Where to even begin with the itemized receipt of my disappointment?
First I'd like to say do not recommend this to anyone who is a fan of the X-Men, or the idea of Storm as the most iconic Black female superhero and one of the strongest women in the franchise, because that is not at all who she is here.
In making her origin story Tiffany Danelle Jackson had the gall to strip Ororo Monroe of all her agency, characterizing her as an insecure, temperamental, Bella Swan coded, fool. She took the most iconic Black female superhero and turned her into a damsel in distress of her own power.
This version of Ororo Monroe's major characteristics for most of the story are 1) my hair is so big and white and weird I must hide it away so no one sees me as the unlovable freak I am, 2) these mysterious powers are not cool at all, and are only a burden to me, the girl who only ever wanted to be normal, 3) no one could ever love me because I'm so freakishly weird!!
Which results in a truly annoying character I see no reason to like because she cannot bother to like herself. It is the cheapest, most shallow and immature interpretation of this character I could ever imagine, and it almost feels malicious to me for Jackson to take this approach. She takes a strong female character and strips her of the dignity you'd think a supposed goddess would be born with.
We spend the story watching T'Challa and then a random African woman instill self love and confidence into Ororo through practically beating it over her head in this preachy, boring, and uninspired dialogue.
Ororo has no interest in learning her own powers until page 232 of her own 293 page story. It's unacceptable stupidity, written with disdain for the hero genre because where is the journey? The excitement?
I've been aware of Tiffany D. Jackson's shortcomings as a writer ever since my introduction to her. Even as a fan, I know her writing style is simple, her characters and prose leaning to the more juvenile side of Young Adult, but boy was she out of her element here. The fight scenes are terrible. Worse than the ones I wrote in middle school and come from someone who doesn't seem to understand they should be exciting???
The banter and the romance was poorly written, the entire story is weak and meandering. I have so many issues with this book, too many to name, but another important issue is Tiffany D. Jackson's decision to further light wash Storm. She describes her skin as copper while writing the girl turning bright red from T'Challa's touch. A Black woman furthering the ridiculous myth of Black women blushing bright red is unforgivable to me. Like do you know how light you have to be for that??
📣IF YOU ARE THE COLOR OF PENNIES YOU ARE NOT BLUSHING BRIGHT RED.🤦🏾♀️
Tiffany, you are on my list forever and ever after this. I hate you for real. I will never forgive you for taking this opportunity to make Storm a girl who hates herself and I wish you nothing but hangnails and stubbed toes for the rest of your days. I hope a hair grows in your eye and there are always crumbs in your bed. Thank you. 🙏🏾