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Vada’s To-Do List:
- Turn 18 (check!)
- Register super name
- Order supersuit
- Attend superhero indoctrination
- Graduate high school
- Start kicking criminal tail
Vada Lawson can’t wait to be a superhero. Born into a family with special powers, she’s been training to fight criminals and villains her whole life. But her indoctrination into the underground super community is derailed when normals start breaking out in superpowers themselves.
Not trained to control their new abilities, the normals are frightened and vulnerable. Then their mutilated corpses begin turning up all over town. What the heck?
Somehow, with the help—and hindrance—of an annoying newly-minted super named Orion, Vada has to stop the chaos before it destroys her and everything she holds dear…and ruins her superhero debut.
No one ever said that being a superhero was easy…
- Turn 18 (check!)
- Register super name
- Order supersuit
- Attend superhero indoctrination
- Graduate high school
- Start kicking criminal tail
Vada Lawson can’t wait to be a superhero. Born into a family with special powers, she’s been training to fight criminals and villains her whole life. But her indoctrination into the underground super community is derailed when normals start breaking out in superpowers themselves.
Not trained to control their new abilities, the normals are frightened and vulnerable. Then their mutilated corpses begin turning up all over town. What the heck?
Somehow, with the help—and hindrance—of an annoying newly-minted super named Orion, Vada has to stop the chaos before it destroys her and everything she holds dear…and ruins her superhero debut.
No one ever said that being a superhero was easy…
220 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 15, 2017
35 people are currently reading
1024 people want to read
About the author
J.D. Wright
13 books166 followersJ.D. Wright is a military wife, mother of four, and author of romance, paranormal, and fantasy romance books filled with strong-willed heroines, swoon-worthy heroes, and sprinkled with humor and adventure. J.D. creates artistry in many ways, as a baker and cake artist by day and author by night. You can usually find her typing away at the computer or covered in frosting.
Since discovering she has a knack for writing, J.D. has so far written and self-published eight books of the Everealm and Songs of Everealm Series and is now venturing into the world of contemporary romance. She is also writing paranormal YA with her new superhero-themed series. She is an avid reader and lover of all things romance so she always includes a good love story in her paranormal and fantasy novels.
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Since discovering she has a knack for writing, J.D. has so far written and self-published eight books of the Everealm and Songs of Everealm Series and is now venturing into the world of contemporary romance. She is also writing paranormal YA with her new superhero-themed series. She is an avid reader and lover of all things romance so she always includes a good love story in her paranormal and fantasy novels.
Join her Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/cjoBGD
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
September 8, 2017
**Thank you to the Limitless Publishing and Netgalley for sending me an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.
4.5 stars!!!
Warning: This is an Upper YA/NA novel as it features swearing, innuendoes and explicitly explained sex scenes.
This novel made for a fairly easy read. The author, J.D. Wright, has a very effortless way of telling a story. There is no info-dumping or unnecessary details were given, the plot just cuts to the chase. The worldbuilding was beautifully done. It was easy to envision Cyper City and the world where being a superhero was a reality. Even the descriptions of the powers were made to feel realistic and organic.
With regards to the characters, I have no qualms. All of them were fleshed out pretty well. The MC Vada/Majestic is very likeable. Plus her interactions with her family and friends were engaging. I also liked Orion's origin story and found his constant bickering with Vada extremely entertaining. I really enjoyed how the author felt the plot light-hearted instead of dark and gloomy. It added interest to the overall storyline. Even the minor characters were relatable and added dimension to the plot. In terms of the villains, I thought they were pretty formidable. However, my only negative would have to be with the character Eden. I found her exceptionally irritating. As Vada's best friend, I found her personality and reason for treating Vada badly to be plain obnoxious. The foundation for why she even became a villain was just silly and for that reason, I did remove a star. But I guess this was a minor flaw as I still found the plot original enough to keep reading. Another thing to note is that this book has some rather steamy sex scenes which were enjoyable but I appreciated the fact that the romance is not cliched. Plus, there's no love geometry. Yay!!!! :)
Overall, the story packs a punch. There's plenty of action, betrayal, politics, and drama to go around. So, it did not get boring. There weren't much in the way of spoilers but then since this is a superhero novel, the only mystery is how to catch the bad guy and the super's identities (how they navigate them). The plot is not all that complex but it made for a fun read. The structure of the novel alternates from the POVs of various characters. So, we get an overarching view of the story which keeps the reader on their toes. As the novel is part of a series, I look forward to seeing more character development and a deeper understanding of the supers' world. I would recommend reading this book if you love superheroes and are looking for something aside from the usual YA fodder out there.
4.5 stars!!!
Warning: This is an Upper YA/NA novel as it features swearing, innuendoes and explicitly explained sex scenes.
This novel made for a fairly easy read. The author, J.D. Wright, has a very effortless way of telling a story. There is no info-dumping or unnecessary details were given, the plot just cuts to the chase. The worldbuilding was beautifully done. It was easy to envision Cyper City and the world where being a superhero was a reality. Even the descriptions of the powers were made to feel realistic and organic.
With regards to the characters, I have no qualms. All of them were fleshed out pretty well. The MC Vada/Majestic is very likeable. Plus her interactions with her family and friends were engaging. I also liked Orion's origin story and found his constant bickering with Vada extremely entertaining. I really enjoyed how the author felt the plot light-hearted instead of dark and gloomy. It added interest to the overall storyline. Even the minor characters were relatable and added dimension to the plot. In terms of the villains, I thought they were pretty formidable. However, my only negative would have to be with the character Eden. I found her exceptionally irritating. As Vada's best friend, I found her personality and reason for treating Vada badly to be plain obnoxious. The foundation for why she even became a villain was just silly and for that reason, I did remove a star. But I guess this was a minor flaw as I still found the plot original enough to keep reading. Another thing to note is that this book has some rather steamy sex scenes which were enjoyable but I appreciated the fact that the romance is not cliched. Plus, there's no love geometry. Yay!!!! :)
Overall, the story packs a punch. There's plenty of action, betrayal, politics, and drama to go around. So, it did not get boring. There weren't much in the way of spoilers but then since this is a superhero novel, the only mystery is how to catch the bad guy and the super's identities (how they navigate them). The plot is not all that complex but it made for a fun read. The structure of the novel alternates from the POVs of various characters. So, we get an overarching view of the story which keeps the reader on their toes. As the novel is part of a series, I look forward to seeing more character development and a deeper understanding of the supers' world. I would recommend reading this book if you love superheroes and are looking for something aside from the usual YA fodder out there.
May 29, 2023
Thank God that's over.
I forced myself to finish this but God was it a struggle!
The writing was juvenile, the story was predictable and the characters were pretty annoying.
The worst thing about it was the bloody obsession with switching POV with no warning from one paragraph to the next. Just really bad.
I had such high hopes for this book. I looked like it was going to be so good. But no.
Nothing was resolved. NOTHING. I mean, I'm guessing there is going to be another book but Jesus I won't be reading it.
There was no character progression, everything was rushed, and all the relationships felt forced and unreal.
I'm literally not even sure why I didn't give it 1*. Guess I'm too nice.
I forced myself to finish this but God was it a struggle!
The writing was juvenile, the story was predictable and the characters were pretty annoying.
The worst thing about it was the bloody obsession with switching POV with no warning from one paragraph to the next. Just really bad.
I had such high hopes for this book. I looked like it was going to be so good. But no.
Nothing was resolved. NOTHING. I mean, I'm guessing there is going to be another book but Jesus I won't be reading it.
There was no character progression, everything was rushed, and all the relationships felt forced and unreal.
I'm literally not even sure why I didn't give it 1*. Guess I'm too nice.
August 31, 2017
Interestingly, the age range for YA fiction is actually undefined and rather subjective: varying age ranges from 12 to 18 or 15 to early 20s or 18 to 30.
Masked is defined as Upper-YA as it "contains adult language, mild/moderate sexual content, and moderate violence. It may not be appropriate for younger teen readers". Indeed there certainly is profanity, moderate sexual content and it does deal with teenage promiscuity. So I most certainly would not be comfortable with my younger teenage daughters reading this book.
But here is the rub - outside of Masked containing some mature Upper-YA themes, the characters themselves, most of their dialogue and behaviors are decidedly juvenile and more directed towards a younger readership. There is nothing wrong with this in itself, but by virtue of inescapable mature content, the author is caught straddled between two different age markets and thereby missing both. Too mature for the younger readership and too juvenile for the older readership.
Otherwise, I somewhat enjoyed the quirky premise about a girl called Vada and her friends that get to choose their super names on their 18th birthday which then gets registered with S.U.C. (Superheroes UnderCover), a worldwide organisation "dedicated to preventing super occurrences from spilling over into the public and causing mass chaos". Very much in the same vein as M.I.B. protecting humans from the alien scum of the universe.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
Masked is defined as Upper-YA as it "contains adult language, mild/moderate sexual content, and moderate violence. It may not be appropriate for younger teen readers". Indeed there certainly is profanity, moderate sexual content and it does deal with teenage promiscuity. So I most certainly would not be comfortable with my younger teenage daughters reading this book.
But here is the rub - outside of Masked containing some mature Upper-YA themes, the characters themselves, most of their dialogue and behaviors are decidedly juvenile and more directed towards a younger readership. There is nothing wrong with this in itself, but by virtue of inescapable mature content, the author is caught straddled between two different age markets and thereby missing both. Too mature for the younger readership and too juvenile for the older readership.
Otherwise, I somewhat enjoyed the quirky premise about a girl called Vada and her friends that get to choose their super names on their 18th birthday which then gets registered with S.U.C. (Superheroes UnderCover), a worldwide organisation "dedicated to preventing super occurrences from spilling over into the public and causing mass chaos". Very much in the same vein as M.I.B. protecting humans from the alien scum of the universe.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
September 5, 2017
Netgalley and the publisher kindly provided me an ARC of this book, but thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
If you love The Incredibles movie or love super heroes in general you should read this book! It is a really fun time!
The premise of this book intrigued me from the beginning. It seemed like a mix of the incredibles with the avengers and let me tell you it met all my expectations.
This book follows multiple perspectives of villains and supers. Vada is a senior in highschool and she can't wait for graduation because that is when she will become a full time super. She is already preparing her big entrance as Majestic. She comes from a family of all supers. Her parents are the famous comet and siege and so she has a lot to live up to.
Nick falls asleep one night and the next morning he has mind reading powers. He doesn't know what to do until he accidentally contacts the S.U.C. a super heroe agency especializan in training and getting super heroes ready to fight crime. So Nick goes from being the school hunk to having a super suit and a lair and a bunch of cool gadgets. So he has no choice but to become a super. But how did he get his abilities? and Why are more supers turning up dead with no apparent cause of death?
There are more perspectives but that will lead me into spoiler territory so I am not going to say who are the other two perspectives.
I really had fun with this book. I love the super family dynamic and the great team ups. I am so exited for the next book and for the rest of this series.
Just a quick warning though this book is more NA than YA. There are some explicit sex scenes and strong language so beware so the book doesn't catch you by surprise. I recommend this book to a more mature audience.
If you love The Incredibles movie or love super heroes in general you should read this book! It is a really fun time!
October 1, 2017
This isn't exactly what I hoping for. This book has so much promise and it let me down. I don't think i'll be reading the sequels unless they come out as an audiobook.
August 31, 2017
It's no secret that I'm a fan of comics and anything superhero related so I was particularly excited to read Masked. I wasn't entirely sure if The Incredibles style superhero approach would work as a YA story without being too contrived or cheesy, but I really enjoyed J.D. Wright's story and loved Vada from the start.
Vada is sassy and hilarious. I loved her friendship with James - every super needs a great best friend/supertech. Nick is particularly intriguing because his introduction to supers is unexpected and unusual. I would have liked to see more of Gypsy - I loved her costume. Henley is insecure and needy; the ultimate frenemy.
The world building is off the charts. I could completely envisage every aspect of the superhero world. I especially liked the lair building and designing superhero costumes. It reminded my of the scene in the new Supergirl TV series where Kara struggles to pick a suit.
I liked Nick and found it particularly amusing how both he and Vada had no idea about each others alter-ego.
I'm looking forward to the next instalment as the book ends on a cliffy - the scene is set nicely for book two...
4 Stars in my Sky!
I received a review copy
Vada is sassy and hilarious. I loved her friendship with James - every super needs a great best friend/supertech. Nick is particularly intriguing because his introduction to supers is unexpected and unusual. I would have liked to see more of Gypsy - I loved her costume. Henley is insecure and needy; the ultimate frenemy.
The world building is off the charts. I could completely envisage every aspect of the superhero world. I especially liked the lair building and designing superhero costumes. It reminded my of the scene in the new Supergirl TV series where Kara struggles to pick a suit.
I liked Nick and found it particularly amusing how both he and Vada had no idea about each others alter-ego.
I'm looking forward to the next instalment as the book ends on a cliffy - the scene is set nicely for book two...
4 Stars in my Sky!
I received a review copy
September 17, 2017
First off, I want to say that while there is a lot of adult content, this book reads more like a middle grade book, or a younger young adult book. I would not suggest anyone under fifteen read this due to the content however. But I can definitely see some parts being remade to fit a television show/movie for a younger audience.
The first couple of chapters read kind of slow, but as we get introduced to the main characters, and some of the plot points come into play, the book really starts to speed up. I really enjoyed the superhero aspect that this book specifically took. It mostly followed three main characters, one who was born with her superpowers, one who was given superpowers but was able to be trained by the good guys, and one a girl who was given super powers but was trained by a villain. Because of this, the theme of "are people born bad, or do they become that way" is taken into play, as the two that were made end up reacting and using their powers differently.
The romance was cute, if a little predictable (but also funny). The diversity was a little lacking, but there weren't really a lot of characters mentioned, and the next book is definitely set up to change that.
All-in-all, this was an easy read and I enjoyed it. Masked took me out of my reading slump and I can't wait to see where the book goes next.
** I received Masked from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my review. However, all opinions are my own.
The first couple of chapters read kind of slow, but as we get introduced to the main characters, and some of the plot points come into play, the book really starts to speed up. I really enjoyed the superhero aspect that this book specifically took. It mostly followed three main characters, one who was born with her superpowers, one who was given superpowers but was able to be trained by the good guys, and one a girl who was given super powers but was trained by a villain. Because of this, the theme of "are people born bad, or do they become that way" is taken into play, as the two that were made end up reacting and using their powers differently.
The romance was cute, if a little predictable (but also funny). The diversity was a little lacking, but there weren't really a lot of characters mentioned, and the next book is definitely set up to change that.
All-in-all, this was an easy read and I enjoyed it. Masked took me out of my reading slump and I can't wait to see where the book goes next.
** I received Masked from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my review. However, all opinions are my own.
September 3, 2017
I've been in the mood for superhero fiction lately, but it's hard to find good stuff. Most of it is poorly edited and not especially well executed, and I'm afraid this one isn't an exception.
At first it got the Randy Jackson reaction: It was just OK for me, you know, dogg? I could have overlooked most of the issues - even titanium not being a good conductor of electrical blasts, although the same electrical blasts were destroying creatures made of rock, and even the gradual drift from third person limited into more and more headhopping - but what dropped it down to three stars was the implausible stupidity of the characters.
So let's say you have important information about a wanted supervillain - who he is, that he's even still alive, that kind of thing. And let's say that this supervillain, if not stopped, is going to kill more people, like he already has several times. And let's say that you have contact with a highly effective organisation that has much better resources than you do, many trained agents with lots of experience, and you're a group of late-teenage supers just starting out. And you have no reason to expect that there will be any negative consequences to telling this organisation about this villain, who is, again, killing people and needs to be stopped.
What do you do? Well, of course you agree not to tell them, and to go after him yourselves, and none of you even questions that this is the right thing to do in the circumstances.
Nope, sorry. Blatant stupidity in the service of setting up a sequel gets your sequel left unread.
Apart from that, it was, as I say, OK. A bit more detail about the teenage sex than was needed, maybe, but generally average. There were two black characters, both of whom were tech wizards, which seems to often be the lot of black supers (think John Stewart, John Henry Irons, Cyborg and his father...). It's interesting how this trope, which theoretically is about black people being intelligent, in practice often works out as giving them a subsidiary, supporting role in which they're not expected to protagonise or to need a character arc (which is the case here).
Maybe that's improved upon in the next book. I'll never know, because that one moment of supreme stupidity put me off reading it.
At first it got the Randy Jackson reaction: It was just OK for me, you know, dogg? I could have overlooked most of the issues - even titanium not being a good conductor of electrical blasts, although the same electrical blasts were destroying creatures made of rock, and even the gradual drift from third person limited into more and more headhopping - but what dropped it down to three stars was the implausible stupidity of the characters.
So let's say you have important information about a wanted supervillain - who he is, that he's even still alive, that kind of thing. And let's say that this supervillain, if not stopped, is going to kill more people, like he already has several times. And let's say that you have contact with a highly effective organisation that has much better resources than you do, many trained agents with lots of experience, and you're a group of late-teenage supers just starting out. And you have no reason to expect that there will be any negative consequences to telling this organisation about this villain, who is, again, killing people and needs to be stopped.
What do you do? Well, of course you agree not to tell them, and to go after him yourselves, and none of you even questions that this is the right thing to do in the circumstances.
Nope, sorry. Blatant stupidity in the service of setting up a sequel gets your sequel left unread.
Apart from that, it was, as I say, OK. A bit more detail about the teenage sex than was needed, maybe, but generally average. There were two black characters, both of whom were tech wizards, which seems to often be the lot of black supers (think John Stewart, John Henry Irons, Cyborg and his father...). It's interesting how this trope, which theoretically is about black people being intelligent, in practice often works out as giving them a subsidiary, supporting role in which they're not expected to protagonise or to need a character arc (which is the case here).
Maybe that's improved upon in the next book. I'll never know, because that one moment of supreme stupidity put me off reading it.
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September 12, 2017
GENRE: Fantasy
THEME: Superhero, Romance
RECEIVED: Tour
REVIEW:
I’m a die-hard comic book nerd, since I was a kid I’d read anything and everything superheroes. I was so excited to read Masked and see someone’s superhero world come to life. There was a little bit of everything, the awesome world building of Cyper City, the reality that supers excited, the hero team up and a building romance.
Vada Lawsom is the lead heroine; she comes from a family of supers and pretty reminds me of the movie Sky High, which I loved. Her superhero name is Majestic and her main goal is to stop all these people who are getting superpowers somehow from a drug. When her best friends Henley gets the power of compulsion and the popular jock Nick Grayson gets telepathy, Vada knows things are starting to get out of control. But as Uncle Ben from Spiderman always says, “with great power, comes great responsibility”, and Vada has a lot on her hands.
My favorite part of course is the teaming up bits, Vada and Nick aka Orion, team up still not knowing each other’s secret identities, but are both determined to get to the bottom of things. I loved the back-story to both characters and their family dynamics, however sad Nicks is, I think his power helps him connect with the right people.
The villains, I usually love a good villain, especially when I’m surprised, however I knew Henley from the start was going to be a problem. She was not a nice friend, I really didn’t like her but that’s what I fell makes her a great people to root for to lose. However I do have a soft spot for Victor, I can’t help but love a speedster bad boy.
Overall there was a mix of young adult and new adult themes, not sure how I would categorize it but I’m leaning more to new adult. This was a great introduction to a new superhero world and fantastic characters, villains and author (new to me). I’m looking forward to more work from J.D. Wright, she is a great new find for me and her writing pulled me into the story and kept me hooked. Cant wait for the second book!
THEME: Superhero, Romance
RECEIVED: Tour
REVIEW:
I’m a die-hard comic book nerd, since I was a kid I’d read anything and everything superheroes. I was so excited to read Masked and see someone’s superhero world come to life. There was a little bit of everything, the awesome world building of Cyper City, the reality that supers excited, the hero team up and a building romance.
Vada Lawsom is the lead heroine; she comes from a family of supers and pretty reminds me of the movie Sky High, which I loved. Her superhero name is Majestic and her main goal is to stop all these people who are getting superpowers somehow from a drug. When her best friends Henley gets the power of compulsion and the popular jock Nick Grayson gets telepathy, Vada knows things are starting to get out of control. But as Uncle Ben from Spiderman always says, “with great power, comes great responsibility”, and Vada has a lot on her hands.
My favorite part of course is the teaming up bits, Vada and Nick aka Orion, team up still not knowing each other’s secret identities, but are both determined to get to the bottom of things. I loved the back-story to both characters and their family dynamics, however sad Nicks is, I think his power helps him connect with the right people.
The villains, I usually love a good villain, especially when I’m surprised, however I knew Henley from the start was going to be a problem. She was not a nice friend, I really didn’t like her but that’s what I fell makes her a great people to root for to lose. However I do have a soft spot for Victor, I can’t help but love a speedster bad boy.
Overall there was a mix of young adult and new adult themes, not sure how I would categorize it but I’m leaning more to new adult. This was a great introduction to a new superhero world and fantastic characters, villains and author (new to me). I’m looking forward to more work from J.D. Wright, she is a great new find for me and her writing pulled me into the story and kept me hooked. Cant wait for the second book!
August 31, 2017
Vada has been waiting her whole life for her 18th birthday, the day she could register her Super name Majestic and start her life of being a hero. In case you couldn't tell, Vada is not your average teen, but what do you expect when both your parents are famous heroes? But when a drug gets out at a party and normal people start developing powers, Vada is the first to investigate the issue. Will her first mission be her last?
I am a sucker for superheros and pretty much anything "nerdy", so when I first heard about this story I knew I had to read it. AND then I saw the cover and fell in love with the design, with bright colors and strong characters and I was a goner (yes, I am a cover snob, but it's just so pretty!) I will admit that my expectations were incredibly high and I was a little leery since this was my first book by J.D. and I had no idea what to expect. In case you couldn't tell by my 5 star rating, I loved this story. It was cute, dark, fun, suspenseful, romantic, emotional, goofy...The story had something for everyone. As a side note, I probably would not classify this a teen story even though the characters are all teenagers due to the sexual content, which is realistic to the age but came as a surprise to me.
There is world building, action, gadgetry, mystery but most importantly a cast of fully-fleshed out characters that helped to create this fantastical world. The story alternated from multiple voices, making at least 4 different main characters: Vada, Nick, Henley and Victor (and all their Super identities of course!). I loved Vada right from the start and appreciated her self awareness and the fact she knew what she wanted from life, as well as the relationship she developed with James. I found Nick to be blah when the book began but ended up loving him once he realized his life was empty and that he could be so much more- who woulda thought that reading minds would make you a better person? Victor was to me at least, the best villain that you end up empathizing with. Sure his father was evil and he helped him, but I really liked Victor and wanted him to turn to the light. Henley was hands down my least favorite character, nicely put a "b" that rhymes with witch, sliding her into the top spot for the evil villain you love to hate (but even before her power she was a bad human- hmmm, does personality determine power?). Sure she was a side character, but I absolutely loved Jada aka Jewel and her take charge attitude. She whipped Nick into shape and was the perfect source for information without judgement. The characters made the story for me and I became invested in the mystery as well as their struggles. I am a sucker for character driven adventures,and this provided.
I love how the author used what I will reference as the "superhero trope", with hidden identities, alter-egos with strong personalities, lack of being able to identify people with their suits on, smart tech sidekicks who work behind the scenes, and the appearance of villains with nefarious purposes. All the things that I classify as the classic superhero sterotypes were used here, but in new modern ways that made them stand out and I appreciated it. I highly enjoyed the characters interacting in suits and in real clothes, with just the briefest of hints that they may have met before. All that was missing is a telephone booth (hehe). The story kept me on my toes with the twists and turns and strong personalities, while throwing out some expected superhero ideals. J.D. took the basics and ran with them, and this spoke to my inner (ok, my outer too) nerd. If you love comic books, this was like a comic book on steroids, and it was so descriptive that I felt like I could see the action without the images that comics provide.
On the plus side, this is the first in a series, which I had no idea about when I started. That means the kinda-sorta open ending will not be the last that I hear from Mystic and Orion, ect, instead this is just the beginning of a fabulous adventure and I am for sure a fan.
I received this title in return for my honest review. Visit me at https://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/ for more reviews.
I am a sucker for superheros and pretty much anything "nerdy", so when I first heard about this story I knew I had to read it. AND then I saw the cover and fell in love with the design, with bright colors and strong characters and I was a goner (yes, I am a cover snob, but it's just so pretty!) I will admit that my expectations were incredibly high and I was a little leery since this was my first book by J.D. and I had no idea what to expect. In case you couldn't tell by my 5 star rating, I loved this story. It was cute, dark, fun, suspenseful, romantic, emotional, goofy...The story had something for everyone. As a side note, I probably would not classify this a teen story even though the characters are all teenagers due to the sexual content, which is realistic to the age but came as a surprise to me.
There is world building, action, gadgetry, mystery but most importantly a cast of fully-fleshed out characters that helped to create this fantastical world. The story alternated from multiple voices, making at least 4 different main characters: Vada, Nick, Henley and Victor (and all their Super identities of course!). I loved Vada right from the start and appreciated her self awareness and the fact she knew what she wanted from life, as well as the relationship she developed with James. I found Nick to be blah when the book began but ended up loving him once he realized his life was empty and that he could be so much more- who woulda thought that reading minds would make you a better person? Victor was to me at least, the best villain that you end up empathizing with. Sure his father was evil and he helped him, but I really liked Victor and wanted him to turn to the light. Henley was hands down my least favorite character, nicely put a "b" that rhymes with witch, sliding her into the top spot for the evil villain you love to hate (but even before her power she was a bad human- hmmm, does personality determine power?). Sure she was a side character, but I absolutely loved Jada aka Jewel and her take charge attitude. She whipped Nick into shape and was the perfect source for information without judgement. The characters made the story for me and I became invested in the mystery as well as their struggles. I am a sucker for character driven adventures,and this provided.
I love how the author used what I will reference as the "superhero trope", with hidden identities, alter-egos with strong personalities, lack of being able to identify people with their suits on, smart tech sidekicks who work behind the scenes, and the appearance of villains with nefarious purposes. All the things that I classify as the classic superhero sterotypes were used here, but in new modern ways that made them stand out and I appreciated it. I highly enjoyed the characters interacting in suits and in real clothes, with just the briefest of hints that they may have met before. All that was missing is a telephone booth (hehe). The story kept me on my toes with the twists and turns and strong personalities, while throwing out some expected superhero ideals. J.D. took the basics and ran with them, and this spoke to my inner (ok, my outer too) nerd. If you love comic books, this was like a comic book on steroids, and it was so descriptive that I felt like I could see the action without the images that comics provide.
On the plus side, this is the first in a series, which I had no idea about when I started. That means the kinda-sorta open ending will not be the last that I hear from Mystic and Orion, ect, instead this is just the beginning of a fabulous adventure and I am for sure a fan.
I received this title in return for my honest review. Visit me at https://smadasbooksmack.blogspot.com/ for more reviews.
September 3, 2017
I think it's safe to say that superheroes are my kryptonite. Anything and everything related to superheroes catches my attention. I'm so addicted to DC Comics and its characters that I don't think it's healthy anymore. The Flash is my favorite supehero and my favorite TV show. So, everytime that I see a book with superhero on the title or cover, it's going to be added to my TBR. Immediately. And that's why I requested Maksed by J. D. Wright. I had never heard of it but I requested it. And got approved the same day. My hype levels were almost as high as my excitement for The Flash Season 4. But nothing tops that, obviously. So, I read it. And loved it.
I have a love-hate relationship with third person points of view. I feel like they never let me get a good look at the character's personality and thoughts, Especially when the POVs are switched. Confusing af. But there are novels that are so well written that I don't need a name at the top of the page to know who's talking, which was the case with Masked. The author never let you know who's perspective was next. The switching was always so swift and smooth that I barely noticed. Plus I was so sucked into this world. I want to read everything that J.D. Wright comes out with in the future to check out her amazing writing.
One of my most hated YA tropes has to be the "orphan" teens, whose parents couldn't give any more fucks. It is SO constant and it bothers me very time. But the family dynamic was truly lovely. I adore how Vada's parents always worried and were a constant presence in her life, and if she did something wrong, they made sure to apprehend her and teach her the right way. Josh and Vada's relationship was the cutest and it almost made me wish I had a protective brother like him. I thought Garret was cute, but I found it really creepy how he just kept sneaking into his sister's room without permission. Like, who does that?
All the characters had pretty good character development, Henley being the best. Her transformation from good girl to villain was fascinating. Vada was a consistent main character, and her sense of heroics was nice to read about. Nick did fall in the "orphan" teen trope, but with good reason, and I liked that this book highlighted the fact that some parents get so absorbed in their jobs that they eventually forget about their children. He was likeable, yet arrogant at times, but he's a teen so I kinda get it. Victor was really intimidating since the beginning but yet an intriguing character at best. I would've loved to see more of James, and I appreciated the fact that Vada was her best friend, but there was no romance between them,. Don't get me wrong, love me a good "friends to lovers" story, but it was refreshing to see them not be together.
Talking about romance, can I just say how much I ship Henley and Victor? I know I'm not supposed to since they're the bad guys and all, but I just can't help but swoon. Add in the fact that Victor's superpower is SUPERSPEED. FLASHBACK TO THE BEGINNING OF THIS REVIEW. Though his name was kind of lame. Velocious? I chuckled. But I could seriously read a 4oo-page book about them wreaking havoc and having steamy scenes. Damn. Why am I so weak? Mrs. Wright can you make that happen? Please? I'm begging you.
My only dislike was several comments that were made throughout the novel that just rubbed me the wrong way: "I could play connect-the-stars with that ass.", "His skin was so brown that she could barely see him in the dark." ,"I,m really sorry for you man, she was a slut anyway.", "He marveled at the fact that the ticket was now between her breasts."... Yeah, not here for that. Maybe they weren't made to be offensive but I still didn't like them.
Overall, Masked was definitely a really good superhero book. The world building was great, the characters were interesting and intriguing, the plot kept me at the edge of my seat, it was very action-packed towards the last quarter of the novel, the romance made me swoon, and I seriously cannot wait to read the next installment in this series. I need it, like now.
A million thanks to Limtless Publishing for providing me with this ARC in exchange of an honest review.
I have a love-hate relationship with third person points of view. I feel like they never let me get a good look at the character's personality and thoughts, Especially when the POVs are switched. Confusing af. But there are novels that are so well written that I don't need a name at the top of the page to know who's talking, which was the case with Masked. The author never let you know who's perspective was next. The switching was always so swift and smooth that I barely noticed. Plus I was so sucked into this world. I want to read everything that J.D. Wright comes out with in the future to check out her amazing writing.
One of my most hated YA tropes has to be the "orphan" teens, whose parents couldn't give any more fucks. It is SO constant and it bothers me very time. But the family dynamic was truly lovely. I adore how Vada's parents always worried and were a constant presence in her life, and if she did something wrong, they made sure to apprehend her and teach her the right way. Josh and Vada's relationship was the cutest and it almost made me wish I had a protective brother like him. I thought Garret was cute, but I found it really creepy how he just kept sneaking into his sister's room without permission. Like, who does that?
All the characters had pretty good character development, Henley being the best. Her transformation from good girl to villain was fascinating. Vada was a consistent main character, and her sense of heroics was nice to read about. Nick did fall in the "orphan" teen trope, but with good reason, and I liked that this book highlighted the fact that some parents get so absorbed in their jobs that they eventually forget about their children. He was likeable, yet arrogant at times, but he's a teen so I kinda get it. Victor was really intimidating since the beginning but yet an intriguing character at best. I would've loved to see more of James, and I appreciated the fact that Vada was her best friend, but there was no romance between them,. Don't get me wrong, love me a good "friends to lovers" story, but it was refreshing to see them not be together.
Talking about romance, can I just say how much I ship Henley and Victor? I know I'm not supposed to since they're the bad guys and all, but I just can't help but swoon. Add in the fact that Victor's superpower is SUPERSPEED. FLASHBACK TO THE BEGINNING OF THIS REVIEW. Though his name was kind of lame. Velocious? I chuckled. But I could seriously read a 4oo-page book about them wreaking havoc and having steamy scenes. Damn. Why am I so weak? Mrs. Wright can you make that happen? Please? I'm begging you.
My only dislike was several comments that were made throughout the novel that just rubbed me the wrong way: "I could play connect-the-stars with that ass.", "His skin was so brown that she could barely see him in the dark." ,"I,m really sorry for you man, she was a slut anyway.", "He marveled at the fact that the ticket was now between her breasts."... Yeah, not here for that. Maybe they weren't made to be offensive but I still didn't like them.
Overall, Masked was definitely a really good superhero book. The world building was great, the characters were interesting and intriguing, the plot kept me at the edge of my seat, it was very action-packed towards the last quarter of the novel, the romance made me swoon, and I seriously cannot wait to read the next installment in this series. I need it, like now.
A million thanks to Limtless Publishing for providing me with this ARC in exchange of an honest review.
August 30, 2017
I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
I loved JD Wright's Everealm series, so I couldn't wait to get started with her new one. I'm not as big a fan of urban/contemporary as I am traditional fantasy, but ... come on, it's JD Wright, so I was pretty sure I was going to love her new series too. It's obvious from page one how much the author loved writing this. No wallowing in misery or making the characters suffer. It's light hearted and so much fun to read, which is one of the things I love so much about her books.
JD Wright's writing has developed since Everealm (no criticism - I loved Everealm), and Masked is very well written. The world building is nicely done, with details about supers and how they fit into society (think The Incredibles!) woven discreetly through the story rather than presented as infodumps. As always, there's plenty of girl power on display from the super-powered ladies too!
I was pleasantly surprised that there was no insta-love between Vada and her high school's resident hot guy, Nick. Even better, there was no actual relationship between them (I get the feeling JD Wright is saving that for book two!) or cases where he rode in on a white horse to save her. The constant bickering between their alter egos, Magestic and Orion, felt a bit forced after a while, and I did have to wonder how this pair didn't work out each others superhero identities given how much times they spent together in and out of costumes. A mask over your eyes just doesn't seem enough to conceal your identity!
The supporting characters were great across the board, with Vada's tech support James standing out. Theirs was a refreshing male-female relationship without a hint of flirting or sexual tensions. You wouldn't believe it from many books/movies/tv shows etc, but this does happen in real life! As well as keeping her safe, James is all about setting Vada up on her missions and making sure her supersuit is as fabulous as it is functional.
One notable exception to the great supporting characters for me though was Vada's best friend Henley. Simple put: Henley is an idiot. Aside from being as dumb as a box of rocks, she's rude to and dismissive of Vada, her supposed best friend, and things don't get much better once she becomes a super. She takes a drug from local dealer Victor without knowing what it is, then does the same thing again later with his father Marticus after he calls her weak with the line; "I'm not weak. I will take your drug." *facepalm* That type of reverse psychology wouldn't work on my six year old niece. Henley's newly-acquired superpower of persuasion works on some and not others as plot requires, but using it to score free purses at the mall seems less than supervillain behaviour. There always seems to be one character in the pack that rubs me up the wrong way, and in this series, it's Henley! The conflict for Vada of having to fight her best friends is deliciously intriguing, but I'd like to have seen more of this. There's so much that could be done with this plot thread in the next book!
Character issue aside though, Masked is a great start to a new series. It sets the groundwork nicely for future books, and wraps up this story nicely while still leaving plenty of places for future stories to go. If Masked reminded me of The Incredibles, I think Masked #2 will be more Monsters University!
I loved JD Wright's Everealm series, so I couldn't wait to get started with her new one. I'm not as big a fan of urban/contemporary as I am traditional fantasy, but ... come on, it's JD Wright, so I was pretty sure I was going to love her new series too. It's obvious from page one how much the author loved writing this. No wallowing in misery or making the characters suffer. It's light hearted and so much fun to read, which is one of the things I love so much about her books.
JD Wright's writing has developed since Everealm (no criticism - I loved Everealm), and Masked is very well written. The world building is nicely done, with details about supers and how they fit into society (think The Incredibles!) woven discreetly through the story rather than presented as infodumps. As always, there's plenty of girl power on display from the super-powered ladies too!
I was pleasantly surprised that there was no insta-love between Vada and her high school's resident hot guy, Nick. Even better, there was no actual relationship between them (I get the feeling JD Wright is saving that for book two!) or cases where he rode in on a white horse to save her. The constant bickering between their alter egos, Magestic and Orion, felt a bit forced after a while, and I did have to wonder how this pair didn't work out each others superhero identities given how much times they spent together in and out of costumes. A mask over your eyes just doesn't seem enough to conceal your identity!
The supporting characters were great across the board, with Vada's tech support James standing out. Theirs was a refreshing male-female relationship without a hint of flirting or sexual tensions. You wouldn't believe it from many books/movies/tv shows etc, but this does happen in real life! As well as keeping her safe, James is all about setting Vada up on her missions and making sure her supersuit is as fabulous as it is functional.
One notable exception to the great supporting characters for me though was Vada's best friend Henley. Simple put: Henley is an idiot. Aside from being as dumb as a box of rocks, she's rude to and dismissive of Vada, her supposed best friend, and things don't get much better once she becomes a super. She takes a drug from local dealer Victor without knowing what it is, then does the same thing again later with his father Marticus after he calls her weak with the line; "I'm not weak. I will take your drug." *facepalm* That type of reverse psychology wouldn't work on my six year old niece. Henley's newly-acquired superpower of persuasion works on some and not others as plot requires, but using it to score free purses at the mall seems less than supervillain behaviour. There always seems to be one character in the pack that rubs me up the wrong way, and in this series, it's Henley! The conflict for Vada of having to fight her best friends is deliciously intriguing, but I'd like to have seen more of this. There's so much that could be done with this plot thread in the next book!
Character issue aside though, Masked is a great start to a new series. It sets the groundwork nicely for future books, and wraps up this story nicely while still leaving plenty of places for future stories to go. If Masked reminded me of The Incredibles, I think Masked #2 will be more Monsters University!
Read
August 8, 2017NOTE from Author:
Hey, guys! Sometimes I would use this spot to tell you a little about how the book came to be, but this time I'd rather share a few character bios instead!
So check them out below. Do you have a favorite character before you started the book? What about after? Is it the same one? I would tell you who my favorite character is but I think I'll keep it to myself. Hint: *Starboy*
And there's actually a few more character bios on my website. You can find them here: http://www.authorjdwright.com/p/meet-cyper-city-supers.html
I'm working on the second book and I can't wait to continue the adventure in Cyper City!
~J.D.
Hey, guys! Sometimes I would use this spot to tell you a little about how the book came to be, but this time I'd rather share a few character bios instead!
So check them out below. Do you have a favorite character before you started the book? What about after? Is it the same one? I would tell you who my favorite character is but I think I'll keep it to myself. Hint: *Starboy*
And there's actually a few more character bios on my website. You can find them here: http://www.authorjdwright.com/p/meet-cyper-city-supers.html
I'm working on the second book and I can't wait to continue the adventure in Cyper City!
~J.D.
September 14, 2017
This book kept me so engrossed I did not want to stop reading. There was never a boring or dull moment It does not matter what age you are teen or older , you will love this book. I would recommend this book because it's fantastically written and so entertaining, I can't wait to read the next one.This review was originally posted on Books In Brogan
September 16, 2017
Masked (Superheroes UnderCover, #1) by J.D. Wright
I loved this fresh spin on Superheroes. Masked was a fun read with a feel good ending. I adored all these kids and their powers. The plot was entertaining and each character was well thought out. I can't wait to read book 2. I found the Authors writing perfectly upbeat and very enjoyable.
I give Masked 5 stars for its original content.
I would recommend this book to everyone.
I loved this fresh spin on Superheroes. Masked was a fun read with a feel good ending. I adored all these kids and their powers. The plot was entertaining and each character was well thought out. I can't wait to read book 2. I found the Authors writing perfectly upbeat and very enjoyable.
I give Masked 5 stars for its original content.
I would recommend this book to everyone.
August 31, 2017
Masked is a superhero book and an amazing one at that. I don't read superhero books much, I prefer to watch the action on my TV screen but something about this book tugged at my heart. Picking it up was the best decision EVER!!. It was so good I was blown away by just how intriguing the storyline was. It's mainly about Vada Lawson, a super with Telekinesis who on her Eighteenth birthday gets her official superhero name as an official member of the S.U.C (Superhero UnderCover). Wanting to prove her name true (It's Majestic), Vada tries to find a villain to take down as her debut. But unfortunately for her, trouble finds her in a rather unusual way. There is a new drug going around that apparently gives normal people superpowers, and since Superhero doings are minimally known to the public, this predictably causes chaos. It gets really personal for Vada's best friend Henley gets the power of compulsion and another of their classmate Nicholas Grayson gets telepathy. Vada slowly gets to the bottom of things and finds that the situation is way more complicated than she can handle alone. Nicholas Grayson had always lived a sort of sheltered life, everyone around him were horrible and have betrayed him one way or another. Getting his telepathy by mistake was the best thing to ever happen to him. It made him cut all the dead weight in his life loose, He quickly gets initiated into the S.U.C and gets all the perks that comes with being a superhero (Suit, name, lair etc). He becomes Orion and along with his Sidekick the SuperTech (supernaturally good with technology) Jewel, they become s superhero team. Vada also has her own team as Majestic with her SuperTech sidekick Whiskey (I know right? They need a Cisco Ramon to give them way cooler names #TeamFlash). Orion and Majestic (Nick and Vada) meet at indoctrination and form an instant connection that was quite fun for both of them. They get embroiled in danger when they investigate the mysterious deaths of supers that seem to have gotten their powers the same what Nicholas and Henley got theirs. This leads them down a dangerous path that revealed a lot of sinister doings of the villain involved. While Orion and Vada keep crossing paths, they fall for each other amidst each verbal jab thrown at each other. Their relationship is quite adorable and seeing together fighting and kicking ass was an absolute delight. The dynamics of the various superpowers and superheroes is very notable, I commend J.D. Wright for creating an amazing world of superheroes that is this good. The ending was really exciting and full of action, it also left some little tidbits of information that makes me really excited for what's next in this series. Masked by J.D. Wright is a brilliant book with cool superpowers, awesome superheroes, delightfully wicked villains, hot romance, amazing action, top notch quality writing, intriguing storyline and a beautify cover. I happily recommend this book to readers looking for the next amazing read.
September 12, 2017
4.5 stars!! I LOVED this book and need the next one NOW. That's the only bad thing about reading books hot off the press - the wait for the next one can be UNBEARABLE!
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for a review, and these are my honest thoughts.
I will say this should probably be classified as New Adult, because there are some sexual jokes and one sex scene described, although that is definitely not the focus of this book at all. The main characters are all 18, if that helps to explain the hormones. ;)
Although the characters have superpowers, they're very down to earth and relatable. The story sometimes switches between different characters' points of view, and there are no headings for that but it's not hard to figure out.
The pacing is great, and the character interactions are great, and I'm rooting for them! Towards the end, though, I wonder about the intelligence of two individuals . . .
You'll have to read it to find out what I'm talking about!!
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for a review, and these are my honest thoughts.
I will say this should probably be classified as New Adult, because there are some sexual jokes and one sex scene described, although that is definitely not the focus of this book at all. The main characters are all 18, if that helps to explain the hormones. ;)
Although the characters have superpowers, they're very down to earth and relatable. The story sometimes switches between different characters' points of view, and there are no headings for that but it's not hard to figure out.
The pacing is great, and the character interactions are great, and I'm rooting for them! Towards the end, though, I wonder about the intelligence of two individuals . . .
You'll have to read it to find out what I'm talking about!!
October 13, 2017
After tremendously enjoying Dreadnought about a teenage girl with newly discovered superpowers trying to make a difference, I thought I would equally enjoy Masked, about a couple of teens with powers using them for good. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. I try to find the good in anything I read, but this book was a long hard slog with very little to reward my perseverance.
First of all, Masked suffers from identity confusion - it includes some sexual content that seems as though it's aimed at the New Adult market, but the characters are all so juvenile that this could fit into the Middle Grade category. Some books transcend age groups, but this isn't one of them, and by muddling the line of which category it belongs to, it doesn't fit in either.
Second, there's the problem of tonal whiplash - this isn't the type of book that examines social issues or delicate nuances of human interaction. It's more on-the-nose and explains jokes to make sure you understand the humour:
---
'Ha!' Vortex slapped his thigh. 'She means that she wants to hit you with her hand and her power. That's funny.'
Orion laughed, but only at Vortex's strange need to explain every joke that he heard. It was annoying yet entertaining.
----
The concept of 'show, don't tell' is unknown throughout Masked - but then we have a prominent female character gifted with the power of persuasion who abuses this by (among other criminal actions) making hot guys have sex with her, and the fact that this is rape is never once called out. It's horrific how casually the story establishes that the hapless neighbor was 'bent to her will' in the bedroom without offering any other perspective or judgment on that behavior.
I also question how dramatically her actions escalated to rape and pillage - this ordinary teenage girl woke up with powers and instantly began a life of villainy with no downward spiral or context to make sense of her antics. The boys in Lord of the Flies took longer to descend into violence and feral behavior! It didn't feel justified and seemed more like playing into lazy stereotypes of female antagonists by emphasizing her sexuality rather than caring enough to develop her character so that this was an understandable, if morally repugnant, path to take.
Third, our heroes are so flat and lacking in personality or any believable human responses that it's practically their defining characteristic. Here is Orion, whose gift is telepathy, faced with a character who is withholding important information:
---
Unable to sway him to talk, Majestic turned to Orion, and pointed to her head.
'What?' Orion mouthed. He eyed the angry Velocious carefully then turned back to Majestic who continued to tap on her forehead. 'I don't understand what-'
Then he did. Of course. His power. He'd gotten so used to switching it off that at times he forgot about the ability.
---
I'm sorry, WHAT. Orion has been struggling with his telepathy since the start of the book and having this ability is the whole reason he's training to be a superhero, but he somehow just FORGETS he can read minds?! Why is he even in a latex suit facing off against baddies if he doesn't remember his telepathic abilities? It's like a cop seeing someone speeding and going, 'Oh no, I wish there was a way I could catch up to them and pull them over' while forgetting they have a car and police sirens to do just that.
Later on, the teenage superhero-wannabes encounter a notorious supervillain, one who has been responsible for countless deaths and who has blazed a path of mayhem and destruction. He was presumed dead in an explosion, which enabled him to take his experiments underground and continue to work in secret, killing innocent kids to perfect his evil plan. Now, maybe I can understand Majestic and co not telling the Superheroes UnderCover organization about Dr Chem originally as they wanted to capture him, save Eden and get all the glory. It was stupid, but kids can make short-sighted decisions in the heat of the moment.
AFTER the battle, however, they've been picked up by S.U.C and this would be the time to tell them everything they know so that trained adults who have spent their entire careers honing their powers and capturing criminals can go after Dr Chem - but nope!
---
Orion looked down at Majestic. 'You want to keep your freedom? I want to finish what we started. We can do both, but not if half this team is grounded until graduation. That's too much time for Dr. You-know-who to build another mutant army and kidnap more supers to kill.'
'This is crazy,' Majestic said, shaking her head. 'My Parents work for the S.U.C. Lying ot the S.U.C. is the same as lying to them.'
Orion leaned closer. 'How are your parents going to feel when they find out that you went to the power plant without telling them?'
---
Ohhh, I see. Avoiding parental disapproval and keeping from being grounded are much more serious priorities! Orion's acknowledged that Dr Chem's plans are to create more monsters and kill more people, but somehow everyone thinks the best plan is for a group of inexperienced teens to work on tracking down this villain in their spare time after school! What ridiculous kind of logic is this?! Proving themselves by capturing Dr Chem and settling their score takes priority over the safety of the public, okay, gotcha.
Even beyond these enormously stupid decisions, the characters fail to make sense on a normal everyday level. For example, when Orion (more commonly known as Nick) first gets his powers, he is completely baffled as to what is happening to him. If an ordinary teen in our day and age was able to hear people's thoughts, they would instantly know that it was telepathy, even though that's impossible. Orion lives in a world where people have superpowers, but here's his response:
---
'Whoa,' Nick murmured. What the fuck? He had been watching Janet when the last remarks were made. She hadn't said them. At least, not with her lips. So how in the world had he heard her?
Janet just shook her head, a look of pity all over her face. Nick didn't need to read her mind to know that she probably felt sorry for him. Hell, she'd practically said it just a while ago. Wait. Read her mind? Is that what he'd been doing? Is that how he heard her when she wasn't speaking?
---
Buy a clue, Sherlock! How is it possible that these kids can reference Harry Potter by dropping 'You Know Who' and 'Voldemort' into conversation, but the diagnosis of mind-reading takes a lot of brainpower to think up? Mind-reading is a big part of the fifth Harry Potter book, that should be the natural conclusion any teen would jump to with that pop culture background!
I could point to any endless number of illogical choices and stilted writing that punctures any chances of believable characterization in our leads, the whole book is filled with examples. For just one more so that this post isn't entirely focused on Orion's obtuseness, there's repeated scenes with Majestic asking to go to the toilet in the middle of class so that she can hide in a closet with her tech support friend and find out the latest information on the case. Why is this even necessary? They have to have LUNCH BREAKS. Even if theirs didn't coincide, there's such things as emails and text messages!
But no, let's have Majestic ask for bathroom breaks so often it defies belief the teacher would grant her request when she disappears for half the class and hole up in a closet to get information that could be so much more easily shared with half the trouble. Sure, why not. Makes as little sense as the rest of this book.
---
I received a digital copy free from Limitless Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
First of all, Masked suffers from identity confusion - it includes some sexual content that seems as though it's aimed at the New Adult market, but the characters are all so juvenile that this could fit into the Middle Grade category. Some books transcend age groups, but this isn't one of them, and by muddling the line of which category it belongs to, it doesn't fit in either.
Second, there's the problem of tonal whiplash - this isn't the type of book that examines social issues or delicate nuances of human interaction. It's more on-the-nose and explains jokes to make sure you understand the humour:
---
'Ha!' Vortex slapped his thigh. 'She means that she wants to hit you with her hand and her power. That's funny.'
Orion laughed, but only at Vortex's strange need to explain every joke that he heard. It was annoying yet entertaining.
----
The concept of 'show, don't tell' is unknown throughout Masked - but then we have a prominent female character gifted with the power of persuasion who abuses this by (among other criminal actions) making hot guys have sex with her, and the fact that this is rape is never once called out. It's horrific how casually the story establishes that the hapless neighbor was 'bent to her will' in the bedroom without offering any other perspective or judgment on that behavior.
I also question how dramatically her actions escalated to rape and pillage - this ordinary teenage girl woke up with powers and instantly began a life of villainy with no downward spiral or context to make sense of her antics. The boys in Lord of the Flies took longer to descend into violence and feral behavior! It didn't feel justified and seemed more like playing into lazy stereotypes of female antagonists by emphasizing her sexuality rather than caring enough to develop her character so that this was an understandable, if morally repugnant, path to take.
Third, our heroes are so flat and lacking in personality or any believable human responses that it's practically their defining characteristic. Here is Orion, whose gift is telepathy, faced with a character who is withholding important information:
---
Unable to sway him to talk, Majestic turned to Orion, and pointed to her head.
'What?' Orion mouthed. He eyed the angry Velocious carefully then turned back to Majestic who continued to tap on her forehead. 'I don't understand what-'
Then he did. Of course. His power. He'd gotten so used to switching it off that at times he forgot about the ability.
---
I'm sorry, WHAT. Orion has been struggling with his telepathy since the start of the book and having this ability is the whole reason he's training to be a superhero, but he somehow just FORGETS he can read minds?! Why is he even in a latex suit facing off against baddies if he doesn't remember his telepathic abilities? It's like a cop seeing someone speeding and going, 'Oh no, I wish there was a way I could catch up to them and pull them over' while forgetting they have a car and police sirens to do just that.
Later on, the teenage superhero-wannabes encounter a notorious supervillain, one who has been responsible for countless deaths and who has blazed a path of mayhem and destruction. He was presumed dead in an explosion, which enabled him to take his experiments underground and continue to work in secret, killing innocent kids to perfect his evil plan. Now, maybe I can understand Majestic and co not telling the Superheroes UnderCover organization about Dr Chem originally as they wanted to capture him, save Eden and get all the glory. It was stupid, but kids can make short-sighted decisions in the heat of the moment.
AFTER the battle, however, they've been picked up by S.U.C and this would be the time to tell them everything they know so that trained adults who have spent their entire careers honing their powers and capturing criminals can go after Dr Chem - but nope!
---
Orion looked down at Majestic. 'You want to keep your freedom? I want to finish what we started. We can do both, but not if half this team is grounded until graduation. That's too much time for Dr. You-know-who to build another mutant army and kidnap more supers to kill.'
'This is crazy,' Majestic said, shaking her head. 'My Parents work for the S.U.C. Lying ot the S.U.C. is the same as lying to them.'
Orion leaned closer. 'How are your parents going to feel when they find out that you went to the power plant without telling them?'
---
Ohhh, I see. Avoiding parental disapproval and keeping from being grounded are much more serious priorities! Orion's acknowledged that Dr Chem's plans are to create more monsters and kill more people, but somehow everyone thinks the best plan is for a group of inexperienced teens to work on tracking down this villain in their spare time after school! What ridiculous kind of logic is this?! Proving themselves by capturing Dr Chem and settling their score takes priority over the safety of the public, okay, gotcha.
Even beyond these enormously stupid decisions, the characters fail to make sense on a normal everyday level. For example, when Orion (more commonly known as Nick) first gets his powers, he is completely baffled as to what is happening to him. If an ordinary teen in our day and age was able to hear people's thoughts, they would instantly know that it was telepathy, even though that's impossible. Orion lives in a world where people have superpowers, but here's his response:
---
'Whoa,' Nick murmured. What the fuck? He had been watching Janet when the last remarks were made. She hadn't said them. At least, not with her lips. So how in the world had he heard her?
Janet just shook her head, a look of pity all over her face. Nick didn't need to read her mind to know that she probably felt sorry for him. Hell, she'd practically said it just a while ago. Wait. Read her mind? Is that what he'd been doing? Is that how he heard her when she wasn't speaking?
---
Buy a clue, Sherlock! How is it possible that these kids can reference Harry Potter by dropping 'You Know Who' and 'Voldemort' into conversation, but the diagnosis of mind-reading takes a lot of brainpower to think up? Mind-reading is a big part of the fifth Harry Potter book, that should be the natural conclusion any teen would jump to with that pop culture background!
I could point to any endless number of illogical choices and stilted writing that punctures any chances of believable characterization in our leads, the whole book is filled with examples. For just one more so that this post isn't entirely focused on Orion's obtuseness, there's repeated scenes with Majestic asking to go to the toilet in the middle of class so that she can hide in a closet with her tech support friend and find out the latest information on the case. Why is this even necessary? They have to have LUNCH BREAKS. Even if theirs didn't coincide, there's such things as emails and text messages!
But no, let's have Majestic ask for bathroom breaks so often it defies belief the teacher would grant her request when she disappears for half the class and hole up in a closet to get information that could be so much more easily shared with half the trouble. Sure, why not. Makes as little sense as the rest of this book.
---
I received a digital copy free from Limitless Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
September 1, 2017
I love YA. I love superheroes. The combination of the two is even better, and I was excited to dive into this series.
I love Vada's name. The story has a cool premise with some people being born into superpowers and having to hide their true identities from "normals," those who don't have superpowers. But when normals seem to develop superpowers out of nowhere, the story gets interesting because supers like Vada need to figure out how to stop them from destroying the city.
It was also cool that supers have a tech partner who can help them out with their suits and equipment they need. Vada and James's friendship and partnership was a highlight of the novel for me.
This book is upper YA due to sexual content, and I agree with this classification. I'm not sure the sexual content was necessary or integral to the story, however, because the characters didn't seem mature enough for their ages. They're 18-19 years old, but they speak and act more like 12-13 year olds.
I'd recommend this book to those ages 17 and over. I'm looking forward to this series and will be reading the next one when it comes out.
I received a copy of this book for review for my stop on the blog tour at Donnie Darko Girl.
I love Vada's name. The story has a cool premise with some people being born into superpowers and having to hide their true identities from "normals," those who don't have superpowers. But when normals seem to develop superpowers out of nowhere, the story gets interesting because supers like Vada need to figure out how to stop them from destroying the city.
It was also cool that supers have a tech partner who can help them out with their suits and equipment they need. Vada and James's friendship and partnership was a highlight of the novel for me.
This book is upper YA due to sexual content, and I agree with this classification. I'm not sure the sexual content was necessary or integral to the story, however, because the characters didn't seem mature enough for their ages. They're 18-19 years old, but they speak and act more like 12-13 year olds.
I'd recommend this book to those ages 17 and over. I'm looking forward to this series and will be reading the next one when it comes out.
I received a copy of this book for review for my stop on the blog tour at Donnie Darko Girl.
August 31, 2017
I loved this book! Over the past year, I’ve been starting to read superhero comics. This is a great original story, with new superheroes.
I really liked the characters. They all had believable superpowers. One thing that I found hard to believe is that they didn’t recognize each other when they were out of their suits. I think they would have figured it out when they saw each other in school, but they haven’t yet.
This story kept reminding me of the movie The Incredibles. Veda’s family, with two boys and a girl and two superhero parents, were a lot like The Incredibles. That was one of my favourite movies when I was a kid, so I appreciated the similarities. Though it reminded me of that movie, this story is much more mature since there are young adults and adults in it, so they are not aimed at the same audience.
I really enjoyed this story and I can’t wait to read the next one in the series!
I received a copy of this book from YA Bound Book Tours in exchange for a review.
I really liked the characters. They all had believable superpowers. One thing that I found hard to believe is that they didn’t recognize each other when they were out of their suits. I think they would have figured it out when they saw each other in school, but they haven’t yet.
This story kept reminding me of the movie The Incredibles. Veda’s family, with two boys and a girl and two superhero parents, were a lot like The Incredibles. That was one of my favourite movies when I was a kid, so I appreciated the similarities. Though it reminded me of that movie, this story is much more mature since there are young adults and adults in it, so they are not aimed at the same audience.
I really enjoyed this story and I can’t wait to read the next one in the series!
I received a copy of this book from YA Bound Book Tours in exchange for a review.
September 21, 2020
I'm bummed I can't add a half star to this. A more accurate assessment would be 3.5.
Full review to come.
*EDITED*
I received this copy in exchange for an honest review from Limitless Publishing. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you Limitless!
I don't think I've read a superhero book before. This was a fun read. It reminded me of Sky High in places - the main character being the child of famous superhero parents, one who has flight and the to other super strength, the whole high school aspect of it, the other teen supers reactions to the Vada's famous parents.
Even a bit of the dialogue gave me Sky High flashbacks. Particularly the bit where Nick broke up with Scarlet. It was almost word for word with the movie.
But the main plot was a lot darker than Sky High's. again, similarity in the long thought to be dead villain not being dead and attempting to finish up their pet project. Still, the balancing of a normal life with a super life was interesting to read. It was predictable at times - the first mention of Nick already made it obvious that he would be Vada's love interest. Victor and Henley's first meeting foreshadowed his interest and her darkness.
Henley as a character initially annoyed me after she started blowing up at Vada. Female friendships in stories are important to me, and to see one disintegrating for apparently no reason made me a little annoyed. But the explanation about 'turning' made some sense as to why the seemingly flighty but not evil girl we see in the beginning fully embraces her role as a villainous. It came a little late in the story, but at least we got that one explanation.
The stark difference between Majestic and Vada as characters was a little startling. We see glimpses of it, but her treatment of Orion right off the bat just did not mesh well with what I knew of Vada prior to that. She seemed to dislike him on sight for no reason, and then her competitive side reared its head. It might have made more sense if her reaction had been the other way around, with a casual acquaintance turning a little sour over mutual competitive spirits and stubbornness.
Still, it was an easy read with an engaging plot and lots of banter.
Full review to come.
*EDITED*
I received this copy in exchange for an honest review from Limitless Publishing. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you Limitless!
I don't think I've read a superhero book before. This was a fun read. It reminded me of Sky High in places - the main character being the child of famous superhero parents, one who has flight and the to other super strength, the whole high school aspect of it, the other teen supers reactions to the Vada's famous parents.
Even a bit of the dialogue gave me Sky High flashbacks. Particularly the bit where Nick broke up with Scarlet. It was almost word for word with the movie.
But the main plot was a lot darker than Sky High's. again, similarity in the long thought to be dead villain not being dead and attempting to finish up their pet project. Still, the balancing of a normal life with a super life was interesting to read. It was predictable at times - the first mention of Nick already made it obvious that he would be Vada's love interest. Victor and Henley's first meeting foreshadowed his interest and her darkness.
Henley as a character initially annoyed me after she started blowing up at Vada. Female friendships in stories are important to me, and to see one disintegrating for apparently no reason made me a little annoyed. But the explanation about 'turning' made some sense as to why the seemingly flighty but not evil girl we see in the beginning fully embraces her role as a villainous. It came a little late in the story, but at least we got that one explanation.
The stark difference between Majestic and Vada as characters was a little startling. We see glimpses of it, but her treatment of Orion right off the bat just did not mesh well with what I knew of Vada prior to that. She seemed to dislike him on sight for no reason, and then her competitive side reared its head. It might have made more sense if her reaction had been the other way around, with a casual acquaintance turning a little sour over mutual competitive spirits and stubbornness.
Still, it was an easy read with an engaging plot and lots of banter.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 28, 2017
This was a really great book! The world building was amazing and it felt like the Superheroes UnderCover world struck the right balance between being realistic (government controlled superheroes) and sort of optimistic (there's no big public blowup or fights coming from misunderstandings between heroes). Vada, the main character, moonlights as the hero Majestic and teams up with several other young superheroes to stop powerless people who get superpowers, rather than being born with them, from mysteriously dying. Vada is a fully dimensional character who changes throughout the novel but in an organic way. My only nitpick was the Superheroes Undercover part of the title made me think that Vada would be going under cover, rather it just refers to the agency that protects the superheroes.
*I recieved a free copy of this book and this is my unbiased review*
*I recieved a free copy of this book and this is my unbiased review*
September 2, 2017
An enjoyable book start to finish. What first grabbed me was the attractive cover. Fortunately, this was no bait and switch as I enjoyed the content, as well.
I would recommend this book for older readers, as well as young adults. Like Ready Player One in terms of content and age level, but an entirely different plot that draws on the world of superheroes.
I would gladly read another entry in what I hope will be a full series. I reviewed an advance copy provided by the publisher.
I would recommend this book for older readers, as well as young adults. Like Ready Player One in terms of content and age level, but an entirely different plot that draws on the world of superheroes.
I would gladly read another entry in what I hope will be a full series. I reviewed an advance copy provided by the publisher.
August 30, 2017
Really fantastic book, and it was great to have one aimed for females! Really great story, and I can't wait to read more!
December 17, 2017
A highly enjoyable book for superhero lovers, with powered families & rules for being a hero (officially when you turn 18) where all the aspects have been cleverly thought out. So well, they just seem normal parts of the narrative. But I did smile a lot with the gadgets, powers etc that Wright imagined.
Vada, an instantly likeable character, as is her family, leads a double life of going to high school & getting ready for superherodom. She is picking out her suit, name, the basics. Then normals start exhibiting powers & things get weird with unexplained deaths.
The confusion of suddenly having powers is shown in unexpected & engaging POVs. These excite me due to making it like I am going through these sudden changes alongside them. Henley sort of annoyed me, but I think that was the objective. Also there is a relationship that is a bit too overeager and in my opinion did not suit the overall tone of the book.
Loved learning how to be a superhero along with Vada and about Superhero Undercover. Also her dealings with Orion are fun and you are itching for certain revelations to come along.
Expecting a very intriguing sequel.
Vada, an instantly likeable character, as is her family, leads a double life of going to high school & getting ready for superherodom. She is picking out her suit, name, the basics. Then normals start exhibiting powers & things get weird with unexplained deaths.
The confusion of suddenly having powers is shown in unexpected & engaging POVs. These excite me due to making it like I am going through these sudden changes alongside them. Henley sort of annoyed me, but I think that was the objective. Also there is a relationship that is a bit too overeager and in my opinion did not suit the overall tone of the book.
Loved learning how to be a superhero along with Vada and about Superhero Undercover. Also her dealings with Orion are fun and you are itching for certain revelations to come along.
Expecting a very intriguing sequel.
August 21, 2017
I had been wanting to read a superhero book for a while and was excited when I came across Masked. Since this was my first one I can't compare it to others, but I loved it. It was very well written and the development of all the characters was really good. They all had their roles and served their purpose as everything progressed.
Masked is a coming of age superhero story about Vada and other young supers entering into the world of crime fighting for the first time. Even though it's mostly about Vada, we get to see parts of the story from the POV of other characters, which helped keep things interesting. I liked all the tech, weapons, and abilities the supers possessed. Again, they all had their roles and served their purpose. I thought the plot was good and it ended with me hoping for a sequel.
I loved Masked and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good superhero story. I can't wait to see if there will be a part 2.
Masked is a coming of age superhero story about Vada and other young supers entering into the world of crime fighting for the first time. Even though it's mostly about Vada, we get to see parts of the story from the POV of other characters, which helped keep things interesting. I liked all the tech, weapons, and abilities the supers possessed. Again, they all had their roles and served their purpose. I thought the plot was good and it ended with me hoping for a sequel.
I loved Masked and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good superhero story. I can't wait to see if there will be a part 2.
August 7, 2017
I wasn't sure what I was expecting from a superhero book as this is my first time reading one. I was pleasantly surprised and whilst I was reading it there was a film playing out in my mind.
The author has explained everything in fine detail so this vision was able to play out. I love the two different sides of Vada's and Nick's personality as they morphed in front of us into their super selves.
I can't wait to read the next one in this series and would love for it to be made into a movie. I will recommend this book to anyone who loves Spider-Man, Captain America, Superman and any other superhero out there.
I give this book 5 stars.
The author has explained everything in fine detail so this vision was able to play out. I love the two different sides of Vada's and Nick's personality as they morphed in front of us into their super selves.
I can't wait to read the next one in this series and would love for it to be made into a movie. I will recommend this book to anyone who loves Spider-Man, Captain America, Superman and any other superhero out there.
I give this book 5 stars.
August 21, 2017
What a great read! J.D. Wright has done an excellent job of creating a world where superheroes and super-villains are an accepted part of society. A gripping story-line, with lots of lovable characters, action, romance, intrigue and plenty of laughs. Loved it, was hooked from start to finish, and can't wait for the next book.
*I received a free advanced copy of this book and this is my unbiased review.*
*I received a free advanced copy of this book and this is my unbiased review.*
July 6, 2020
After reading Wonder Woman: Warbringer and loving it, I quickly found out there aren't a lot of novels about superheroes, as opposed to comic books. That's why I was immediately interested when I came across Masked.
The Incredibles meets Spy Kids, that's basically what you can expect from this book. It was a very entertaining read, full of action. However, there was hardly any character development, and the villain's motives never became clear, especially when it comes to Eden, a newly turned villain.
The Incredibles meets Spy Kids, that's basically what you can expect from this book. It was a very entertaining read, full of action. However, there was hardly any character development, and the villain's motives never became clear, especially when it comes to Eden, a newly turned villain.
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