Peter Moore (3)

This is the story of the other side. This is the story of how the world is complicated and not just black and white, heroes and villains. It's also quite the superhero/super villain romp of a story.

This is the tale of two brothers, Blake, a guy with tons of powers and is in the Justice Force, one of the many superhero teams out there 'saving the world'. Then there's his younger brother Brad, who aside from higher than normal intelligence has no powers at all.

Brad goes to the same school that show more Blake did once upon a time, but he seems to be the target of the students and teachers alike, and then he gets transferred to a different part of the school and his life starts to go sorta crazy.

He meets a girl named Layla and her friends. They have some not quite mainstream ideas and they want to do something about it. She was an interesting character, as was Brad. Even Blake turned into a multi-layered character of a sort. That was one of the very good things about this book for sure, the uniqueness of all the characters. Really the only character that I never really got into was Brad and Blake's mom. She was weirdly underdeveloped.

Another great thing about the book was the world building, it was totally awesome. I will be seriously sad if there isn't some sort of sequel to this book too. I will say that I never really got used to the footnotes. I understand why they were there and they were definitely needed, but every time I had to stop to read one it pulled me from the story quite a bit.

Still, overall I really loved this book. Telling the stories of Villains is the current trend in all sorts of media types from TV (Regina and Rumple on Once Upon a Time), to Movies (Maleficent), and this book is a nice addition to the genre.

I got this advanced galley through Netgalley on behalf of Disney Book Group. show less

Brad Baron has a lot to live up to: a father who was a superhero, a brother currently on one of the most popular superhero teams and a genius mother. Enrolled at an elite school for children of superheros, Brad is a disappointment. With the exception of his genius level intelligence, he has nothing else super to recommend him: no super strength, no super speed, no flying, nothing. After being seriously injured during gym class by another student (Brad recovers, thanks to advanced surgical show more procedures), Brad is mortified to discover that the offending student wasn't even punished for breaking Brad's neck, and instead was given bonus points for the class. Shortly thereafter, Brad is transferred to the school within a school for students who can't make it at the regular school because they lack any superpowers. After transferring, Brad meets Layla, Javier, Boots and Peanut, all washouts from the regular school. Working together they become a team of villains, but the most astonishing changes happen to Brad when Layla reveals that he is a very powerful telepath--a superpower banned because of its potential for misuse. Brad and the rest of his crew embark upon a villainous crusade, and uncover the true genesis of supervillains, as well as some startling surprises about Brad's family.
Overall, "V is for Villain," was a fast fun read that highlighted the dark side of the superhero. As Brad and his crew slowly uncover the truth behind what's really happening, I found myself cheering for them as underdogs. The style of the book, complete with footnotes and a glossary, was very accessible and easy to read. I can definitely see teens who root for the superhero and for the underdog being excited by Brad's journey from outcast, second class citizen to villain. I was caught up within the first few pages, feeling as indignant as Brad when the other student hurts him, but doesn't get punished and as compelled as Brad to figure out just what's going on with his brother and his mom. Successfully combining the superhero/supervillain origin story with a mystery makes this a great book for all readers.

Julie K. / Marathon County Public Library
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This is a completely different take on the vampire/werewolf legend. No sparkles here, although the vampires are considered the superior race. And that is where the problem really begins. Vampires are more intelligent and more attractive than humans, but the societies are well integrated. The fact that vampires only drink synthetic blood probably helps.Werewulves (not a typo, that's how they spell it) however, are not even second class. They are slightly higher than animals. They are show more considered the least intelligent and are required to register before their first turning. If they don't, they are "moonrunners" and can be shot on sight. Every month during the full moon, all registered wulves are shipped to compounds and many of them never return. Many vampires and humans believe they should be exterminated, or at the least, should not be allowed to associate with "civilized" people.I kept thinking of blacks in America before the civil rights era and Japanese containment camps during World War II. There is even a mention of Nazis and it is not in a negative way.I would recommend this book simply on the basis it was a good read. The addition of the societal aspects make it even more compelling. show less

Radical Rising

*I received this book via Different Area Codes tours

This book gets 4 gnomes and a gnome hat out of 5 gnomes for a great alternate world where wulfs and vampyres are out in the open and a part of society. I like that it reads just like a normal coming of age story but with wulfs and vampyres thrown into the mix. This story reminds me a bit of the whole Sookie Stackhouse series with the whole synthetic blood aspect.

Dante aka Danny Gray, the main character, is trying to get show more through high school and going through some changes. He is part vamp and part wulf, his mom's a vampyre and dad is a wulf. Being part wulf and part vampyre may sound awesome but wulfs are the minority in this world and marginalized by everyone. Wulfs are sent to compounds every month during the full moon and it's a felony not to go. If they don't register or show up at the compound they are labeled a moon runner and usually killed.

Danny and his sister had treatments to repress their wulf genes. His sister had all the treatments and looks like a full vampyre. He had over half of the treatments but had a reaction that didn't let the treatments finish. Because of that he has vampyre like blue eyes but the complexion and body type of a wulf. Most think that Danny is half human and he usually doesn't correct them in their misperception.

I like that his friend Claire also has secrets to hide. She's a great friend and also knows what bullying and other ostracizing can happen when you're different.

There are complications aplenty for Danny. Vampyres in this world unlike some young adult literature, can't go out in the sun so they have things like Sol-Blok suits.

The arguments in the book about whether celebrities and people from history are wulf, vampyre or human is great. For example David Bowie is a vampyre. Also interesting that there's speculation that Hemingway was a wulf but the family won't let DNA tests be done to determine whether that's true.

Danny has to talk to his wulf father again after pretty much abandoning him after his mom got remarried to a vampyre. That means there is plenty of family turmoil too.

You can tell where the story is going but there are a lot of fun twists along the way. It's great that the book wasn't all about him getting a girlfriend, that part's just a small aspect of the book and not really his biggest problem. Danny likes Juliet, the only human at Carpathia Night (the night high school he goes to.)

The bully/big bad of the book is well done too because you never know what he's going to do especially towards the end of this book. The bully's hate is made easier because most people don't have a problem when someone is bullying a wulf.

The tension builds throughout with you always wondering will he be caught and what decision will ultimately be made.

I love the ending because things are still very unsure about whether the solution will work but it still ends on a hopeful note. Hope theirs a sequel because I'd love to read more about this world. show less