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Cape High #7
Steampunk Time
"I have brought a super child," Tatiana announces. "I do not know where she comes from, but she is one of us. Until we can return her to her parents, I will be taking care of her."
"Wait, wait, wait," Blackjack says, getting up from where he was lounging on a couch. "You can't just bring in some random super! Kid or not, we need to know what she's after, right?" Yes, he's Blackjack, he looks exactly as he does in my time. Heroes don't age like normal people, they just stay the same for who knows how long. Well, outwardly, at least.
"Are you out to destroy all of civilization, kitten?" Tatia asks me in a bland tone.
"Um, no?" I offer.
"Good enough for me!" she says cheerfully.
"Wait, wait, wait," Blackjack says, getting up from where he was lounging on a couch. "You can't just bring in some random super! Kid or not, we need to know what she's after, right?" Yes, he's Blackjack, he looks exactly as he does in my time. Heroes don't age like normal people, they just stay the same for who knows how long. Well, outwardly, at least.
"Are you out to destroy all of civilization, kitten?" Tatia asks me in a bland tone.
"Um, no?" I offer.
"Good enough for me!" she says cheerfully.
194 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 30, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 22, 2016
Here's the thing about these books: I genuinely like the story Ross is telling. It's adorable, and I want to support her work as an author. But I have never recommended this series to anyone. I don't wax rhapsodic about it with friends, telling them to overlook some of the flaws in the story. This is very definitely a Guilty Pleasure in the sense that I'm slightly embarrassed that I keep reading them. This latest installment isn't helping matters.
We have finally come to Noelle's book in the series. I will say this for Ross: whether she intended to do so or not, Noelle is very, very clearly Zoe's child. I haven't been this annoyed by a main character in the series since Zoe's book. Why is every other sentence out of her mouth OMG SHUT UP AND STOP DOING PERFECTLY LOGICAL THINGS WHILE I STAND HERE AND FREAK OUT? To be fair, I suspect Ross has tweens of her own, or deals with them on a regular basis, and this particular facet of the character might be a little too close to reality. Unfortunately, that means that the portion of the book which is from Noelle's POV are extremely obnoxious and I found myself rushing through them as quickly as possible.
(My working theory is that the obnoxiousness is a trait of Superior women since Sparky, Zoe, and Noelle are all dumb as boxes of hairy rocks. Firefly and Tatiana might be the exceptions.)
The rest of the book presented the opposite problem. The plot is... convoluted. If I understood it correctly, there are six time travelers (possibly five), trying to: change the past, stop the past from being changed, get home, and babysit. All I can say for certain is that there were multiple Nicos, designated as Nicolas, Nico, Nico from 2014, and Technico. Aside from that tangled mess, it's just plain hard to understand what's going on, where the conspiracy is, what's moving the characters, and why you (as the reader) should care.
I do this thing when I write online where I both draft and edit from stream of consciousness, going back mid-sentence because I don't like the tone of a sentence, or wish to change the phrasing. When this happens, inevitably, I forget to delete part of what was there already. I end up with a lot of incoherent sentences and unfunny malapropisms this way. I feel as though maybe this kind of happened when Ross plotted this book: she plotted it out, rethought some of the elements, and didn't completely clean up after herself when she put the pieces together. The plot diagram is a Pollock painting.
tl;dr: Fun book. Unfun protagonist. Fingers crossed that Ross finds a firm, but kind editor who can help her shape future installments into the nuggets of gold they should be so I can recommend them to others.
We have finally come to Noelle's book in the series. I will say this for Ross: whether she intended to do so or not, Noelle is very, very clearly Zoe's child. I haven't been this annoyed by a main character in the series since Zoe's book. Why is every other sentence out of her mouth OMG SHUT UP AND STOP DOING PERFECTLY LOGICAL THINGS WHILE I STAND HERE AND FREAK OUT? To be fair, I suspect Ross has tweens of her own, or deals with them on a regular basis, and this particular facet of the character might be a little too close to reality. Unfortunately, that means that the portion of the book which is from Noelle's POV are extremely obnoxious and I found myself rushing through them as quickly as possible.
(My working theory is that the obnoxiousness is a trait of Superior women since Sparky, Zoe, and Noelle are all dumb as boxes of hairy rocks. Firefly and Tatiana might be the exceptions.)
The rest of the book presented the opposite problem. The plot is... convoluted. If I understood it correctly, there are six time travelers (possibly five), trying to: change the past, stop the past from being changed, get home, and babysit. All I can say for certain is that there were multiple Nicos, designated as Nicolas, Nico, Nico from 2014, and Technico. Aside from that tangled mess, it's just plain hard to understand what's going on, where the conspiracy is, what's moving the characters, and why you (as the reader) should care.
I do this thing when I write online where I both draft and edit from stream of consciousness, going back mid-sentence because I don't like the tone of a sentence, or wish to change the phrasing. When this happens, inevitably, I forget to delete part of what was there already. I end up with a lot of incoherent sentences and unfunny malapropisms this way. I feel as though maybe this kind of happened when Ross plotted this book: she plotted it out, rethought some of the elements, and didn't completely clean up after herself when she put the pieces together. The plot diagram is a Pollock painting.
tl;dr: Fun book. Unfun protagonist. Fingers crossed that Ross finds a firm, but kind editor who can help her shape future installments into the nuggets of gold they should be so I can recommend them to others.
November 3, 2015
Time travelling for Noelle and Jason which gets a bit crazy and confusing at times because she is experiencing action in three time periods. Finding baby Nicholas, young principal Nico and Grandpa Technico all in the same time zone gets a bit crazy, even though he is my favourite super, because it can take a few moments to work out which version is interacting with Noelle. Plus multiple Superiors managed to mess with the directing in my head a few times too.
The story was fun even if my brain got muddled in the process.
March 1, 2026
The story's a bit convoluted in places, but pretty entertaining regardless. Having three different Nicos from three different ages in the same time can make for a bit of confusion. I did like the over-the-top family drama and action sequences. And a huge shout out to the music mentions. I'm unabashedly a huge steampunk fan.
It did feel, however, that the plot wasn't so much about Noelle as what happened around her. Honestly, this one was more Nico's story than hers.
It did feel, however, that the plot wasn't so much about Noelle as what happened around her. Honestly, this one was more Nico's story than hers.
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June 19, 2025A bit all over the place, kinda disappointed
January 2, 2016
I'm still not sure about my view on this book. As always RJ Ross has written an engaging and entertaining book that is safe and suitable for 7 - 14 age group. My hesitation is around a time travel storyline which always gets messy. On the positive side, the new characters she introduced were great, particularly Taurus Senior and Tatiana, the villains were rounded out characters. On the negative side, the main character, Noelle is a bit irritating, and it's seems so unlikely that her parents have kept her so very isolated from their closest friends that she knows nothing about the 'real' world of superheroes. Finishing on a positive note, Nico continues to be awesome.
December 10, 2014
Welcome to the past! Time travel always complicates things and this time too. Still, three generations meet, and their reaction to each other is something to watch out for.
A bit disappointing was the main character. I felt no connection to her, and was always looking forward to the adult action so to speak. I think this novel would've been served better, if it had ignored the kids and concentrated on the huge issues between a certain father / son team.
A bit disappointing was the main character. I felt no connection to her, and was always looking forward to the adult action so to speak. I think this novel would've been served better, if it had ignored the kids and concentrated on the huge issues between a certain father / son team.
December 27, 2020
I deeply enjoyed the side stories with the other characters. While I wasn't invested in the main character, I was pulled along at seeing the adult characters we know as children, and they're relationships with each other. I've reread this book solely for those aspects.
May 24, 2016
Okay, there was some adorable stuff and some brain-bending stuff and some amazing stuff and LOTS AND LOTS of funny stuff.
November 25, 2017
Really want a book based around Sparky now.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews