Review: The Extraordinaries (The Extraordinaries #1)

The Extraordinaries (The Extraordinaries #1)
By TJ Klune

Published By: Hodder and Stoughton
Publication Date: July 14, 2020
Date Read: August 29, 2022
Genre: YA – Paranormal Romance
Source: Bought
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 400

From Goodreads:
In Nova City, there are extraordinary people, capable of feats that defy the imagination. Shadow Star protects the city and manipulates darkness, and Pyro Storm is determined to bring the city to its knees using his power over fire.

And then there’s Nick who . . . well, being the most popular fanfiction writer in the Extraordinaries fandom is a superpower, right?

Instead of fighting crime, Nick contends with a new year at school, a father who doesn’t trust him, and a best friend named Seth, who may or may not be the love of Nick’s short, uneventful life.

It should be enough. But after a chance encounter with Shadow Star, Nova City’s mightiest hero (and Nick’s biggest crush), Nick sets out to make himself extraordinary. And he’ll do it with or without Seth’s reluctant help . . .

Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl meets Brandon Sanderson’s Steelheart in TJ Klune’s YA debut: a queer coming-of-age story about a fanboy with ADHD and the heroes he loves.

I’m pretty new to the works of TJ Klune. I have only just discovered him this year when I picked up The House in the Cerulean Sea, so when this one was selected as the choice in my local YA Book Club I just knew I had to join in. While The House in the Cerulean Sea is much better in my opinion, I did end up enjoying The Extraordinaries.

This is a super cute and fun story with superheroes and supervillains, a boy who wants to be just like them, and is essentially an ode to anyone who has ever been involved in a fandom. I really loved the fact that the main character Nick wrote fanfiction. I’ve never personally wrote fanfiction, but I completely identified with the concept of being so in love and obsessed with something that you immerse yourself completely in it. I think any avid reader can really identify with this.

The Extraordinaries was slow to start, but once you hit the half way point, it really picks up and the ending was super fast paced. I really enjoyed it, I struggled a little to start and then I switched from reading the paperback to listening to the audiobook and I really enjoyed it. If you’re an audio lover, the narrator of this one does a fantastic job of bringing these characters to life.

I did find the book pretty predictable. I guessed the major twist a couple of chapters before the big reveal, but it is a cute and fun story. I will definitely be picking up the next book in the series. If you love cute and fun YA with a paranormal twist then this is definitely the read for you!

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