Review: Super Adjacent by Crystal Cestari

Hey all, Dani here.

I’m finally going back to the zoo today! Yes, both Damian and I are wearing masks, and are trying to keep as socially distanced as we can. The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is currently making you reserve a time to enter the zoo, and they have put a whole bunch of other precautions in place, such as closing some indoor and outdoor spaces, making some paths one-way only, removing seating in some typically high congregation areas, and putting up barriers to keep people from touching common area surfaces such as exhibit glass and more.

And yes, we did decide on also doing a trip to Barnes & Noble today, which was compromised to add in the fact that Damian needs to pick up some shelving and storage equipment from IKEA. So we’re doing all the things today.

Anyway, welcome back to my next review for GLBT Book Month. I realize with me also sharing reviews from my focus on reading books by black authors that I’m not sharing as much from my usual Pride reads…so I’m probably going to continue both sets of reviews into July as well. (And, in case it seems like I only post these sorts of reviews during certain months, I don’t. I read books of all varieties throughout the year. I just like to especially highlight these books during months like June/GLBT Book Month and December/Diverse December.

All right, let’s jump into the review.

Book Details

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 384

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: March 17, 2020

ISBN: 1368023983 (ISBN13: 9781368023986)

Summary

Claire has always wanted to work with superheroes, from collecting Warrior Nation cards as a kid to drafting “What to Say to a Hero” speeches in her diary. Now that she’s landed a coveted internship with the Chicago branch of Warrior Nation, Claire is ready to prove she belongs, super or not. But complicating plans is the newest WarNat hero, Girl Power (aka Joy), who happens to be egotistical and self-important . . . and pretty adorable.

Bridgette, meanwhile, wants out of WarNat. After years of dating the famous Vaporizer (aka Matt), she’s sick of playing second, or third, or five-hundredth fiddle to all the people-in-peril in the city of Chicago. Of course, once Bridgette meets Claire-who’s clearly in need of a mentor and wingman-giving up WarNat becomes slightly more complicated. It becomes a lot more complicated when Joy, Matt, and the rest of the heroes go missing, leaving only Claire and Bridgette to save the day.

In this fresh and funny take on the world of supers, author Crystal Cestari spotlights what it’s like to be the seemingly non-super half of a dynamic duo with banter-filled romance and bold rescues perfect for readers seeking a great escape.

My Thoughts

Rating: 3.5 stars

This sounded like a cute and fun story concept, and I liked the idea that the supers would go missing and it would be up to the non-supers to save the day. I definitely enjoyed having fangirl Claire as one of the main POVs.

Sadly, I have to say that this book was just okay to me.

It’s honestly just disappointing to have to say that. Figuring out who the culprit was ended up being pretty easy and fairly predictable. And the heroes going missing didn’t even happen until like 60-70% of the way through the book, and I was genuinely hoping for a lot more investigation and discovery for Claire and Bridgette.

And honestly Bridgette and Matt/Vaporizer’s relationship was a lot more developed than Claire and Joy/Power Girl’s. Claire and Joy met at the beginning of the book, and they had run into each other a few times and then started making out in random spaces around HQ a few times, and they hadn’t even had the conversation about if they were officially dating or not, and then Joy is missing. It didn’t feel like there was enough substance to their relationship, so I didn’t care as much about it. With Bridgette and Matt, you could feel the weight of their years of dating hanging over the story, even if you didn’t know all the details.

I do like the friendship that forms from Claire and Bridgette meeting and having to work together. That was cool. And I even actually liked Claire’s boss at WarNat, Teddy.

This book read very quickly too, which is always nice. Oh, and should I point out that Claire is almost out of high school, whereas Matt and Bridgette are in their low 20s. This book definitely feels like an older YA that is borderline adult. Still, I’m glad that I read this story. It was definitely a bit lighter to read after finishing The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.

Where to Get a Copy

You can pick up your own copy of this book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-million, Book Depository, or from your local indie bookstore through IndieBound.