his superpowers. A sobbing 17-year-old girl with no superpowers at all. Years later, when Celia is 25, he smashes her coffee table in a fit of rage and storms out of her apartment. Celia's mother has become used to making excuses for him and trying to calm him down. She should be asking for a divorce. He frequently refuses to believe a skilled telepath who defends Celia and attempts to point out that it's kinda the dad's fault. The man is violent, egotistical, and just as bad as the supervillains he's fighting. Worse, NOBODY CALLS HIM OUT ON THIS. When he died saving his daughter's life in the book's climax, I was happy that he wasn't there to mess with her anymore.
There was some merit to this book. I'd recommend picking it up from the library if you're able (don't buy it, spend your money on better things.) I had trouble putting it down, in spite of myself. The flashbacks between Sito (the supervillain) and Celia were squicky in just the right way. Though poorly organized and far too few-and-far-between, the flashbacks are worth the read. (The flashbacks should have been the focus of the book itself.) Superhero deconstruction is always interesting. Parts of this reminded me of Soon I Will Be Invincible, especially the exchanges between the superheroes, which were interesting and showed promise before being squished by the Unfortunate Implications.
I was particularly struck by the scenes that followed after the main character, Celia, reveals (under oath in court) tthat she'd worked for a big bad supervillain for two months when she was 17 and feeling rebellious. She's fired from her job, shouted at by her best friend, and dumped by her boyfriend. The boyfriend's actions are particularly offensive to me, as he seems only concerned with whether she slept with the villain. This was almost eight years ago, people, this wasn't last week or yesterday ... you know, when they've been dating. Even if she had (she didn't, villain wasn't interested) it would have been statutory rape as she was underage at the time, not to mention whether he was messing with her mind with his superpowers. Nope, everybody just wants to know whether she was screwing him, and Mark (the boyfriend) doesn't want her now that she's "dirty" in his eyes. The whole exhange reads like: "Zomg, you might have slept with somebody when you were an angry teenager? I don't want you anymore! WHORE!" Lovely. I'm glad she didn't end up with him in the end, if she had I would have thrown the book against the wall. It made my blood boil that she didn't cut off all contact with that asshole. He didn't deserve to be "friends" or have a chance with her at all after that.
That's hardly the end of offensive relationships between Celia and a male character in this book, though. Her father deserves mention as well. He's a superhero, big and famous and a total Superman expy. Everybody in the city is in awe of him. Behind closed doors though, with his family, he's borderline abusive. I'm surrpised that nobody calls him out on this. People hint at chastizing him, but it's nowhere near what he deserves. His typical response to news/opinions/things he doesn't like is to punch holes in the wall. He emotionally abused his daughter Celia throughout her childhood and was shocked when she lashed out at 17 by joining his nemesis, and at that reveal came frighteningly close to physically harming her with his superpowers. A sobbing 17-year-old girl with no superpowers at all. Years later, when Celia is 25, he smashes her coffee table in a fit of rage and storms out of her apartment. Celia's mother has become used to making excuses for him and trying to calm him down. She should be asking for a divorce. He frequently refuses to believe a skilled telepath who defends Celia and attempts to point out that it's kinda the dad's fault. The man is violent, egotistical, and just as bad as the supervillains he's fighting. Worse, NOBODY CALLS HIM OUT ON THIS. When he died saving his daughter's life in the book's climax, I was happy that he wasn't there to mess with her anymore.
There was some merit to this book. I'd recommend picking it up from the library if you're able (don't buy it, spend your money on better things.) I had trouble putting it down, in spite of myself. The flashbacks between Sito (the supervillain) and Celia were squicky in just the right way. Though poorly organized and far too few-and-far-between, the flashbacks are worth the read. (The flashbacks should have been the focus of the book itself.) Superhero deconstruction is always interesting. Parts of this reminded me of Soon I Will Be Invincible, especially the exchanges between the superheroes, which were interesting and showed promise before being squished by the Unfortunate Implications.
