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Blaze (or Love in the Time of Supervillains)

by Laurie Boyle Crompton

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10313261,791 (3.6)None
Comic and Graphic Books. Romance. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML:

Blaze is tired of spending her life on the sidelines.

All she wants is for Mark the Soccer Stud to notice her. Not as Josh's weird sister who drives a turd-brown minivan. And not as that nerdy girl who draws comics.

What she gets is her very own arch-nemesis.

Name: Mark Deninger, aka Mark the Shark

Occupation: Soccer star and all-around lady killer

Relationship Status: Serial ater

Group Affiliation: No loyalty

Known Superpowers: Anti-girlfriend force field, breaking hearts

Mark may have humiliated Blaze supervillian-style, but what he doesn't know is how geek girls always get revenge.

#GeekGrlzRevenge

.
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Showing 1-5 of 13 (next | show all)
Blaze is sick of being invisible. She's been playing pseudo-soccer mom to her little bro (and his band of friends) and generally sacrificing her social life to pick up the slack ever since her father took off to New York. She's a comic book geek, named after comic hero Johnny Blaze of Ghostrider, who dreams of publishing her own comic books someday. Until then, she's sidelined on the soccer field drooling over Josh's coach Mark, a hottie that goes to her school. When Mark finally takes notice, Blaze is stunned... and psyched!! This is her chance of shedding her invisibility and actually having a boyfriend.

When Super-Virgin Girl takes over and almost ruins things with Mark, her friend sends him a "sext" of Blaze to try to get his attention. Blaze is humiliated, but it indeed gets Mark to want to see Blaze. After hooking up in her soccer-mom van, Mark fails to call again. And Blaze, looking to warn other girls of Mark's player ways, writes a comic book featuring Mark as the villain. She's flying high for a while, but then Mark retaliates by releasing her "sext", and the invisible life Blaze lived before is suddenly so far away. As she tries to endure relentless bullying, she wonders if she'll ever get back to normal again.


My Thoughts:
The first thing that grabbed me about this book was the awesome main character. I loved that Blaze was this self-proclaimed comic-book geek, who secretly enjoyed hanging out with her little bro and his band of kooky friends. I appreciated reading about a girl being into comic books, as I don't think it's all that common, but it rocks! I liked Blaze's whole attitude about life and her vulnerabilities too. All she wanted was a boyfriend and unfortunately she looked in the wrong place. She made a ton of mistakes and embarrassed herself along the way, but she really was just a girl who wanted a boy to like her.

I must say that I loved the drawings sprinkled in throughout the book. It was like getting a glimpse into Blaze's head and really helped with the story. And being from Pittsburgh, PA, I was appreciative of the Butler setting (which is like 1/2 hour North of the Burgh). So we have a kick-ass heroine, a cool country setting, and pretty drawings thrown in. What's not to like?

Now we get to the issues this book delved into. I really felt bad for Blaze during the bullying phase. And the fact that she was basically all alone in dealing with it was a little heartbreaking. It reminded me a lot of Thousand Words by Jennifer Brown the way everyone reacted so harshly over a picture! I know high school is melodramatic, but those kids were ruthless. It made me glad I grew up in an era where cell phones were pretty much gigantic and not capable of taking pictures at all.

So yeah, a totally enjoyable, fun book that will make you think about all the dumb stuff you did for the sake of trying to woo a guy (at least it did for me, and yes I did just say woo!). I wouldn't say it's a book that changed me or even is one that's going to be super-memorable as time goes on, but as far as main characters and fun 12 year old boys go, this one rocked it!

OVERALL: The story of a comic-book girl's struggles with family problems and living with mistakes. I loved the quirky characters in this book and the strong, but vulnerable Blaze. I was expecting more of a revenge book, but I got more of a coming of age feeling out of it. It's worth reading, but it's not mind-blowing.

My Blog:

( )
  Michelle_PPDB | Mar 18, 2023 |
I can’t quite decide what I think about Blaze (the character, not the entire book). She is incredibly naïve and doesn’t listen to anybody, even if those people only want what’s good for her. She doesn’t know how to say no to Mark and she lets him cross her lines over and over again. I just don’t get it! But then again – she is a teen trying to find her boundaries and she has been an outsider forever and suddenly a very hot guy gives her a lot of attention – she is probably bound to be confused. I just get a little tired of her jumping through hoops for him and suspecting nothing.


I HATE Blazes friends. Well, I hate Amanda and dislike Terri. Amanda is absolutely awful! She doesn’t care for anyone but herself and she is so mean toward Blaze (Seriously, who takes a picture of a friend in sexy lingerie and send it to that persons crush? That should end a friendship!) I don’t really care for Blazes mom either. She is so immature and she shouldn’t be blaming Blaze for her husband leaving her. I’m very glad she isn’t a bigger part of the story!


I adore Josh and his friends, the soccer cretins. They are so much fun and typical young teenage boys. They are partly the reason for the last star. The other part of the reason is the humor. This book is so much fun! The comic book references fit perfectly and Blaze, Josh and the soccer cretins are hilarious.


Blaze grows a lot through the book, but it takes a long time. It isn’t till the end that she learns something. The book is about trusting yourself and knowing your identity but it is also about bullying both online and in person. It was a great read and I’m sure I will enjoy more books from Laurie Boyle Crompton in the future!
I read an ARC and therefor didn’t have the pleasure of seeing the drawings which will be in the finished copy. I did see some of them on other blogs and they were great!
( )
  Hyms | Aug 9, 2020 |
3.5 Stars.
Blaze (or Love in the Time of Supervillains) was a very quick and easy read. We see Blaze navigate her crush on her little brother's soccer coach, Mark, her friends interfering with said crush, and the fallout/backlash she faces.

Blaze's love of comics was fun to see, and it made her endearing. It was cool to see a young woman who creates comic content and is unashamed by it. Though her naivety and idealization about relationships was frustrating and eye-roll worthy at times, her relationship with her brother, Josh, was wonderfully developed. It was so nice to see a sibling relationship where yes, they may fight or pick on each other, but they love and support each other and would do anything for each other as well. I couldn't stop smiling after seeing Josh and his friends come to Blaze's rescue when she meets her dad .

Some negatives, were that most, if not all of the characters were underdeveloped. It felt like each character had a role to fill and they filled it. Amanda one of Blaze's "best" friends who sends Mark the picture WITHOUT TELLING BLAZE is such a horrible person and Blaze and Terri just forgive her. Ryan, Blaze's accidental friend, is equally awful. We see him pining after Blaze in the first half of the story and verbally assault her in the second half. Quentin, 'comic book guy' was obviously going to be Blaze's perfect match. . It also took a little longer than I would have liked to get to the drama.

All in all, Blaze (or Love in the Time of Supervillains) was a quick and easy read, with fun and frustrating moments. I would recommend it, but don't expect something deep, complex, or nuanced. Appreciate the story for it's lightness and quirkiness. ( )
  LifeofaLiteraryNerd | Apr 27, 2018 |
Ah, Blaze. You tried so hard and still managed to make me so grumpy. For much of the story, I had fun. I liked Blaze’s attitude and her talent at drawing comics and her determination to count the most cows. I especially loved the nerdery that permeated every page. All the chatter about comics and superheroes made me so happy.

However, all that had changed by the end precisely because nothing changed. My main issue was that (in my opinion) the characters experienced zero growth. None. Nada. By the end of the book, Mark is still a jerk, Dad is still a jerk, Mom is still overworked and acting jerky, Blaze’s friends are still a jerk, Comic Book Guy is still a jerk, and Catherine Wiggins is still being bullied. Blaze has a changed perspective, but what good will it do her when literally everyone around her is still the same and the only person she’s bothered to call out is Mark and Dad? GIRL, YOUR FRIENDS ARE STILL MAJOR JERKS AND NOW YOU WANT TO DATE A SNOBBY NERD BOY. LOOK AT YOUR LIFE. LOOK AT YOUR CHOICES.

READ THE FULL REVIEW: http://www.shaelit.com/2014/08/mini-reviews-blaze-and-i-am-not-a-serial-killer/ ( )
  Shelver506 | Aug 20, 2014 |
RATING: 2.5-ish.

WARNING: some (minor) SPOILERS.

This book is NOT bad. That's the first thing I want to say. It's just so... underdeveloped that I was disappointed and couldn't really connect with the characters. The premise, however, was interesting.

Basically I had a problem with the length of the book (less than 200 pages) because it didn't allow for the story to be properly developed. There was so much the author could have done with the characters, so much depth she could have added to their... character. She could have explored Mark's past better; she could have explored Blaze's feelings about her parent's divorce better; she could have explored Blaze's and Quentin's relationship (she could actually have included it in the book). Blaze herself deserved more development. The entire issue(s) raised by this book deserved more development, to be better and more deeply explored (I'm not saying the book had to be bleak... but some serious moments among the predominantly humorous moments would have made this book so much more interesting) and more "closure" than they got.

As it was, I couldn't really connect with the characters. I felt like only Blaze and Josh (her younger brother) were really more then cardboard cutouts (which I felt the rest of the characters were; just there to fill the book with... characters), but even them lacked development.

I don't know. This could have been a really good book about double standards based on gender in our society, the dangers of social media, etc. But... it needed more development and a bit more depth. As it was, I thought it was a quick, fluffy read and Blaze's love of comics was awesome, but that's all this book was... and it could have been so much more.

Overall... a quick, fluffy read that could have been so much more. ( )
1 vote slayra | Sep 21, 2013 |
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Comic and Graphic Books. Romance. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML:

Blaze is tired of spending her life on the sidelines.

All she wants is for Mark the Soccer Stud to notice her. Not as Josh's weird sister who drives a turd-brown minivan. And not as that nerdy girl who draws comics.

What she gets is her very own arch-nemesis.

Name: Mark Deninger, aka Mark the Shark

Occupation: Soccer star and all-around lady killer

Relationship Status: Serial ater

Group Affiliation: No loyalty

Known Superpowers: Anti-girlfriend force field, breaking hearts

Mark may have humiliated Blaze supervillian-style, but what he doesn't know is how geek girls always get revenge.

#GeekGrlzRevenge

.

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