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Secondhand Origin Stories
Opal has been planning to go to Chicago and join the Midwest's superhero team, the Sentinels, since she was a little kid. That dream took on a more urgent tone when her superpowered dad was unjustly arrested for protecting a neighbor from an abusive situation. Now, she wants to be a superhero not only to protect people, but to get a platform to tell the world about the injustices of the Altered Persons Bureau, the government agency for everything relating to superpowers.
But just after Opal's high school graduation, a supervillain with a jet and unclear motives attacks the downtown home of the Sentinels, and when Opal arrives, she finds a family on the brink of breaking apart. She meets a boy who's been developing secret (and illegal) brain-altering nanites right under the Sentinel's noses, another teenage superhero-hopeful who looks suspiciously like a long-dead supervillain, and the completely un-superpowered daughter of the Sentinels' leader. Can four teens on the fringes of the superhero world handle the corruption, danger, and family secrets they've unearthed?
But just after Opal's high school graduation, a supervillain with a jet and unclear motives attacks the downtown home of the Sentinels, and when Opal arrives, she finds a family on the brink of breaking apart. She meets a boy who's been developing secret (and illegal) brain-altering nanites right under the Sentinel's noses, another teenage superhero-hopeful who looks suspiciously like a long-dead supervillain, and the completely un-superpowered daughter of the Sentinels' leader. Can four teens on the fringes of the superhero world handle the corruption, danger, and family secrets they've unearthed?
340 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2018
10 people are currently reading
554 people want to read
About the author
Lee Blauersouth
6 books17 followersAfter about a decade drawing comics independently or with small presses, Lee started writing prose out of a combination of peer pressure and spite, then continued out of attachment to their favorite made-up people. Lee loves comics, classical art, tattoos, opera, ogling the shiner sciences, and queer stuff. They live in Minnesota even though it is clearly not a habitat humans were ever meant to endure, with their lovely wife and books in literally every room of the house.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
May 3, 2018
(Content/Trigger warning: It should be noted that there are instances of ableism, systemic racism, and misgendering as well as content involving other sensitive issues in the book. However, these instances are addressed and corrected later on. Still, proceed with utmost caution.)
As someone who’s been waiting for the sequel to Disney’s The Incredibles for more than a decade now, I was more than eager to dive into the lives and relationships within the Sentinels. And I was certainly not disappointed. It was extremely interesting to me how ordinary family drama could play out so realistically in a family of superpowered people, albeit with much higher stakes involved.
Brimming with social and political relevance – a relevance that has been amplified by the problematic and oppressive climate we are currently facing in real life, Secondhand Origin Stories valiantly attacks globally encompassing, systemic issues, such as racism, marginalization, and inequalities across all intersections, while simultaneously navigating through more individual-centered issues, such as coming to terms with one’s identity and learning to differentiate between what defines a person and what shouldn’t.
Effective writing, impressive world-building, wonderfully intricate plot, well-delivered action sequences, and a tremendous impact that unfailingly resonates with the heart of humanity. In all seriousness, in all my years of reading, Lee Blauersouth’s incredible YA debut novel is the most underrated, underappreciated title I’ve ever encountered – and that definitely needs to change immediately. Vastly powerful and all the more empowering, Secondhand Origin Stories demands to be read, loved, and ultimately, internalized.
Disclosure: I received a digital copy of Secondhand Origin Stories from the author in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Lee Blauersouth for the copy as well as for the opportunity to organize a blog tour!
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
* Read the rest of this review in my natural habitat!
** Check it out: 9 reasons to make reading Secondhand Origin Stories your priority!
As someone who’s been waiting for the sequel to Disney’s The Incredibles for more than a decade now, I was more than eager to dive into the lives and relationships within the Sentinels. And I was certainly not disappointed. It was extremely interesting to me how ordinary family drama could play out so realistically in a family of superpowered people, albeit with much higher stakes involved.
Brimming with social and political relevance – a relevance that has been amplified by the problematic and oppressive climate we are currently facing in real life, Secondhand Origin Stories valiantly attacks globally encompassing, systemic issues, such as racism, marginalization, and inequalities across all intersections, while simultaneously navigating through more individual-centered issues, such as coming to terms with one’s identity and learning to differentiate between what defines a person and what shouldn’t.
Effective writing, impressive world-building, wonderfully intricate plot, well-delivered action sequences, and a tremendous impact that unfailingly resonates with the heart of humanity. In all seriousness, in all my years of reading, Lee Blauersouth’s incredible YA debut novel is the most underrated, underappreciated title I’ve ever encountered – and that definitely needs to change immediately. Vastly powerful and all the more empowering, Secondhand Origin Stories demands to be read, loved, and ultimately, internalized.
Disclosure: I received a digital copy of Secondhand Origin Stories from the author in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Lee Blauersouth for the copy as well as for the opportunity to organize a blog tour!
Actual rating: 4.5 stars
* Read the rest of this review in my natural habitat!
** Check it out: 9 reasons to make reading Secondhand Origin Stories your priority!
October 8, 2020
Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this in exchange for a honest review.
I had a hard time getting into this story at first, but once the writing style grew on me, it became hard to stop (I missed my metro stop while visiting Montreal because I was too engrossed!). What grabbed me most were the characters: complex, relatable, awesome and diverse, both the crew of teens and their parents/uncles grabbed my attention and kept me turning pages.
(cw discussion of audism)
There is a character who becomes deaf early on in the story, and for a good part of the novel, he is obsessed with fixing it and convinced it makes him weak, unfit, abnormal. This is deconstructed within (there are other deaf/hard of hearing characters and their family around), but just know it's an important part of his arc and I'm sure can be hard to read at times, as internalized hatred like this often is.
I picked it up because of the asexual rep, and have nothing negative to say there. Issac is a great character, and while "the ace character is the science/book nerd" is becoming something of a trope, it doesn't really have a strong negative connotations on aceness in general, and Issac has way more depths than you get from underdevelopped stereotypes. He's a good, well-rounded character, and I quite liked him.
I had a hard time getting into this story at first, but once the writing style grew on me, it became hard to stop (I missed my metro stop while visiting Montreal because I was too engrossed!). What grabbed me most were the characters: complex, relatable, awesome and diverse, both the crew of teens and their parents/uncles grabbed my attention and kept me turning pages.
(cw discussion of audism)
There is a character who becomes deaf early on in the story, and for a good part of the novel, he is obsessed with fixing it and convinced it makes him weak, unfit, abnormal. This is deconstructed within (there are other deaf/hard of hearing characters and their family around), but just know it's an important part of his arc and I'm sure can be hard to read at times, as internalized hatred like this often is.
I picked it up because of the asexual rep, and have nothing negative to say there. Issac is a great character, and while "the ace character is the science/book nerd" is becoming something of a trope, it doesn't really have a strong negative connotations on aceness in general, and Issac has way more depths than you get from underdevelopped stereotypes. He's a good, well-rounded character, and I quite liked him.
April 25, 2018
Secondhand Origin Stories is a superhero fiction that doesn’t simply include tight suites, godly strength, and world-saving; instead, it’s a journey of four young people who try saving the world while discovering themselves—a good, diverse representation and straightforward mention of unfortunate social issues is an extra candy on Halloween.
The story revolves around four main characters: Opal, Isaac, Yael, and Jamie. I think that should seriously be the only thing I should mention about the story because trust me, this was an immensely character-driven novel and stepping in without knowing much (or anything) about the plot would surprise you more. And no, it isn’t a typical superhero story.
Diversity at its best. You know how I am with giving away spoilers; it’s like I’m walking on a ticking bomb while writing a review, so don’t mind my over-conscious-self trying not to blurt things out. Each character in this book is different from the other. Reading this novel is like living four different lives. There’s a person with a hearing disability—a PwD to generalize; there’s a gender-fluid person who’s constantly addressed with pronouns like xe/xyr; there’s a black, physically strong girl—a PoC; and a loyal girl with empathy as the strongest power. Since labels of a character are most fun to know when they’re discovered while you’re reading the story, I just want to subtly mention that each character has a label from the LGBTQIA+. Basically, you won’t be disappointed in terms of diversity.
While I definitely love appreciating diversity in books, I avoid talking about their representation while reviewing them if I don’t belong to that particular group. I mean, who can know the best than those who can feel it the most. Anyway, some review stops in this tour have stated some well-rounded up opinions about the rep in this book, so don’t forget to check out the tour schedule.
Oops. Did I say four characters? I should’ve said five. Sorry! Actually, it’s not everyday I come across the ‘most complete, most sentient synthetic intelligence in the world’ who identifies themselves with a gender label too. Does this intrigue you? Then pick up the book already!
World-building is on point. I can’t emphasize enough how important a fictional world can be for me to indulge into a story, especially a science fiction. This one came across vivid enough to pull me in. There are answers to almost everything I could question in this world of advanced technology and altered-humans (commonly known as altereds), and the rest that couldn’t be answered was fascinating enough to hold me tight—I mean, this is just the first book in the series so patience has to be my virtue. There is an idea of nanites (artificial brain cells) and one can be charged for supervillainy. I think this should be enough to convince you of the detailed fictional world you can get to witness.
Families, siblings, and relationships are given as much importance as the danger that looms in the air. Each character’s tie with either one another or with their family members is so realistically complex, you can genuinely sympathize with their not-typical-but-genuine-superhero problems.
Speaking of genuine superhero problems, one particular theme stood out for me—superheroes are deeply flawed, just like any human being. As much as the story is centered around how important it is for someone to be a superhero and be responsible for the limelight they get, it very well highlights the aftermath of what the over-responsibility can bring along with it, and what ‘not being a superhero anymore’ can mean. Not only this, at one point, a character clearly mention the importance of the work a non-superhero does and this is something I often find missing in such stories—admiring the ‘normal’ duties.
Moving on, there are unfortunate global issues spotlighted with a strong beam. No beating around the bushes or ‘low-key’ expression of opinions. Right from inequalities to racism, and marginal communities being pushed down to social stigmas about a girl who’s strongly built, almost every possible communal pitfall is voiced with value and zero-acceptance but constructive view.
Not only this, the characters are very well developed and portrayed one particular trait I adored them for—self reflection. As a human, it’s often the most lost attribute in this tough-skinned society, but it’s of significance nonetheless. Not only did the idea of killing someone brought the characters to an empathy-ridden monologue, but not using the correct pronoun for a genderfluid person by mistake earned the same reaction. A reaction of self reflection; of understanding where they’re wrong and trying their best to correct the mistakes.
Having said that, there was one thing I didn’t enjoy the most but it’s mostly rooted to my personal preference. I’m a sucker for some fast-paced action specifically for the superhero subgenre of science fiction. Since this was a more character oriented story, there wasn’t a quickly moving plot. Though, the few action scenes were quite action packed so I would give it that. This kind of, at times, caused me to take long breaks before getting back to the story because I knew I was getting into the heads of these four people, and not simply into a series of events.
Overall, I can’t recommend this book enough for the number of reasons I loved it.
Disclaimer: I received a digital copy of this via the author for my participation in a blog tour.
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April 29, 2018
This was delightful!!!!
Read my full review here!
Read my full review here!
April 24, 2018
I received a review copy from the author which in no way swayed my opinion about the work.
Heavily character-driven, Lee Blauersouth’s Secondhand Origin Stories is less a superhero novel and more a novel about a dysfunctional family of superheroes. And that makes for a more compelling narrative.
The book follows four teens; each having something to prove, all wanting to protect their family. There is Opal, who has always dreamed of becoming a superhero and joining the Sentinels. Issac, who has been developing secret but positively illegal brain-altering nanites to save a family member. Yael, who has been training for the life of a superhero for as long as xe can remember. Except the past, an inheritance xe has no control over, keeps resurfacing and threatening that future. And Jamie, who will always support her siblings no matter what. But can four teens on the fringes of the superhero world handle the corruption, danger, and family secrets they’ve unearthed? One of the things I love about Secondhand Origin Stories is that even though it has an ensemble cast, the author does a fantastic job of shining a spotlight on the individual characters. And that is no easy task. You feel for the characters. They are complex and flawed and you root for them.
It is quite hard to miss out the amount of thoughtful nuances that went into writing this story. It is timely, gripping, and emotionally resonant. Each character has a distinct voice, and although the novel is told in third-person, the shifts are seamless and at times even smart. For instance, there is a confrontation between Issac, Jamie, and their mom, and it unfolds in such a way that the reader views it from Opal’s POV. And I think that is brilliant, because it strips down the scene to its barest form. It also shows that Opal is an outsider. Which is another aspect of the book I appreciate: it does not shy away from the struggles of its characters. You join Yael as xe makes peace with who xe is and who xe wants to become. You are there as Opal wrestles with the reality of her dreams. As Jamie tries to reconnect with her dad. And as Issac reevaluates what he believes in and how much he is willing to fight for them. I am a sucker for family drama, and Secondhand Origin Stories certainly delivers. It could have easily fit in the CW lineup.
I could not stress this more: we still need diverse books. There are still not nearly enough diverse stories by and about people from diverse experiences out there, and that is why I am stoked for Blauersouth’s book and what it adds to the conversation. Secondhand Origin Stories has representations on gender, sexuality, race, and disability. It touches on systemic racism and the insidious ways marginalization works. There is one scene where a black character finds herself faced with uniformed men and she gets anxious, not without reasons, and is suddenly “hyper-aware of her skin, dark enough to paint a target on her.” And it is these little details that really leave the most impact, for me at least.
Perhaps it has a slow start and perhaps it is a bit unpolished, but this novel is self-published y’all! I can only imagine what Blauersouth can accomplish with the backing of an established publisher.
For superhero film buffs who want well-written character arcs. Go grab yourself a copy of Secondhand Origin Stories!
Heavily character-driven, Lee Blauersouth’s Secondhand Origin Stories is less a superhero novel and more a novel about a dysfunctional family of superheroes. And that makes for a more compelling narrative.
The book follows four teens; each having something to prove, all wanting to protect their family. There is Opal, who has always dreamed of becoming a superhero and joining the Sentinels. Issac, who has been developing secret but positively illegal brain-altering nanites to save a family member. Yael, who has been training for the life of a superhero for as long as xe can remember. Except the past, an inheritance xe has no control over, keeps resurfacing and threatening that future. And Jamie, who will always support her siblings no matter what. But can four teens on the fringes of the superhero world handle the corruption, danger, and family secrets they’ve unearthed? One of the things I love about Secondhand Origin Stories is that even though it has an ensemble cast, the author does a fantastic job of shining a spotlight on the individual characters. And that is no easy task. You feel for the characters. They are complex and flawed and you root for them.
It is quite hard to miss out the amount of thoughtful nuances that went into writing this story. It is timely, gripping, and emotionally resonant. Each character has a distinct voice, and although the novel is told in third-person, the shifts are seamless and at times even smart. For instance, there is a confrontation between Issac, Jamie, and their mom, and it unfolds in such a way that the reader views it from Opal’s POV. And I think that is brilliant, because it strips down the scene to its barest form. It also shows that Opal is an outsider. Which is another aspect of the book I appreciate: it does not shy away from the struggles of its characters. You join Yael as xe makes peace with who xe is and who xe wants to become. You are there as Opal wrestles with the reality of her dreams. As Jamie tries to reconnect with her dad. And as Issac reevaluates what he believes in and how much he is willing to fight for them. I am a sucker for family drama, and Secondhand Origin Stories certainly delivers. It could have easily fit in the CW lineup.
I could not stress this more: we still need diverse books. There are still not nearly enough diverse stories by and about people from diverse experiences out there, and that is why I am stoked for Blauersouth’s book and what it adds to the conversation. Secondhand Origin Stories has representations on gender, sexuality, race, and disability. It touches on systemic racism and the insidious ways marginalization works. There is one scene where a black character finds herself faced with uniformed men and she gets anxious, not without reasons, and is suddenly “hyper-aware of her skin, dark enough to paint a target on her.” And it is these little details that really leave the most impact, for me at least.
Perhaps it has a slow start and perhaps it is a bit unpolished, but this novel is self-published y’all! I can only imagine what Blauersouth can accomplish with the backing of an established publisher.
For superhero film buffs who want well-written character arcs. Go grab yourself a copy of Secondhand Origin Stories!
April 27, 2018
Thanks to the author and Shealea for organizing the #SHOSPH book tour! Find more reviews and features by following that hashtag on Twitter and see more of my thoughts at https://spinesinaline.wordpress.com!
When I saw that this book was about superheroes, I was intrigued. When I heard it had diverse representation, I immediately signed on for the tour. I was really happy to find that the rep in this book wasn't just for show; it's clear the author really cared about how they approached this representation, as well as really cared for their characters so they were front-and-center even in a story that you'd expect to be mostly focused on action. Somehow, the author managed the perfect balance of character development and expanding their stories with the more plot-driven side involving action and bad guys and superhero powers!
I think part of that was that the story really lent itself well to having a slow buildup, where we had more time to learn about the characters before they were thrust into the battle. I could've used a somewhat slower introduction, because I was super confused in the first 15 or so pages. We were being given a lot of names as if we already understood everyone's relationships, and even code names for some people (which I totally didn't pick up on until a couple chapters in). It was a lot to keep track of when we were going in with nothing so I had to do a lot of rereading once those names were sorted out later on.
Some more info about the rep of course. One of the main characters is Black, as the cover shows, and some secondary characters are as well. There are also Jewish characters, several who identify as queer and one who identifies as agender, and a number of characters who are Deaf so the use of ASL comes up a little in the book. There were some trigger warnings that came up as the book talks about systemic racism, which is directly addressed and challenged early on, and ableism. I did want to talk about this, because there's really an extended conversation about disabilities throughout the book. One of the characters recognizes ableist behaviour right away and tries to address it but it does take time for the others to change their attitudes. I still felt that we didn't really get away from this mindset, so I hope the characters continue to learn about this problematic behaviour as the series continues and are actively called out for such behaviour.
What I really loved in this book was that along with our balance of self-discovery as the teens explore who they are and who they'd like to be seen as, and the more action-heavy sections, there was constantly this more tense and suspenseful tone underneath everything. So many people in this story are keeping secrets! It makes it really easy to speed through this one because you just want to figure out what is going on!
One quick issue though, more to do with the characters than the writing. Without giving away spoilers, one character starts to use contacts but is (understandably) freaked out about touching their eyeball. Others try to help them out and they kept being described as just taking the contact case and fishing around in the liquid for the contacts, like, NO, WASH YOUR HANDS BEFORE YOU GO ANYWHERE NEAR SOMEONE'S ELSE'S EYE (or your own for that matter). And that's all I have to say about that :)
This was a really great read and I'm so looking forward to the next in the series!
When I saw that this book was about superheroes, I was intrigued. When I heard it had diverse representation, I immediately signed on for the tour. I was really happy to find that the rep in this book wasn't just for show; it's clear the author really cared about how they approached this representation, as well as really cared for their characters so they were front-and-center even in a story that you'd expect to be mostly focused on action. Somehow, the author managed the perfect balance of character development and expanding their stories with the more plot-driven side involving action and bad guys and superhero powers!
I think part of that was that the story really lent itself well to having a slow buildup, where we had more time to learn about the characters before they were thrust into the battle. I could've used a somewhat slower introduction, because I was super confused in the first 15 or so pages. We were being given a lot of names as if we already understood everyone's relationships, and even code names for some people (which I totally didn't pick up on until a couple chapters in). It was a lot to keep track of when we were going in with nothing so I had to do a lot of rereading once those names were sorted out later on.
Some more info about the rep of course. One of the main characters is Black, as the cover shows, and some secondary characters are as well. There are also Jewish characters, several who identify as queer and one who identifies as agender, and a number of characters who are Deaf so the use of ASL comes up a little in the book. There were some trigger warnings that came up as the book talks about systemic racism, which is directly addressed and challenged early on, and ableism. I did want to talk about this, because there's really an extended conversation about disabilities throughout the book. One of the characters recognizes ableist behaviour right away and tries to address it but it does take time for the others to change their attitudes. I still felt that we didn't really get away from this mindset, so I hope the characters continue to learn about this problematic behaviour as the series continues and are actively called out for such behaviour.
What I really loved in this book was that along with our balance of self-discovery as the teens explore who they are and who they'd like to be seen as, and the more action-heavy sections, there was constantly this more tense and suspenseful tone underneath everything. So many people in this story are keeping secrets! It makes it really easy to speed through this one because you just want to figure out what is going on!
One quick issue though, more to do with the characters than the writing. Without giving away spoilers, one character starts to use contacts but is (understandably) freaked out about touching their eyeball. Others try to help them out and they kept being described as just taking the contact case and fishing around in the liquid for the contacts, like, NO, WASH YOUR HANDS BEFORE YOU GO ANYWHERE NEAR SOMEONE'S ELSE'S EYE (or your own for that matter). And that's all I have to say about that :)
This was a really great read and I'm so looking forward to the next in the series!
May 14, 2018
This is a very ambitious book, as regards the core themes: the way superpowers intersect with race and ability, the physical and mental strain of being a superhero, and most importantly, growing up with superhero parents and the expectations it entails, whether intrinsic or extrinsic. It has a lovely cast of queer and disabled characters from different backgrounds. It could be more polished, though, in terms of information reveal, introducing characters, and plot holes. Still, three stars because the concept was very good, and not an easy one to write well.
October 9, 2020
Secondhand Origin Stories tells us about second-generation superheroes on both sides of the divide. We have Jamie, Issac, and Yael, who grew up seeing their parents and/or idols saving the world on television screens, who were raised in the highly-guarded Sentinel Plaza, and who trust the Altered Persons Bureau as being the ultimate good guy. On the other hand, there’s Opal, who as both a black woman and an altered faces discrimination that the “tower kids”, as she eventually comes to call them, can’t even begin to imagine. She wants to use her powers for good, but she also knows that the Altered Persons Bureau is not all it’s cracked up to be. Just ask her father, who’s in jail for “illegally” using his powers (read: he intervened in a domestic abuse situation, but because he’s not backed by an official APB-sanctioned superhero team, his actions are considered vigilantism and are punishable to the highest extent of the law). The four kids band together when a conspiracy when the Sentinel Plaza is attacked by an altered, and when, in the wake of that attack, a private company that creates prisons meant to hold altereds surfaces and tries to recruit Issac, a renowned supergenius, to their side.
The premise of the book makes it sound pretty action-packed, but to my surprise, it actually wasn’t. Which isn’t a bad thing, mind you! Secondhand Origin Stories is more character-driven than it is plot-based, but I appreciated it a lot because it made sense. The title itself tells you that this is going to tell you what makes these characters the way they are, and Lee Blauersouth delivered on that count. I found myself relating to, rooting for, and in Yael’s case falling in love with these teens who are determined to do better than their parents. Their motivations, strengths, weaknesses, foibles, fears, hopes, and dreams were all so vivid and well-written. I truly felt each character was their own person – one I’d want to meet in real life, mind you.
The book also addresses some real-world issues very nicely. In particular, it talks about the privatization of the penal system and the government’s inability to deal with crime at the grassroots level. Rather than addressing poverty, inequality, and other root causes of crime, the APB simply seeks to keep treating the symptoms, enabled by a profitable military-industrial complex that feeds off of altered prisoners. Create a problem, sell the solution. Without giving away the plot of the book, I would just like to say that Lee addresses a lot of the questions I have about the Marvel and the DC universe.
Read my full review here.
Find more from me:
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The premise of the book makes it sound pretty action-packed, but to my surprise, it actually wasn’t. Which isn’t a bad thing, mind you! Secondhand Origin Stories is more character-driven than it is plot-based, but I appreciated it a lot because it made sense. The title itself tells you that this is going to tell you what makes these characters the way they are, and Lee Blauersouth delivered on that count. I found myself relating to, rooting for, and in Yael’s case falling in love with these teens who are determined to do better than their parents. Their motivations, strengths, weaknesses, foibles, fears, hopes, and dreams were all so vivid and well-written. I truly felt each character was their own person – one I’d want to meet in real life, mind you.
The book also addresses some real-world issues very nicely. In particular, it talks about the privatization of the penal system and the government’s inability to deal with crime at the grassroots level. Rather than addressing poverty, inequality, and other root causes of crime, the APB simply seeks to keep treating the symptoms, enabled by a profitable military-industrial complex that feeds off of altered prisoners. Create a problem, sell the solution. Without giving away the plot of the book, I would just like to say that Lee addresses a lot of the questions I have about the Marvel and the DC universe.
Read my full review here.
Find more from me:
Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube
December 26, 2019
First of all: I'd like to thank Lee Blauersouth for so kindly sending me the ebook of Secondhand Origin Stories!
So I read this book back in the beginning of November when I was working 10 hour shifts providing IT support at a children's hospital in Edmonton, so I read it in a flurry AND made the mistake of not writing any notes during or afterwards. I've tried to sit down to write a formal review whenever I got the time since then, but admittedly don't remember enough detail to do my usual Plot, Characters, Worldbuilding, Writing Style format.
That being said, I do remember my general feelings about the characters and plot while I was reading it, and I will say this: Secondhand Origin Stories and its later books has the potential to be the X-men we deserve.
This book takes place in a world where superheroes are commonplace, particularly because large populations of people have been what's called "altered." So cities have their own superhero teams, and that means there's politics and ethical vs. nonethical science dilemmas as well.
The main characters are teenagers, either with powers or not, who form a found family based on the fact that the adults around them constantly try to keep them out of the picture while failing to to truly see what's going on around them. They're also a diverse group--one is nonbinary and uses xe/xyr pronouns, I'm pretty sure both girls in the group like girls, etc etc.
Their diversity also shows in their varying value systems--one scene that stuck with me was where one character accepts a job from a company that profits off of putting people like another character's dad in prison. These kinds of scenes not only lend itself to more tension in the story-- which makes you, as the reader uncomfortable to know that there are no "good" sides to pick--but also speaks to a lot of our current real-life dilemmas.
Basically, Secondhand Origin Stories weaves an incredibly intriguing world of superheroes that explores topics that should be explored by superhero narratives, but aren't. And I'm excited to see what book 2 has in store!
April 27, 2018
I honestly don’t know where to start — there are too many great things going on in this book.
First, let me introduce you to the squad.
Opal Flynn. A black altered girl from Detroit whose dream is to go to Chicago and become a superhero. Jamie Tillman-Voss. The younger daughter of the leader of the Sentinels, Lodestar. Issac Tillman-Voss. Jamie’s older brother. Like Jamie, he doesn’t have altered genes. But has a great and brilliant mind, and has multiple patents under his name, and he’s not even 18! Yael Meade. You’ll love Jamie because you’ll see her as this little thing that must be cherished and hugged and stuff but Yael is like the big sibling that always got your back and you respect and love big time! And Martin. I’d like to think of Martin as the fifth member of the squad. For a synthetic intelligence, they have gotten very well at getting acquainted with people.
Now that we know them, let’s move on.
The story is set in the future where some people’s genes were experimented on and altered to create abilities — bioluminescence, strength, shape-shifting, and electricity, among others; and where superhero teams are real, alive, and kicking criminals.
Yes, this book is about superheroes, but they’re battling with more than just good guys beating bad guys. I assure you that there are bad guys, and there are some pretty major fight scenes. But more importantly, it also brings light to several real-life issues.
One of Opal’s main reasons for being a superhero is to do something for people like her dad — in jail, serving time for using his powers in helping other people illegally (apparently!), and people inside are not really in the best of conditions. People in racial minorities are more likely to serve longer time and imprisoned for charges way worse than necessary. Same goes for the altereds. And the government agency overseeing all these, is the same agency the superheroes are reporting to. Just like the present times, eh?
There’s also this bit of homophobia when Bridgewater told Yael to stop ‘flip-flopping genders’ as xe pleases because it is ‘ridiculous and offensive’. Some statement there from someone running a bureau that doesn’t really care about the well-being of altereds. And at that moment I wanted to strangle him, Heavenly Rule line or not.
Issac may also be seen as an ableist when he insisted to think that he is basically useless and can’t function properly without his hearing. Personally, though, I believe he had this thinking because everyone was acting weird around him, and that’s what he thinks the reason is. But it’s also possible that he’s projecting his feelings to them. Although Issac was able to sort this out as the story progressed, he really did had a hard time with this during the first few days after the incident.
At the top of the Altered Persons Bureau in Chicago, lived three (or four) of our squad with their family, the Sentinels — Melissa, Neil (LodeStar), Drew (Capricorn), Solomon (Helix) and formerly Jenna (Bion). And let me tell you when it comes to family problems, superhero families are no different than normal ones. There can be gaps between the members, communication problems, misunderstanding, and sometimes things can get intense pretty quickly because of, well uhm, physical abilities. They also have family sleepovers!! Cute, and it humanizes them!
A couple of things I would like to add before I wrap-up this review:
I really love this meta moment between Bridgewater and Yael when he told xyr this:
(Although, right after that he dropped the homophobic remark to Yael so I hated him again.)
And superheroes love pizza too!
And Yael has a pizza shirt with a saying that we should all live by!
These words from Opal’s cousin Aldis about being able to be a hero, without being a superhero.
And this beautiful moment between Yael and xyr papa (I’M NOT CRYING, YOU’RE CRYING!!)
Lastly, villains aren’t always goons and thugs creating mayhem in the city. Sometimes (or more often than not), they are men in suits and respectable positions, lobbying harmful bills, implementing unfair policies, and benefitting from them. Looking at you, probably almost every people of power in the government!
Overall.
Diverse characters, check. Awesome teenage superheroes, check. Family drama, check. Self-aware SIs that send you funny memes, check. A nod to real-life issues that we need to actually fight, check. Action yaas, CHECK!
Lee’s writing had me hooked from the very start, and they did a very great job bringing the characters to life with their words. I was just rooting for everybody until the very end and I’m very happy with how the story ended, but at the same time, I needed to know what happens after. (Cue me doing everything to get my hands on the next book!)
This book literally has everything, and you’ll be doing yourself a huge favor if you read it now!
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review as part of the blog tour hosted by Shealea @ That Bookshelf Bitch. Read full review here.
First, let me introduce you to the squad.
Opal Flynn. A black altered girl from Detroit whose dream is to go to Chicago and become a superhero. Jamie Tillman-Voss. The younger daughter of the leader of the Sentinels, Lodestar. Issac Tillman-Voss. Jamie’s older brother. Like Jamie, he doesn’t have altered genes. But has a great and brilliant mind, and has multiple patents under his name, and he’s not even 18! Yael Meade. You’ll love Jamie because you’ll see her as this little thing that must be cherished and hugged and stuff but Yael is like the big sibling that always got your back and you respect and love big time! And Martin. I’d like to think of Martin as the fifth member of the squad. For a synthetic intelligence, they have gotten very well at getting acquainted with people.
Now that we know them, let’s move on.
The story is set in the future where some people’s genes were experimented on and altered to create abilities — bioluminescence, strength, shape-shifting, and electricity, among others; and where superhero teams are real, alive, and kicking criminals.
Yes, this book is about superheroes, but they’re battling with more than just good guys beating bad guys. I assure you that there are bad guys, and there are some pretty major fight scenes. But more importantly, it also brings light to several real-life issues.
One of Opal’s main reasons for being a superhero is to do something for people like her dad — in jail, serving time for using his powers in helping other people illegally (apparently!), and people inside are not really in the best of conditions. People in racial minorities are more likely to serve longer time and imprisoned for charges way worse than necessary. Same goes for the altereds. And the government agency overseeing all these, is the same agency the superheroes are reporting to. Just like the present times, eh?
There’s also this bit of homophobia when Bridgewater told Yael to stop ‘flip-flopping genders’ as xe pleases because it is ‘ridiculous and offensive’. Some statement there from someone running a bureau that doesn’t really care about the well-being of altereds. And at that moment I wanted to strangle him, Heavenly Rule line or not.
Issac may also be seen as an ableist when he insisted to think that he is basically useless and can’t function properly without his hearing. Personally, though, I believe he had this thinking because everyone was acting weird around him, and that’s what he thinks the reason is. But it’s also possible that he’s projecting his feelings to them. Although Issac was able to sort this out as the story progressed, he really did had a hard time with this during the first few days after the incident.
At the top of the Altered Persons Bureau in Chicago, lived three (or four) of our squad with their family, the Sentinels — Melissa, Neil (LodeStar), Drew (Capricorn), Solomon (Helix) and formerly Jenna (Bion). And let me tell you when it comes to family problems, superhero families are no different than normal ones. There can be gaps between the members, communication problems, misunderstanding, and sometimes things can get intense pretty quickly because of, well uhm, physical abilities. They also have family sleepovers!! Cute, and it humanizes them!
A couple of things I would like to add before I wrap-up this review:
I really love this meta moment between Bridgewater and Yael when he told xyr this:
We are the science fiction of former decades. They wrote about us long before we existed. When I came into the outside world, I knew enough to find out how they saw us. Dating back before our founders were born, I could find us in stories. Always the same. Gods, or monstrosities. We are Superman, or we are Frankenstein’s monster. And half the time, even if we would be Superman, we end up monsters anyway.
(Although, right after that he dropped the homophobic remark to Yael so I hated him again.)
And superheroes love pizza too!
“I think today goes into my top five for worst days. Whew.”
“I’m going to rank it as number two,” Jamie agreed.
“Guys, I need pizza,” Opal contributed.
The thought of pizza was like the sun bursting through storm clouds. “God, yes.” Yael agreed fervently. Xe hadn’t eaten today.
And Yael has a pizza shirt with a saying that we should all live by!
Xe was wearing a t-shirt declaring that “every pizza is a personal pizza if you try hard and believe in yourself”.
These words from Opal’s cousin Aldis about being able to be a hero, without being a superhero.
And, since I got the choice, I’d rather help people without having to hurt anybody else. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we’ve got superheroes. But if I can run the rest of my life without violence, I’m going to. A superhero can defend the world from supervillains, but somebody’s still got to haul around furniture, create decent jobs, and look out for people in a bad situation trying to start over. There’re more problems superheroes can’t handle than ones they can.
And this beautiful moment between Yael and xyr papa (I’M NOT CRYING, YOU’RE CRYING!!)
Eventually, he turned to xyr. “What do I call you, then?”
“What?”
“You’ve banned me from calling you my daughter. But I don’t think you want me to call you my son.”
“Oh. No. That’s…really not any better for me.”
“Then what do I call you?”
“Just call me yours.”
Lastly, villains aren’t always goons and thugs creating mayhem in the city. Sometimes (or more often than not), they are men in suits and respectable positions, lobbying harmful bills, implementing unfair policies, and benefitting from them. Looking at you, probably almost every people of power in the government!
Overall.
Diverse characters, check. Awesome teenage superheroes, check. Family drama, check. Self-aware SIs that send you funny memes, check. A nod to real-life issues that we need to actually fight, check. Action yaas, CHECK!
Lee’s writing had me hooked from the very start, and they did a very great job bringing the characters to life with their words. I was just rooting for everybody until the very end and I’m very happy with how the story ended, but at the same time, I needed to know what happens after. (Cue me doing everything to get my hands on the next book!)
This book literally has everything, and you’ll be doing yourself a huge favor if you read it now!
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review as part of the blog tour hosted by Shealea @ That Bookshelf Bitch. Read full review here.
April 24, 2018
I was one of Lee's beta-readers for this (see, that's my name, right there in the acknowledgements! 8) mostly because I read a lot of Superhero Lit (seriously, at least a third of my 2017 reading list) and I was fascinated by the concept of a non-binary heroine and other things Lee was saying about the writing.
The version I beta-read was good, but the final version? It's excellent. Most of the rough patches were smoothed out, and everything was knocked into a better final shape. I eagerly hope that there will be more stories in this universe, 'cause I want to spend more time with these characters.
(And Lee, if you need beta-readers for that, well, you have my email address).
The version I beta-read was good, but the final version? It's excellent. Most of the rough patches were smoothed out, and everything was knocked into a better final shape. I eagerly hope that there will be more stories in this universe, 'cause I want to spend more time with these characters.
(And Lee, if you need beta-readers for that, well, you have my email address).
December 10, 2019
This is such a deeper story than one about the children of superheroes: it’s about figuring out what you want (especially when things you once saw through rose colored glasses are shown in their true colors), fighting for what is right despite it not being easy, and so much more. I really enjoyed this book and would absolutely recommend it if it sounds like something you’d be interested in.
December 14, 2025
took me two tries to finish this. great concept and characters, but didn’t really flow great for me
July 14, 2019
I received an e-ARC for free for a blog tour run by That Bookshelf Bitch. Check out the full schedule here
Before I start the feels train I thought I’d add this warning that Shealea gave us around the time we signed up for this tour. Honestly, I have no idea what this stuff refers to but it was in bold and warnings are important!
"The story involves sensitive issues, such as systemic racism and ableism"
When I started reading this book I had favorites. Since we follow four characters, all of them siblings. We have Issac who is the smart science tech guy of the family, Yael who is a shapeshifter, Jamie who is the baby sister, and Opal, a girl who wants to be a superhero and moves to Chicago to fulfill that dream. And at the start I couldn’t seem to get into the groove of so many characters. I instantly liked Issac though I’m not sure what about him I was attracted to. I’d say his smarts but maybe also how he saw Martin (an AI) as a human. I also have to say that Martin was awesome and I love him so much!
But it wasn’t until the story started to develop a bit more that I started to fall for the other characters. Yael was probably my second favorite because xe was all about family and protecting others, which is probably not the first thing you associate with a towering figure who looks like a previous villain. But just getting to know xyr (?) character and insecurities just made me fall for Yael.
That was when I started to really enjoy the book. I just really liked how even though everyone was so diverse I was able to create a connection with each them and their family situations. It grew from oh god so many characters to I want to know more about them!
And when I say diverse I mean it. This book really did a great job at introducing me to characters I had never seen before in books and doing it in a way that their differences weren’t weaknesses but strengths. One specific character I want to mention is Yael who is non-binary (I’m trying not to make a fool of myself, I’m still learning these terms so sorry if I say something wrong!). It was something that took me a bit getting used to and I have to admit that I wasn’t a huge fan of the first Yael scenes because I could not follow along with xyr (?) pronouns, which were mixed in with like 2-3 other people. See, even writing about Yael is making me a bit nervous. While reading I realized that xe was equivalent to he/she but I still get a bit mixed up with xyr. Not only with pronouns but I also had trouble with imagining Yael. How did xe look like? I wanted to know their biological gender and this book made me realize how dependent I am with this type of description. It made me realize that I could form a picture with all the other descriptors being given and how ingrained I am with he/she views (am I making sense?)
p.s. I was reading this book and was thinking I want to be Yael
But aside from a non-binary character we also had glimpses of characters with disabilities. And I feel like Jamie was at the forefront of this. Having lived her life coddled because of her poor health, she always felt like she had to prove that she wasn’t fragile and could do things for herself. And prove herself she did! Honestly, she was a character I wasn’t expecting to fall for because she’d been coddled. In a world with superheroes, advanced technology, and just danger, how was she going to survive out without protection (“without protection”).
And Opal. Even though our three siblings took the forefront of the beginning of the story I also feel like Opal really proved herself as a black women trying to be a superhero with a not so great background. The author made sure to address how she would be viewed in this society as a minority, which I feel very much parallels our own even though this is sort of a futuristic world. If she had been lighter, if she had an education, if this or that. But even though she didn’t fit inside this mold that was “ideal”, she proved that she could be a hero through her character and insistence.
WOW. I know I’m talking a lot about the characters but I think that’s one of this book’s greatest strengths. Each character has their own challenges they have to face and like all coming of age stories, they make mistakes and learn from them. Family was also a big part of this book and it really reminded me of my own life, not because I’ve been in similar situations, but because communication and understanding is always something that isn’t clear between “kids” and “adults”. I feel like adults always feel like they have to know best, that they need to show their best face and that’s a pressure that is explored here. Actually, maybe a good way to summarize some of the things in here is to say it’s OK to be human and to not be ok or in control all the time
Moving onto other parts of the story, I wasn’t a big fan of the pacing while introductions were made but once I’d settled down with the characters, I felt it was a good pace. I think anything else would have felt too rushed and it made fight scenes easier to follow along (I’m terrible with fight scenes!). In terms of the plot, I did enjoy it. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy reading about superheroes kicking butt and saving the world from bad guy corps trying to get their hands on a certain technology made for good? But it also wasn’t really what made this book for me. I did appreciate the end battle though so there’s that (hehe)
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book more so for the characters and their family situations. I ended up giving it a 4/5 only because it lacked a certain feel for me. It could have easily been a 5/5 but it’s one of those things that I just can’t explain.
Before I start the feels train I thought I’d add this warning that Shealea gave us around the time we signed up for this tour. Honestly, I have no idea what this stuff refers to but it was in bold and warnings are important!
"The story involves sensitive issues, such as systemic racism and ableism"
When I started reading this book I had favorites. Since we follow four characters, all of them siblings. We have Issac who is the smart science tech guy of the family, Yael who is a shapeshifter, Jamie who is the baby sister, and Opal, a girl who wants to be a superhero and moves to Chicago to fulfill that dream. And at the start I couldn’t seem to get into the groove of so many characters. I instantly liked Issac though I’m not sure what about him I was attracted to. I’d say his smarts but maybe also how he saw Martin (an AI) as a human. I also have to say that Martin was awesome and I love him so much!
But it wasn’t until the story started to develop a bit more that I started to fall for the other characters. Yael was probably my second favorite because xe was all about family and protecting others, which is probably not the first thing you associate with a towering figure who looks like a previous villain. But just getting to know xyr (?) character and insecurities just made me fall for Yael.
That was when I started to really enjoy the book. I just really liked how even though everyone was so diverse I was able to create a connection with each them and their family situations. It grew from oh god so many characters to I want to know more about them!
And when I say diverse I mean it. This book really did a great job at introducing me to characters I had never seen before in books and doing it in a way that their differences weren’t weaknesses but strengths. One specific character I want to mention is Yael who is non-binary (I’m trying not to make a fool of myself, I’m still learning these terms so sorry if I say something wrong!). It was something that took me a bit getting used to and I have to admit that I wasn’t a huge fan of the first Yael scenes because I could not follow along with xyr (?) pronouns, which were mixed in with like 2-3 other people. See, even writing about Yael is making me a bit nervous. While reading I realized that xe was equivalent to he/she but I still get a bit mixed up with xyr. Not only with pronouns but I also had trouble with imagining Yael. How did xe look like? I wanted to know their biological gender and this book made me realize how dependent I am with this type of description. It made me realize that I could form a picture with all the other descriptors being given and how ingrained I am with he/she views (am I making sense?)
p.s. I was reading this book and was thinking I want to be Yael
But aside from a non-binary character we also had glimpses of characters with disabilities. And I feel like Jamie was at the forefront of this. Having lived her life coddled because of her poor health, she always felt like she had to prove that she wasn’t fragile and could do things for herself. And prove herself she did! Honestly, she was a character I wasn’t expecting to fall for because she’d been coddled. In a world with superheroes, advanced technology, and just danger, how was she going to survive out without protection (“without protection”).
And Opal. Even though our three siblings took the forefront of the beginning of the story I also feel like Opal really proved herself as a black women trying to be a superhero with a not so great background. The author made sure to address how she would be viewed in this society as a minority, which I feel very much parallels our own even though this is sort of a futuristic world. If she had been lighter, if she had an education, if this or that. But even though she didn’t fit inside this mold that was “ideal”, she proved that she could be a hero through her character and insistence.
WOW. I know I’m talking a lot about the characters but I think that’s one of this book’s greatest strengths. Each character has their own challenges they have to face and like all coming of age stories, they make mistakes and learn from them. Family was also a big part of this book and it really reminded me of my own life, not because I’ve been in similar situations, but because communication and understanding is always something that isn’t clear between “kids” and “adults”. I feel like adults always feel like they have to know best, that they need to show their best face and that’s a pressure that is explored here. Actually, maybe a good way to summarize some of the things in here is to say it’s OK to be human and to not be ok or in control all the time
Moving onto other parts of the story, I wasn’t a big fan of the pacing while introductions were made but once I’d settled down with the characters, I felt it was a good pace. I think anything else would have felt too rushed and it made fight scenes easier to follow along (I’m terrible with fight scenes!). In terms of the plot, I did enjoy it. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy reading about superheroes kicking butt and saving the world from bad guy corps trying to get their hands on a certain technology made for good? But it also wasn’t really what made this book for me. I did appreciate the end battle though so there’s that (hehe)
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book more so for the characters and their family situations. I ended up giving it a 4/5 only because it lacked a certain feel for me. It could have easily been a 5/5 but it’s one of those things that I just can’t explain.
October 17, 2017
I beta'd this book for the author, and it was honestly so freaking good. Even at an early stage, the characters were complex and the stakes dire. If you're looking for a book that's hella diverse with kickass superheroes, this book is for you!!
August 20, 2018
Opal’s father should have been a superhero, but he used his powers to protect a neighbor illegally and wound up in jail. Ever since, Opal has kept her nose clean, excelling in school and decorum, in the hope of being licensed and redeeming the family name. Now she’s headed from Detroit to Chicago to try out for the most famous superhero team, the Sentinels.
Issac is the son of the Sentinels’ leader and the brilliant scientist that created his cybernetic prostheses, allowing the hero to continue his career despite severe injuries. He didn’t inherit his father’s powers, but is an intellectual prodigy in his own right. Issac wants to help the world with some nanotech he’s been developing to fix brain damage, but may have told the wrong people.
Jamie is Issac’s younger sister. Instead of powers or gadgeteering, she inherited a constellation of minor chronic conditions and borderline disabilities that makes her fragile and often ill. Her family is very protective of Jamie, which has isolated her from the outside world and left her rather naive.
Yael is possibly the most powerful Altered in existence. Unfortunately, the nature of xer powers makes it clear that xe is not the child of the man xe has called “Papa” all these years, but of two notorious supervillains. But no one will come out and say the truth to xer. Xer other living relative, Uncle Nodiah, has never even come to visit xer, despite being the head of the agency that sponsors the Sentinels!
When tragedy strikes, these four teenagers (and one other) will have to deal with dark family secrets, personal loss, prejudice, and a villain none of them were expecting.
This young adult novel is the first in a prospective “Second Sentinels” series, but thankfully is complete in itself. It takes place in a near future where “Altered”, people who have been given superpowers by advanced (but not always perfected) science, are common enough that there is a need to regulate them and license superheroes to deal with the issue.
The good: There’s a lot going on here. The story touches on institutional racism, the prison-industrial complex, gender and sexuality issues, disability, and of course the standard coming of age and dealing with a dysfunctional family subplots so common in YA literature. This gives the story layers, and makes it worth rereading. (On the other hand, parents who don’t like “politics” or “mature themes” in their kids’ literature may balk at this one.)
Yael, especially, is an interesting character, as xer ability to shapeshift has given xer a genderfluid identity. At one point Yael is arguing with xer Papa and shouts “I am not your daughter!” Then xe has to back up and explain that in this instance xe just meant that xe doesn’t identify as female.
This book uses the subplot of the adults stupidly keeping secrets from the young protagonists much better than SYLO, which I reviewed a while back. The parents and mentors have their own personalities, and we can see how guilt and fear prevent them from being honest about both past and current problems. The kids (except Opal) have subsequently developed their own tendency to keep secrets stupidly, and we eventually learn that some of the things they thought were secret could have been answered if it hadn’t been inadvertently trained into them not to ask.
Not so good: There’s a lot going on in this book, and sometimes the various pieces get in each other’s way; several ideas just sort of pop up and vanish because other themes are going on at the same time. The superhero aspect of the book gets buried for long sections.
There’s some salty language, which may be “realistic” but makes the book unsuitable for some more sensitive readers.
Odd: This might be an artifact of self-publication, but Issac’s name. At first I thought it was just one of those “make my kid unique” names like Yael, but then Isaac Asimov’s first name is also spelled “Issac” in the text, and our young protagonist is Jewish, so I don’t know.
Overall: An ambitious book that doesn’t quite fulfill its full potential, but well worth checking out at your library if you enjoy “relevant” but not necessarily realistic young adult fiction.
Issac is the son of the Sentinels’ leader and the brilliant scientist that created his cybernetic prostheses, allowing the hero to continue his career despite severe injuries. He didn’t inherit his father’s powers, but is an intellectual prodigy in his own right. Issac wants to help the world with some nanotech he’s been developing to fix brain damage, but may have told the wrong people.
Jamie is Issac’s younger sister. Instead of powers or gadgeteering, she inherited a constellation of minor chronic conditions and borderline disabilities that makes her fragile and often ill. Her family is very protective of Jamie, which has isolated her from the outside world and left her rather naive.
Yael is possibly the most powerful Altered in existence. Unfortunately, the nature of xer powers makes it clear that xe is not the child of the man xe has called “Papa” all these years, but of two notorious supervillains. But no one will come out and say the truth to xer. Xer other living relative, Uncle Nodiah, has never even come to visit xer, despite being the head of the agency that sponsors the Sentinels!
When tragedy strikes, these four teenagers (and one other) will have to deal with dark family secrets, personal loss, prejudice, and a villain none of them were expecting.
This young adult novel is the first in a prospective “Second Sentinels” series, but thankfully is complete in itself. It takes place in a near future where “Altered”, people who have been given superpowers by advanced (but not always perfected) science, are common enough that there is a need to regulate them and license superheroes to deal with the issue.
The good: There’s a lot going on here. The story touches on institutional racism, the prison-industrial complex, gender and sexuality issues, disability, and of course the standard coming of age and dealing with a dysfunctional family subplots so common in YA literature. This gives the story layers, and makes it worth rereading. (On the other hand, parents who don’t like “politics” or “mature themes” in their kids’ literature may balk at this one.)
Yael, especially, is an interesting character, as xer ability to shapeshift has given xer a genderfluid identity. At one point Yael is arguing with xer Papa and shouts “I am not your daughter!” Then xe has to back up and explain that in this instance xe just meant that xe doesn’t identify as female.
This book uses the subplot of the adults stupidly keeping secrets from the young protagonists much better than SYLO, which I reviewed a while back. The parents and mentors have their own personalities, and we can see how guilt and fear prevent them from being honest about both past and current problems. The kids (except Opal) have subsequently developed their own tendency to keep secrets stupidly, and we eventually learn that some of the things they thought were secret could have been answered if it hadn’t been inadvertently trained into them not to ask.
Not so good: There’s a lot going on in this book, and sometimes the various pieces get in each other’s way; several ideas just sort of pop up and vanish because other themes are going on at the same time. The superhero aspect of the book gets buried for long sections.
There’s some salty language, which may be “realistic” but makes the book unsuitable for some more sensitive readers.
Odd: This might be an artifact of self-publication, but Issac’s name. At first I thought it was just one of those “make my kid unique” names like Yael, but then Isaac Asimov’s first name is also spelled “Issac” in the text, and our young protagonist is Jewish, so I don’t know.
Overall: An ambitious book that doesn’t quite fulfill its full potential, but well worth checking out at your library if you enjoy “relevant” but not necessarily realistic young adult fiction.
May 28, 2021
2,5 stars. I really try to read all the books I buy because DNFing something you were intrigued enough by to spend money on is just a huge bummer... Couldn't do it for this one, I'm sorry. I feel bad for not connecting to it, because the whole premise seemed so close to the "Not Your Sidekick"-series, one of my favorites. And YET.
My main issue was the introduction to the world. Maybe the reason I didn't intuitively get it is because I've never lived in the US, but that just sounds weird. It's not like it's based on knowing the geography of the US super well or anything like that, just, it felt so intimately connected to its cultural climate in broad assumptions that somehow it alienated me. I know it sounds weird and I wish I could explain it better, but I was majorly confused at all times. The thing about basing a fantasy/sci-fi story in current times is that one can rely on that some unspoken things just Are and the reader will Know, and that's mostly fine--but add a number of names and corporations and connections between them and suddenly it's like interpreting alphabet soup with dense broth.
A side note, there were some printing errors in the 150 pages I read. Random numbers were crammed into the middle of a word at le2ast times (yes i just did that). Sometimes the spacing between paragraphs and chapter breaks was whack. Not a major issue, but that stuff can really bother me.
My second issue bleeds into the first--the characters. Multiple POVs are fine but when names drop left and right and my mind imagines them in a void full of question marks it's very difficult to get comfortable, especially when the POV switches in jarring ways. First up, where am I? Why am I following your thoughts all of a sudden? It became all too difficult to keep track when all four protagonists have deep introspections and very little plot happens. I mean sure, their interactions were fun at times, their on-page queerness was lovely to see, disability being granted a space to exist in a sci-fi/fantasy in a way that wasn't Glorified Inspiration was great. I read the last chapter and there was a kiss between the two girls being described as "it was a movie kiss, it left her breathless" and then she reaches for her inhaler, it was very cute.
But the pros couldn't save it for me when I was nearly in tears asking myself "Capricorn?? who is THAT? oh my god now who's EZEKIEL??? is that LodeStar--no? yes? wait, supervillain? is LodeStar a supervillain? wasn't he hired by the--wait he's in jail? he's Dad to this character but not that character who is the sibling to that character, someone made pancakes, they call her Mom, what is her regular name, does she have a superhero name, maybe she's Capricorn...? wait is gene therapy legal or not--oh no oh no POV SWITCH, FUCK, where????"
This book stressed me out and I'm trying to protect myself from a reading slump and for the sake of my mental health I had to quit. I think it has a lot of redeeming qualities, it has a breezy tone that can turn dark and depressive and back again in skillful ways, it has queerness and disability rep in abundance.
My main issue was the introduction to the world. Maybe the reason I didn't intuitively get it is because I've never lived in the US, but that just sounds weird. It's not like it's based on knowing the geography of the US super well or anything like that, just, it felt so intimately connected to its cultural climate in broad assumptions that somehow it alienated me. I know it sounds weird and I wish I could explain it better, but I was majorly confused at all times. The thing about basing a fantasy/sci-fi story in current times is that one can rely on that some unspoken things just Are and the reader will Know, and that's mostly fine--but add a number of names and corporations and connections between them and suddenly it's like interpreting alphabet soup with dense broth.
A side note, there were some printing errors in the 150 pages I read. Random numbers were crammed into the middle of a word at le2ast times (yes i just did that). Sometimes the spacing between paragraphs and chapter breaks was whack. Not a major issue, but that stuff can really bother me.
My second issue bleeds into the first--the characters. Multiple POVs are fine but when names drop left and right and my mind imagines them in a void full of question marks it's very difficult to get comfortable, especially when the POV switches in jarring ways. First up, where am I? Why am I following your thoughts all of a sudden? It became all too difficult to keep track when all four protagonists have deep introspections and very little plot happens. I mean sure, their interactions were fun at times, their on-page queerness was lovely to see, disability being granted a space to exist in a sci-fi/fantasy in a way that wasn't Glorified Inspiration was great. I read the last chapter and there was a kiss between the two girls being described as "it was a movie kiss, it left her breathless" and then she reaches for her inhaler, it was very cute.
But the pros couldn't save it for me when I was nearly in tears asking myself "Capricorn?? who is THAT? oh my god now who's EZEKIEL??? is that LodeStar--no? yes? wait, supervillain? is LodeStar a supervillain? wasn't he hired by the--wait he's in jail? he's Dad to this character but not that character who is the sibling to that character, someone made pancakes, they call her Mom, what is her regular name, does she have a superhero name, maybe she's Capricorn...? wait is gene therapy legal or not--oh no oh no POV SWITCH, FUCK, where????"
This book stressed me out and I'm trying to protect myself from a reading slump and for the sake of my mental health I had to quit. I think it has a lot of redeeming qualities, it has a breezy tone that can turn dark and depressive and back again in skillful ways, it has queerness and disability rep in abundance.
April 30, 2018
When I read the synopsis to this book, I was super excited to dive into it. Mostly because it was a book about teenage superheroes and they were a diverse cast, which sounded similar to Not Your Sidekick, one of my all-time favourite books. I really wanted to love this book but I ended up just enjoying it and finding it unmemorable.
The novel was in multiple perspectives, four to be exact, and whilst I ended up not minding it too much and the story linked together nicely despite the change of perspective, I still found that I didn’t like the multiple perspectives. BUT this is more a personal preference then the author’s writing, because I did find that the story flowed quite well and there was hardly any confusion with the plot.
This book has a lovely, diverse cast, including: a person of colour, gender-fluid character, characters on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum and a character acquiring a disability after an accident.
I enjoyed reading about the four main characters, they were a diverse cast and you could see their relationship develop. Opal is a black characters (I can’t say for sure what her nationality is) and she was independent and intriguing and I adored her. Though she is reckless and is quick to protect, even those she does not know, which is an admirable quality in a superhero. Jamie was sweet as well, but when I first met her, I genuinely thought she was 10 years old at most because her voice just seemed so young. I grew to like her as the story went on, but when I first met her, I kind of found her annoying. Oops hehe.
I adored Yael, even though I found xe's voice hard to get into and understand at the beginning. Xe’s fiercely protective of Jamie and Issac, who he considers his siblings, and is a gender-fluid shapeshifter who uses xe and xyr as pronouns. I’m still on the fence about Issac, I don’t dislike him necessarily but I don’t love him. But I can admire his adaptability and clever mind. I guess we can’t love all the characters in a book, right? But I do love Martin, who is the family artificial intelligence (AI).
I think what made me love the characters more was the relationship they had together. Jamie, Issac and Yael seem to have grown up together and they are loyal and love each other wholeheartedly, doing anything and everything to protect each other and bring comfort to each other. They all end up adding Opal to their sibling family too, which I found was sweet and cute. Honestly, they all need to be protected from the world, especially Martin, who I think is my favourite character (yes, the AI is my fave character. Don’t judge me).
I think Lee Blauersouth’s writing is easy to read and they have a way with words that creates vivid imagery in one’s head. However, I found the plot to be extremely slow and the world-building to be lacking. I would have liked to know more about the history of the world and more about how the prisons work and how the Altered came to be and who the APB are. There are snippets of this information, but not enough to get a full picture. The plot, in my opinion, only really picks up after about halfway of the book, which I think is too long as the audience’s engagement will have wavered by then. The pacing was really slow too, which made it harder to keep wanting to read in my opinion. I felt most of the conflict was centred around family, but then I guess it did expand.
The last couple of chapters (the chapters are long) were much more fast paced and I devoured the end of the book in one sitting because I just needed to know what would happen to the squad. Despite the ending’s predictability, I quite enjoyed it and was satisfied by it.
One thing that would be useful for this story is an appendix of superhero names and their civilian identities, because I struggled to figure who was who because the changing perspectives would change how the characters viewed the superheroes
Overall, it was a cute read, and it is not that long of a book and I definitely would recommend you pick this up, especially if you love superhero stories. I want to see more of the characters so I will be picking up the sequel when it comes out.
The novel was in multiple perspectives, four to be exact, and whilst I ended up not minding it too much and the story linked together nicely despite the change of perspective, I still found that I didn’t like the multiple perspectives. BUT this is more a personal preference then the author’s writing, because I did find that the story flowed quite well and there was hardly any confusion with the plot.
This book has a lovely, diverse cast, including: a person of colour, gender-fluid character, characters on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum and a character acquiring a disability after an accident.
I enjoyed reading about the four main characters, they were a diverse cast and you could see their relationship develop. Opal is a black characters (I can’t say for sure what her nationality is) and she was independent and intriguing and I adored her. Though she is reckless and is quick to protect, even those she does not know, which is an admirable quality in a superhero. Jamie was sweet as well, but when I first met her, I genuinely thought she was 10 years old at most because her voice just seemed so young. I grew to like her as the story went on, but when I first met her, I kind of found her annoying. Oops hehe.
I adored Yael, even though I found xe's voice hard to get into and understand at the beginning. Xe’s fiercely protective of Jamie and Issac, who he considers his siblings, and is a gender-fluid shapeshifter who uses xe and xyr as pronouns. I’m still on the fence about Issac, I don’t dislike him necessarily but I don’t love him. But I can admire his adaptability and clever mind. I guess we can’t love all the characters in a book, right? But I do love Martin, who is the family artificial intelligence (AI).
I think what made me love the characters more was the relationship they had together. Jamie, Issac and Yael seem to have grown up together and they are loyal and love each other wholeheartedly, doing anything and everything to protect each other and bring comfort to each other. They all end up adding Opal to their sibling family too, which I found was sweet and cute. Honestly, they all need to be protected from the world, especially Martin, who I think is my favourite character (yes, the AI is my fave character. Don’t judge me).
I think Lee Blauersouth’s writing is easy to read and they have a way with words that creates vivid imagery in one’s head. However, I found the plot to be extremely slow and the world-building to be lacking. I would have liked to know more about the history of the world and more about how the prisons work and how the Altered came to be and who the APB are. There are snippets of this information, but not enough to get a full picture. The plot, in my opinion, only really picks up after about halfway of the book, which I think is too long as the audience’s engagement will have wavered by then. The pacing was really slow too, which made it harder to keep wanting to read in my opinion. I felt most of the conflict was centred around family, but then I guess it did expand.
The last couple of chapters (the chapters are long) were much more fast paced and I devoured the end of the book in one sitting because I just needed to know what would happen to the squad. Despite the ending’s predictability, I quite enjoyed it and was satisfied by it.
One thing that would be useful for this story is an appendix of superhero names and their civilian identities, because I struggled to figure who was who because the changing perspectives would change how the characters viewed the superheroes
Overall, it was a cute read, and it is not that long of a book and I definitely would recommend you pick this up, especially if you love superhero stories. I want to see more of the characters so I will be picking up the sequel when it comes out.
August 31, 2018
Trigger warning: systematic racism and ableism in the Secondhand Origin Stories. There may be these issues in the novel but it had been corrected throughout the novel.
Interesting premise, superheroes, supervillains? thrown in with a lot of amazingly diverse characters, YES! I am glad my timeline has been blessed by this book.
My gods, my mind is everywhere. Have you seen the world building in this book? It’s captivating. Details were great and then combined with some action sequences. It was spot on. Read a little excerpt from the book here. I am not trying to oversell it but, I really enjoyed it. Another thing is it’s either a hit or a miss with me dealing and reading a book with multiple characters, bouncing off to another and back. And I clearly enjoyed and loved this.
It all began with four characters, Opal, who after graduating went to Chicago in hope to become a superhero like she has always dreamt. Isaac who is a brilliant sci-tech in his home. Jamie his younger sister, whom I really liked, because of her headstrong personality. And Yael a shapeshifter who seems under the impressions of being uptight but actually has a soft spot for hamsters. (Five? Martin!!!!! He reminds me of GLADIS Totally Spies. I love that A.I.)
The creation of these characters is what we rarely see in superhero-world, its diversity. take note Yael uses the gender-neutral pronouns xe and xyr and it’s new to me. It makes sense right? for a shapeshifting character to be gender-neutral, I love it. There are also themes of queer, coming out to the people you love, accepting yourself for who you really are and knowing yourself. Being disabled, racism and health issues. There was a lot of representation in the novel. I love how I came to understand and learn more about it. And knowing that others may find it in this book and enjoyed it as much as I did is amazing.
I admit I thought that I wouldn’t enjoy it but once you hit its momentum there is no putting down, I was worried because of what had happened to Isaac and the way he is acting about it. Coincidentally, I came about Shealea’s heads-up warning. I was more swooped to it than I did, I needed answers and I did. Right now, I am just so blessed that I came across this book.
Secondhand Origin Stories has a character-driven plot, a captivating and empowering read. Which I have very much enjoyed and had a lot to learn from.
I just read the first one and I am already seeing Lee, tweeting about the second book It got me more hyped. Excited for what is installed for us!
Interesting premise, superheroes, supervillains? thrown in with a lot of amazingly diverse characters, YES! I am glad my timeline has been blessed by this book.
My gods, my mind is everywhere. Have you seen the world building in this book? It’s captivating. Details were great and then combined with some action sequences. It was spot on. Read a little excerpt from the book here. I am not trying to oversell it but, I really enjoyed it. Another thing is it’s either a hit or a miss with me dealing and reading a book with multiple characters, bouncing off to another and back. And I clearly enjoyed and loved this.
It all began with four characters, Opal, who after graduating went to Chicago in hope to become a superhero like she has always dreamt. Isaac who is a brilliant sci-tech in his home. Jamie his younger sister, whom I really liked, because of her headstrong personality. And Yael a shapeshifter who seems under the impressions of being uptight but actually has a soft spot for hamsters. (Five? Martin!!!!! He reminds me of GLADIS Totally Spies. I love that A.I.)
The creation of these characters is what we rarely see in superhero-world, its diversity. take note Yael uses the gender-neutral pronouns xe and xyr and it’s new to me. It makes sense right? for a shapeshifting character to be gender-neutral, I love it. There are also themes of queer, coming out to the people you love, accepting yourself for who you really are and knowing yourself. Being disabled, racism and health issues. There was a lot of representation in the novel. I love how I came to understand and learn more about it. And knowing that others may find it in this book and enjoyed it as much as I did is amazing.
I admit I thought that I wouldn’t enjoy it but once you hit its momentum there is no putting down, I was worried because of what had happened to Isaac and the way he is acting about it. Coincidentally, I came about Shealea’s heads-up warning. I was more swooped to it than I did, I needed answers and I did. Right now, I am just so blessed that I came across this book.
Secondhand Origin Stories has a character-driven plot, a captivating and empowering read. Which I have very much enjoyed and had a lot to learn from.
I just read the first one and I am already seeing Lee, tweeting about the second book It got me more hyped. Excited for what is installed for us!
January 12, 2025
AUGH WHAT A GOOD BOOK. This is such a character driven book and I LOVED that. The author did a phenomenal job of creating characters that, for lack of a better term, didn't meta game. The characters reacted to situations, based on their backgrounds and what they had seen so far. It seems like a really obvious thing but oftentimes I feel like characters can react to situations in a neat, wrapped up way. Here characters made messy, unhelpful assumptions that were very logical what they had seen and what they hadn't seen. This is just one aspect of what makes this author's characters so compelling.
I truly love all of them and I cannot believe how much Yael and I are alike. Xe is just like how I was with my sister and my cousin. Me🤝Yael: needing a way to punch our family's problems so we can protect them.
My one complaint is, I still don't really understand what being an Altered is. What do they all have, versus what is a personal superpower. I feel like that could have used better elaboration.
It had a very satisfying ending too! It didn't just show a happy victory scene but took the time for characters to have meaningful conversations after the fact. Wrapping up that segment of their character arc and giving a sense of resolution in a way that made me love all the characters more. I actually teared up at the end because I was so happy and proud of them all. You can just tell how much attention went into this book. An excellent start to the year.
I truly love all of them and I cannot believe how much Yael and I are alike. Xe is just like how I was with my sister and my cousin. Me🤝Yael: needing a way to punch our family's problems so we can protect them.
My one complaint is, I still don't really understand what being an Altered is. What do they all have, versus what is a personal superpower. I feel like that could have used better elaboration.
It had a very satisfying ending too! It didn't just show a happy victory scene but took the time for characters to have meaningful conversations after the fact. Wrapping up that segment of their character arc and giving a sense of resolution in a way that made me love all the characters more. I actually teared up at the end because I was so happy and proud of them all. You can just tell how much attention went into this book. An excellent start to the year.
April 26, 2018
This was quite an enjoyable superhero novel! If you like anything to do with superheroes, then this is worth checking out!
I really liked how much diversity is in this story. I usually don’t point this out when I’m reading a book but I thought the author did a spectacular job incorporating it into the story. It added so many more dimensions to the characters.
I also really liked how character-driven this novel was. I’m a sucker for good character development, and this book definitely delivered on that front! All of the characters changed as the story progressed, and I loved that they were able to self-reflect and grow as individuals. Also…. SUPERHEROES! I loved that this novel featured them in such a unique way. It was great to view them as more than just saviours, but as humans, too.
As I had mentioned, this is a character-driven story. This means that the plot moves quite slowly. This was the only drawback to the novel; I wanted it to be a bit more fast-paced. However, I was willing to forgo that since the story had such amazing themes and characters in it.
I had so much fun reading this novel and exploring the multitude of issues it brings to the surface with the diverse cast of characters! For those reasons, I’m giving it a solid 3/5 stars!
I really liked how much diversity is in this story. I usually don’t point this out when I’m reading a book but I thought the author did a spectacular job incorporating it into the story. It added so many more dimensions to the characters.
I also really liked how character-driven this novel was. I’m a sucker for good character development, and this book definitely delivered on that front! All of the characters changed as the story progressed, and I loved that they were able to self-reflect and grow as individuals. Also…. SUPERHEROES! I loved that this novel featured them in such a unique way. It was great to view them as more than just saviours, but as humans, too.
As I had mentioned, this is a character-driven story. This means that the plot moves quite slowly. This was the only drawback to the novel; I wanted it to be a bit more fast-paced. However, I was willing to forgo that since the story had such amazing themes and characters in it.
I had so much fun reading this novel and exploring the multitude of issues it brings to the surface with the diverse cast of characters! For those reasons, I’m giving it a solid 3/5 stars!
January 28, 2019
What a great story. Do you like secrets, personal issues, inner strength, moral questions, intelligence, ideals, reality checks, diverse casts, overwhelming odds, tragedy, family, and superheroes? Read this. The pace is measured, until it gets intense, the relationships felt real, and it is character-driven. They drive the plot, and it is very satisfying. I have a few quibbles, but first and foremost, I'm delighted to have read this.
There's no getting around the self-referencing in third person internal dialogues, but it's So Many Words. :) For some reason, Yael's musings were the worst - not because of pronouns, but because xe seemed the most childish, somehow. I'm assuming it's a temperament problem, intentional, and will be sorted in future stories. Other reviewers have mentioned the misgendering - but it is addressed, and by Yael, in xyr own time, and that seems right to me.
Bonus: the worldbuilding is top-notch, filtered in via the characters - I feel like I've been there. It wasn't entirely comfortable, the more I learned, which is just brilliant.
There's no getting around the self-referencing in third person internal dialogues, but it's So Many Words. :) For some reason, Yael's musings were the worst - not because of pronouns, but because xe seemed the most childish, somehow. I'm assuming it's a temperament problem, intentional, and will be sorted in future stories. Other reviewers have mentioned the misgendering - but it is addressed, and by Yael, in xyr own time, and that seems right to me.
Bonus: the worldbuilding is top-notch, filtered in via the characters - I feel like I've been there. It wasn't entirely comfortable, the more I learned, which is just brilliant.
April 25, 2018
You can see my full review here!
*I received Secondhand Origin Stories from That Bookshelf Bitch for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.*
The story involves sensitive issues, such as systemic racism and ableism.
This book was AMAZING. Superheroes with all of the diversity and racial commentary and found families and 8 YEAR OLD ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE’S. I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH (just in case you didn't get that from the updates, I'll say it again). I was so surprised when characters I disliked became… likable? The character development for them all were amazing. By the end of the book, if I didn’t like them, I understood them, which is saying a lot because I’m stubborn with my opinions. think the thing I found really interesting was how Lee expanded on the psychological and physical costs of superhero abilities, which we don’t see in superhero movies often. So YES, I recommend. HIGHLY. GO READ IT PLEASE.
04/18-- I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH.
*I received Secondhand Origin Stories from That Bookshelf Bitch for free. This has in no way influenced my opinion of this book.*
The story involves sensitive issues, such as systemic racism and ableism.
This book was AMAZING. Superheroes with all of the diversity and racial commentary and found families and 8 YEAR OLD ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE’S. I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH (just in case you didn't get that from the updates, I'll say it again). I was so surprised when characters I disliked became… likable? The character development for them all were amazing. By the end of the book, if I didn’t like them, I understood them, which is saying a lot because I’m stubborn with my opinions. think the thing I found really interesting was how Lee expanded on the psychological and physical costs of superhero abilities, which we don’t see in superhero movies often. So YES, I recommend. HIGHLY. GO READ IT PLEASE.
04/18-- I LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH.
November 5, 2018
I would definitely recommend this one to a younger teen. It's kids (actually older teens) vs. adults/parents for the most part, though some of the adults are on the youngun's side. My main issue is that because the author tried to present you with all of the younger people's POV, rather than focusing on one, it ended up feeling like a very wide shallow pool as far as characterization.
August 22, 2020
Superheroes!
The author mentioned the book on Twitter and I one-clicked! There were some pacing problems and the beginning had too many points of view without enough differentiation, so it was hard to figure out who everyone was and what was going on. The story, though, is great and the themes and characters develop well. Teenage (future) superheroes!
The author mentioned the book on Twitter and I one-clicked! There were some pacing problems and the beginning had too many points of view without enough differentiation, so it was hard to figure out who everyone was and what was going on. The story, though, is great and the themes and characters develop well. Teenage (future) superheroes!
January 27, 2019
Rating it 4* in its niche of YA superhero fiction.
That is not my typical niche but I bought this because the author caught my attention on Twitter and I wanted to support them.
Diversity and inclusion is very much the core of this book and on the whole very nicely handled. An enjoyable read.
That is not my typical niche but I bought this because the author caught my attention on Twitter and I wanted to support them.
Diversity and inclusion is very much the core of this book and on the whole very nicely handled. An enjoyable read.
April 19, 2018
*4.5 stars*
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