Please Don't Tell My Parents I Bought Super Powers

Please Don't Tell My Parents #10

by Richard Roberts

Imagine you're a flamboyant teenage girl convinced that super powers are the social edge you need. Imagine you convince a mad scientist to give you those powers. They always need test subjects, right? Imagine those powers come with a big drawback, like they always do.

Congratulations, you're Stella Deetz, the best dressed and most popular fear eating monster in LA.

And you forgot to keep a secret identity. Oops.

502 pages, Paperback

Published June 5, 2025

Reviews

[Sean Duggan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me over a month to read the book because I kept putting it down, which isn't great. But I can't quite put my finger on why it didn't snag me. The protagonist is interesting, and different from most of the prior ones, being borderline obsessed with popularity. Also, unlike prior protagonists, she doesn't really have loving parents (they're not abusive... they're just not very present in her life due to some odd confluence of her older brother Jamie being extremely successful (and the member of the family that treats her best) and her younger sister Jaime needing extra care (given it's indicated that Stella has a degree of bipolar disorder, it seems her younger sister is also neuro-spicy in some manner). The action is a bit more domestic this time. No giant monsters attacking the city. No ancient necromancers. No supervillains trying to force knowledge on the entire city or take over via forced cybernetic enhancement. There is a central villain, but the primary conflict is actually about self-control, and discovering oneself even as your body is rapidly changing amongst a surge in popularity at your school.

Like I said, I'm really not certain why the story didn't pull me in as prior entries have. I definitely like the smaller scale of issues. The cameos are both more subtle introduced, and more important to the plot. We get a little more insight into how the "don't get personal" aspect of the superpower code of LA works. It should all be good, but it didn't resonate with me. I'm hoping that the next one does.

[Mary Wirick · Rating 5 out of 5]

spoilers

At first I found Stella kinda annoying with her constant desire for popularity but the more I saw her home situation and lack of people giving her attention and care there the more I understand her drive

[Russell Isler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another absolute joy.