Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn

Heroine Complex (Heroine Complex, #1)

by Sarah Kuhn

Asian American superheroines Evie Tanaka and Aveda Jupiter protect San Francisco from perilous threats in the first book in this snarky and smart urban fantasy series

Being a superheroine is hard. Working for one is even harder.

Evie Tanaka is the put-upon personal assistant to Aveda Jupiter, her childhood best friend and San Francisco’s most beloved superheroine. She’s great at her job—blending into the background, handling her boss’s epic diva tantrums, and getting demon blood out of leather pants.

Unfortunately, she’s not nearly as together when it comes to running her own life, standing up for herself, or raising her tempestuous teenage sister, Bea.

But everything changes when Evie’s forced to pose as her glamorous boss for one night, and her darkest secret comes out: she has powers, too. Now it’s up to her to contend with murderous cupcakes, nosy gossip bloggers, and supernatural karaoke battles—all while juggling unexpected romance and Aveda’s increasingly outrageous demands. And when a larger threat emerges, Evie must finally take charge and become a superheroine in her own right...or see her city fall to a full-on demonic invasion.

Reviewed by Silvara on

2 of 5 stars

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I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This sounded like it was going to be a really funny and cute read! Unfortunately the characters were a little too juvenile for me. Evie kept making it a point to mention that she had learned such-and-such when writing a paper in college. Only, she and Aveda acted like angsty teens for most of the book. So I really couldn't see her as the intended age.

Evie spends the first half of the book allowing Aveda to bully her into doing things she doesn't want to do. She also has bottled her emotions up so tight, that it appears she has no feelings. And she absolutely cannot spend any time at all in the same room with Nate without getting into some kind of argument.

The second half of the book is pretty much a complete 180. Suddenly Evie has All The Feelings Of Ever. And Nate? Insta-lust! Which later turns into insta-love. (There are also a few sex scenes in the book, so don't be surprised.) She does grow a backbone, which I highly approved of. And stops letting Aveda bully her. But it was still filled with a number of cringe-worthy moments.

I did like the second half of the book better than the first half, but since I almost DNF'd the book based on the first half, that isn't saying a lot. The ending with the bad guy was a little cliche, and so was the reveal about Nate. But overall, the second half was still a lot better than the first half of the book.

I did like a few things about the book! I really liked the superhero social media touch. Having a twitter account, following blogs and YouTube comments, making sure Aveda's image was the best it could be. I also loved the fact that Aveda and Evie's favorite movie is an ACTUAL movie and not something made up for the book. It made me super curious about the movie, and I'm going to have to see if I can find a copy to watch.

I also liked how snarky Evie was, once she started feeling things. There were a few funny moments, like when she accidentally melts a sink in a bathroom, and when she goes off on Maisey for touching Nate in the mall.

So if you don't mind characters who act way younger than their actual age, insta-love, and a bunch of angst, you may like this book better than I did.

This review was originally posted on Fantasy of the Silver Dragon

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 13 June, 2016: Finished reading
  • 13 June, 2016: Reviewed