The Supervillain and Me (Danielle Banas) - ★☆☆☆☆


The supervillain and me danielle banas in a book review by Soph the oaf at the book review blog glitter never gold

WARNING. RANT AHEAD.

 This was one of the worst novels I've ever read in my life. Filled with numerous tropes and cliches, this book was a compilation of every single cringey thing ever written in the YA genre. The only reason I even read this book in the first place was that several of my friends liked it. And now I have to live with the consequences. My brain feels like a rotten, mushy pool of secondhand embarrassment, and I can't make a sound that isn't a groan.

 First of all, there was literally no diversity. For some reason, everyone (and I do mean every single person) was white, straight, able-bodied, and wealthy. The MC was the freaking Mayor's daughter and lived in a giant five-acre mansion in the middle of the city. I mean, seriously. And the author didn't even address the MC's privileged life, just acted like it was normal and no big deal. I'd get it if the author made Abby the mayor's daughter as a parody or to make a point about her being a spoiled little rich girl, but no. It was a convenient plot device that the author included without any thought to the implications.

 Second of all, Sarah, Abby's apparent best friend, didn't have any personality of her own. She was just a plot device whose entire world revolved around Abby and being obsessed with Red Comet and writing Red Comet fanfic. I kid you not. She appeared so many times throughout the book, but I, as a reader, learned virtually nothing about her. Sarah was just there as a filler to conveniently move forward the plot and to make Abby look like less of a socially awkward rich girl.

 In addition, the romance was cringey and instalove. Rylan being the Iron Phantom (a name that could've been awesome on anyone but an awkward teenage boy) was something I guessed from the start. And can someone actually THINK about the fact that he committed arson and set the entire City Hall on fire just for shits and giggles? He's clearly mentally disturbed, if not unstable. That's just not something mentally healthy teenage boys do, even ones who happen to have superpowers.

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