The Supervillain and Me

by Danielle Banas

In Abby Hamilton’s world, superheroes do more than just stop crime and save cats from trees - they also drink milk straight from the carton and hog the television remote. Abby’s older brother moonlights as the famous Red Comet, but without powers of her own, following in his footsteps has never crossed her mind.

That is, until the city’s newest vigilante comes bursting into her life.

After saving Abby from an attempted mugging, Morriston’s fledgling super villain Iron Phantom convinces her that he’s not as evil as everyone says, and that their city is under a vicious new threat. As Abby follows him deeper into their city’s darkest secrets, she comes to learn that heroes can’t always be trusted, and sometimes it’s the good guys who wear black.

• ISBN10: 1250154359
• ISBN13: 9781250154354
• Publish Date: 1 August 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 8 May 2022
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 320
• Language: English

Reviews

This was good. I love superheroes and supervillains so I was pretty excited when I first heard about this concept being produced by SwoonReads. It was every bit as swoonworthy as I expected. I loved all the characters. The banter between them all was perfect. Abby was great and I loved her relationships with Rylan, Connor and Sarah. Her relationship with Rylan developed slowly and they both really opened up to each other, developing a strong friendship before anything else. It was sweet. Sarah was hilarious. I loved her obsession with Red Comet and her forays into fanfiction. Connor was a great brother to Abby. He might not have always been present but he did try to be there for her and support her.

The plot was relatively interesting. The superhero identity and the villain were both fairly obvious although I didn't see the twist. I didn't expect Connor would lose his powers. But it worked out well enough. I liked Rylan and Abby's investigations into the microchips. I would've liked to see more of Abby sneaking around and finding things out on her own - rather than just with Rylan. It was nice they were a team but that part of the plot of where Rylan approaches her to investigate felt weak - since she never really does.

Overall a solid, well written and funny superhero romance. 4.5 stars.

[Sam@WLABB]

I expected something fun and cute, when I read this book, but I also got a story with a lot of heart, and a reminder that we can all be some sort of superhero.

• Pro: Abby was so complicated. She had all these feelings, which were in constant conflict with each other, and Banas did a great job helping her work through some of them. I loved that when the going got tough, Abby dug in and came out with her fists up.

• Pro: This story had that old school superhero feel - think Adam West era Batman. This is not a bad thing in my book, because I always found Batman to be amusing and enjoyable.

• Pro: Sibling relationships are something I tend to enjoy in books, and Abby and her brother had a great relationship. They kind of only had each other, with their father throwing himself into saving the city full-time, and she may not have had super powers, but Abby provided a lot of encouragement, love, and support to her brother.

• Pro: I am going to tell you right now, I did not select this book for the superheroes, I selected it for the fun factor and the romance, and I was very pleased with both. Though I did predict, who the Iron Phantom was, I still enjoyed the build-up to the unmasking. I also really loved the quiet moments Abby and the Iron Phantom spent together, getting to know one another better and exploring their friendship. I was definitely shipping this ship.

• Pro: As with any superhero story worth its salt, the loss of a parent played a role in this story. These characters were carrying around a lot of residual pain and grief, which they worked through during the story. It was the moments surrounding this loss, which packed an emotional punch for me.

• Pro: I was team Iron Phantom from the get-go. The interactions between him and Abby were adorable, and the banter was snappy and made me smile.

• Pro: The story really moved along. Between the romance, the mystery, the rescues, the nefarious plot, and the school play, there was lots to keep my attention, and I throughly enjoyed it all.

Overall: A fun romance filled with a little mystery, action, superhero antics, and swoons. I, for one, and looking forward to more Morriston Superheroes.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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