To the Fifth Power (Entangled Ever After)

by Shirin Dubbin

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

I just discovered superhero romances earlier this year, so I was eager to read To the Fifth Power. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. Zola, aka the Watcher, is one of the most beloved superheroes around, but she’s in retirement. Three years ago her sidekick was brutally murdered in front of her, and she never recovered. With the help of sexy meta-natural psychologist, Dr. Forte, Zola has some semblance of life back even if she refuses to don her costume and save the day. At least not until three villains with an obsession with her escape from the hospital and come for her.

I really wanted to like To the Fifth Power, but almost everything felt underdeveloped. This novella is a bit too short to accomplish everything that it set out to. There are a lot of great ideas, but ultimately it all fell flat. I had a lot of questions about the world that it’s set in and about the superheroes who inhabit it. A few things happen that left me extremely confused, since they weren’t explained at all. For instance, one character is nearly fatally wounded and the way they get healed seemed random. I wanted to know why they chose that method and why it worked. The battle scenes were also lackluster. I didn’t understand the motives, and I thought that Zola rushed into them despite not wanting to be a superhero anymore.

The romance was also disappointing. I will say that the one sex scene was great, but other than that, I didn’t believe Zola and Fort as a couple. He’s her doctor, or was at one point, but I never fully understood the nature of their current relationship. Was it still professional, but with forbidden attraction? Were they some kind of friends after her treatment? I just didn’t know. They both admit to caring about the other and being attracted to them, but I never felt it. Essentially there’s a lot of telling rather than showing.

To the Fifth Power could have been amazing with a bit more development. As it is, it’s too short and missing a lot of essential elements. The twist at the end did catch me off guard, but I did really like it. But as with everything else, it did need more explanation. It was a very neat idea, but we’re quickly told about it in vague terms and that was that. I definitely think this story could have worked better as a full length novel, but despite my disappointments, I will continue the series. Hopefully the following two books build upon the world set up in this one.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.