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Super Powereds: Year 1

(Super Powereds #1)

Drew Hayes (Goodreads Author)

4.36 · Rating details · 7,945 ratings · 570 reviews

**Update** 8/23/2013: Professionally edited.

Knowledge is power. That would be the motto of Lander University, had it not been snatched up and used to death by others long before the school was founded. For while Lander offers a full range of courses to nearly all students, it also offers a small number of specialty classes to a very select few. Lander is home to the Hero ...more

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Kindle Edition, 732 pages

Published January 7th 2014 (first published February 19th 2013)

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Jun 07, 2016 Mike (the Paladin) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, action, superhero-related

***Originally reviewed in 2016 but I had to correct a typo.

When I first began this book I found it "fairly" interesting and thought, "okay going to be a 4". But as I continued on the book, like some pieces of music just got better and better.

This is unapologetically a light "brain-candyish" book. No doubt about that, make no mistake. This is not something along the lines of Spinoza. That said sometimes a book about an unabashedly light subject comes together on the quality of the story-telling a ...more

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May 23, 2017 Jheurf rated it it was ok · review of another edition

It was a slog, but I did finish it, because there was a good story in there. It was just buried under bad metaphors, stilted phrasings, unneeded modifiers (cool wet river water?) and just awful attempts at wry humour, all making for an overly long book. This book did not need to be 800+ pages. I get that it was originally a web series, but still...

I listened to the audio book, so can't really quote passages, but here's an example of what you could expect:
"Vince asked Nick if he still had his inv It was a slog, but I did finish it, because there was a good story in there. It was just buried under bad metaphors, stilted phrasings, unneeded modifiers (cool wet river water?) and just awful attempts at wry humour, all making for an overly long book. This book did not need to be 800+ pages. I get that it was originally a web series, but still...

I listened to the audio book, so can't really quote passages, but here's an example of what you could expect:
"Vince asked Nick if he still had his invitation, since he had lost his because he did not think it important and lost track of it. Nick lifted his arm, extended his thumb and index then plunged them in his front jeans pocket. He rifled for a while and pulled out a tattered folded piece of paper. He unfolded it slowly and handed it to Vince, saying "ask and ye shall receive, my good man". Vince looked at the unfolded piece of paper, a deep crease down the middle of it. At the top it said "invitation" in black letters."

I'm interested in the craft of writing and I'm always wondering at the choice between writing a scene and just mentioning that it happened. Do you write the whole discussion you had with your coach about what power you should focus on or do you just mentioned that you did? This book is a perfect example of what not to do. Interesting things get mentioned while whole scenes are about inane stuff. It's not even for character development.

There's hints of coolness and sinister dealings in the background. A few throwaway comments hint at deeper meanings. Coach saying "Ah yes, so like his father", Chad reacting to the mention of a disgraced hero. I say throwaway because none of those things are ever expanded on or explained! A little less make-out sessions and a little more substance please. I was aiming for 3 stars IF I got some closure on a few these. I didn't so 2 stars.

I think like 5 people have issues with their dad.

Imagine X-Men First Class, focusing on the dating and socializing.

And the narrator was terrible. His different voices were just bad caricatures. Just because a character is named Hershel, doesn't mean he should sound like Mort form Family Guy.

*I started writing this review when I had about 50 minutes left on this 22 hour audiobook. The last 40 minutes are pretty kick-ass and make me almost want to read volume 2.

This angers me.* ...more

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Jan 25, 2014 Janelle rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, capes-nonsense

I'm terrible at talking about what I *like* about a book. What works for me depends a lot on what I'm in the mood to be reading. I am usually much more clear about what I don't like, so I want to preface this review with two statements:

1. Yes, there are still plenty of proofreading errors throughout the book. (As of when I picked it up in late November 2013.)

2. I checked the book out for free as a Prime member, and then bought it and the sequel.

And, I think that sums up my feelings about the boo I'm terrible at talking about what I *like* about a book. What works for me depends a lot on what I'm in the mood to be reading. I am usually much more clear about what I don't like, so I want to preface this review with two statements:

1. Yes, there are still plenty of proofreading errors throughout the book. (As of when I picked it up in late November 2013.)

2. I checked the book out for free as a Prime member, and then bought it and the sequel.

And, I think that sums up my feelings about the book pretty concisely.

Knowing that this book started as an episodic web enterprise goes a long way to explaining what I consider the two biggest problems with the story: the glacial pace and bloated writing. This *feels* like an outstanding second draft of a NaNoWriMo project that needed one or two more go-rounds with the editing pen to trim some of the scenes that don't add substantially to the overall plot.

One of the positives of the episodic writing is that you spend a lot of time with the characters. The downside is that there's little economy of phrasing. Combat scenes take up multiple chapters, and it feels like watching Yu Gi Oh (or, for the older readers, any season of How I Met Your Mother): lots of words, little forward motion of the story.

There's no narrative tension pulling the story along. The stakes don't exist until the very last 10-15% of the story, at which point something occurs that had no foreshadowing at all. I believe the tension of discovery of what makes the kids "special" is supposed to be driving the story, but I never felt it. SpoilerNotSpoiler: when the outing occurs, it's not even the biggest news on the page.

The story was an uphill slog for the first three-quarters. I had no idea why it was taking so long for things to happen. I don't know what kept me going throughout the book except that at some point, I acknowledged that I had nothing else I wanted to read, and perhaps the story just needed to unfold over the entire four books instead of this one. By the time I finished it, I was interested enough to pony up the cash and buy my own copy.

Fingers crossed that Hayes has a plan that will ultimately satisfy. ...more

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Aug 06, 2016 The Pirate Ghost (Formerly known as the Curmudgeon) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-book, multiple-lead-characters-diverse-s, romance-in-the-folds, series, strong-roles-for-female-characters, colorful-supporting-characters, dystopian, uniquly-unusual, modern-fantasy, really-good-read

This is less "Pup-Fiction" and more written from those wonderful fantasies and day dreams that a young reader of comic books might have had in the silver age of comics, 1970s (ish) when Spiderman and the X-Men were on the rise. When I was nine years old, I benefited from a friend who had a wonderful imagination and was able to make up stories where he inserted us into the mix of superheroes. Most of his were borrowed from his extensive comic book collection. Stories could last for hours. Too bad ...more

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Feb 16, 2017 Samantha rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: superhero

I have mixed feelings about this book. The fact that it was originally written as serial shows when you read it all in one go. It leads to some strange pacing for a novel, where the big fight that comes at the end isn't even foreshadowed in the rest of the book, leaving you feeling like it just came out of left field. While it was usually entertaining chapter by chapter, it doesn't quite build properly as a complete work. I think it could have used a round or two of revision changing it from a s I have mixed feelings about this book. The fact that it was originally written as serial shows when you read it all in one go. It leads to some strange pacing for a novel, where the big fight that comes at the end isn't even foreshadowed in the rest of the book, leaving you feeling like it just came out of left field. While it was usually entertaining chapter by chapter, it doesn't quite build properly as a complete work. I think it could have used a round or two of revision changing it from a serial into a novel. As is, it feels like the pieces were just gathered and published as they were.

I listened to it as an audiobook, which of course colors my perceptions because of the narration. The narrator's reading of women characters really grated on my nerves. All the female characters were presented with a nasal or breathy or squeaky tone. I appreciate the attempt to differentiate the voices, but maybe it would have been better to let the storytelling do that. This wasn't helped by the text itself which suffers from many stereotypical representations of women. I rolled my eyes almost as often as the teenaged characters over these unimaginative characterizations. Alice, in particular, was completely flat and uninteresting, made entirely of tropes about rich girls.

It wasn't much better for some of the boys. Hershel, when not in his super form, was the whipping boy of the story: weak, whiny and soft. We're told he's intelligent, but he seldom gets to display that, and the comments on LARPing and RPG gameplay suffer from lazy stereotypes as much as Alice's poor little rich girl.

That said, I can't just dismiss the work entirely. The world Hayes created is compelling. The "powered" vs. "supers" divide is interesting and several of the characters had good arcs and engaging backstories. My favorite character was Vince, who is sort of the Paladin of the group. I'd be interested to know what happens to him, but I'm not sure that's enough to bring me back for further works in the series. ...more

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Mar 18, 2016 Cor Markhart rated it did not like it · review of another edition

This is an interesting book but a bit too simplistic for my tastes. It tries very hard to be mature, both with its plot and character's, but never really manges to do that. The talk and behaviour of most of the cast far too often reads like a 14/15 year old imagines "cool adults" to behave and the same can be said of the general world building and plotting. ...more

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Aug 21, 2019 Emma rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This was great fun! I really loved the main characters and they came a long way in the space of a year. Really looking forward to the rest of the series.

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Sep 14, 2018 Eloisa James rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Big surprises, engrossing characters

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Feb 04, 2021 Derpa rated it really liked it

Shelves: my-jam, series, sidechars-of-awesome, protag-love, would-have-loved-more-when-younger

I have never read a web serial in my life. Maybe that makes me not suited to review this, but I will still do it because nobody can stop me.
I have also never watched My Hero Academia, though Tiger & Bunny is a favourite of mine and it does involve superheroes. Again, my frame of reference for understanding this thing is more and more limited, it seems.

A group of young people go to college to become superheroes. The catch? In this world 'powereds' are ones who have powers, but can't control t I have never read a web serial in my life. Maybe that makes me not suited to review this, but I will still do it because nobody can stop me.
I have also never watched My Hero Academia, though Tiger & Bunny is a favourite of mine and it does involve superheroes. Again, my frame of reference for understanding this thing is more and more limited, it seems.

A group of young people go to college to become superheroes. The catch? In this world 'powereds' are ones who have powers, but can't control them. 'Supers' are the ones who have control and can become heroes. Powereds are generally seen as dangerous and mistakes of nature, while supers are... well, they are super.
Our main characters, Vince, Nick, Alice, Mary and Hershel were originally powereds, who, though some sort of a brand new medical procedure, got turned into supers. This is a big deal and a huge secret for them to keep while also going to school with born talents.

Now I am not going to say that even the professionally edited version is without flaws. You can sense this is the work of someone still learning how to write and that's fine. It has cringey sentences, weirdly worded things.
But man, is it fun and easy to read. Often times I felt like nothing too big was happening and still, I kept going, because it was comforting. Something about the story is familiar and nostalgic. Hell, by the end of the book nothing much happened, ending with one big umph. But still. I can't complain about it much, because I was having fun with it. I enjoyed it all.

The world needs opening up. We know there will be things outside this college, I mean people keep mentioning heroes, the work they do, the scandals that happened during the history of this world where superheroes are celebrities.
I will be honest, I prefer this approach over a lot of the typical Western (mostly US) superhero comics/movies that are so popular now. It's so... personal, I guess, seeing these people going through all the steps to greatness. They are not omnipotent, certainly not from the get go. They are also not always brilliant people, but it's still not some sort of an edgy, forcibly dark thing where you just want everyone to die, because nothing happy ever happens.
It's simple, it's fun, it's colourful.

One thing that could be useful to know for people; the chapters are super short. If you can only ever stop reading at the end of a chapter, this will help you not being stuck there too long. Again, easy to digest. Probably made sense to write in sort bursts when it was still serialising.

This is one of those books that doesn't try to be more than what it is, which is a chronically underrated feature. Not everything needs to aim for being something deep and artsy. Not saying this doesn't have nice moments and fun idea, but it's not trying to convince you the author is God's gift to humanity, or that you are for reading it. Unabashed good times.

I'm definitely reading the next book to see where the characters end up. ...more

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Jul 28, 2018 Alois Harris rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Three word review: Cliched. Tedious. Inconsequential.

Slightly longer review as pointless as 80% of this book was:

This book is one hell of a slog. After I finished it I discovered that it started as a web series, which helps explain the segmented, drawn out story telling and out-of-left-field "twist" at the end. Characters are one dimensional and bland and their motivations are comically (*snicker*) adolescent and predictable. Action is rarely ever used for character development; instead, the a ...more

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Jan 13, 2018 Steven Naylor rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Rating 4.0 stars

Re-listened April 2019: I appreciate this story more since I know where it is going. I really like this series.

Let me start by saying this book is sort of a "bubble-gum" fantasy book (Is that even a phrase). By that I mean that it is lighthearted, simplistic but still fun. In this world there are people who have special powers. If a person is not able to control those powers, that person is labelled a "Powered". This is about the worst thing anyone can be in this world, conside Rating 4.0 stars

Re-listened April 2019: I appreciate this story more since I know where it is going. I really like this series.

Let me start by saying this book is sort of a "bubble-gum" fantasy book (Is that even a phrase). By that I mean that it is lighthearted, simplistic but still fun. In this world there are people who have special powers. If a person is not able to control those powers, that person is labelled a "Powered". This is about the worst thing anyone can be in this world, considered worse than being anything else. If a person can control their powers then they are considered "Super". However, just because a super can control their powers does not mean that they can fight crime. Only a super who passes the hero certification can legally fight crime. The story starts with 5 teenage "powereds" being approached to undergo a experimental procedure that would turn them into "Supers", then they would be enrolled in a College to try and pass the hero certification.

I want to reiterate that the only difference between a Super and a Powered is control of their powers, but that has nothing to do with the strength of that power. One super in the book could make bubbles, and thats it. Because she was able to control it though, she was considered a Super. Another person could Teleport, but only when that person sneezed - making him a Powered. There was a huge rift between the Supers and Powereds. The supers treated the powereds terribly, thinking they were just too lazy to control their powers. I didn't really completely understand the hatred between the groups. I would have thought being powered would be something people would pity, but not outright hate.

As I stated above, this book is pretty simplistic. There was a character named Mr. Numbers, who was good with thinking. A character named Mr. Transport, who could - you guessed it - teleport. Mr. Move could control peoples bodies, etc. Again if you are looking for a sophisticated read, this book is not for you. If you are looking for a little super powered fun though, this could be your book. This book was interesting enough to make me want more. There were so many different powers and so many different ways to use them. The story takes place in college where the children/young adults are there to learn how to use their powers and be a hero. There was a little bit of everything, and my only complaint was that I wanted a lot of everything. There was power training and fight training which I loved but it did not get as in depth as I would have liked. There was superhero ethical discussions and dilemma's but again it did not go into too much detail. There was talk about sex throughout (these are college kids after all), but again it was more of a passing discussion and nothing too interesting. The main characters while not too simplistic, were also not very complicated either. I kept wanting more of everything. Of, course that would make this good book into a great book in my opinion and I was not too upset.

The story is pretty simplistic as well. Pretty much it is these kids going to College and growing up. The only thing that made them different is they have to hide the fact they used to be Powered. Something else happened at the end of the book which may be important driver of the story in the next books, but again - if you are looking for a great story with a complicated plot, this is not the book for you. For me I had a good time listening to this book and am looking forward to the next one. ...more

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Dec 30, 2016 stormin rated it liked it · review of another edition

So, I'm not a huge fan of off-brand super heroes. And "off brand" is really how I feel about them. There's Brandon Sanderson's The Reckoners (starting with Steelheart) and Peter Clines' Ex-Heroes and George R.R. Martin's Wild Cards and probably a couple more, and every time I read them I feel like my parents brought home Tasteeos instead of Cheerios, you know? I'm not sure if it's that the best powers are taken, or the best names, or what, but they don't usually work for me.

I picked up Super Po ...more

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Nov 18, 2019 Chip rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: superheroes

Superhero Hogwarts. 3.5 stars. Maybe this entry four stars, because I think I thought the most of this one (vs the other three volumes) - but am writing this review after reading all four; def only 3 stars by the end of the series. Clearly originally web-fiction - although this entry less in need of an editor, and cutting, than later volumes (esp volume/year 4, which seemed like 900 pages).

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Oct 07, 2017 Abby Goldsmith rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: in-school, sff, indie-authors, series-starter, telepaths, superpowers

It's like Harry Potter, but with superpowers, and in college in California.

After reading NPCs, I was unsure about trying this author again, but I'm glad my book club talked me into it. I got drawn in and hooked. Maybe I'm just a sucker for characters with powers. There is a lot of really fun dialogue and character interaction, and I will definitely be reading the sequel, and probably the rest of the series.

Downsides: The prose level is somewhere near R.L. Stine, with an overload of said bookism ...more

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Jan 26, 2017 Eric Jackson rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: super

I'm a big fan of drew Hayes. I like his writing style and he makes me care about characters effortlessly. I also enjoyed books about superheroes, particularly origin stories of which this is obviously one. I'm giving this book 3 stars because of the many, many, many moments in the book where I felt the author was incredibly insensitive about gender by his frequent use of outdated clichés and barely veiled sexism.

I've not experienced this in any other of Drew Haye's writings, which I highly reco ...more

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Feb 22, 2016 Cloak88 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016, reread, audiobook-2020, audiobook-2016, sci-fi, superhero, 2020, big-book-challenge-2020

University meet superhero bootcamp.

Super powerds is a surprisingly intelligent take on superheroes. Lander university is one in only a few places where super powered humans can certify to become legal heroes. But only a very select few. because only 25% of all powered individuals is actually capable of controlling those powers.....Until now.

This multi-POV story emerges you in a truly interesting world. The world building is subtle, but oh so powerful. While the story itself takes on themes like ...more

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Jul 22, 2018 Soo rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, reviewed

Mini-Review:

A few of my GR friends really enjoyed this series. I figured I would like it but I wasn't quite as sure once I started the book. The intro & setup for the series is a little vague & slow paced. It takes a while for the layers to build into a more complete view and really create the characters and setting. Once it was established, my interest went from slight interest into true curiosity & enjoyment.

There's a lot of world building and characters being sorted out in the beginning. Be ...more

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May 11, 2018 Apu rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

We follow 6 teenagers through their first year of a super hero training college. They live in a world where a small percentage of the population has some sort of an ability and they are categorized into Powereds and Supers; Supers have full control over their abilities and Powereds don't. The 6 we follow started off as Powereds and through some unknown experiments have gained control of their abilities. We follow them through the first year of college for Supers as they get to know one another, We follow 6 teenagers through their first year of a super hero training college. They live in a world where a small percentage of the population has some sort of an ability and they are categorized into Powereds and Supers; Supers have full control over their abilities and Powereds don't. The 6 we follow started off as Powereds and through some unknown experiments have gained control of their abilities. We follow them through the first year of college for Supers as they get to know one another, the other students, and themselves.

This was an incredibly fun book and I got very attached to the characters. There were definitely parts that were long and some dialogue that seemed like fluff, but I loved every single word. This series is in my top 3 series of all time!

I'm going to write a more in depth summary below so !!SPOILERS BELOW!!

Characters
Vince: The absorber who basically grew up on the streets and was taken in by a man who was a father figure to him. The unnamed man taught him how to get by, to fight, and how to be a hero despite being a powered. He's the extremely nice, extremely moral one of the group.

Nick: The luck manipulator who was brought up by his aunt because his parents died in a car crash when he was a baby. He was brought up in Vegas, and has a mysterioius motivations (though he acts like a smart ass) throughout the book until it is revealed at the end that he is only here to learn more about his powers and not to make friends. But his friends seemed to have melted his icy heart.

Hershel Daniel: A shifter who's shifting power is different than most. He turns into another person completely who has his own thoughts and feelings and motivations. They see themselves as brothers. Hershel himself is a quiet, self conscious, and shy boy who questions his worthiness. But in the end shows guts and tenacity.

Roy Daniel: Hershel's brother who has increased durability and strength. Started off as an extremely arrogant, misogynistic, jerk who thinks he's the best and feels like he doesn't need to try. After a few encounters with someone who truly was the best as well as others, he soon gains some humility and starts training in earnest, showing that he is as eager and motivated as everyone else.

Mary: Is an incredibly powerful and gifted "advanced mind" who is able to read thoughts at a radius of 5 miles as well as move things with her mind. She is soon turned into the "mother" of the group. She also devices plans with her caretaker to do things for the group that she thinks is the best.

Alice: Daughter of the richest and most powerful man in the world, Alice was brought up in wealth and prestige. However, because of this she had little to no friends growing up and feels secluded in the beginning. Eventually, she becomes a close part of the group.

Synopsis:
I just want to highlight the main parts of the books so I am able to keep them separated in my mind. Year 1 beginning was everyone meeting. Winter was the maze test and then the separate mountain test for Mr. Numbers and Transport. Break was at everyone's place, except for Vince who stayed. Spring Break was the lake party. Finale was the group being outed as Powereds and the kidnapping of Mary and Hershel by the teachers George and Persephone. ...more

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Mar 16, 2017 Melyna rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: recommended-by-janice-enabler-extr, audiobook, all-time-favorite-read, fantasy, superheroes, college-age-new-adult

I am a new fan of Drew Hayes. I listened to the Vampire Accountant series first and adore Fred.
The author has taken one of my favorite genres/tropes and made a wonderful book for adults with superheroes and villains. The Powereds remind me of the sidekicks from Sky High (one of my favorite Superhero movies)
I chose to listen to the audiobook and the narration is wonderful. The story has a large cast of characters and the narrator did an excellent job of keeping the voices separate.
The audioboo ...more

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Sep 05, 2018 Daniel rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I've seen this described as Harry Potter for adults, and it's by far the closest I've ever come to that. It's a lot more logical though (As much as it can be, while being a book about essentially superheroes), so if you found HP too flimsy with its logic, you might like this more. It doesn't quite have the same charm though, some of the (PUN!) magic of HP is the childlike world and the lore and "chosen one"-themes which this book doesn't have anything of - which is actually a plus for a lot of p ...more

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Apr 15, 2014 Jerry Newhouse rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Anyone who likes super hero stories

Shelves: supers

First off, I’d like to say that the length of this book was just right for the complexity of the story told. It needed to be long, but it wasn’t too long.

Secondly, this is a very well thought out story that the author obviously put a ton of thought into. Granted there were numerous typos throughout, especially towards the later quarter, but they weren’t so numerous as to become obnoxious. I loved all the truly unique powers everyone had. At least they weren’t all the usual types we hero–lovers ...more

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Nov 14, 2016 Lindsey rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: z-fave16, y-supers

This is so long but loved it. I like to have people I can ship together and hope to see changes with. But this is a fun concept of a world where there are heroes with super powers. There are also people not qualified to be heroes legally but still have super powers (and this is the largest group). Lastly you have people with powers, but uncontrollable powers like going from bruce banner to the hulk (huge difference in this book on the shifted type on both ends). These "powereds" are viewed so ve ...more

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Feb 09, 2018 Micha Lee rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Only read this if you miss the days of old.. in college and frat parties. Other than that, don't read.

This is quite literally the worse book I have ever read. I don't understand how the author changed the story from teens with super powers to just about frat parties. No character has depth, each are one sided, there is no arch in the book, nothing to over come, just frat parties and trying to have sex? The female characters are not even part of the story? They seem more like background characte ...more

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Aug 19, 2016 Cloak88 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016, reread, audiobook-2016, superhero, sci-fi, 2017, top-2016, audiobook-2017

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Apr 03, 2018 DJay rated it it was amazing

Shelves: drama, action-adventure

This is a pretty damn interesting take on super hero's. It's a story about 5 people who are super hero's but can't control their abilities. After a procedure, they end up being able to control their abilities, but due to the hard life that they had, they have to grow out of their upbringing to learn how to come together. Overall, the characters are all colorful, and I'm liking the way that the characters are set up for a year two. If book two is half as book one, I'll be happy. If you're looking ...more

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Mar 12, 2017 Meagan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: books-that-are-series-finished, audiobooks, k-u, urban-fantasy

Sky High for adults. Also, a really enjoyable audiobook.

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May 16, 2018 Lazybee rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Great read. Superhero novel with underpowered heroes with a tinge of mystery. Looking forward to the next installment.

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Oct 10, 2016 Carla Enright rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: EVERYONE. GO READ IT NOW.

Shelves: favorites, books-read-at-least-once-a-year, books-i-always-think-about, physical-book-wishlist

I was hesitant about this book before I started reading. I had already read five books by Drew Hayes. However, I've read so many superheroes books, and they can all start merging into each other, becoming very generic and predictable (don't hate me for saying that, please note I said they CAN). However, I started reading it because I loved the other books by Drew Hayes so much (mainly Fred, the Vampire Accountant series).
I cannot tell you how wrong it is to prejudge a book. I was so unbelievabl I was hesitant about this book before I started reading. I had already read five books by Drew Hayes. However, I've read so many superheroes books, and they can all start merging into each other, becoming very generic and predictable (don't hate me for saying that, please note I said they CAN). However, I started reading it because I loved the other books by Drew Hayes so much (mainly Fred, the Vampire Accountant series).
I cannot tell you how wrong it is to prejudge a book. I was so unbelievably wrong about my concerns.
Super Powereds is about five 18-year-olds who are "Powereds" - people who have some sort of ability (always unique in at least some way) that they cannot control. At the beginning of the book, we discover there is procedure (that instead of usual approach of turning people without powers into someone with a power) turns these Powereds into "Supers" - people that have an ability they can control (these 5 are the first ones this procedure has ever been tried on).
Now that these five teenagers have control of their powers, they enrol in a regular university that has a hidden section that teaches a super into an official, certified hero. It's not easy to become a hero - not only are their hard tests, but there is also the daunting fact that out of the 28 students who start the program, a total of just ten students at the end of the four years will become certified heroes. Each year students will be cut from the program.
The students who are in the program, including students who aren't former powereds, are so interesting. During the entire series (at least of the books out so far), every time you think it's going to go a certain way, it goes somewhere completely different.
The characters are not definitively good or bad, just human. They mess up sometimes, and some characters are not good, but for whatever reason, they either do good things, or you understand why they do bad things. Of course, you do like some more than others, but you can at least UNDERSTAND all of them.
This book doesn't show one side of the story, it shows all angles, as to understand everyone's side of the story much better. This series also has an entire world with such exciting side characters, and with that at least one spinoff was inevitable (Corpies) and hopefully there's more to come.
As in usual Drew Hayes fashion, this book is both dark and light, with serious situations and a lot of humour to make it enjoyable and SO EASY to read.
Super powereds is the first time in a very long time I've felt so excited about a story. It's one I can't stop thinking about or talking about; I care about the characters so much and desperately want to see what happens next for them. Most importantly, I never want the series to end - and a wish ever so SLIGHTLY more realistic is that I don't want there to be an end to this world Drew Hayes has created.
I feel this is a unique series, and it's one of my all-time favourites. I cannot recommend this enough.

Read in 2016
Re-read 2017:
The only other thing I will add is that re-reading the book after knowing all the characters from the three books that are in the series so far is worth it. I enjoyed this book more on the re-read.
Second re-read in 2017:
I genuinely can't help it; I'm addicted to this series.
Third re-read in 2017:
So looking at the dates on Goodreads, the longest I stayed away from the series since I first discovered it had been four months. Every other time somehow, it's been three. This isn't planned, but it seems after four months, I miss the characters and the universe Drew Hayes has created so much that I have to go back. ...more

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Mar 27, 2019 Dave Stone rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Drew Hayes knocks it out of the park again

I've become a very big fan of Drew Hayes books. I'm tired of grimdark and anti-heroes and Main characters who are scumbags. Drew's characters are like an antidote to that. After reading all available of Fred, the Vampire Accountant, and the NPC books I thought I'd try his take on superpowereds.
I'm not a big fan of supes in books but I love Drew Hayes books so I tried it why not.
Freakin' loved it.
This is one of his first books. I can see how he got more ...more

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Nov 24, 2017 Andrea S. Kaufman rated it it was amazing

One of my absolute favorite books.

The Super Powereds books are the series I have read exactly eight times all the way through. Eight times. The reason for my obsessive reading is simple. The books are a masterpiece that take you through four years of college in a program for Supers, but the five main characters were Powereds, meaning they don’t have control of their powers, just a few months ago. The Melbrook crew, consisting of a complete outcast, a boy who is terrified of himself, a spoiled da ...more

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