The Extraordinaries is HILARIOUS. I honestly don't remember laughing at a book this much for such a long time. I don't know what I expected from the book, but I truly didn't expect to find it this funny. Whilst it isn't all fun and games and there are plenty of sad moments, I just loved every second of it.

Nick was such a fun protagonist, he was quirky, nerdy and so awkward, I just adored spending time with him. His enthusiasm and energy was contagious, I loved the way he viewed Seth and his bowties, it was so sweet. I don't really recall reading a book with the lead character having ADHD before, but really liked that it was included here and seemed to give a good insight into living life with ADHD. Nick was just precious, and I wanted so badly to protect his little heart.

I could literally talk for hours about the side characters, there were just so many of them, all special in their own way. I loved Nick's dad, although he didn't always say the right thing, their relationship was so lovely, and it was clear that he truly loved his son. Jazz, Gibby and Seth, the kind of friends everyone needs in their life. Cap, his wife and all the wonderful adults that were looking out for Nick throughout. Such a great set of characters here.

The book basically takes a classic superhero novel, and plunges an awkward fanboy teen into the middle of it, and I truly didn't expect to love it anywhere near as much as I did. The ending though, THE ENDING, I didn't realise there would be another book but I need it and I need it asap!

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book follows the main character Nick in his pursuit to become an Extraordinary (basically a Superhero). Nick faces many challenges in this quest - coping with ADHD, building a relationship with his Dad, finding romance and trusting the strength of his friendships.
What I Liked:
Writing Style. This books strongest element is definitely the colloquial and fun writing style. TJ Klune creates a strong voice, not only for the character of Nick, but the supporting cast as well. It's also an accurate representation of the language and behaviours of teenagers today which gives gives the book authenticity and believability.
Characters. The characters were so easy to connect with as they felt like real people. It was a very dialogue heavy story, but the banter and heartfelt discussions between characters really makes the reader invested in what happens to each of them. I really enjoyed the focus on the friendships, romance and familial relationships which were all explored throughly.
What I Didn't Like:
Plot. While I appreciate a character driven novel, I do think there needs to be a strong structure to the plot. This book was too meandering and repetitive which made it feel hard to get through at points. I enjoyed the plot but I feel it could have been refined in editing to make it a 5* read.
Overall this was a funny and heartfelt novel that lost it's way at times. I fell in love with the characters and I am excited for any future books TJ Klune writes.

DNF at 50%

It has all of the aspects that I love in a YA novel but it just fell flat for me. I didn't warm to Nick or any of his friends, and though the book was ok, it just felt like a chore to me. It was pretty cringey and felt really young for me? I read a lot of YA, but to me this felt a bit more middle grade.

The writing was pretty clunky, and I felt that it was very slow paced. It maybe picked up but at 50% I felt it should have picked up by this stage.

Once I put it down each time I had no inclination to pick it back up again, so unfortunately I've dnf it after almost 3wks.

Huge thanks to the publisher and netgalley for giving me the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a joy to read. It is fantastic!
You have action, passion, friendship, love and superheroes and villians. It is everything you ever wanted packed in one book and the best thing is, it doesn't feel too much. You won't get enough of the characters. You won't like the book to end.
I kept thinking that I'm in a movie and not reading a book because the story sucked me in in no time.
This one is great until the end and oh my, the end. I need the next volume now!

Wow

There is a lot going on in this book, and I loved it.

The story is fast-paced and action-filled
.
I really enjoyed the character's relationships with one another. We see the strain between Nick and his father as they try to learn to trust one another and rebuild their relationship. We see the relationship with Nick and his friends and how that develops over time. As well the relationship between Nick and his ex who is slowly trying to wade his way into the friendship group.

I am a sucker for well-written friendship groups and I really loved the character Gabby, who is one of Nick's best friend. I think she might be my favourite.

This is a very gripping story with incredible characters.

The Extraordinaries follows Nick, a 16 year old guy doing his best to live a normal life under some extraordinary cirumstances. Nick has ADHD, which only got worse when he lost his mum a few years ago. He's trying to go to school and get good grades and make his dad proud but how is he supposed to concenatrate when there are sexy superheroes battling above Nova City every week?

Nick's friends, Seth, Gibby, Jazz and Owen know that he is in love with Shadow Star, Nova City's protector, come on, he's only the top rated Extraordinaries fan fiction writer in the fandom. After a chance meeting with Shadow Star, Nick realises that in order to get Shadow Star to fall in love with him, he needs to become an Extraordinary himself. Armed with all his knowledge of film and comic books, Nick embarks on a journey to become Extraordinary whether his friends will help him or not...

The Extraordinaries is TJ Klune's first Young Adult project, having written several middle grade series. This is quite appararent in the book, as to me it does feel more like a middle grade story despite the characters being 16 and 17. Given that the Superhero genre and more specficially the queer superhero genre seems to be so proliferated at the moment, The Extraordinaries might be a great way in to the genre for young teens. The book is funny, but the plot does suffer from being quite predictable.

Given that Nick is gay and has ADHD, this representation is incredible in its own right, and from my understanding, it is quite an accurate portrayal of ADHD. This is where a lot of the humour in the book comes from, and its most heartbreaking moments.

Well I'm extraordinarily in love with this book. It was everything I wanted it to be and more, because of course it was because T.J Klune is an absolute genius and I will read everything he writes from now till ever. This had me laughing out loud on one page, and sobbing the next. It is a brilliantly fun take on the superhero genre, has wonderfully open and honest portrayals of grief, discusses ADHD so personally it reverberates on every page, has an absolutelyfuckingadorable romance, a killer friendship group, lots of funny fandom anecdotes that brought back so much nostalgia, and a tender and warm message about being extraordinary when you're ordinary.

The Extraordinaries is set in a world where superheros exist called Extraordinaries. In Nova City, Shadow Star protects the city from the evil villain PyroStorm. In this city is Nick, Shadow Star's greatest fan and fanfic author of the most popular fanfic about the Extraordinaries. When he runs into Shadow Star in an alley, Nick decides he wants to become an Extraordinary himself and so begins his plan to turn himself into a superhero, much to the consternation of his friends.

I don't quite no where to start with reviewing this book because I loved everything so much. It was warm and cosy and so funny, I can't remember the last time I laughed this much at a book. Nick is just a brilliant and adorable character. He's open and honest about his ADHD in such a relatable and funny way (and I just want to shout out that this is own voices ADHD rep too!) Nick is just an absolute precious gem, his complete blindness when it comes to his feelings for Seth is just adorable, his realisation journey is so cute. Seth is quite possibly even more adorable than Nick, with his bowties (bowties are cool), cravats and a big secret he can't possibly tell Nick. Alongside Gibby, Jazz and Owen, this is a friendship group that sounds like it must be some of the most fun. They're all so hilarious in their own ways, so brilliantly, openly queer and pretty much everything I want in a rag tag team of misfits. Gibby is a butch lesbian who won't take shit from anyone and has the most deadpan ringers; Jazz is sweet and kind and then she turns around and knocks you out of the park with a revelation. Owen is flirty and arrogant and popular (and his dad's the richest man in the city), but he can be so vulnerable at times when Nick gets through his walls.

Alongside the hilarity of these characters, there are several moments that had me almost sobbing. The book deals openly with grief, Nick having lost his mum fairly recently and Seth having lost both his parents when young. With his Dad's job as a policeman, Nick is filled with anxiety about losing his Dad as well, and there are scenes so raw and gutrenching I thought it would tear me apart.

I loved the sass towards the superhero genre as well. It flowed throughout the book, from the ridiculous villain speeches, to the need for capes. I also very much appreciated the fandom and fanfic references and excerpts throughout, this felt so nostalgic!!! I was brought back completely to my teenage days sneaking around writing fanfic, right down to the tags they used on Nick's fanfic excerpts, it was all so reminiscent.

Everything about this book was just brilliant. T.J Klune astounds me with every book I read, I don't think there's another author out there who can quite make me laugh and cry as much as he does. It's a fun, fresh, fandom enthusiastic take on the superhero genre with the most adorable romance. I read the majority of this book (the last 70%) in one sitting because I just couldn't put it down. I sincerely hope we get more books in this series as soon as possible because I will follow these characters for years!!

This book follows the story of Nick, a loveable teenager with ADHD as he tries to navigate his life and make himself an Extraordinary. I finished this book within the space of a day and…I can’t stop thinking about it. I don’t want to give away too much of the story because spoilers (its out July 14th!!!) but this book had me cackling in one sentence, and crying with another. I cannot even begin to put into words how much I loved this book.

The story of Nick is one that will have you trying to guess what’s going to happen throughout, and if you guess it, you spend the time eagerly waiting for Nick to figure it out and it is fantastic, especially as Nick is a little oblivious to what is happening around him. And you will spend majority of the book absolutely convinced you know where this is headed, only to realise you had been so close yet so far from what was going to happen. (Also, that ending I cannot wait for another book in this world.)

And Seth – Oh I love Seth so much. I want to hug him. He is the best friend to Nick and he is such a caring person, and you can see how much he cares for his friends and family and I loved seeing the way his relationship with Nick evolved, and the way he also grew as a person. He was such an interesting character to have alongside Nick and I absolutely adored every second of their relationship and their story in this book.

Nick has a really interesting relationship with his dad. They have difficulties and they have problems, and they need to work some things out, but at the heart of all of the that is the fact they both deeply care for and love each other, even if they don’t always get things right. And I love the fact that we see them have trouble and screw up, but we also see the way they care for each other and fix those things. I love that the family relationships in this book are rooted in so much care and love for each other, it is really really nice to see families that genuinely care about each other, even if they don’t always get it right.

TJ has this absolutely phenomenal way with words and with writing, and every time I read one of his books, I am always completely in awe of the way he is able to write so beautifully and in such a way that you feel everything he is trying to get across. (TJ’s is one of the only writers to ever make me cry while reading some of his books, so props to him for that!) He has such a fantastic writing style that every time I pick up one of his books, I know I am going to be experiencing something wonderful. He makes such amazing worlds and truly fleshed out characters, that you are just so sucked into these worlds in an instant, and you are dying to get back into them because he has made them feel so real.

Also, I want to say thank you to TJ for writing a book with an ADHD character. I can count on one hand how many ADHD characters I have come across in media. And I am especially grateful that the ADHD is not presented as something bad. He has portrayed the experience of being ADHD so well, and it makes me so happy. There were so many times in this book that I was recognising the way I think in the way Nick thinks, and it was so pleasing to see. I am also very grateful that Nick had a group of friends that loved him and accepted him because I know for a lot of people with ADHD, it’s hard to get those friends.

TJ has done a beautiful job with this book and I remain in awe of his writing. So if you want a book that is heart-warming at times, while breaking your heart at others, and will have you absolutely cackling at parts while making you want to scream two seconds later, and one that will shatter your heart and put it back together, then please pick up this book.
P.S. read till the end of the acknowledgements.

Rating
5/5 stars

Favourite quotes
“Some people were born to be an Extraordinary. Nick was born to have a million thoughts in the space of a minute that often led to splitting headaches.”

“Nick was learning that his brain could do things that others couldn’t. In a way, he had his own superpower, even if it was called a disorder.”

“But that doesn’t mean you still can’t be a good person, right? Just because you did something wrong doesn’t mean that’s who you are. And even if you keep doing the wrong thing, you can still be saved. Maybe they just need someone to listen to them, to hear the storm in their heads.”

I think if I was a teenager, queer, or had grown up under difficult circumstances, this book would be like a breath of fresh air, a lifebelt in the sea of turmoil and something to bring hope and a feeling of "normalcy" as it is an encouraging homage to the great superhero stories of the Golden Era of Comic Books.

For Nick, his fanfiction is something vitally important, a connection to the Extraordinary he has a huge crush on and there were lots of "Superman/Lois Lane" vibes in his queering of the relationship between Shadow Star and a character who may be just a tiny bit like Nick.

It's TJ Klune, so there is all the hilarity and wonderful use of language you'd expect to find in any book from this author. And, because it's TJ Klune, there's so many more layers and depth to the story being told.

It's YA superhero fiction so as a 50-year-old woman, I'm not the key demographic for reading it, but that didn't mean I couldn't relate to the struggles Nick goes through in his day-to-day life as he juggles with his best friend (and possible love of his so-far very short life) Seth, his unfailing desire to become an Extraordinary, his ADHD, and his dad's fears.

The relationship at the heart of this teen romance is just a hug in a sweetie wrapper. The depiction of how the ADHD affects everything Nick does felt honest and true to me even though I am not experienced with the condition myself, I have friends with atypical children and it rang similar to their lives.

It ends with a cliffhanger, as this is a trilogy of books being published by TOR Teen, and it didn't surprise me as this is basically your typical Sci-Fi/Fantasy superhero book - but queered up, which I absolutely love. I love that this book will be on the shelves of all the major bookstores not hidden away in some online only corner of the internet.

I love that a big five publisher, (and the most respected name in Sci-Fi/Fantasy publishing in the industry), picked this series up and is putting all its considerable weight behind it. For any teenager wondering if they're ever going to see themselves represented in a superhero book, The Extraordinaries is that book.

Everyone: „Nicky, no!“
Nicky: „Nicky, yes!“

Nick puts the EXTRA in EXTRAORDINARY
This book was so funny! I was very happy to receice an e-arc of this after finishing the adorably amazing „The House in the Cerulean Sea“ by T. J. Klune last month. Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton!
This is what it’s about:
16-year-old Nicholas Bell is a die-hard fan of Shadow Star, Nova City’s most famous superhero. He writes fan fiction about him and his arch-nemesis Pyro Storm, usually featuring epic fight scenes and even more epic snogging scenes with himself and Shadow Star. Nicky is fascinated with everything extraordinary and would love to be a superhero himself, fluttering cape and everything.
But his real life is far from it: he lives with his single dad, a cop in Nova City’s police department, after his mother died a few years ago. He is struggeling with ADHD and the loss of his mother. But at least he has his friends: his absolute best friend Seth, who wears the cutest sweater vests and bow ties and is getting cuter by the minute; snarky Gibby and her girlfriend, the bubbly cheerleader Jazz.
Nicky isn’t exactly great at following rules or keeping his mouth shut, but everything is fine. FINE. Until the fight between Shadow Star and Pyro Storm escalates and Nicky finds himself in the middle of it. And Nicky decides that it’s time to be anything but ordinary.

Guys, this ya novel is SO FUNNY. TJ Klune has this hilarious way of writing dialogue and I found myself laugh out loud many times. I liked the representation of a main character with ADHD and how Nicky’s and his dad’s grief was handled. Inbetween the hilarious banter there were a lot of tender scenes between these two and Nicky’s motivations to become an Extraordinary were far deeper than they originally seemed. I even cried a little at one point. The author managed to make all characters so distinct and lovable and I had a lot of fun following their story.
My only criticism is that I sensed many of the plot twists from the beginning, but that might be because it was either meant to be that way (seeing how Nicky clearly didn’t see any of it coming had a lot of comedy to it, too) or because I am an adult reader and maybe more experienced.
If you want to read a book that’s hella gay about what it truly means to be extraordinary and a hero – please pick this up when it comes out on July 14th!
4/5 stars

I’m coming to you live from Nova City for Action News, filling in for Rebecca Firestone, who is currently indisposed. (Don’t ask!)

As you can see, in the sky above me, a battle is raging. Shadow Star and Pyro Storm are at it again! No one knows who’s behind the masks of these Extraordinaries or how Extraordinaries even become so extraordinary in the first place. Did some awful tragedy befall them in their childhood? Were they born with their powers?

While we wait to learn what this latest skirmish is all about (and I dare say it will be something extraordinary), I’ll be talking to local boy, Nick Bell. Nick is widely known for his Extraordinary fan fiction, where he goes by the screen name ShadowStar744. With over 250,000 words already written about this superhero/supervillain dynamic, I’m sure he has a lot to say. Welcome, Nick.

“Uh. Er. Glugh. Blargh.”

It’s lovely to talk to you as well. So, Nick, what’s so extraordinary about Extraordinaries?

“They can manipulate shadows and fire and pose on tops of buildings while the sun sets behind them!”

Do you have a favourite Nova City Extraordinary?

“One is a jerk who burns things because he’s a pyromaniac or something. The other is a paragon of virtue who saves people and controls shadows and climbs walls.”

Right. So Team Shadow Star then.

“You have to get me the security tapes! So I can watch them over and over again for my own personal reasons that don’t involve anything weird.”

Um, I’m not sure that would be appro-

“What did I ever do to you? Aside from all those things I did?”

I’ll see what I can do. In the meantime, is there anything you want our viewers to know, Nick?

“I need my own origin story”

Anything else?

“Operation Turn Nick into an Extraordinary and Live Happily Ever After with Shadow Star in a Villa Off the Coast of Italy Where We Feed Each Other Grapes by Hand is underway!”

That sound intriguing, Nick, but unfortunately that’s all we have time for today. Until next time, “Always remember to keep to the shadows!” This is me, signing -

THUD!

Steve from the Action News desk [whispers]: Guys, did that chunk of building just flatten our reporter? I sure hope Rebecca Firestone is available to take over the commentary …

So, I am absolutely obsessed with this book! If it’s not already on your TBR list, please remedy that immediately! Nick’s story is a binge worthy combination of awkward, heartwarming and funny. I spent so much time smiling as I read that I probably resemble the Joker at this point.

Nick is so endearing and his ADHD, combined with his extraordinarily high adorability/cluelessness quotient, made me want to listen to every single thing that was on his mind, no matter how off topic he wandered.

“Nick’s attention had a deficit, and he was hyperactively disordered.”

The banter between Nick and anyone who manages to stumble into a conversation with him was one of my favourite things about this book. There wasn’t a dud character in the bunch. I need to find a way to infiltrate Nick’s group of friends because I need people like them in my life; their support of one another is matched by their ability to lovingly detonate truth bombs when required. The best way to introduce them has already been taken by the author:

“Seth was too smart. Nick was too loud. Gibby was too butch, and Jazz had once been like everyone else before Gibby had put her lesbian magic all over her and taken her to the dark side.”

Alongside the superpowers, the queerness and the almost incomprehensible relatability of every character, you also get the bonus messages, which include but are not limited to:
* Having a disorder doesn’t make you disordered
* Your embarrassing moments don’t have to define you
* Trauma changes you
* Forgetting to human happens to the best of us, and
* Old people are inherently weird. (Hold on! By this book’s standards I’m an old person. I won’t claim that but I will happily claim the weird.)

I personally learned that I can overcome my romantiphobia when the occasion calls for it, like when my heart needs to melt over watermelon flavoured Skwinkles Salsagheti, being able to fly is the first superpower I will achieve, and I may need to take steps to become a supervillain if I don’t get to find out what happens next really, really soon.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the opportunity to fall head over heels in love with this book.

ARC provided by Hodder & Stoughton via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Extraordinaries by T.J. Klune is one of those joyful, fun, warm books that always bring a smile upon one’s lips. In that aspect, it reminds me so much of Simon James Green’s novels. I loved reading about Nick, Seth, Jazz, Gibby, their friendship and their relationships; the father-son relationship between Aaron and Nick that was so marvellous and wholesome; and obviously, the superheroes. Moreover, it’s so queer! So read it!

'The Extraordinaries' is a fun, modern YA fantasy, funny and heartwarming in places and serious in others. The characters are cute, the LGBT representation fantastic, and I suspect modern teenagers will enjoy it. The story and setting are unoriginal - I predicted every single plot twist miles before it happened, and I've read several similar books before - but that doesn't prevent it being a good read.

The main character, Nick, is sixteen and just entering Junior Year of High School in Nova City - very similar to any city in the US, except there are superheros, known as Extraordinaries. Nick is a fan. In fact, he's such a big fan of the city's Extraordinary - known as Shadow Storm - that he spends his time writing self-insert fanfiction and owns a pillow with Shadow Storm's face on it. Nick dreams of being rescued by his idol and subsequently joining him on his adventures to save the city. Of course, that's not precisely what happens.

Nick is a sweet, naive, oblivious sixteen year old. He also has ADHD - this is exceptionally well written and one of the highlights of the book. With his well-known superhero crush and constant stream of random thoughts, he isn't the most popular guy in school - but he has his own tight-knit group of friends. His relationships with them were brilliant and another strength, even if Jazz and Gibby felt more like caricatures than characters at times. LGBT rep is always brilliant, but the butch can-kick-your-ass girl and her head-cheerleader girlfriend was almost too cliche.

Seth, Nick's best friend since they met on the swings ten years ago, is equally adorable. Orphaned at a young age in a train crash, Seth has always been a strange, chubby kid who struggled to make friends - but in him, Nick found the patient listener he needed, and Seth found the human connection he craved. I loved them - their relationship was often painfully awkward, and both of them are ridiculously oblivious, but it was pure and adorable. The reactions of everyone else around them were also perfect - their disbelief and frustration matched mine as I was reading perfectly.

Owen, Nick's sort-of-ex and now sort-of-friend, had the potential to be an interesting character, but too much was left a mystery. I never quite knew what to think. Hopefully future books will develop him further - his arc in this didn't feel complete.

The setting was a completely standard US city, plus superheroes, giving a thoroughly contemporary feel - except perhaps for the highly limited number of news channels, and the way everyone watched them instead of Netflix. Why the superheroes were left to continue unchecked was never explained, nor why they existed - or how. For what is essentially a YA fantasy romance, this doesn't matter too much, but I would have liked a little more explanation.

Overall, this is a solid 3.5 stars. It's great fun, with laugh out loud moments, and the characters are adorable - but the story is predictable, and characters just the wrong side of cliche. With the exception of Nick and Seth - who were themselves cliches - none of them were expounded on enough to take them into 3D territory, which left the novel a little lacking. But for younger teenagers, this will likely be a story to love.

***Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!***

This book was exactly what I needed. It is a pure miracle in form of an ebook becuase it seems to have taken me out of the longest reading slump. (*knocks on unpainted wood*) It was fun, fast, adorable, and very queer (well, it's a Klune book, after all). I don't know what's up with all the queer superhero stories but I'm certainly not complaining!

Rationally, this shouldn't have worked for me. The plot was predictable, all the twists were obvious from the beginning and I don't even normally like superhero stories. It didn't matter and I'd say it's mostly because of the characters and Klune's writing. It's a fun book and I think it's main aim is simply that: it's not aiming to change anyone's lives, it's not aiming to amaze you with the plot twists, it's just here to entertain you, give you adorable characters and lots and lots of purely positive queer rep.

The characters: we have Nick, a boy with ADHD who writes fanfiction that might be all actually only pining for his favourite superhero, Shadow Star. There is Seth, his best friend since forever, who Nick might be a little more emotionally invested in than he realises. There are Gabby and Jazz, a kickass lesbian couple and their friends. There is Owen, Nick's ex who still follows him around. There is Nick's dad, aka the most supportive parent in history of YA. It's a brilliant cast and I even remembered their names and I never remember the characters' names!

It's a fun and funny book full of adorable moments. If you're looking for a lighter read or just need some positively queer book in your life, I can't recommend it enough.

I'm really looking forward to the second one!

I love superhero books, I might not pick up too many of them but there’s something so fun about seeing something you would expect to see in a comic or a movie. I’m also a sucker for books about fandom so when I discovered The Extraordinaries on NetGalley, I had to request it straight away. And screencap the summary and share it with my friends as nerdy hero fanboy reminded me of Deku and we all love My Hero Academia, okay?

So The Extraordinaries follows Nick, a teenage boy with ADHD who obsesses over a local superhero called Shadowstar. Obsesses over him so much that he writes real person fanfiction about him where he’s in love with his self-insert. But things are happening and Nick decides to try to become a hero, not only to meet his idol but also to protect his family and friends. As he winds up mixed up with these heroes everything gets super complicated.

Because Nick has ADHD the writing of this book can seem like so much. There’s a lot going on in Nick’s head and because of this there’s so much going on all over the page. So many thoughts and strings of conversation and it can all get really random. Mix that with a plot about superheroes and teenagers anyway and you know it’s gonna be crazy. But all the cringe and randomness works, it really does, it makes Nick and his friends feel like real teenagers and as much as I love YA fiction; that’s rare a lot of the time. Even when they mostly feel real the cringe is often missing and I think that’s because when we reach adulthood we want to forget how embarrassing we could all be.

This book was so very funny. I had so many laugh out loud moments. Nick just says some of the weirdest things and the conversations it leads to can be great. The hero and villain have some interesting twists with their characters and though some of these things are kind of predictable. Like, so predictable you’re left wondering how stupid Nick is that he didn’t spot it, but they’re clearly leading up to something so much bigger. There’s actually an after credits chapter, just like in the movies, and, man, what it looks like it’s going to lead to is going to be so interesting. I need the second book like now. How could you do that to me?!

The romance in this is cute, the friendships are sweet and the family relationships are also good. Honestly, I don’t think I really have anything bad to say. It was a little hard to focus on sometimes because the book really is so much but it’s a superhero story and the main character has ADHD so it all makes sense. It just means it’s not my favourite.

I’ve got a feeling that might change with book 2 though…

Plot:
This book follows Nick who writes fanfiction about his city’s superheros, called ‘Extraordinaries’. These heroes have recently begun appearing all over the world and each have different powers (think Xmen). Nick has a big ol’ crush on the hero Shadow Star and a chance encounter with him leads Nick on a quest to become an Extraordinary. However, things are more than they seem and Nova City’s two heroes start fighting each other while Nick begins learning more about them. All of this is mixed in with Nick’s family, friends, some romance and lots of queerness.

My thoughts:
This book was a fun, lighthearted read that I really loved. There was so much positivity in this book and it really made it a delight to read, especially in such uncertain and stressful times. I’ve previously read one TJ Klune book, Wolfsong, and since they’ve both been wonderful, I’ll definitely be picking up more of this author’s books.

I really loved the characters in this book, they were all so vivid and real. I especially loved how different relationships were depicted, such as the relationship between Nick and his dad, Gibby and Jazz’s relationship and Nick’s friend group. Nick and his friends had me actually laughing out loud which is rare for me but was a delight to read.

Nick has ADHD which is own voices rep and from what I can tell it was handled well. It’s rare to see a book with a character with something like ADHD and for that to be well-portrayed so this was nice to see. There was also, of course, a lot of queer rep and I loved how effortless and positive it was. There was no homophobia, the word queer was used (I’m not sure I’ve actually seen that?), there were supportive parents and I loved the queer friendship. TJ Klune writes families and grief so well from what I’ve read of his and this book was no different.

This is normally where I’d write about any negatives for the book and I have to admit that I’m struggling here. There was heavy foreshadowing so I guessed the ending, though from the way it’s written I think that’s intentional? So not really a complaint, I’m just struggling to think of anything. Despite this, I was kept on the edge of my seat and still really enjoyed the book.

Overall, I loved this book and can’t wait to read more installments in the series! Also, remember to read the end chapter after the acknowledgements!!! It’s so good and I nearly missed it!!

I've read only one TJ Klune's book apart from this one (there's more in my tbr list tbh), and I still pictured him so well in every page of this book. Though TJ Klune write so many genre, you can find subtle similitudes that make the whole experience better.
This is what I ask when I want a YA book exploring queerness, superheroes and villains, and bunch of awkward friends. The characters are exquisite and throw us into a story where humour, love, happiness, and lovely dad/son moments, find their place.
It's merely impossible not to care for any of these characters. Nick is a utter fanboy of Shadow Star and everything that comes to comic books and superheroes. He's just a kid trying to fit in a world where his mind had his own way to wander. But he fits perfectly in his group of friend, who accept him and possess their own unique personnality. There is Seth, his best-friend and maybe more than his best-friend but exploring the feeling makes him shy. There is Gibby, who never hesitate to protect him from his fantasies. There is Jazz who understand and cherish his fantasies. And there is his overprotecting father, and things has never been simple with him, especially when one is a cop and the other one fancy a superhero who doesn't make the job easy, and when a certain absence is hanging between them.
The extraordinaries is a very addictive, funny, truehearted book who leave us on a very frustrating (but exciting) note. Can't wait to know more about Nick and his friends, and the Extraordinaries of Nova City!

Maybe a 3.5 rounded up, maybe a 4? Who knows?
I enjoyed it and will be continuing the series when I can.

Queer rep galore!

The Extraordinaries isn't a masterpiece, and won't be going on a (non-existent) list of my "must reads" - but it is a lovely and perfect read for *gestures at world* this.

Our MC, Nick Bell, is the most clueless person to exist. It started off as slightly funny as everything was super obvious to the reader and the rest of the characters, but ended up as very annoying because I don't believe anyone can be that oblivious?! It just got eye-roll worthy how dumb he was being. BUT it did mean we got insight into characters we wouldn't have been able to get otherwise, we got the sweetest superhero origin story without Nick knowing this was an origin story - so the reader got the emotion behind it without whatever Nick's 'extra' response would have been.

The book takes a little while to get the plot going, and there's an awful lot of cringe-worthy dialogue and monologues that don't read as a teen, but as an adult trying too hard to write a teen voice - it just doesn't flow (on the other side of that coin of not sounding like a teen - the use of the word 'consternation' was excessive enough for me to notice).

The friend group and close family life are lovely to read about, even if I was still managing to get the two female friends mixed up in my head - they needed more page time!

And the in-story fanfiction...yikes. I've read some bad fanfiction in my life...and just w o w.

The Extraordinaries is a near perfect novel.
Full of romance, angst, superheroes and suspense. It's well paced and draws the reader in, T J Klune deals with bringing in subjects such as ADHD and LQBTQ relationships wonderfully, some writers bring in subjects likes this because it's the in thing, Klune brings them in because it's necessary for the story and it all fits together so well.

This is an exceptionally good YA debut.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks so much for sending this to me!

Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me and I DNF'd at 30% - so I'll leave my thoughts up to where I left off.

Supporting own voices authors is important to me, I've been meaning to try a TJ Klune book for a while, and I love me a good superhero story, so I was excited to read this one! I'm also keen to read more books that explore the experience of queer boys and men in fandom spaces, as I've found that their voices are often overpowered by cis women who (perhaps involuntarily) speak over their experiences. Fandom can be an exclusionary and fetishizing space for queer men, so it's an important perspective to examine in my opinion. However, I found that the book really didn't speak to me and I was really struggling with it, so I had to concede defeat.

What I liked about it:

- The ADHD rep. I feel like the author did an excellent job of showcasing the racing thought patterns and manic thinking process of a character with ADHD. Nick's voice shines through very strongly and his characterisation is great.

- The friendships and family relationships. The bonds between characters are very clear.

Why I put it down:

- The cringe factor, mostly. This author seems to have a very specific type of humour that really rubbed me up the wrong way; I cringed my way through the first few painful chapters and it never let up. Honestly, Nick is just an embarrassing character. It's not his fault, and I actually knew a LOT of people like this in my teen fandom days (dare I say I was one of them? Maybe that's what made it so uncomfortable for me.) The secondhand embarrassment was just too much for me to bear.

- Nick's obliviousness was just too much. There's dramatic irony and then there's whatever this was. It reminded me of CB Lee's wonderful 'Not Your Sidekick,' which employs a very similar twist that again is painfully obvious to the audience - but this one took it to an infuriating level. I could not be dealing with Nick's inability to see what was staring him in the face. Like dude, seriously? I was starting to get genuinely angry with him and didn't think I could stand to see him keep overlooking the truth for another few hundred pages.

- This book is very tongue-in-cheek and for me it was a bit much. The whole point, I think, was to make fun of the superhero genre and superhero-based fandoms, and that's fine - but it wasn't working for me.

I respect TJ Klune very much, I know he's a beloved author and I appreciate his importance as a prominent own voices author of m/m books, but I'm afraid this book just wasn't my cup of tea.