The Extraordinaries by T.J. Klune Published by Tor Teen on July 14th 2020
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, YA, LGBTQIA
Goodreads
Some people are extraordinary. Some are just extra. TJ Klune's YA debut, The Extraordinaries, is a queer coming-of-age story about a fanboy with ADHD and the heroes he loves.
Nick Bell? Not extraordinary. But being the most popular fanfiction writer in the Extraordinaries fandom is a superpower, right?
After a chance encounter with Shadow Star, Nova City’s mightiest hero (and Nick’s biggest crush), Nick sets out to make himself extraordinary. And he’ll do it with or without the reluctant help of Seth Gray, Nick's best friend (and maybe the love of his life).
Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl meets Marissa Meyer's Renegades in TJ Klune's YA debut.
I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher. This does not influence my thoughts on the book or this review.
I love superheroes and fandom so any book that combines both immediately has a place in my heart. The Extraordinaries is one such book and luckily it did not disappoint.
Nick lives in a world where Extraordinaries, people with extraordinary powers, live. In his city, Shadow Star and Pyro Storm are two rivaling Extraordinaries. Nick, on his part, is obsessed with Shadow Star and is currently working on a super long (and super popular) fanfic. When a chance encounter brings him face to face with the Extraordinary, he decides to try and become one himself.
I found the premise super adorable and I am always a fan of superhero stories. I loved that The Extraordinaries includes acknowledgement of Marvel and DC heroes too, it’s nice when little tidbits of the entire superhero canon are acknowledged. Nick was also such a unique character. His personality (as described in the tagline) is very extra and I totally loved it. He is clearly clueless (especially about his own romantic love for his best friend, Seth) but it worked for his character. I can see readers being a little frustrated because key plot points and twists are really obvious but I actually think this works out in the end. It was surprisingly fun to guess when Nick would finally connect the pieces for himself and I loved his optimism. The side characters were also phenomenal and fleshed-out and I really loved the family dynamic.
Overall, this debut YA book had the perfect mix of compelling characters, fun action and the most adorable romance. I definitely recommend The Extraordinaries and I eagerly await news of a sequel, especially with such a mysterious ending!
