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Heroine Complex #1
Heroine Complex
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.
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.
378 pages, Paperback
First published July 5, 2016
376 people are currently reading
9204 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Kuhn
68 books669 followersSarah Kuhn is the author of Heroine Complex—the first in a series starring Asian American superheroines—for DAW Books. She also wrote The Ruby Equation for the comics anthology Fresh Romance and the romantic comedy novella One Con Glory, which earned praise from io9 and USA Today and is in development as a feature film. Her articles and essays on such topics as geek girl culture, comic book continuity, and Sailor Moon cosplay have appeared in Uncanny Magazine, Apex Magazine, AngryAsianMan.com, IGN.com, Back Stage, The Hollywood Reporter, StarTrek.com, Creative Screenwriting, and the Hugo-nominated anthology Chicks Dig Comics. In 2011, she was selected as a finalist for the CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) New Writers Award.
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July 10, 2016
2 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2016/07/10/...
I badly wanted to like this book, but its style was just completely wrong for my tastes, a model example of the classic “It’s not you, book–it’s me.” In these cases I always struggle to write my reviews, because I know what I perceive as flaws are in fact really selling points that will be very attractive to others. They say good content will always have an audience though, which is why I’m not too concerned about this book’s chances of finding success with readers everywhere, but I confess it didn’t really work as well for me, in spite of its huge charisma.
First, a little bit about Heroine Complex: The book tells the story of two best friends—one is a flashy superheroine, and the other is her quiet personal assistant. Ever since they were five years old, our protagonist Evelyn Tanaka has always found herself in Annie Chang’s shadow, and that’s become especially true now that Annie has become Aveda Jupiter, savior of San Francisco. It isn’t easy keeping up with a superheroine, or putting up with her epic tantrums whenever things don’t go her way, but Evie always tells herself she doesn’t mind the work. After all, Annie-now-Aveda is her oldest, most loyal friend. She’s been there for Evie through all the bad times, rescuing her whenever she needed the help and emotional support. Evie figures the least she can do to repay Aveda is to give her boss anything she wants, and do whatever she commands.
But then one day, Aveda injures herself while fighting cupcake demons, suffering a sprain which would put her out of commission for at least four to six weeks. Refusing to accept being out of the spotlight for that long, Aveda convinces Evie to act as her double and make public appearances in her stead. True to form, Evie caves spectacularly to her friend’s demands, never mind that she has no experience schmoozing at glitzy events, or fighting portal demons for that matter. In fact, Evie has spent most of her adult life actually trying to hide her own superpower, which she fears would be dangerous if she ever let it out.
What can I say? The whole superheroes meets The Devil Wears Prada premise wrapped up in an urban fantasy package was certainly irresistible to me, and at first I genuinely thought Heroine Complex would be right up my alley. And indeed, I would have loved it, I think, if some of the elements which first attracted me to this book–the humor, the action, the snark, etc.–hadn’t been so exaggerated and over-the-top. Another key problem I had with this book was how cartoonish the setting felt. UF has always been one of my favorite genres because I love the way it reimagines our world with supernatural aspects in it, while still maintaining the realism and believability of the setting. In contrast, Sarah Kuhn’s San Francisco and all the characters populating it are more like comic caricatures, and her writing style also reflects this general vibe.
By the way, I use descriptions like “cartoonish” and “comic” because I believe none of this is by accident. I get the feeling that this is exactly what the author is aiming for, but I really have to be in the right mood for this tongue-in-cheek style, and I guess I just wasn’t.
Not surprisingly then, story and characters are also ultra-predictable. Again, I know all that is part and parcel of this particular narrative style, but it still nettled. Evie, despite her quirkiness and ebullience, comes across too bland and two-dimensional. She and her friends are like walking clichés playing their assigned roles and speaking their hammy lines. The romance also felt a bit tacked on and flat, since whenever Evie and her love interest Nate shared a scene, their relationship only seemed to have two settings: sniping-at-each-other mode, or can’t-keep-our-hands-off-each-other mode. I did think the story was fast-paced and fun though, and the plot had its flashes of brilliance every now and then, but it simply wasn’t enough to keep me energized for nearly 400 pages.
Major kudos for the Asian American superheroine protagonists though, even if I could have done without a couple of the stereotypes, like how Asian parents only care about their kids’ grades and would disavow us if we didn’t get into med school, and my eyes just about bugged out of my head when I read that part where Evie said she was used to not letting herself feel because she’s Asian and knows all about emotional repression. Yes, I realize there’s usually a nugget of truth to stereotypes and I’m aware this is all done in the spirit of good fun, but seeing them propagate even for the sake of humor still makes me a tad uncomfortable especially since I’ve had to face many of these same misconceptions in my life (“You’ll want your daughters to be doctors, right?” Even when said in jest, this one is my own personal bane.)
Overall, I know I’m in the minority with my lukewarm reaction, so if you think you’ll enjoy the story’s style or the type of humor I described, then you should definitely give this book a try. Heroine Complex accomplishes what it sets out to do, and it does all of it very well, even if it did turn out not to be the kind of book for me.
I badly wanted to like this book, but its style was just completely wrong for my tastes, a model example of the classic “It’s not you, book–it’s me.” In these cases I always struggle to write my reviews, because I know what I perceive as flaws are in fact really selling points that will be very attractive to others. They say good content will always have an audience though, which is why I’m not too concerned about this book’s chances of finding success with readers everywhere, but I confess it didn’t really work as well for me, in spite of its huge charisma.
First, a little bit about Heroine Complex: The book tells the story of two best friends—one is a flashy superheroine, and the other is her quiet personal assistant. Ever since they were five years old, our protagonist Evelyn Tanaka has always found herself in Annie Chang’s shadow, and that’s become especially true now that Annie has become Aveda Jupiter, savior of San Francisco. It isn’t easy keeping up with a superheroine, or putting up with her epic tantrums whenever things don’t go her way, but Evie always tells herself she doesn’t mind the work. After all, Annie-now-Aveda is her oldest, most loyal friend. She’s been there for Evie through all the bad times, rescuing her whenever she needed the help and emotional support. Evie figures the least she can do to repay Aveda is to give her boss anything she wants, and do whatever she commands.
But then one day, Aveda injures herself while fighting cupcake demons, suffering a sprain which would put her out of commission for at least four to six weeks. Refusing to accept being out of the spotlight for that long, Aveda convinces Evie to act as her double and make public appearances in her stead. True to form, Evie caves spectacularly to her friend’s demands, never mind that she has no experience schmoozing at glitzy events, or fighting portal demons for that matter. In fact, Evie has spent most of her adult life actually trying to hide her own superpower, which she fears would be dangerous if she ever let it out.
What can I say? The whole superheroes meets The Devil Wears Prada premise wrapped up in an urban fantasy package was certainly irresistible to me, and at first I genuinely thought Heroine Complex would be right up my alley. And indeed, I would have loved it, I think, if some of the elements which first attracted me to this book–the humor, the action, the snark, etc.–hadn’t been so exaggerated and over-the-top. Another key problem I had with this book was how cartoonish the setting felt. UF has always been one of my favorite genres because I love the way it reimagines our world with supernatural aspects in it, while still maintaining the realism and believability of the setting. In contrast, Sarah Kuhn’s San Francisco and all the characters populating it are more like comic caricatures, and her writing style also reflects this general vibe.
By the way, I use descriptions like “cartoonish” and “comic” because I believe none of this is by accident. I get the feeling that this is exactly what the author is aiming for, but I really have to be in the right mood for this tongue-in-cheek style, and I guess I just wasn’t.
Not surprisingly then, story and characters are also ultra-predictable. Again, I know all that is part and parcel of this particular narrative style, but it still nettled. Evie, despite her quirkiness and ebullience, comes across too bland and two-dimensional. She and her friends are like walking clichés playing their assigned roles and speaking their hammy lines. The romance also felt a bit tacked on and flat, since whenever Evie and her love interest Nate shared a scene, their relationship only seemed to have two settings: sniping-at-each-other mode, or can’t-keep-our-hands-off-each-other mode. I did think the story was fast-paced and fun though, and the plot had its flashes of brilliance every now and then, but it simply wasn’t enough to keep me energized for nearly 400 pages.
Major kudos for the Asian American superheroine protagonists though, even if I could have done without a couple of the stereotypes, like how Asian parents only care about their kids’ grades and would disavow us if we didn’t get into med school, and my eyes just about bugged out of my head when I read that part where Evie said she was used to not letting herself feel because she’s Asian and knows all about emotional repression. Yes, I realize there’s usually a nugget of truth to stereotypes and I’m aware this is all done in the spirit of good fun, but seeing them propagate even for the sake of humor still makes me a tad uncomfortable especially since I’ve had to face many of these same misconceptions in my life (“You’ll want your daughters to be doctors, right?” Even when said in jest, this one is my own personal bane.)
Overall, I know I’m in the minority with my lukewarm reaction, so if you think you’ll enjoy the story’s style or the type of humor I described, then you should definitely give this book a try. Heroine Complex accomplishes what it sets out to do, and it does all of it very well, even if it did turn out not to be the kind of book for me.
Read
August 11, 2016I LOVED this book. Asian lady superheroes are my jam, and every page of Sarah Kuhn’s novel delighted me immensely. Evie Tanaka is best friends with and the much-beleaguered personal assistant to superheroine Aveda Jupiter, who destroys demons tearing up San Francisco. Their friendship is a bit uneven, with Evie catering to Aveda’s whims and caprices, even as she deals with her own emerging superpowers. Seeing the way both women deal with those hard moments in both constructive and selfish ways was a welcome surprise, because women don’t often get to be both things and grow. Kuhn’s writing is bouncy and engaging, and Evie is very clearly spun into a captivating character. I also have to give Kuhn props for balancing romance and humour and L drama, and making me wish that Heroine Complex would go on just a little bit longer.
— Angel Cruz
from The Best Books We Read In May 2016: http://bookriot.com/2016/06/01/riot-r...
____________________
I’ve had this book on my to-read list since the moment I laid eyes on that amazing superhero cover. The actual stuff behind the cover did not disappoint. It’s a high-energy superhero adventure from start to finish with compelling (read: funny and snarky) narration courtesy of Evie Tanaka, superhero assistant extraordinaire. If you want some sweet Asian representation mixed in with superpowers, get this book. But don’t be misled by the cover art – this is definitely not YA lit.
— Jessica Yang
from The Best Books We Read In July 2016: http://bookriot.com/2016/08/01/riot-r...
— Angel Cruz
from The Best Books We Read In May 2016: http://bookriot.com/2016/06/01/riot-r...
____________________
I’ve had this book on my to-read list since the moment I laid eyes on that amazing superhero cover. The actual stuff behind the cover did not disappoint. It’s a high-energy superhero adventure from start to finish with compelling (read: funny and snarky) narration courtesy of Evie Tanaka, superhero assistant extraordinaire. If you want some sweet Asian representation mixed in with superpowers, get this book. But don’t be misled by the cover art – this is definitely not YA lit.
— Jessica Yang
from The Best Books We Read In July 2016: http://bookriot.com/2016/08/01/riot-r...
July 31, 2016
I found this one when io9 raved about it, but at 30% through I was not sharing their love for it. The writing style is annoyingly perky, and the characters have ridiculous isn't-that-so-cute quirks (the main character apparently eats only Lucky Charms for every meal). The infodumpy conversations are unnatural (imagine turning to your coworker and loudly saying, "So, fellow co-worker who I have worked alongside for the last 5 years, can you please remind me how we do this task that we do regularly?"). There's a scene where the main character is eavesdropping on villain-y types monologuing about their motivations and evil plans, and it was so stilted and awkward.
At the 60% mark I found myself not believing in Aveda and Evie's supposed friendship, at ALL. There are lots of anecdotes that Evie shares about how Aveda was a great friend in the past, but all of their interactions in the present time make Aveda seem like such an unpleasant, selfish asshole. Their friends stage an intervention to discuss the destructive nature of Aveda and Evie's bickering, and only Evie apologizes, while Aveda stands by silently, and no one seemed to think this was bitchy.
The plot had a number of points that didn't make sense. For example, they fight demons for a living, but for some reason when Evie sees a demon when she's by herself, everyone chalks it up to a hallucination without any good reason given for this assumption.
The characters are either bland or sloppy - Lucy doesn't seem to have a personality except for calling everyone "Love" or "Darling" every other sentence, and Evie's little sister goes through about three different personalities as the plot requires it.
Urban fantasy can be done very well (ie - Kelley Armstrong's Bitten and Stolen, Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series), or it can be pretty painful (the rest of Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series, Mead's Bloodlines series). Heroine Complex unfortunately falls into the latter category. I had really expected to enjoy it, but ultimately found the writing entirely unconvincing.
At the 60% mark I found myself not believing in Aveda and Evie's supposed friendship, at ALL. There are lots of anecdotes that Evie shares about how Aveda was a great friend in the past, but all of their interactions in the present time make Aveda seem like such an unpleasant, selfish asshole. Their friends stage an intervention to discuss the destructive nature of Aveda and Evie's bickering, and only Evie apologizes, while Aveda stands by silently, and no one seemed to think this was bitchy.
The plot had a number of points that didn't make sense. For example, they fight demons for a living, but for some reason when Evie sees a demon when she's by herself, everyone chalks it up to a hallucination without any good reason given for this assumption.
The characters are either bland or sloppy - Lucy doesn't seem to have a personality except for calling everyone "Love" or "Darling" every other sentence, and Evie's little sister goes through about three different personalities as the plot requires it.
Urban fantasy can be done very well (ie - Kelley Armstrong's Bitten and Stolen, Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series), or it can be pretty painful (the rest of Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series, Mead's Bloodlines series). Heroine Complex unfortunately falls into the latter category. I had really expected to enjoy it, but ultimately found the writing entirely unconvincing.
February 20, 2018
I got this to review at some point, but I also bought a copy… a fact which I now regret. Okay, there’s a lot of cool things about it: female Asian protagonists who kick ass in different ways, a casually queer character, bitey flying cupcakes, the main character talks frankly about anxiety… And for quite a while I was enjoying it a lot.
It’s just, I don’t like reading books where people like me are called dead inside, even in jest. I’m sure the main character isn’t intended to be read as asexual — it’s mostly that she’s forced herself not to feel in order to control her powers (let it go, let it go, can’t hold it back anymore…) — but the lack of sexual attraction to people she describes is my every day and whole life. And I’m okay with that; it doesn’t bother me or my partner, and I don’t think I’m broken because of it (anymore). It’s just the way I’m made.
It’s not my “Dead-Inside-O-Tron”.
Yes, that’s what Evie calls her lack of sexual attraction — her “Dead-Inside-O-Tron”. Neatly calls up two stereotypes about people who aren’t interested in sex: that we’re robots, and that we’re dead inside. And before you protest that nobody says that, I saw it twice on my twitter the day I was reading this book.
I kept going for a while with the book, but when I put it down to go out and came back, I found that I was just tired of it. Tired of the romance scenes punctuated by Evie wondering why her “Dead-Inside-O-Tron” had stopped working. I can get a person feeling that way and calling it that; I can understand that it’s not targeted to hurt people like me by reiterating the whole “you’re dead inside” meme. It doesn’t mean I can keep enjoying the book.
Reader, I put it down. I have plenty of books to read that don’t remind me constantly that people think I’m a dead-inside robot.
The flying bitey cupcakes are still a cool image, though.
Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.
It’s just, I don’t like reading books where people like me are called dead inside, even in jest. I’m sure the main character isn’t intended to be read as asexual — it’s mostly that she’s forced herself not to feel in order to control her powers (let it go, let it go, can’t hold it back anymore…) — but the lack of sexual attraction to people she describes is my every day and whole life. And I’m okay with that; it doesn’t bother me or my partner, and I don’t think I’m broken because of it (anymore). It’s just the way I’m made.
It’s not my “Dead-Inside-O-Tron”.
Yes, that’s what Evie calls her lack of sexual attraction — her “Dead-Inside-O-Tron”. Neatly calls up two stereotypes about people who aren’t interested in sex: that we’re robots, and that we’re dead inside. And before you protest that nobody says that, I saw it twice on my twitter the day I was reading this book.
I kept going for a while with the book, but when I put it down to go out and came back, I found that I was just tired of it. Tired of the romance scenes punctuated by Evie wondering why her “Dead-Inside-O-Tron” had stopped working. I can get a person feeling that way and calling it that; I can understand that it’s not targeted to hurt people like me by reiterating the whole “you’re dead inside” meme. It doesn’t mean I can keep enjoying the book.
Reader, I put it down. I have plenty of books to read that don’t remind me constantly that people think I’m a dead-inside robot.
The flying bitey cupcakes are still a cool image, though.
Reviewed for The Bibliophibian.
July 3, 2025
2025 review:
Read this 8 years ago and this re-read was just as joyful. Super fun and silly with a little bit of everything: Asian girls kicking ass (specifically demon ass), a lovely dose of girl friendships (girls empowering girls ❤️), overcoming self doubt and coming into your own strength, and a cute romance.
2017 review:
I wish I had this book when I was a teen. This book is bloody fantastic.
- ASIAN!!! SUPERHEROINES!!!
- I loved how fun this book was. Nothing wholly serious, though there are some very serious moments, but it was just so entertaining. I haven't had so much fun reading in awhile.
- In between solving demon mysteries and kicking demon butt, it's also a great book about friendship, love, finding yourself, and courage.
- The humour in this book is so refreshing and wonderful. There were some moments where I genuinely laughed - and it was mostly because of Aveda's diva complex!
- I adored Nate and really related to him. GIVE ME FACTS AND SCIENCE AND SPREADSHEETS. I am here for Nate's dorky scientific mode.
Full review to come.
Read this 8 years ago and this re-read was just as joyful. Super fun and silly with a little bit of everything: Asian girls kicking ass (specifically demon ass), a lovely dose of girl friendships (girls empowering girls ❤️), overcoming self doubt and coming into your own strength, and a cute romance.
2017 review:
I wish I had this book when I was a teen. This book is bloody fantastic.
- ASIAN!!! SUPERHEROINES!!!
- I loved how fun this book was. Nothing wholly serious, though there are some very serious moments, but it was just so entertaining. I haven't had so much fun reading in awhile.
- In between solving demon mysteries and kicking demon butt, it's also a great book about friendship, love, finding yourself, and courage.
- The humour in this book is so refreshing and wonderful. There were some moments where I genuinely laughed - and it was mostly because of Aveda's diva complex!
- I adored Nate and really related to him. GIVE ME FACTS AND SCIENCE AND SPREADSHEETS. I am here for Nate's dorky scientific mode.
Full review to come.
May 3, 2019
This book is so much fun. It's a really neat take on the superhero/sidekick relationship -- first of all, there's a whole Devil Wears Prada thing where the sidekick is sort of the bullied personal assistant to a Type A personality hero who wants everything to be Perfect. But then you find out they were actually childhood friends and they have a much more complicated relationship. Add the fact that the superhero gets injured and the sidekick has to take her place for a while, and you've got a crazy entertaining ride.
April 22, 2017
I just realized I’ve never rated Heroine Complex upon reading it last year. I’m completely blown away by this book. In our age where superhero is the new pop-culture, it’s quite difficult to find a series featuring women of color as the center of heroic resistance. There’s a few representations for POC in comics and other media content but that’s only a scrap if we’re going to compare it on how white people dominate every single genre. This is why Heroine Complex is equally refreshing. It frames a different kind of norm in the superhero universe while simultaneously providing an entertaining, swoony story.
The book follows Evie Tanaka, the best friend and assistant of San Francisco’s most reveled superheroine Aveda Jupiter. Their usual dynamic is about to change when Evie must pose as her best friend for a night. All hell breaks loose when she summoned a fire just using her hands.
I love a story that has a fun and lively tone. Only a few authors could manage to deliver that. Heroine Complex certainly fit that bill. The history, build-up of the plot is relatively easy to get into. I’d highly recommend it to comic readers or to anyone who loves a superhero.
Though, what really amaze me is the characterization of the Aveda Jupiter and Evie. The dynamics between characters are one of my favorite kinks while reading, it’s not a surprise I will focus on that element! Props to Kuhn because this book focuses on a heroine who’s usually the sidekick. Evie doesn’t have a flair for dramatics, she’s level-headed, passionate, and reliable. She’s been the assistant of Aveda since her best friend donned her costume. Unfortunately, their friendship isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Her boss is demanding, manipulative, and so self-consumed. There’s a power imbalance between them, and Aveda just knows what the right words to say to Evie to make her do something. She sounds so awful, that’s because she is. The narrative didn’t excuse how she’s been unappreciative. Instead, there’s an emphasis on repairing the friendship between them and there’s self-love and healing.
My frigid heart couldn’t help but to be swayed with Aveda’s arc. Everyone seems to love her, but nobody really knows the true her. She’s hardworking, she has visions for herself. She’s not naturally born with talents (whatever that means,) she has to work hard for it. The tragedy, someone can do it better than her. On the outside, she seems to have everything, she’s untouchable; but truly she’s just another girl who’s are still stuck by her insecurities and inadequacies. I can’t wait to see her progress in Heroine Worship.
I promise, I'll also talk about the heroine in my full review. This is a mess. You can expect hate to love otp and beautiful characters.
The book follows Evie Tanaka, the best friend and assistant of San Francisco’s most reveled superheroine Aveda Jupiter. Their usual dynamic is about to change when Evie must pose as her best friend for a night. All hell breaks loose when she summoned a fire just using her hands.
I love a story that has a fun and lively tone. Only a few authors could manage to deliver that. Heroine Complex certainly fit that bill. The history, build-up of the plot is relatively easy to get into. I’d highly recommend it to comic readers or to anyone who loves a superhero.
Though, what really amaze me is the characterization of the Aveda Jupiter and Evie. The dynamics between characters are one of my favorite kinks while reading, it’s not a surprise I will focus on that element! Props to Kuhn because this book focuses on a heroine who’s usually the sidekick. Evie doesn’t have a flair for dramatics, she’s level-headed, passionate, and reliable. She’s been the assistant of Aveda since her best friend donned her costume. Unfortunately, their friendship isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Her boss is demanding, manipulative, and so self-consumed. There’s a power imbalance between them, and Aveda just knows what the right words to say to Evie to make her do something. She sounds so awful, that’s because she is. The narrative didn’t excuse how she’s been unappreciative. Instead, there’s an emphasis on repairing the friendship between them and there’s self-love and healing.
My frigid heart couldn’t help but to be swayed with Aveda’s arc. Everyone seems to love her, but nobody really knows the true her. She’s hardworking, she has visions for herself. She’s not naturally born with talents (whatever that means,) she has to work hard for it. The tragedy, someone can do it better than her. On the outside, she seems to have everything, she’s untouchable; but truly she’s just another girl who’s are still stuck by her insecurities and inadequacies. I can’t wait to see her progress in Heroine Worship.
I promise, I'll also talk about the heroine in my full review. This is a mess. You can expect hate to love otp and beautiful characters.
August 22, 2017
This story had some charm. And a bit of humor. And an interesting background. If it hadn't stumbled into some of my more frustrating pet peeves, it might have reached awesome. As it is, it's good but not great.
The best of the setup is Evie and Aveda and their friendship that has extended from childhood. The story starts with that relationship having deteriorated under the pressures of the demon invasion of San Francisco but even so, there's a foundation there that Kuhn does an outstanding job of expressing. The re-exploration of that relationship really stands out as a highlight of the book and adding the demon-fighting team dynamic enhanced that even more with a strong cast of secondary characters.
Unfortunately, there are also a lot of things that felt stuck in default setting or where the plot thins to near transparency. Biggest of those, for me, was Evie's complete ambition being bound up in "being normal"—like that's something great to aspire to. You know, all those parents of exceptional kids warning them before leaving the house "now mind, dear, that you be as normal as you can." Even when someone has handicaps or afflictions that make normal an aspiration know better than to make mere normal their goal because everybody has aspects of themselves that can shine. Plus, "being normal" is the wimpiest negative motivation* I can think of and that's just lamer than lame.
And unfortunately, Kuhn also stuck one of my very least favorite tropes into the romance. It happens after the relationship is established pretty strongly, too, which served to maximize my pain (and make this a spoiler, sadly). The whole .
Add some really over-the-top scene chewing by multiple villains and some situations that are obviously being mined for situational (read slapstick) humor and there was enough cheese to offset the strengths of the core relationships. Which is sad because I really wanted to like this much more than I ended up doing.
A note about Steamy: There are enough explicit sex scenes to put this in the middle of my steam tolerance. I lost exact count, but three or four of moderate length. They didn't really stand out, or anything, but I can't decide if that's a plus or minus...
* Negative Motivations: I kind of hate that the term "negative motivation" isn't widespread, yet. Since it isn't, I'm going to save off this little jag to append to my reviews that feature the term. Jennifer Crusie blogged about it a bit back and it changed how I understand story. The problem with the term is that if you've never heard it before, you'd assume it meant motivations that are harmful or immoral. Not so. What it refers to is motivations not to do something. The thing is that many of us are motivated to not do things for a lot of different, perfectly valid and reasonable, reasons. The problem is that in a story motivations to not do things are a huge drag on the plot—particularly considering the fact that most negative motivations are overcome by the character simply deciding they don't care any more (or, rather, that they do care and are now motivated to do the thing). So not only do you have a counter to action but you also have a situation where to overcome it, all a character has to do is change their mind. Which means eventually, the reader is rooting for the character to get over him/herself already and do the thing we want them to do. Conflict drives story. Conflict between a reader and a main character drives readers away from story.
The best of the setup is Evie and Aveda and their friendship that has extended from childhood. The story starts with that relationship having deteriorated under the pressures of the demon invasion of San Francisco but even so, there's a foundation there that Kuhn does an outstanding job of expressing. The re-exploration of that relationship really stands out as a highlight of the book and adding the demon-fighting team dynamic enhanced that even more with a strong cast of secondary characters.
Unfortunately, there are also a lot of things that felt stuck in default setting or where the plot thins to near transparency. Biggest of those, for me, was Evie's complete ambition being bound up in "being normal"—like that's something great to aspire to. You know, all those parents of exceptional kids warning them before leaving the house "now mind, dear, that you be as normal as you can." Even when someone has handicaps or afflictions that make normal an aspiration know better than to make mere normal their goal because everybody has aspects of themselves that can shine. Plus, "being normal" is the wimpiest negative motivation* I can think of and that's just lamer than lame.
And unfortunately, Kuhn also stuck one of my very least favorite tropes into the romance. It happens after the relationship is established pretty strongly, too, which served to maximize my pain (and make this a spoiler, sadly). The whole .
Add some really over-the-top scene chewing by multiple villains and some situations that are obviously being mined for situational (read slapstick) humor and there was enough cheese to offset the strengths of the core relationships. Which is sad because I really wanted to like this much more than I ended up doing.
A note about Steamy: There are enough explicit sex scenes to put this in the middle of my steam tolerance. I lost exact count, but three or four of moderate length. They didn't really stand out, or anything, but I can't decide if that's a plus or minus...
* Negative Motivations: I kind of hate that the term "negative motivation" isn't widespread, yet. Since it isn't, I'm going to save off this little jag to append to my reviews that feature the term. Jennifer Crusie blogged about it a bit back and it changed how I understand story. The problem with the term is that if you've never heard it before, you'd assume it meant motivations that are harmful or immoral. Not so. What it refers to is motivations not to do something. The thing is that many of us are motivated to not do things for a lot of different, perfectly valid and reasonable, reasons. The problem is that in a story motivations to not do things are a huge drag on the plot—particularly considering the fact that most negative motivations are overcome by the character simply deciding they don't care any more (or, rather, that they do care and are now motivated to do the thing). So not only do you have a counter to action but you also have a situation where to overcome it, all a character has to do is change their mind. Which means eventually, the reader is rooting for the character to get over him/herself already and do the thing we want them to do. Conflict drives story. Conflict between a reader and a main character drives readers away from story.
June 28, 2016
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
WOW, so this book was a really awesome surprise..
Aveda Jupiter is San Francisco's most loved super heroine. Swooping in to vanquish all sorts of demonic baddies. Alas, she doesn't prove indestructible and ends up being hurt and needing to take some time off. In steps her much put-upon PA and best friend Evie (awesome name choice)
What ensues is a fast-paced, humorous and absoluting entertaining ride. Demon cupcakes with fangs, animated statues, THING like hands that attack, and karaoke offs, are just a few of the things Aveda, Evie and a plethora of amazingly written side characters have to face off against. It even had a nice little dose of sex and romance.
I LOVED this one. It was just plain FUN
WOW, so this book was a really awesome surprise..
Aveda Jupiter is San Francisco's most loved super heroine. Swooping in to vanquish all sorts of demonic baddies. Alas, she doesn't prove indestructible and ends up being hurt and needing to take some time off. In steps her much put-upon PA and best friend Evie (awesome name choice)
What ensues is a fast-paced, humorous and absoluting entertaining ride. Demon cupcakes with fangs, animated statues, THING like hands that attack, and karaoke offs, are just a few of the things Aveda, Evie and a plethora of amazingly written side characters have to face off against. It even had a nice little dose of sex and romance.
I LOVED this one. It was just plain FUN
June 15, 2021
This book successfully goes for a cartoon type tone, which makes sense for the superhero inspiration, but in the context of a romance, it didn't fully connect with me. Still, I think this is a fun premise and I could see people being invested enough to continue in the series
July 14, 2016
Urban fantasy done RIGHT! None of that typically whitewashed crap that thinks a multicultural city is made up of nothing but straight white people (you know what I'm talking about). Better still, two feisty Asian American women as superheroes and lots of strong female friendships.
The romance I could do without, because I'm actually one of those "crazy" female readers who believes a story featuring women having awesome adventures doesn't always need to fall back on making sure at least one of them falls in love with a man. Thankfully it didn't become the focus, though the hints were there that the hero was a lot more than he seemed.
I loved the San Francisco setting and it made me feel all the more saddened that the real life SF of today is nothing like this. In fact, I miss my City By the Bay of the 80's and 90's.
The romance I could do without, because I'm actually one of those "crazy" female readers who believes a story featuring women having awesome adventures doesn't always need to fall back on making sure at least one of them falls in love with a man. Thankfully it didn't become the focus, though the hints were there that the hero was a lot more than he seemed.
I loved the San Francisco setting and it made me feel all the more saddened that the real life SF of today is nothing like this. In fact, I miss my City By the Bay of the 80's and 90's.
March 9, 2017
On the surface, this book has everything going for it: Asian American main characters, super heroines (yay!), a diverse supporting cast, and a snappy plot. It should have been a fun, light fantasy read, but instead I plodded through it. Even telling myself, "Pretend it's Buffy the Vampire Slayer, only in book form!" didn't help. Because the truth is, Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a lot of substance behind the fighting, vampires, and quirky dialogue. This book, not so much.
I knew a few details about each character (Evie, for example, has a younger sister she's taking care of, loves Lucky Charms, was inspired by a Michelle Yeoh martial arts film). But it never went beyond the surface, and I think that's what made this a struggle. If I had more of a connection with the characters, I would have been more invested in their story.
It does get a thumbs up for the romance aspect, because I did feel Nate was 100% perfect for Evie, so there is that.
I knew a few details about each character (Evie, for example, has a younger sister she's taking care of, loves Lucky Charms, was inspired by a Michelle Yeoh martial arts film). But it never went beyond the surface, and I think that's what made this a struggle. If I had more of a connection with the characters, I would have been more invested in their story.
It does get a thumbs up for the romance aspect, because I did feel Nate was 100% perfect for Evie, so there is that.
Read
April 17, 2016Copy received courtesy of NetGalley
If you, like me, crack up when a couple of nerds tumble into bed for some hot sex— preceded by one placing a fire extinguisher within reach—grab this book!
Evie Tanaka is our first person narrator, assistant to the super-heroine Aveda Jupiter, protector of San Francisco, which suffered the opening of a demon portal eight years previous. The only upside was that a number of people gained mild powers, including Aveda; her true skill is speed and martial arts ability honed by determined and constant work. She hides the fact that her demon portal power is abysmally useless.
Aveda is dedicated to protecting San Francisco against the occasional portals that still appear and spew demons, which means working on her social media, appearance, and publicity as well as constant workouts. Evie is the unthanked assistant who takes care of the unglamorous side of Aveda’s life as Aveda does the demon-fighting and garners all the kudos. The rest of Aveda’s team are Lucy, her martial arts instructor, and Nate, her physician and science geek, who lives in the basement working on his lab experiments.
Nate is all about the science, which irritates Evie to no end. The two of them snipe constantly. Meanwhile Scott, who—like Evie and Aveda—go all the way back to grammar school is reluctantly sort of part of the team. He can’t stand Aveda in her new persona, but his healing spells are necessary, and he likes Evie, so he cooperates.
Finally there is Bea, Evie’s sixteen-year-old sister, who Evie is trying with diminishing success to raise, but Bea is rebelling more each day.
All these exasperations test Evie to the max because she is determined to keep her emotions locked down behind her Dead-Inside-o-Tron. If not . . . she refuses to think of if not.
But we all know what happens when pressure cookers blow.
This is a fast-paced, imaginative, wise-cracking, fun novel about demon cupcakes, zombie statues, other-dimensional portals, Karaoke bars, blog feuds, martial arts movies, various kinds of geekdom—and female friendship, diversity, romance, and family. I hope this will be the first of many.
May 15, 2017
I wanted to like this. And though I read the entire book, I found it tough going:
-I loved the concept of two Asian American superheroes, who have known each other all their lives and are friends. One's Chinese, the other half Japanese. So 5 points for that.
-The main characters, Evie and Annie/Aveda, are in their mid-20s, but I found they seemed much younger, like 16-17 years old. 2 points.
-The general tone of the book was light and fast and I imagined everything in bright colours, much like a comic book. But this also got kind of tiring as the book progressed. 2 points.
-Characterization was weak. No character had depth. Though the central relationship was based on a longstanding bond of being outsiders in kindergarten thanks to their races and foods, and personalities (all of which I could relate to) I didn't find either young woman was particularly interesting. And neither were any of the characters surrounding them. 1.5 points.
-I figured out who the baddie was really quickly, and thought the baddie's plot and methods to be really dumb. 1 point.
-The demons infiltrating our dimension weren't particularly interesting. 1 point.
-Too much teenage angst and melodrama between the characters. 0.5 point.
-The sex was handled well, and was respectful and positive, though the way the relationship was built up felt boring and conventional and held no surprises. 2.5 points
-I loved the cover art! 4 points.
Total: 2 points
-I loved the concept of two Asian American superheroes, who have known each other all their lives and are friends. One's Chinese, the other half Japanese. So 5 points for that.
-The main characters, Evie and Annie/Aveda, are in their mid-20s, but I found they seemed much younger, like 16-17 years old. 2 points.
-The general tone of the book was light and fast and I imagined everything in bright colours, much like a comic book. But this also got kind of tiring as the book progressed. 2 points.
-Characterization was weak. No character had depth. Though the central relationship was based on a longstanding bond of being outsiders in kindergarten thanks to their races and foods, and personalities (all of which I could relate to) I didn't find either young woman was particularly interesting. And neither were any of the characters surrounding them. 1.5 points.
-I figured out who the baddie was really quickly, and thought the baddie's plot and methods to be really dumb. 1 point.
-The demons infiltrating our dimension weren't particularly interesting. 1 point.
-Too much teenage angst and melodrama between the characters. 0.5 point.
-The sex was handled well, and was respectful and positive, though the way the relationship was built up felt boring and conventional and held no surprises. 2.5 points
-I loved the cover art! 4 points.
Total: 2 points
January 18, 2019
I was amped for this book from the first I heard about it. Alas, that excitement didn’t long survive contact with the actual pages. Heroine Complex has a lot of interesting ideas, but I just didn’t enjoy Sarah Kuhn’s plotting, characterization, or writing style. In other words, this book didn’t just miss the mark; it didn’t even get on the board.
Content warning in this book, and discussion in my review, for acemisia.
Evie Tanaka is the personal assistant to Aveda Jupiter, San Francisco’s exclusive demon ass-kicker and superhero. Evie and Aveda have been friends since middle school (not that anyone is supposed to know that version of the story). Ever since a failed demonic invasion eight years ago, some San Franciscans have had extremely minor supernatural abilities. With smaller portals opening up periodically and expelling less impressive demons into our world, Aveda has honed herself into a fairly impressive martial machine—with the diva ego to match. Only Evie is patient enough to absorb the Aveda Jupiter Temper Tantrums. But when circumstances force Evie to step up and pose as Aveda, just as a new demonic threat seems to be emerging, Evie finds herself questioning pretty much everything in her life.
Heroine Complex borrows a lot of the cartoon tropes from the comic form that birthed its superhero genre. This is a world that doesn’t make much sense. And I’m not even talking about the cupcake-shaped demons, whatever. San Francisco has a demon-fighting superhero, yet the only media that seems to cover her is a minor blogger?? Maisie is everywhere Aveda Jupiter goes, and it seems like other media occasionally turn up, but Maisie’s channel is the only one we’re tuned to. (And what’s with those passive-aggressive inserts from Shasta, with faux-banter from Maisie, at the end of the articles we’re shown? Blah.) The City of San Francisco is apparently happy that a single vigilante deals with the demons (who, admittedly, don’t seem all that threatening on a grand scale but will fuck your shit up if you’re personally around a demon portal). There are a few mentions of insurance, and some excerpts from material by a Demon Tours company. By and large, though, Kuhn does little to explore the longer-term ramifications of a demon portal changing the nature of our existence. San Francisco is apparently just so unremarkable that a demon portal opening in it isn’t a big deal around the rest of the world.
The cartoony nature of the book continues with its characters. The secret when it comes to quirkiness is that only one or two characters can be “quirky.” Yet pretty much every character in Heroine Complex is quirky in some way. In an attempt to make her characters diverse and interesting, Kuhn instead imbues them with very generic, sometimes even inconsistent traits. Aveda is the high-strung powerhouse. Lucy is the badass fighter who never fails to remind us she’s a lesbian and constantly inquires about Evie’s sex life. Nate is the overly analytical man/hunk/love interest. Bea is the smart-talking teenager (“totes” and “frakballs” are about the extent of her teenager vocabulary though) who begins the book seeking alcohol and ends up being some kind of autodidactic social media genius. Evie eats only Lucky Charms (not kidding).
And then the villains, Shasta and Maisie, are an inept duo whose comedy makes me cringe. I mentioned the awkward interplay at the end of Maisie’s blog posts already. Shasta is an unremarkable, over-the-top, classically incompetent villain. It seems (and I’m always about giving the benefit of the doubt) that Kuhn is trying to lean into and lampshade these tropes. But … there just doesn’t feel like there’s any payoff there, because this isn’t a spoof.
I want to be clear: I think Kuhn does try to give her characters depth, particularly when it comes to Nate’s and Aveda/Evie’s backstories. I just don’t think these attempts work as well as they should.
Here’s a little praise, though, for Evie’s character. I think it’s probably tempting, especially if you’re not enjoying the book like I wasn’t, to label Evie’s dysfunctional relationship with Aveda as unrealistic. Who would stick around and let themselves be pushed around like Aveda does with Evie? Actually, this felt like the most real, most poignant part of the book for me. Especially when Kuhn caps it off with a confessional heart-to-heart where Aveda reveals her most vulnerable thoughts regarding Evie. That is the moment when they are both the most human, most real characters in this book. I wish I had seen more of that, or if it is actually there all the way through, that it weren’t buried under so many comic book tropes and clunky exposition.
So, yeah, Evie’s character growth I can get on board with, but there’s one red flag I want to raise: the way Kuhn describes Evie’s sexual behaviour. Evie is big about repressing her emotions to the point that she avoids sexual relationships. Early in the book she refers to her “Dead-Inside-o-Tron” keeping her sex drive in check, and how this appears to be malfunctioning in the case of Nate. Let’s set aside the incredible predictability of her and Nate’s romance for the moment. Let’s not dwell on how annoyingly frequently this book talks about Evie having sex (I’m not repulsed by sex scenes or discussions of sex by any means in my book, but these characters just don’t shut up about it). But comparisons of not experiencing sexual attraction to being “dead inside” are not comedic; they are offensive to asexual people. At best this is erasure; really, though, it’s saying that not experiencing sexual attraction means you’re “broken” or “abnormal.” To be clear: I’m not upset that Evie and Nate are in lust with each other and get it on every second chapter or whatever. That’s all to the good. But the idea that Evie being lustful over Nate and engaging in a sexual relationship with her somehow fixes her? That I can’t get behind. There is nothing wrong with people who don’t experience sexual attraction.
You might be wondering by now why I didn’t stop reading early on. That’s a legitimate question that I asked of myself at the time. Truthfully, I wanted to know how the story ended, and part of me still hoped for a little redemption from the writing. I don’t regret finishing the book, yet I don’t feel it redeemed itself either. The plot sputters and fizzles over a false climax then limps on to an unsatisfying, unspectacular actual climax. Kuhn haphazardly raises and then handwaves obstacles as the plot requires: first Bea not being in school is an issue, then when it doesn’t need to be an issue, suddenly Bea has homeschooled herself out of the predicament. How convenient. There’s a lack of any real tension here, despite the high stakes (their very lives) the nature of the conflict demands.
Heroine Complex is messy. It is wrapped in the fun, flashy exterior of cartoonish tropes that disguise this mess in some ways—cartoon logic is supposed to be messy. The more I mull it over, though, the more I consider the writing and plot and the characters, and the less I like this book. What began as a mediocre experience inexorably declined into dull, then dissatisfying, and ended somewhere in disgruntlement. Once again, I tend to love the idea of a superhero novel more than I like the actual novels themselves.
Content warning in this book, and discussion in my review, for acemisia.
Evie Tanaka is the personal assistant to Aveda Jupiter, San Francisco’s exclusive demon ass-kicker and superhero. Evie and Aveda have been friends since middle school (not that anyone is supposed to know that version of the story). Ever since a failed demonic invasion eight years ago, some San Franciscans have had extremely minor supernatural abilities. With smaller portals opening up periodically and expelling less impressive demons into our world, Aveda has honed herself into a fairly impressive martial machine—with the diva ego to match. Only Evie is patient enough to absorb the Aveda Jupiter Temper Tantrums. But when circumstances force Evie to step up and pose as Aveda, just as a new demonic threat seems to be emerging, Evie finds herself questioning pretty much everything in her life.
Heroine Complex borrows a lot of the cartoon tropes from the comic form that birthed its superhero genre. This is a world that doesn’t make much sense. And I’m not even talking about the cupcake-shaped demons, whatever. San Francisco has a demon-fighting superhero, yet the only media that seems to cover her is a minor blogger?? Maisie is everywhere Aveda Jupiter goes, and it seems like other media occasionally turn up, but Maisie’s channel is the only one we’re tuned to. (And what’s with those passive-aggressive inserts from Shasta, with faux-banter from Maisie, at the end of the articles we’re shown? Blah.) The City of San Francisco is apparently happy that a single vigilante deals with the demons (who, admittedly, don’t seem all that threatening on a grand scale but will fuck your shit up if you’re personally around a demon portal). There are a few mentions of insurance, and some excerpts from material by a Demon Tours company. By and large, though, Kuhn does little to explore the longer-term ramifications of a demon portal changing the nature of our existence. San Francisco is apparently just so unremarkable that a demon portal opening in it isn’t a big deal around the rest of the world.
The cartoony nature of the book continues with its characters. The secret when it comes to quirkiness is that only one or two characters can be “quirky.” Yet pretty much every character in Heroine Complex is quirky in some way. In an attempt to make her characters diverse and interesting, Kuhn instead imbues them with very generic, sometimes even inconsistent traits. Aveda is the high-strung powerhouse. Lucy is the badass fighter who never fails to remind us she’s a lesbian and constantly inquires about Evie’s sex life. Nate is the overly analytical man/hunk/love interest. Bea is the smart-talking teenager (“totes” and “frakballs” are about the extent of her teenager vocabulary though) who begins the book seeking alcohol and ends up being some kind of autodidactic social media genius. Evie eats only Lucky Charms (not kidding).
And then the villains, Shasta and Maisie, are an inept duo whose comedy makes me cringe. I mentioned the awkward interplay at the end of Maisie’s blog posts already. Shasta is an unremarkable, over-the-top, classically incompetent villain. It seems (and I’m always about giving the benefit of the doubt) that Kuhn is trying to lean into and lampshade these tropes. But … there just doesn’t feel like there’s any payoff there, because this isn’t a spoof.
I want to be clear: I think Kuhn does try to give her characters depth, particularly when it comes to Nate’s and Aveda/Evie’s backstories. I just don’t think these attempts work as well as they should.
Here’s a little praise, though, for Evie’s character. I think it’s probably tempting, especially if you’re not enjoying the book like I wasn’t, to label Evie’s dysfunctional relationship with Aveda as unrealistic. Who would stick around and let themselves be pushed around like Aveda does with Evie? Actually, this felt like the most real, most poignant part of the book for me. Especially when Kuhn caps it off with a confessional heart-to-heart where Aveda reveals her most vulnerable thoughts regarding Evie. That is the moment when they are both the most human, most real characters in this book. I wish I had seen more of that, or if it is actually there all the way through, that it weren’t buried under so many comic book tropes and clunky exposition.
So, yeah, Evie’s character growth I can get on board with, but there’s one red flag I want to raise: the way Kuhn describes Evie’s sexual behaviour. Evie is big about repressing her emotions to the point that she avoids sexual relationships. Early in the book she refers to her “Dead-Inside-o-Tron” keeping her sex drive in check, and how this appears to be malfunctioning in the case of Nate. Let’s set aside the incredible predictability of her and Nate’s romance for the moment. Let’s not dwell on how annoyingly frequently this book talks about Evie having sex (I’m not repulsed by sex scenes or discussions of sex by any means in my book, but these characters just don’t shut up about it). But comparisons of not experiencing sexual attraction to being “dead inside” are not comedic; they are offensive to asexual people. At best this is erasure; really, though, it’s saying that not experiencing sexual attraction means you’re “broken” or “abnormal.” To be clear: I’m not upset that Evie and Nate are in lust with each other and get it on every second chapter or whatever. That’s all to the good. But the idea that Evie being lustful over Nate and engaging in a sexual relationship with her somehow fixes her? That I can’t get behind. There is nothing wrong with people who don’t experience sexual attraction.
You might be wondering by now why I didn’t stop reading early on. That’s a legitimate question that I asked of myself at the time. Truthfully, I wanted to know how the story ended, and part of me still hoped for a little redemption from the writing. I don’t regret finishing the book, yet I don’t feel it redeemed itself either. The plot sputters and fizzles over a false climax then limps on to an unsatisfying, unspectacular actual climax. Kuhn haphazardly raises and then handwaves obstacles as the plot requires: first Bea not being in school is an issue, then when it doesn’t need to be an issue, suddenly Bea has homeschooled herself out of the predicament. How convenient. There’s a lack of any real tension here, despite the high stakes (their very lives) the nature of the conflict demands.
Heroine Complex is messy. It is wrapped in the fun, flashy exterior of cartoonish tropes that disguise this mess in some ways—cartoon logic is supposed to be messy. The more I mull it over, though, the more I consider the writing and plot and the characters, and the less I like this book. What began as a mediocre experience inexorably declined into dull, then dissatisfying, and ended somewhere in disgruntlement. Once again, I tend to love the idea of a superhero novel more than I like the actual novels themselves.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 29, 2016
It's hard out there for a superhero. An Asian superhero though??
Meet Aveda Jupiter, née Annie Chang, San Francisco's self appointed protector. After a portal opened up in the city and gave her (very) limited powers of telekinesis, she decided to train herself to become a superhero. She was inspired as a child by watching Michelle Yeoh in The Heroic Trio (1992), a film about three female superheroes in Hong Kong. (The full movie is on YouTube by the way.) (Also Maggie Cheung is in it!)
Sitting next to Annie in the theater, and next to her always, is her best friend and assistant Evie Tanaka. They met in elementary school when the other kids started picking on Evie for bringing spam musubi to school and Annie defiantly ate them all. The spam musubi, not the other kids. Evie and Annie bonded as Evie held Annie's head while she threw up all the spam, and they've had each other's backs every since. Well, it's mostly been Evie behind Annie once Annie decided to become AVEDA JUPITER, SUPERHERO. But mild mannered Evie preferred a behind the scenes role as she's also been taking care of her younger sister after their mother died and father ran off.
The tables get turned when Aveda injures her ankle while superhero-ing, and she sends a glamoured Evie in her place to some events. When demons attack one event, Evie, who isn't trained in fighting like Aveda, ends up using a power that she's repressed since an incident long ago. She shoots fire out of her hand. Evie, as Aveda, finds herself for the first time at the center of attention, from curious bloggers to those pesky, seemingly evolving demons.
Rounding out Team Aveda is Nate, nerdy, scientific, ...muscled, brooding Nate, Lucy the bodyguard/trainer/condom supplier, and Bea, Evie's annoying little sister extraordinaire.
My first feeling about this book is just how NECESSARY it is. This is the scene where Annie and Evie discover The Heroic Trio for the first time, but it could also apply to kids reading this book:
From my Litsy
It's why #WeNeedDiverseBooks. Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal, as amazing as she is, can't be the only one holding it down for us colored girls. This is also about friendships, and how they evolve and can get complicated. This book was in the Sci Fi section but it could also be classified as YA/NA. Evie is just recognizing her powers, both literally and figuratively, and all the feelings she's tamped down over the years are bubbling out. Aveda and Evie have both identified themselves in one way for so long (hero and sidekick) that this new situation makes them reexamine their places in the world and each other's lives and what they want out of both.
I had some trouble with the tone initially because it read younger than I was expecting despite the characters being in their 20s. It also brought up some great issues that weren't addressed, like Aveda's Asian parents not approving of her lifestyle choice, but now that I see a sequel (and series!) is in the works, I really hope they're examined in the next installment.
Overall, there's so much potential in the story and characters and writing, that despite being a little uneven at times, I'm ALL IN. It's also really fun. There are karaoke battles to the death! What more could you want?? Heroine Complex is a book we need, but also one that we deserve. We deserve superheroes that LOOK LIKE US, damn it, WRITTEN by people who LOOK LIKE US.
--
Whew, this is the first review I've written in like 4 years. What can I say, I was inspired by the DNC. If Hillary Clinton can become the first female presidential nominee of a major party, I can finish a review. Or something. Now I'm going to finish The Heroic Trio. How has everyone been??
Meet Aveda Jupiter, née Annie Chang, San Francisco's self appointed protector. After a portal opened up in the city and gave her (very) limited powers of telekinesis, she decided to train herself to become a superhero. She was inspired as a child by watching Michelle Yeoh in The Heroic Trio (1992), a film about three female superheroes in Hong Kong. (The full movie is on YouTube by the way.) (Also Maggie Cheung is in it!)
Sitting next to Annie in the theater, and next to her always, is her best friend and assistant Evie Tanaka. They met in elementary school when the other kids started picking on Evie for bringing spam musubi to school and Annie defiantly ate them all. The spam musubi, not the other kids. Evie and Annie bonded as Evie held Annie's head while she threw up all the spam, and they've had each other's backs every since. Well, it's mostly been Evie behind Annie once Annie decided to become AVEDA JUPITER, SUPERHERO. But mild mannered Evie preferred a behind the scenes role as she's also been taking care of her younger sister after their mother died and father ran off.
The tables get turned when Aveda injures her ankle while superhero-ing, and she sends a glamoured Evie in her place to some events. When demons attack one event, Evie, who isn't trained in fighting like Aveda, ends up using a power that she's repressed since an incident long ago. She shoots fire out of her hand. Evie, as Aveda, finds herself for the first time at the center of attention, from curious bloggers to those pesky, seemingly evolving demons.
Rounding out Team Aveda is Nate, nerdy, scientific, ...muscled, brooding Nate, Lucy the bodyguard/trainer/condom supplier, and Bea, Evie's annoying little sister extraordinaire.
My first feeling about this book is just how NECESSARY it is. This is the scene where Annie and Evie discover The Heroic Trio for the first time, but it could also apply to kids reading this book:
From my Litsy
It's why #WeNeedDiverseBooks. Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal, as amazing as she is, can't be the only one holding it down for us colored girls. This is also about friendships, and how they evolve and can get complicated. This book was in the Sci Fi section but it could also be classified as YA/NA. Evie is just recognizing her powers, both literally and figuratively, and all the feelings she's tamped down over the years are bubbling out. Aveda and Evie have both identified themselves in one way for so long (hero and sidekick) that this new situation makes them reexamine their places in the world and each other's lives and what they want out of both.
I had some trouble with the tone initially because it read younger than I was expecting despite the characters being in their 20s. It also brought up some great issues that weren't addressed, like Aveda's Asian parents not approving of her lifestyle choice, but now that I see a sequel (and series!) is in the works, I really hope they're examined in the next installment.
Overall, there's so much potential in the story and characters and writing, that despite being a little uneven at times, I'm ALL IN. It's also really fun. There are karaoke battles to the death! What more could you want?? Heroine Complex is a book we need, but also one that we deserve. We deserve superheroes that LOOK LIKE US, damn it, WRITTEN by people who LOOK LIKE US.
--
Whew, this is the first review I've written in like 4 years. What can I say, I was inspired by the DNC. If Hillary Clinton can become the first female presidential nominee of a major party, I can finish a review. Or something. Now I'm going to finish The Heroic Trio. How has everyone been??
August 18, 2020
Review posted on Fafa's Book Corner!
Beware spoilers ahead!
Trigger Warning(s): Grief, abusive parent, toxic friendship, negligent parent, experimentation, racism, and bullying.
Reading Challenge(s): Book 13 for #StartOnYourShelfathon.
Rep: Evie and Bea are Irish-Japanese-American. Bea is queer. Aveda is Chinese American. Lucy is Puerto Rican-Mexican-British and is a Lesbian. Rose is Black and queer. Kevin is Black-Latino-Asian. Nate, Scott, Shasta, and Maisy are white.
My Thoughts Before Reading: I’ve owned the Heroine Complex series for years. I had initially bought the books because I heard that they would be fun. Also in part because of the rep and the superhero aspect.
I am happy to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it!
What I Liked: I really liked the world building! The different types of demons were cool. And it was really interesting to see how the world dealt with the whole situation. While employing Aveda Jupiter, the government opened up a demon unit and gave them weapons similar to those in Ghostbusters.
I’m always looking for superhero books. Imagine my delight at not only finding an adult series, but also one with Asian superheroes! It’s always nice to see diversity in every genre.
Female friendships is something I try to look for in books. It’s such a rarity in most genres and it means a lot to me. This is a large part of Heroine Complex.
Evie has been best friends with Aveda (real name is Annie) since they were in kindergarten. They have been supportive of one-another, been there for each other, and always looked out for the other’s best interests.
Over time their relationship became toxic. Aveda in her quest for perfection, has become controlling and manipulates Evie whenever she wants something. Evie has done nothing to stop Aveda. She thinks that in order to be a good assistant to Aveda, Evie should be able to handle Aveda’s tantrums.
Aveda is very annoying to read about in the beginning. And she remains so for a majority of the book. Evie in her own right enables Aveda’s behaviour. The intervention scene, and the bar scene really sold their relationship for me. After reading those scenes I felt that the two of them really could mend their relationship.
Evie and her sister Bea, have a very strained relationship. After their mother passed away, their father left leaving Evie to raise Bea. The trauma and their own issues (how they view and treat each other) has ruined their relationship.
Despite their rocky relationship, I really enjoyed reading about Evie and Bea! I loved how they always had each other’s backs. I admire Evie for having raised Bea all on her own.
I was not expecting to enjoy the romance as much as I did. Nate and Evie are very hostile towards each other. I wouldn’t call it out enemies to lovers, they simply don’t get along in the beginning. They have different opinions on how things should be done, and neither one of them wants to listen to the other.
What I enjoyed about their relationship is that they both apologized, if they ever did anything to hurt the other. They also owned up to their mistakes and actively worked on them.
I loved Evie’s character development! After pretending to be Aveda, Evie started to stand up for herself, became confident, and overcame her fear regarding her powers.
My Criticism(s): Absolutely nothing!
What I’m Looking Forward To: Normally I’d say the sequel, but at the time where I’m writing this review, I have already read the sequel.
Conclusion: Overall I loved Heroine Complex! I highly recommend this series.
Beware spoilers ahead!
Trigger Warning(s): Grief, abusive parent, toxic friendship, negligent parent, experimentation, racism, and bullying.
Reading Challenge(s): Book 13 for #StartOnYourShelfathon.
Rep: Evie and Bea are Irish-Japanese-American. Bea is queer. Aveda is Chinese American. Lucy is Puerto Rican-Mexican-British and is a Lesbian. Rose is Black and queer. Kevin is Black-Latino-Asian. Nate, Scott, Shasta, and Maisy are white.
My Thoughts Before Reading: I’ve owned the Heroine Complex series for years. I had initially bought the books because I heard that they would be fun. Also in part because of the rep and the superhero aspect.
I am happy to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it!
What I Liked: I really liked the world building! The different types of demons were cool. And it was really interesting to see how the world dealt with the whole situation. While employing Aveda Jupiter, the government opened up a demon unit and gave them weapons similar to those in Ghostbusters.
I’m always looking for superhero books. Imagine my delight at not only finding an adult series, but also one with Asian superheroes! It’s always nice to see diversity in every genre.
Female friendships is something I try to look for in books. It’s such a rarity in most genres and it means a lot to me. This is a large part of Heroine Complex.
Evie has been best friends with Aveda (real name is Annie) since they were in kindergarten. They have been supportive of one-another, been there for each other, and always looked out for the other’s best interests.
Over time their relationship became toxic. Aveda in her quest for perfection, has become controlling and manipulates Evie whenever she wants something. Evie has done nothing to stop Aveda. She thinks that in order to be a good assistant to Aveda, Evie should be able to handle Aveda’s tantrums.
Aveda is very annoying to read about in the beginning. And she remains so for a majority of the book. Evie in her own right enables Aveda’s behaviour. The intervention scene, and the bar scene really sold their relationship for me. After reading those scenes I felt that the two of them really could mend their relationship.
Evie and her sister Bea, have a very strained relationship. After their mother passed away, their father left leaving Evie to raise Bea. The trauma and their own issues (how they view and treat each other) has ruined their relationship.
Despite their rocky relationship, I really enjoyed reading about Evie and Bea! I loved how they always had each other’s backs. I admire Evie for having raised Bea all on her own.
I was not expecting to enjoy the romance as much as I did. Nate and Evie are very hostile towards each other. I wouldn’t call it out enemies to lovers, they simply don’t get along in the beginning. They have different opinions on how things should be done, and neither one of them wants to listen to the other.
What I enjoyed about their relationship is that they both apologized, if they ever did anything to hurt the other. They also owned up to their mistakes and actively worked on them.
I loved Evie’s character development! After pretending to be Aveda, Evie started to stand up for herself, became confident, and overcame her fear regarding her powers.
My Criticism(s): Absolutely nothing!
What I’m Looking Forward To: Normally I’d say the sequel, but at the time where I’m writing this review, I have already read the sequel.
Conclusion: Overall I loved Heroine Complex! I highly recommend this series.
July 3, 2017
4.5 / 5 Fangs
Heroine Complex was such a unique and addictive book! I truly have never read an urban fantasy book quite like this one. I loved how the author really made this her own book with interesting fantasy elements. Heroine Complex was the perfect combination of humor, action, romance, and drama. I never felt bored while reading this book, and I never wanted it to end!
OKAY, I WANT TO MENTION HOW MUCH I LOVED THE DIVERSITY IN THIS BOOK. PLUS, THE FEMALES IN THIS BOOK KICKED MAJOR BOOTY AND I LOVED IT.
The main character, Evie, was fabulous. She was so sassy and easy to relate to. I loved how real she felt and how I could truly see myself in her shoes. Evie made me laugh out loud numerous times and she made me so proud with her badassery. I really like the journey she went on to discover self-acceptance in regards to superpowers.
There were a lot of side characters that were just as lovable as Evie. I liked that each side character served a role and they weren't just pushed to the side. They all had a presence and helped Evie out when she needed it.
Evie's boss and best friend, Aveda, was a little hard to warm up to. She seemed really self-absorbed and narcissistic. It was nice to see her open up and show her true feelings for Evie and some other characters throughout the book. Her showing compassion made her seem more human and easier to like.
The romance in this book was adorable and very well paced. The romance never took away from the plot and it was never the main focus of the book. It was perfectly balanced. Also, I shipped Evie and the male that she had a romance with SO FREAKING HARD. From their first interaction where they started arguing, I knew I was going to ship it. Their romance was so swoon-worthy and full of banter. I LOVED IT SO MUCH. I WANT MORE OF THEM, PLEASE?
Overall, this was an extremely entertaining and interesting book. The plot of this book was unique and it kept me glued to the pages. If you want to read an urban fantasy about kick-ass women, then this is the book for you!!!
4.5 / 5 Fangs
*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review. *
MrsLeif's Two Fangs About It
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Heroine Complex was such a unique and addictive book! I truly have never read an urban fantasy book quite like this one. I loved how the author really made this her own book with interesting fantasy elements. Heroine Complex was the perfect combination of humor, action, romance, and drama. I never felt bored while reading this book, and I never wanted it to end!
OKAY, I WANT TO MENTION HOW MUCH I LOVED THE DIVERSITY IN THIS BOOK. PLUS, THE FEMALES IN THIS BOOK KICKED MAJOR BOOTY AND I LOVED IT.
The main character, Evie, was fabulous. She was so sassy and easy to relate to. I loved how real she felt and how I could truly see myself in her shoes. Evie made me laugh out loud numerous times and she made me so proud with her badassery. I really like the journey she went on to discover self-acceptance in regards to superpowers.
There were a lot of side characters that were just as lovable as Evie. I liked that each side character served a role and they weren't just pushed to the side. They all had a presence and helped Evie out when she needed it.
Evie's boss and best friend, Aveda, was a little hard to warm up to. She seemed really self-absorbed and narcissistic. It was nice to see her open up and show her true feelings for Evie and some other characters throughout the book. Her showing compassion made her seem more human and easier to like.
The romance in this book was adorable and very well paced. The romance never took away from the plot and it was never the main focus of the book. It was perfectly balanced. Also, I shipped Evie and the male that she had a romance with SO FREAKING HARD. From their first interaction where they started arguing, I knew I was going to ship it. Their romance was so swoon-worthy and full of banter. I LOVED IT SO MUCH. I WANT MORE OF THEM, PLEASE?
Overall, this was an extremely entertaining and interesting book. The plot of this book was unique and it kept me glued to the pages. If you want to read an urban fantasy about kick-ass women, then this is the book for you!!!
4.5 / 5 Fangs
*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review. *
MrsLeif's Two Fangs About It
July 15, 2016
Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy.
Action-packed and fun, HEROINE COMPLEX is the superheroine story that I've been waiting for. Full of fun and action, HEROINE COMPLEX has it all - demon fighting, a dramatic superhero, and a dab of romance to top it off!
One of the best things about HEROINE COMPLEX is its portrayal of female relationships. There's Evie and Aveda's relationship, that of boss and employee as well as best friends for years, there's Evie and Bea's relationship, that of sisters, as well as many others. This book definitely does a good job of showing females interacting without having to talk about guys (though the guys are sometimes the subject of conversation as well). What I liked best about it was that they all felt realistic, and it is nice to see, because even though there are a lot of strong female protagonists in urban fantasy, they are not frequently surrounded by women, like Evie is.
The other aspect of characterization that shone was the fact that the characters were all multi-faceted. Aveda was sometimes a bit of a drama queen, but she had her positives as well. She's kind of like that friend who you know has your back, even if sometimes they drive you up a wall. Kuhn did such a good job of giving those nuances to Aveda that it was totally believable.
Also, I just wanted to note: Evie's inner monologue while drunk was hysterical. That's all.
The overall plot arc, of fighting off the demons about to invade San Francisco, came off a bit thin. The big reveal at the end was somewhat ridiculous, but it still surprised me. In this case, it almost felt like the author was trying to make the book stretch longer, since the more dramatic climax had happened a chapter or so earlier. The sense of urgency was lost by the end and overall I was a little dissatisfied.
However, despite my complaints, overall I felt HEROINE COMPLEX is a great start to a series, and I can't wait to see who or what Evie and Aveda take on next!
Sexual content: Several mildly explicit sex scenes
Action-packed and fun, HEROINE COMPLEX is the superheroine story that I've been waiting for. Full of fun and action, HEROINE COMPLEX has it all - demon fighting, a dramatic superhero, and a dab of romance to top it off!
One of the best things about HEROINE COMPLEX is its portrayal of female relationships. There's Evie and Aveda's relationship, that of boss and employee as well as best friends for years, there's Evie and Bea's relationship, that of sisters, as well as many others. This book definitely does a good job of showing females interacting without having to talk about guys (though the guys are sometimes the subject of conversation as well). What I liked best about it was that they all felt realistic, and it is nice to see, because even though there are a lot of strong female protagonists in urban fantasy, they are not frequently surrounded by women, like Evie is.
The other aspect of characterization that shone was the fact that the characters were all multi-faceted. Aveda was sometimes a bit of a drama queen, but she had her positives as well. She's kind of like that friend who you know has your back, even if sometimes they drive you up a wall. Kuhn did such a good job of giving those nuances to Aveda that it was totally believable.
Also, I just wanted to note: Evie's inner monologue while drunk was hysterical. That's all.
The overall plot arc, of fighting off the demons about to invade San Francisco, came off a bit thin. The big reveal at the end was somewhat ridiculous, but it still surprised me. In this case, it almost felt like the author was trying to make the book stretch longer, since the more dramatic climax had happened a chapter or so earlier. The sense of urgency was lost by the end and overall I was a little dissatisfied.
However, despite my complaints, overall I felt HEROINE COMPLEX is a great start to a series, and I can't wait to see who or what Evie and Aveda take on next!
Sexual content: Several mildly explicit sex scenes
August 9, 2018
New favorite feel-good series! I've never been particularly into superhero stories, but now I think all I was waiting for was one that featured women. Evie Tanaka is a behind-the-scenes girl, and she likes it that way. She’s the personal assistant to her childhood best friend Annie, who now embodies the persona of Aveda Jupiter, superhero and San Francisco celebrity. Aveda is flashy, flamboyant, and fabulous, and Evie is really good at playing second fiddle. Until suddenly she’s thrust into the superhero role herself—and then the former shrinking violet has to find her inner flaming hot diva. This book has just the right amount of magic and mayhem, not to mention awesome, realistic girl friendships and just enough romance to make you sweat. Of course, we superheroines don’t sweat, we glow.
March 3, 2021
3.5 stars
- the first 1/4 was a little slow but it got better as the story progressed
- aveda's really toxic and seeing evie be thrown around by her supposedly "friend" pissed me off to no end
- loved the diverse cast though
- the first 1/4 was a little slow but it got better as the story progressed
- aveda's really toxic and seeing evie be thrown around by her supposedly "friend" pissed me off to no end
- loved the diverse cast though
July 6, 2017
Honestly, this book is exactly what I needed as a pick me up on this awful Monday I've had and I'm so thrilled that this is a series because the snarky Evie Tanaka is one of my favorite heroines now. She's snarky and fun, and while she might seem like a doormat because of her boss aka Aveda Jupiter, I liked that there was a bond of genuine friendship underneath their work dynamic which warped and complicated their relationship.
I was initially surprised that this wasn't a comic book, as I'd wrongfully assumed it would be, due to the cover and premise, but that was easily forgotten in the colorful scenarios and descriptions that painted the scenes in lovely detail, with the added commentary of the lovely heroine. The book is part romance, part adventure, and still manages to be funny, which is always a bonus.
There's a cute romance in this that I loved and seeing the sparks and chemistry on the page before Evie even realizes was fun, particularly since the scenes between her and the love interest were fairly combustible.
The plot itself is well-paced, and I'm glad all the flashy super powers didn't detract from it and I was still surprised by some of the plot twists. The characters were fleshed-out and I liked that even the side characters didn't fade into the watery background of being supportive, but actually had some vibrant personalities and twisted some of the boring archetypes around. Nate is definitely one of my favorites, and I do love Lucy as well.
Also, as someone who reads a lot of books that feature a romance, I don't encounter non-white characters often, and finding that Evie was part Japanese was wonderful. Seeing her front and center along with Annie who's Chinese, not only being romance heroines but also the hero who saves the day, not the nerdy sidekick who fades into the background, was delightful. I've read a few articles by the author about Asian-American representation in geek culture and such, and while Evie isn't exactly who I am, seeing someone who is Asian is so important, especially in a landscape populated with white heroines who save the day/fall in love etc. I related to a lot of aspects of Evie, and how she felt other-ed by her "different" lunches and lack of represenation in media, something that's very true to many of us who are Asian.
Lastly, I've heard that the second book features Annie, and I do think Evie's story was nicely wrapped up in this book so I'm dying to read Annie's story and still get to see my beloved Evie and the rest of the gang.
I was initially surprised that this wasn't a comic book, as I'd wrongfully assumed it would be, due to the cover and premise, but that was easily forgotten in the colorful scenarios and descriptions that painted the scenes in lovely detail, with the added commentary of the lovely heroine. The book is part romance, part adventure, and still manages to be funny, which is always a bonus.
There's a cute romance in this that I loved and seeing the sparks and chemistry on the page before Evie even realizes was fun, particularly since the scenes between her and the love interest were fairly combustible.
The plot itself is well-paced, and I'm glad all the flashy super powers didn't detract from it and I was still surprised by some of the plot twists. The characters were fleshed-out and I liked that even the side characters didn't fade into the watery background of being supportive, but actually had some vibrant personalities and twisted some of the boring archetypes around. Nate is definitely one of my favorites, and I do love Lucy as well.
Also, as someone who reads a lot of books that feature a romance, I don't encounter non-white characters often, and finding that Evie was part Japanese was wonderful. Seeing her front and center along with Annie who's Chinese, not only being romance heroines but also the hero who saves the day, not the nerdy sidekick who fades into the background, was delightful. I've read a few articles by the author about Asian-American representation in geek culture and such, and while Evie isn't exactly who I am, seeing someone who is Asian is so important, especially in a landscape populated with white heroines who save the day/fall in love etc. I related to a lot of aspects of Evie, and how she felt other-ed by her "different" lunches and lack of represenation in media, something that's very true to many of us who are Asian.
Lastly, I've heard that the second book features Annie, and I do think Evie's story was nicely wrapped up in this book so I'm dying to read Annie's story and still get to see my beloved Evie and the rest of the gang.
June 27, 2018
This is an extremely fun, fast-paced paranormal romance featuring Asian lady superheroes set in San Francisco. That's a lot of buzzwords, but this book gets almost everything right. The primary focus of the plot is the relationship between superhero Aveda Jupiter and her best friend/assistant, Evie Tanaka, as Aveda continually saves San Francisco from minorly annoying demons who imprint on whatever's closest to them (think fanged flying cupcakes). The background of demons and superheroes is fun, but what really shines is the push-and-pull relationship between Aveda and Evie as they navigate the dynamics of their lifelong friendship. There's the romance, too, but this is one of those rare books where the plot, characters, and romance are equally interesting and in the right ratios.
I also loved the setting of the book, which is clearly San Francisco; so few contemporary books have a truly defined sense of place. The superhero HQ is in an old Victorian in the Lower Haight, and a demon portal opens in the Nordstrom at the top of the Westfield mall (was this made for me??). The characters travel around a real city that's instantly recognizable. What's really great is that the stakes are firmly set in San Francisco, too. So many Marvel and superhero movies get this wrong (the entire world is in peril!). Here, the antagonist wants to take over San Francisco by infiltrating its "celebrity culture," and thus the stakes are defined as the home that these characters have made for themselves, with each other.
This would be really fun to read on vacation - or just on your next MTA ride.
I also loved the setting of the book, which is clearly San Francisco; so few contemporary books have a truly defined sense of place. The superhero HQ is in an old Victorian in the Lower Haight, and a demon portal opens in the Nordstrom at the top of the Westfield mall (was this made for me??). The characters travel around a real city that's instantly recognizable. What's really great is that the stakes are firmly set in San Francisco, too. So many Marvel and superhero movies get this wrong (the entire world is in peril!). Here, the antagonist wants to take over San Francisco by infiltrating its "celebrity culture," and thus the stakes are defined as the home that these characters have made for themselves, with each other.
This would be really fun to read on vacation - or just on your next MTA ride.
October 21, 2017
Un libro para niños?
No.
Entonces Young Adult?
No
Pero la portada...
LO SÉ.
Original de: El Blog del Gato - El Extraño Gato del Cuento
Heroine Complex me encantó porque hay una gran amistad en el libro que, a pesar de tener un montón de problemas, tratan de resolverlo de manera adulta… claro, luego de mucho berrinche de Aveda en algún momento Lee este libro por el simple placer de leer un buen libro, es rapidísimo de leer.
Twitter • Tumblr • Tvtime • Goodreads • Instagram • Blog
No.
Entonces Young Adult?
No
Pero la portada...
LO SÉ.
Original de: El Blog del Gato - El Extraño Gato del Cuento
Heroine Complex me encantó porque hay una gran amistad en el libro que, a pesar de tener un montón de problemas, tratan de resolverlo de manera adulta… claro, luego de mucho berrinche de Aveda en algún momento Lee este libro por el simple placer de leer un buen libro, es rapidísimo de leer.
Twitter • Tumblr • Tvtime • Goodreads • Instagram • Blog
April 16, 2021
I enjoyed the premise of this book, but wasn't a huge fan of the plot and the characters were quite flat. The romance didn't feel convincing to me and the villains felt cartoonish.
2.25 stars
2.25 stars
April 11, 2017
Hate leaving a review box empty. So… (sorry about the names, my digital book is dead at the moment, so I cannot get all of the names correct).
The book stars Evie Tanaka who is 26, half Japanese, and the assistant to a superhero named Aveda Jupiter (aka Annie – Chinese). Mentioning the Asian backgrounds is important because that’s how the two became friends – being the only two Asian children in their kindergarten and having the ‘white students’ pick on them and make fun of them (especially since both had parents who would send along ‘strange’ food stuffs with their kids.
Evie was, apparently, traumatized by the early bullying to the point that she can’t stand the idea of standing out, having the light on her, etc. Annie (Aveda), on the other hand, made it her life goal to have the light on herself, while also backing up and helping Evie. The two grew up together, occasionally having a few others join their very small ‘gang’, like Simon (who Evie kind of sees as a sibling, though she occasionally allows herself to examine him to see if she feels any kind of lust towards him, but she just can’t seem to get there, no lust for her). Somewhere along the way, while growing up, they picked up on this film (or is it more?) from Asia (Hong Kong maybe) called The Heroic Trio starring three female superhero types. One: Asian people to look up to and are heroes; two: female Asian people . . . etc. etc. So, naturally, they absorbed that into their lives to the point that Annie decided to attempt to become some kind of superhero.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXfNg...
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Somewhere around both of their 18th birthday the demons invaded. And promptly fell over dead. Proceeding the invasion was an earthquake and a rip in . . . um . . . the dimension? Something. They fell over dead ‘for reasons’ that I won’t go into here. But those were the ‘human shaped demons’ – after that failed invasion, occasionally more ‘portals’ would open and the demon equivalent of puppies would attack – imprinting on anything they see once they get through the portal (like, the book opens with Aveda fighting ‘cupcake demons’ in a cupcake shop while Evie darts around attempting to film the action).
The important reason why I made a big point about this first invasion, though, is the part wherein some of the people nearish to the first portal opening ended up with superpowers. Like the guy who . . . can marginally change the temperature in the room. Or the woman who is kind of like a human GPS . . . for automobiles (she can track autos and only autos). Or the woman who has very weak . . . um . . I forgot name but the very weak ability to make things ‘come to her’ (using mind, getting something to wiggle pop up and fly to her; mostly she can get them to wiggle) – that’s the ‘superpower’ that the superhero in San Francisco has – though the people who follow her and are her fans do not actually know that. Since it really is a weak-ass power. One of them did end up with a major high level superpower, though, but . . . more later.
Right, so, after that cupcake attack Aveda returned to HQ (their base, which they call ‘HQ’, presumably meaning Headquarters though I do not know if HQ is ever anything other than HQ in the book) and angrily beat up some punching bags. Aveda is kind of high maintenance, rage-y, and a self centered bitch. While beating up punching bags she apparently twisted her ankle. Badly. She has to be off her feet for 6 to 8 weeks. But San Francisco needs their superhero!!!! Or something. So the assistant has to put on Aveda’s costume and go out and about.
Fails immediately. More in having the ‘simple’ event she was just supposed to show up at have a portal of demons appear. Menace her. And require her to . . . . explode them with her fire ball power. Yeah, see, Evie is the one who ended up with the actual super duper high level superpower. But she’s repressed it as much as she can. Because . . . (I can say, but spoilers, let’s just say she fears to become a monster and leave it at that). So how’d Evie pretend to be Aveda? Sure both are descendants of people from Asia but . . . one is half-Japanese, other is Chinese, and . . . well, the most they really have in common is being roughly the same height (I think if I recall correctly). So . . . relying on people being unable to tell two Asian people apart? Well, no, this is where Simon comes in – he also got a power when the human-shaped demons fell over dead roughly 8 years ago – he’s something of a wizard/magic user. And has the ability to give someone a charm which will allow them to look like something else – temporarily.
So – while Aveda continues to recuperate, Evie continues to pretend to be Aveda, continues trying to be mother figure to her younger sister Bea (who is something like 16/17), and continue to repress her emotions and sex drive (until she doesn’t . . . and the book becomes a humping book). Meanwhile, to round out the cast, there’s Nate, the super muscular geek who basically lives in the basement and pokes at alien/demon stuff and creates spreadsheets. And also Maisy and Shnasty (okay, I might have their names wrong – something like that, Maisy being a gossip blogger and the S one being her sidekick). Oh, and then there’s the lesbian player – um . . . Lucy? I think her name was Lucy. She’s the weapons/bodyguard/trainer person. And she likes humping every woman who her eye falls onto. So, she’s the token background LGBT character in the book.
And . . um. Okay, so I was reluctant to read this book because that whole ‘I’ll self-sacrifice for your glory oh glorious one’ type assistant/super important person dynamic is one I want nothing (or very little) to do with. But I got myself to try this one because of the superhero thingie. And I am glad I did because this actually was quite fun. Even if there was all that heterosexual sex going on, still fun book.
Can’t wait for books 2 and 3.
Rating: 4.50
April 11 2017
The book stars Evie Tanaka who is 26, half Japanese, and the assistant to a superhero named Aveda Jupiter (aka Annie – Chinese). Mentioning the Asian backgrounds is important because that’s how the two became friends – being the only two Asian children in their kindergarten and having the ‘white students’ pick on them and make fun of them (especially since both had parents who would send along ‘strange’ food stuffs with their kids.
Evie was, apparently, traumatized by the early bullying to the point that she can’t stand the idea of standing out, having the light on her, etc. Annie (Aveda), on the other hand, made it her life goal to have the light on herself, while also backing up and helping Evie. The two grew up together, occasionally having a few others join their very small ‘gang’, like Simon (who Evie kind of sees as a sibling, though she occasionally allows herself to examine him to see if she feels any kind of lust towards him, but she just can’t seem to get there, no lust for her). Somewhere along the way, while growing up, they picked up on this film (or is it more?) from Asia (Hong Kong maybe) called The Heroic Trio starring three female superhero types. One: Asian people to look up to and are heroes; two: female Asian people . . . etc. etc. So, naturally, they absorbed that into their lives to the point that Annie decided to attempt to become some kind of superhero.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXfNg...
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Somewhere around both of their 18th birthday the demons invaded. And promptly fell over dead. Proceeding the invasion was an earthquake and a rip in . . . um . . . the dimension? Something. They fell over dead ‘for reasons’ that I won’t go into here. But those were the ‘human shaped demons’ – after that failed invasion, occasionally more ‘portals’ would open and the demon equivalent of puppies would attack – imprinting on anything they see once they get through the portal (like, the book opens with Aveda fighting ‘cupcake demons’ in a cupcake shop while Evie darts around attempting to film the action).
The important reason why I made a big point about this first invasion, though, is the part wherein some of the people nearish to the first portal opening ended up with superpowers. Like the guy who . . . can marginally change the temperature in the room. Or the woman who is kind of like a human GPS . . . for automobiles (she can track autos and only autos). Or the woman who has very weak . . . um . . I forgot name but the very weak ability to make things ‘come to her’ (using mind, getting something to wiggle pop up and fly to her; mostly she can get them to wiggle) – that’s the ‘superpower’ that the superhero in San Francisco has – though the people who follow her and are her fans do not actually know that. Since it really is a weak-ass power. One of them did end up with a major high level superpower, though, but . . . more later.
Right, so, after that cupcake attack Aveda returned to HQ (their base, which they call ‘HQ’, presumably meaning Headquarters though I do not know if HQ is ever anything other than HQ in the book) and angrily beat up some punching bags. Aveda is kind of high maintenance, rage-y, and a self centered bitch. While beating up punching bags she apparently twisted her ankle. Badly. She has to be off her feet for 6 to 8 weeks. But San Francisco needs their superhero!!!! Or something. So the assistant has to put on Aveda’s costume and go out and about.
Fails immediately. More in having the ‘simple’ event she was just supposed to show up at have a portal of demons appear. Menace her. And require her to . . . . explode them with her fire ball power. Yeah, see, Evie is the one who ended up with the actual super duper high level superpower. But she’s repressed it as much as she can. Because . . . (I can say, but spoilers, let’s just say she fears to become a monster and leave it at that). So how’d Evie pretend to be Aveda? Sure both are descendants of people from Asia but . . . one is half-Japanese, other is Chinese, and . . . well, the most they really have in common is being roughly the same height (I think if I recall correctly). So . . . relying on people being unable to tell two Asian people apart? Well, no, this is where Simon comes in – he also got a power when the human-shaped demons fell over dead roughly 8 years ago – he’s something of a wizard/magic user. And has the ability to give someone a charm which will allow them to look like something else – temporarily.
So – while Aveda continues to recuperate, Evie continues to pretend to be Aveda, continues trying to be mother figure to her younger sister Bea (who is something like 16/17), and continue to repress her emotions and sex drive (until she doesn’t . . . and the book becomes a humping book). Meanwhile, to round out the cast, there’s Nate, the super muscular geek who basically lives in the basement and pokes at alien/demon stuff and creates spreadsheets. And also Maisy and Shnasty (okay, I might have their names wrong – something like that, Maisy being a gossip blogger and the S one being her sidekick). Oh, and then there’s the lesbian player – um . . . Lucy? I think her name was Lucy. She’s the weapons/bodyguard/trainer person. And she likes humping every woman who her eye falls onto. So, she’s the token background LGBT character in the book.
And . . um. Okay, so I was reluctant to read this book because that whole ‘I’ll self-sacrifice for your glory oh glorious one’ type assistant/super important person dynamic is one I want nothing (or very little) to do with. But I got myself to try this one because of the superhero thingie. And I am glad I did because this actually was quite fun. Even if there was all that heterosexual sex going on, still fun book.
Can’t wait for books 2 and 3.
Rating: 4.50
April 11 2017
November 30, 2018
DNF @ 25%
I desperately wanted to love this book because it sounds like it would be right up my alley. It has a lot to like about it, but stylistically it just wasn't quite working out for me. I have a feeling though that if it's available in audiobook format I may actually prefer it. I may be coming back to this story in the future in a different format.
I desperately wanted to love this book because it sounds like it would be right up my alley. It has a lot to like about it, but stylistically it just wasn't quite working out for me. I have a feeling though that if it's available in audiobook format I may actually prefer it. I may be coming back to this story in the future in a different format.
February 13, 2019
3.5🌟
Quite outlandish, but also quite a bit of fun.
Quite outlandish, but also quite a bit of fun.
December 27, 2020
I just adore the artwork for these books so damn much! It reminds me of growing up. Like new-school Christopher Pike covers, but definitely *not* YA.
Found family, diversity, banter, sex, supernatural karaoke, ass-kicking superheroines & demonic cupcakes with fangs! OH HELL YES THIS IS FUN FUN!!
Heroine Complex is the kind of urban fantasy that we so desperately need right now! I'm excited to continue on with the series SOON!
Found family, diversity, banter, sex, supernatural karaoke, ass-kicking superheroines & demonic cupcakes with fangs! OH HELL YES THIS IS FUN FUN!!
Heroine Complex is the kind of urban fantasy that we so desperately need right now! I'm excited to continue on with the series SOON!
January 31, 2018
My initial thought: "I really wanted to like this book." You'll see that same sentence on some of the other reviews as well. It looked like a super cool story about bad*ss female heroes. Wrong. Within the first few chapters I could tell who the main character would inevitably end up dating by the middle of the book. Also, the main female character allowed herself to be walked all over and really didn't have a personality or thoughts of her own until the end of the book.
The story was basic with 2-dimensional characters at best. The characters constantly changed and lacked consistency. The author tried to give the characters lovable quirks but fell short (for example, the main character apparently only eats Lucky Charms and nothing else. But not the purple marshmallows).
There was a plot, I suppose, but I quickly lost interest in it. At the very end of the book, the main character's "boyfriend" (aka friends with benefits) gets his own side plot twist but it was really too late in the book to matter.
My main gripe is the main character's view on sex, or lack thereof. She frequently mentions her "Dead-Inside-O-Tron" which controlled her lack of lust. As someone who identifies as asexual, the comparison of lack of sexual attraction to being dead inside was not one I enjoyed.
I was able to find small things I liked about the book that I marked for future reference, but the book overall left me confused. Bottom line: if you want a book with basic characters, a weak plot, cliches, a lack of consistency, a cheesy romance, and sex scenes, this book is for you. Unfortunately, this was not the book for me.
The story was basic with 2-dimensional characters at best. The characters constantly changed and lacked consistency. The author tried to give the characters lovable quirks but fell short (for example, the main character apparently only eats Lucky Charms and nothing else. But not the purple marshmallows).
There was a plot, I suppose, but I quickly lost interest in it. At the very end of the book, the main character's "boyfriend" (aka friends with benefits) gets his own side plot twist but it was really too late in the book to matter.
My main gripe is the main character's view on sex, or lack thereof. She frequently mentions her "Dead-Inside-O-Tron" which controlled her lack of lust. As someone who identifies as asexual, the comparison of lack of sexual attraction to being dead inside was not one I enjoyed.
I was able to find small things I liked about the book that I marked for future reference, but the book overall left me confused. Bottom line: if you want a book with basic characters, a weak plot, cliches, a lack of consistency, a cheesy romance, and sex scenes, this book is for you. Unfortunately, this was not the book for me.
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