27 June 2015

Review #257: Powerless (The Hero Agenda #1) by Tera Lynn Childs, Tracy Deebs



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“It's not about who's got powers, morons. It's about who's not afraid. And who's going to do what has to be done.”


----Michael Grant, an American author


Tera Lynn Childs, an award-winning best-seller author and Tracy Deebs, pseudonym of Tracy Wolff, pens their new YA book, Powerless which is the first book in The Hero Agenda series, that is all about superheroes and their superpowers and it is mostly about those who don't belong in this lucky category or rather say someone who doesn't have any powers. This is Kenna who belongs in a world of heroes and villains and despite her ordinary condition, she fights hard for herself to make herself a part of this world, where everything is not so laid out like it is supposed to be.




Synopsis:

Kenna is tired of being "normal". The only thing special about her is that she isn't special at all. Which is frustrating in a world of absolutes. Villains, like the one who killed her father, are bad. Heroes, like her mother and best friend, are good. And Kenna, unlike everyone else around her, is completely ordinary— which she hates.

She’s secretly working on an experiment that will land her a place among the Heroes, but when a Villain saves her life during a break-in at her lab, Kenna discovers there’s a whole lot of gray area when it comes to good and evil and who she can trust.. After all…not all strength comes from superpowers.



The world is full of Heroes and Villains. Kenna is a resident of such world, where both her mom and dad are the Heroes- the good ones. Unfortunately, the Villains- the evil ones, killed her father when she was a kid. Now her mom is the leader of the Heroes and is currently working in her lab for a secret superpower for Heroes to fight against the Villains. Well, Kenna is just like her readers- powerless, or what they prefer to call her as 'ordinary', although, her mom developed a secret serum to keep Kenna immune to all kinds of powers- good and evil, but Kenna is so bored being so ordinary.

One night while Kenna was working in the lab, alone, to invent some powers for herself, the lab got attacked by some Villains, claiming to looking for their relative being held at the Heroes lab, and that is the moment when Kenna realizes that not everyone is defined by their powers and there's lot of secretive grey area inside her community that she needs to find out to believe and learn whom to trust- her people or Draven, the hot and notorious Villain who protects her.

This book falls in the urban fantasy category of YA genre, although there is very little scope of world building through out the story, yet it felt like an engaging read for me. The plot is quite predictable at times and I believe everybody must have read this kind of story at some point in their lives. What I liked the most is the pacing and the narrative style of the authors that is masked as well as layered with some emotions and depth.

The writing is very strong and it immediately pulled me off into the heart of the story with it's momentum of action packed scenes. There is vividity in almost every events which is intricately detailed and that really played the trick to keep me hooked into the story.

The characters are all strongly developed and since it is a fantasy book, the authors did a great job in sketching distinct characters with lots of depth. The main protagonist, Kenna, is a strongest woman in this book who doesn't take any shit from anyone, and although being powerless, it doesn't deter her from fighting from the evils. Although I think Kenna's POV annoyed me most of the time, as her mind only revolved around the fact that she is completely powerless unlike her people.

There is very less romantic angle in the book, especially between Kenna and Draven, as the book mainly focuses on the action part. Female bonding is evident between Kenna and her friend, Rebel, who helps Kenna develop her trust issues. The guys featured in Kenna's group are really cool and smoking hot and their constant bickering kept me engrossed.

Verdict: YA Dystopian lovers 'might' love this book, yeah I said might, because there are more must-reads hanging in the corner and you can blindly skip this one!

Courtesy: Thanks to the publishers for giving me an opportunity to read this book. 
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Author Info:
Tera Lynn Childs is the RITA-award-winning author of the mythology-based Oh.My. Gods. and Goddess Boot Camp, the mermaid tales Forgive My Fins, Fins Are Forever and Just For Fins, and a kick-butt trilogy about monster-hunting descendants of Medusa that includes Sweet Venom, Sweet Shadows, and Sweet Legacy. She has published two e-novellas, Goddess In Time and Pretty In Pearls, and self-published her City Chicks sweet chick lit series. Tera lives nowhere in particular and spends her time writing wherever she can find a comfy chair and a steady stream of caffeinated beverages.
Visit her here

Tracy Deebs is a pseudonym of Romance novelist Tracy Wolff. Tracy Wolff collects books, English degrees and lipsticks and has been known to forget where—and sometimes who—she is when immersed in a great novel. At six she wrote her first short story—something with a rainbow and a prince—and at seven she forayed into the wonderful world of girls lit with her first Judy Blume novel. By ten she’d read everything in the young adult and classics sections of her local bookstore, so in desperation her mom started her on romance novels. And from the first page of the first book, Tracy knew she’d found her life-long love. Now an English professor at her local community college, she writes romances that run the gamut from contemporary to paranormal to erotic suspense.
And for all of those who want the unedited version:
Tracy Wolff lives with four men, teaches writing to local college students and spends as much time as she can manage immersed in worlds of her own creation. Married to the alpha hero of her dreams for twelve years, she is the mother of three young sons who spend most of their time trying to make her as crazy as possible. 

Visit her here


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5 comments:

  1. I definitely had to stop and read this review because I read this one and I am so happy about the collaboration between the two authors. Tera Lynn Childs was always a childhood teen favorite author and I read a bunch of Tracy Deebs in my early years of being 13 lmfao. I absolutely loved this book but I agree that there are so many better YA dystopians out there with more complexity. I feel like this was more of a book that was a quick read and easy to read as well. I got through it in one sitting, which I rarely do now lmfao! Awesome review and I loved this book!

    Alex @ The Book's Buzz

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  2. Thanks a lot dear, glad you too enjoyed the book! :-)

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  3. I love the idea of this one being in a superhero world but the main character who is one of them who doesn't have it though. That's a unique twist! I also think that the truth is there about there being a lot of grey area between the good and bad,

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  4. Thanks a lot Olivia, hope you get to read this one :-)

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