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Nemesis #2
Sovereign
The highly anticipated sequel to Dreadnought, featuring “the most exciting new superheroes in decades.” (Kirkus, starred review)
Only nine months after her debut as the superhero Dreadnought, Danny Tozer is already a scarred veteran. Protecting a city the size of New Port is a team-sized job and she’s doing it alone. Between her newfound celebrity and her demanding cape duties, Dreadnought is stretched thin, and it’s only going to get worse.
When she crosses a newly discovered billionaire supervillain, Dreadnought comes under attack from all quarters. From her troubled family life to her disintegrating friendship with Calamity, there’s no lever too cruel for this villain to use against her.
She might be hard to kill, but there's more than one way to destroy a hero. Before the war is over, Dreadnought will be forced to confront parts of herself she never wanted to acknowledge.
And behind it all, an old enemy waits in the wings, ready to unleash a plot that will scar the world forever.
Only nine months after her debut as the superhero Dreadnought, Danny Tozer is already a scarred veteran. Protecting a city the size of New Port is a team-sized job and she’s doing it alone. Between her newfound celebrity and her demanding cape duties, Dreadnought is stretched thin, and it’s only going to get worse.
When she crosses a newly discovered billionaire supervillain, Dreadnought comes under attack from all quarters. From her troubled family life to her disintegrating friendship with Calamity, there’s no lever too cruel for this villain to use against her.
She might be hard to kill, but there's more than one way to destroy a hero. Before the war is over, Dreadnought will be forced to confront parts of herself she never wanted to acknowledge.
And behind it all, an old enemy waits in the wings, ready to unleash a plot that will scar the world forever.
352 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 25, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 538 reviews
August 10, 2019
No one is sadder than I am about the fact that this sequel does not quite live up to book one. While the ending was worth it, this is definitely a drop in quality. I liked book one a lot, but I think this one feels like the same thing repeated and I'm not into superhero novels enough to really care.
Pointless sequels are honestly an epidemic that needs to stop. Yes, there were a few loose threads after book one, but Danny had a great character arc and got some good friends. Here, it's as if she barely developed in book one. The entire arc is sort of new, but it all feels like a bit of a rehash.
The only “new” thing in this book was the romantic arc. No one is more shocked than I am, but I found Sara and Danny weirdly underwhelming here. While they made for a shippable dynamic in book one, I found their romantic buildup here so instantaneous. One minute they're fighting, next they're together. It was so disappointing. I really wanted the tension to be drawn out in a better way, even with just one more angsty scene before they got together, because their getting together was so anticlimactic and boring. They are still cute, and I have to admit, it was awesome to see Danny get a gf. There are SO few trans wlw in media. I think Nomi and Amanita from the Netflix show Sense8 are the only other example I can think of; I can't think of any in YA lit.
Okay, we need to talk about Graywytch's entire character and inclusion. Graywytch is a transphobe and a villain. The fact that she's a villain does not bother me at all; I totally understand and appreciate her being villainized by the narrative. My issue is that this very human, true-to-life villain talks like a comic. She comes off as a plot device rather than a very real threat to trans people, but somehow also says things that are... honestly incredibly horrifying? Using transphobia as a plot device just really rubs me the wrong way. I don't know how to word this, exactly, but I really dislike the fact that a real threat talks like a comic book villain. I feel like she's in here to tell cisgender people “hey, Danny's life sucks” and I appreciate that, but I don't think it's executed well. I feel like she'd be more terrifying and educational to cis people if she felt real, and right now, she feels like someone's parody of a comic book novel.
I also really wonder if the point here should be to inform cis readers of Danny's life sucking. Like, yes, it's great to do that, but... I feel like 100 pages of a novel being taken up by a TERF. Is not a decision I would make when writing what comes very close to being wish fulfillment for trans teens (in a good way). Because that's the intent, right? Most of this story — Danny finding acceptance, Danny finding a girlfriend, Danny managing to let go of her parents' opinions — would be validating as a trans teen, right? This is not my lane, but. I think the way Graywytch is used in this narrative crosses a line from empowering to torturous.
It's not really bad; Danny's still funny, the concept is still great, the action scenes are still pretty well-written, I loved the inclusion of an nb character. And the ending was fantastic; in fact, I think the ending may have been worth the rest of the book's existence. All in all, the book was still good. But until the last 15%, I couldn't shake the feeling that book one should've been a standalone. Get Danny and Sara tentatively together at the end of book one, leave it there. Perfect. This lukewarm sequel isn't doing anyone favors.
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Pointless sequels are honestly an epidemic that needs to stop. Yes, there were a few loose threads after book one, but Danny had a great character arc and got some good friends. Here, it's as if she barely developed in book one. The entire arc is sort of new, but it all feels like a bit of a rehash.
The only “new” thing in this book was the romantic arc. No one is more shocked than I am, but I found Sara and Danny weirdly underwhelming here. While they made for a shippable dynamic in book one, I found their romantic buildup here so instantaneous. One minute they're fighting, next they're together. It was so disappointing. I really wanted the tension to be drawn out in a better way, even with just one more angsty scene before they got together, because their getting together was so anticlimactic and boring. They are still cute, and I have to admit, it was awesome to see Danny get a gf. There are SO few trans wlw in media. I think Nomi and Amanita from the Netflix show Sense8 are the only other example I can think of; I can't think of any in YA lit.
Okay, we need to talk about Graywytch's entire character and inclusion. Graywytch is a transphobe and a villain. The fact that she's a villain does not bother me at all; I totally understand and appreciate her being villainized by the narrative. My issue is that this very human, true-to-life villain talks like a comic. She comes off as a plot device rather than a very real threat to trans people, but somehow also says things that are... honestly incredibly horrifying? Using transphobia as a plot device just really rubs me the wrong way. I don't know how to word this, exactly, but I really dislike the fact that a real threat talks like a comic book villain. I feel like she's in here to tell cisgender people “hey, Danny's life sucks” and I appreciate that, but I don't think it's executed well. I feel like she'd be more terrifying and educational to cis people if she felt real, and right now, she feels like someone's parody of a comic book novel.
I also really wonder if the point here should be to inform cis readers of Danny's life sucking. Like, yes, it's great to do that, but... I feel like 100 pages of a novel being taken up by a TERF. Is not a decision I would make when writing what comes very close to being wish fulfillment for trans teens (in a good way). Because that's the intent, right? Most of this story — Danny finding acceptance, Danny finding a girlfriend, Danny managing to let go of her parents' opinions — would be validating as a trans teen, right? This is not my lane, but. I think the way Graywytch is used in this narrative crosses a line from empowering to torturous.
It's not really bad; Danny's still funny, the concept is still great, the action scenes are still pretty well-written, I loved the inclusion of an nb character. And the ending was fantastic; in fact, I think the ending may have been worth the rest of the book's existence. All in all, the book was still good. But until the last 15%, I couldn't shake the feeling that book one should've been a standalone. Get Danny and Sara tentatively together at the end of book one, leave it there. Perfect. This lukewarm sequel isn't doing anyone favors.
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August 24, 2017
4.5 stars
Sovereign is an excellent sequel to Daniels' debut book, Dreadnought. Danny has had some time to adjust to her new powers and continues to deal with the fallout of the events of the last book. She and Doc Impossible are in a holding pattern with Graywytch in terms of the continued future of the Legion, but she loves her new job regardless.
The story moves quickly and there are some nicely written fight scenes. In addition, Daniels continues to keep a level of humorous dialogue which lightens the mood somewhat as she delves into some fairly dark areas. Danny is starting to come to terms with the fact that she has some anger issues stemming from her childhood of abuse that she needs to work out. That becomes especially important in light of the fact that she is so powerful and trusted by the public to keep them safe.
The cast of characters Daniels arrays around Danny is again very strong. Sarah returns as Calamity, the grey cape determined to see that justice prevails. Charlie, with his magic is an indespensible friend and ally; and Doc Impossible, of course, has some issues of her own to work out, but has become a strong fixture in Danny's life. In addition to the returning characters, there are some new ones as well, giving Danny a strong support group around her.
And what a good thing that is. There are some very graphic scenes in Sovereign of both physical and emotional pain being heaped upon Danny. Graywytch in particular seems to have gone completely off the deep end from grossly distasteful to dangerously insane in her prejudicial views.
This is such a great addition to the genre of superhero novels, but at the same time, it is wonderfully fresh and unique. The message from Dreadnought continues in Sovereign: even when everything you wanted comes true, you still need to deal with all the stuff inside you; there's no quick fix for any of it.
Sovereign is an excellent sequel to Daniels' debut book, Dreadnought. Danny has had some time to adjust to her new powers and continues to deal with the fallout of the events of the last book. She and Doc Impossible are in a holding pattern with Graywytch in terms of the continued future of the Legion, but she loves her new job regardless.
The story moves quickly and there are some nicely written fight scenes. In addition, Daniels continues to keep a level of humorous dialogue which lightens the mood somewhat as she delves into some fairly dark areas. Danny is starting to come to terms with the fact that she has some anger issues stemming from her childhood of abuse that she needs to work out. That becomes especially important in light of the fact that she is so powerful and trusted by the public to keep them safe.
The cast of characters Daniels arrays around Danny is again very strong. Sarah returns as Calamity, the grey cape determined to see that justice prevails. Charlie, with his magic is an indespensible friend and ally; and Doc Impossible, of course, has some issues of her own to work out, but has become a strong fixture in Danny's life. In addition to the returning characters, there are some new ones as well, giving Danny a strong support group around her.
And what a good thing that is. There are some very graphic scenes in Sovereign of both physical and emotional pain being heaped upon Danny. Graywytch in particular seems to have gone completely off the deep end from grossly distasteful to dangerously insane in her prejudicial views.
This is such a great addition to the genre of superhero novels, but at the same time, it is wonderfully fresh and unique. The message from Dreadnought continues in Sovereign: even when everything you wanted comes true, you still need to deal with all the stuff inside you; there's no quick fix for any of it.
August 14, 2017
It's a while after the first book and Danielle Tozer aka Dreadnought has taken over the protector of the city role from the now nearly defunct Legion. But it's not all good news. Graywytch is making Danny's work and personal life difficult, things are really strange with Calamity after the events of the first book and Doc Impossible has become a raging alcoholic. And on top of all that, maybe Danny has issues of her own that maybe can't be dealt with just by punching people.
While not explicitly calling it out this entry in the series has a strong mental health sub-theme, with Danny struggling to deal with her not-all-that-long-ago child abuse as well as whether it's a great idea for an recent abuse survivor to be super-punching people for a living. There's also whatever is going on with Calamity/Sarah as well as Doc and her issues. There's also no neat solutions here and the book is very much about the heroes keeping on going while dealing with their damage.
But more than in the first book, this really does feel like a love letter to the whole super-hero genre. Like the first one, a lot of work has been put into the world-building along the lines of what it would take to have an Earth like that of the modern DC or Marvel universes. How do super-heroes pay for themselves? Where does the law stand around them? If a world has super-heroes then why has technology and society developed so similarly to our Earth?
There's also a lot of thought put into why people with these sort of abilities would actually be super-heroes or villains and a lot of that comes through in the characters. Not least of that is the sheer joy that Danny derives from being Dreadnought. And some of that may not actually be all that healthy and that's addressed too.
There was really only one sour note for me and that's the way that the author has taken the character of Graywytch. Graywytch as an embodiment of Germaine Greer and her anti-trans attitudes is one thing, but (mild spoiler) feels a bit much. Her attitude is already nuts which makes the overt step here feel unnecessary.
One final thing: Dreadnought had some great incidental characters. This one follows that up with even the villains being great fun, particularly Princess Panzer and Red Steel.
If it was possible I'd give this 4.5 stars. As it is, I'll bump it to 5 just for the entertainment value if not for the serious well thought out look at superheroes.
While not explicitly calling it out this entry in the series has a strong mental health sub-theme, with Danny struggling to deal with her not-all-that-long-ago child abuse as well as whether it's a great idea for an recent abuse survivor to be super-punching people for a living. There's also whatever is going on with Calamity/Sarah as well as Doc and her issues. There's also no neat solutions here and the book is very much about the heroes keeping on going while dealing with their damage.
But more than in the first book, this really does feel like a love letter to the whole super-hero genre. Like the first one, a lot of work has been put into the world-building along the lines of what it would take to have an Earth like that of the modern DC or Marvel universes. How do super-heroes pay for themselves? Where does the law stand around them? If a world has super-heroes then why has technology and society developed so similarly to our Earth?
There's also a lot of thought put into why people with these sort of abilities would actually be super-heroes or villains and a lot of that comes through in the characters. Not least of that is the sheer joy that Danny derives from being Dreadnought. And some of that may not actually be all that healthy and that's addressed too.
There was really only one sour note for me and that's the way that the author has taken the character of Graywytch. Graywytch as an embodiment of Germaine Greer and her anti-trans attitudes is one thing, but (mild spoiler) feels a bit much. Her attitude is already nuts which makes the overt step here feel unnecessary.
One final thing: Dreadnought had some great incidental characters. This one follows that up with even the villains being great fun, particularly Princess Panzer and Red Steel.
If it was possible I'd give this 4.5 stars. As it is, I'll bump it to 5 just for the entertainment value if not for the serious well thought out look at superheroes.
August 29, 2017
April Daniels might single-handedly be restoring my faith in superhero fiction.
Spoilers for the first book but not this one, unless you think revealing that Graywytch is still a massive problem for Danny is a spoiler, in which case … oops. Keep reading, then? :P
I love the idea of superhero fiction, but most of the actual superhero novels I’ve read so far have been underwhelming at best. It turns out that this is a subgenre quite difficult to pull off, in terms of plot and characterization. I tend to cite Vanessa Torline’s “#TrainFightTuesday” as my gold standard for what I’d like my superhero fiction to be: fast-paced and genre-savvy yet also cutting and compassionate. With Dreadnought , Daniels fulfilled most of these requirements, plus she did it with a teenage trans lesbian protagonist. So I pre-ordered Sovereign and, although moving into my very own house was a good distraction, waited eagerly for it to arrive days after its release (so far Chapters is beating Amazon at this pre-order game). That was your warning, by the way, that I’m a head-over-heels fan of this series and it’s seriously colouring my critical gaze.
Daniels does a great job clearing the first hurdle with a sequel: how to catch up new readers without forcing existing fans to sit through chapters of “as you know, Bob” exposition. Sovereign drops nuggets of information about Danny’s genesis in Dreadnought and her ultimate conflict with Utopia throughout the novel. It opens with Danny going to a bi-annual cape convention in Antarctica (!!!), where she muses a lot on how the past few months have changed everything for her. Soon, though, her time at the convention is cut short and she has to make a quick orbital hop (!!) back to New Port to save the day and show the readers what it means to be Dreadnought.
You get just enough information to help you make sense of Danny’s immediate situation—she’s Dreadnought, transgender, and had a trial-by-fire in the last book that led to her learning about a cloud of exotic matter called Nemesis that might be problematic in the future. Other relevant details, such as Danny’s relationships with Doc Impossible and Sarah/Calamity, or the fact that she is a minor and in a legal battle to escape her abusive parents, emerge naturally over the course of the book. It seldom feels forced—sometimes Danny’s internal monologue can get a little too explainy, but I can rationalize this as her just nerding out so much over superheroes and superpowers, etc.
Sovereign, even more so than the first book, really showcases how much work Daniels has put in to reifying a world where some humans have superpowers. And I’m not just talking about how she explains the origins of superpowers, with just enough handwaving to make it fun but not so much it becomes too silly—I’m talking about how a society with superpowered humans would have to adjust its practices. Whitecapes worry about getting licenses and bystander insurance. Entire industries have sprung up around the idea of superheroes (and supervillains), industries that cater to the capes themselves or to the people affected by them. Daniels doesn’t just give us a “what if this world plus superpowers”; she delivers a “what if this were a world with superpowers”. There’s a moment later on in the book where Danny mentions something, just sort of offhandedly, but it kind of blows my mind in an oooohh-of-course-it-would-work-like-that kind of way. (Can I remember what that is now, over a week later? No. That’s why you need to write your reviews right after you finish the book, Ben.)
Daniels also steps up her plot game here. That’s not to dis Dreadnought, which has a pretty bombastic plot. But there are even more moving parts here, and in general, I also think the pacing has improved. We get a massive climactic battle sequence that would look so good in the movie or TV adaptation (cough, ahem)—but then the book still isn’t over, because wait, there’s a second plot for Danny to foil! This kind of bait-and-switch can easily backfire, but it works here because Daniels foreshadows it for basically the entire book, so it isn’t all that surprising.
Although Sovereign contains a hefty dose of the same humour I loved in the first book, it also deals with very heavy issues. Doc Impossible is not doing well after Utopia hijacked her. And Danny loves the power that being Dreadnought gives her, loves fighting the blackcapes—loves it, in fact, too much. She knows this, but she also can’t stop—not when there is a city to protect. Nevertheless, the power of Dreadnought can’t help her with media relations, the fight to emancipate herself from her parents, or her relationship with Sarah. In the time elapsed between books, Danny and Sarah drifted apart as the former shoulders the caping load of the defunct League and the latter recovers from losing an arm and adjusts to using a prosthesis. Sovereign, in many ways, is about how these two figure out their relationship now that both are veteran capes instead of wannabes playing at the gig.
There are so many other excellent character moments I’d love to mention. Suffice it to say, Daniels makes sure the minor characters get a chance to shine too.
Graywytch is back as a principal antagonist, and in a big, big, big way. Although the stakes are great for this, both on a personal level and for the world at large, Graywytch herself might be my least favourite part of this series. She is just so one-dimensional in her TERFiness. Like, it is absolutely chilling to read her characterization and see the way she twists and misrepresents everything Danny is. But there is no grey-ness to Graywytch’s character. Villains might be Daniels’ biggest weakness, in my opinion, because neither the other antagonist (the eponymous Sovereign) nor the previous book’s Utopia impressed me all that much. In all three cases, Daniels creates amazing existential crises for Danny et al to resolve, but the people she puts on the face of these crises are not as interesting or complex.
Fortunately, these are anomalies in a book that is otherwise deep and impressive on so many levels. It shouldn’t be a big deal that the main character is a trans woman (but I guess it is). What’s more important is how Daniels navigates the expectations that might surface because of the lack of representation. Very early in the book, Danny is quick to acknowledge that she still has a lot of privileges as a result of her skin colour, conventional attractiveness, and the immediate cachet of the Dreadnought mantle. She does this while letting us in a little fuck-up of hers:
Yes, Sovereign includes a supporting character who is a non-binary superhero with they/them pronouns! And although the above passage also serves to deepen the world of capes and show us Danny’s fallibility, being new to this all, Daniels is very intentionally acknowledging that, while trans women suffer oppression and visibility issues, trans people of colour, and non-binary trans people, are marginalized and erased in ways that white trans people don’t experience.
Danny’s flaws, her impulsiveness and aggression, are a core part of my enjoyment of this series. A superhero is only as good as their weaknesses—and I’m not talking about Dreadnought’s susceptibility to electricity. It’s tempting to excuse a lot of Danny’s mistakes on her youth, or on how growing up in a negligent and abusive environment has affected her temperament, but it’s so much more than that. It’s how being Dreadnought is changing her, how the stress of the job is changing her, and how her own unease over her changes is … well, changing her. Basically, what I’m trying to say is that for a book with an awful lot of fight scenes and superheroics, there is also a fair amount of introspection.
Danny Tozer is an awesome protagonist (I will fight you IRL), but it’s her interactions with the rest of the cast that really sells this book. The dialogue is so witty, and the relationship drama is just one gut punch after another. There’s a scene towards the end between Danny and Doc Impossible, who is struggling with alcoholism, and it is the culmination of everything that went on for the rest of the book, and I just teared up.
Sovereign is everything Dreadnought was and better. It punts “middle book syndrome” into orbit and then watches it burn up in re-entry. I loved the ending. I think it’s perfect. It’s gutsy, with that much carnage and devastation—but when you are writing your own superhero series, why not go big? This isn’t a shared universe! And, most importantly, it leaves me wanting more. So much more. I would read another ten books, easy (no pressure, April); Danny is Harry-Dresden levels of fun for me. But I’ll settle for a third book in a year or so (*puppy dog eyes*).
My reviews of the Nemesis series:
← Dreadnought
Spoilers for the first book but not this one, unless you think revealing that Graywytch is still a massive problem for Danny is a spoiler, in which case … oops. Keep reading, then? :P
I love the idea of superhero fiction, but most of the actual superhero novels I’ve read so far have been underwhelming at best. It turns out that this is a subgenre quite difficult to pull off, in terms of plot and characterization. I tend to cite Vanessa Torline’s “#TrainFightTuesday” as my gold standard for what I’d like my superhero fiction to be: fast-paced and genre-savvy yet also cutting and compassionate. With Dreadnought , Daniels fulfilled most of these requirements, plus she did it with a teenage trans lesbian protagonist. So I pre-ordered Sovereign and, although moving into my very own house was a good distraction, waited eagerly for it to arrive days after its release (so far Chapters is beating Amazon at this pre-order game). That was your warning, by the way, that I’m a head-over-heels fan of this series and it’s seriously colouring my critical gaze.
Daniels does a great job clearing the first hurdle with a sequel: how to catch up new readers without forcing existing fans to sit through chapters of “as you know, Bob” exposition. Sovereign drops nuggets of information about Danny’s genesis in Dreadnought and her ultimate conflict with Utopia throughout the novel. It opens with Danny going to a bi-annual cape convention in Antarctica (!!!), where she muses a lot on how the past few months have changed everything for her. Soon, though, her time at the convention is cut short and she has to make a quick orbital hop (!!) back to New Port to save the day and show the readers what it means to be Dreadnought.
You get just enough information to help you make sense of Danny’s immediate situation—she’s Dreadnought, transgender, and had a trial-by-fire in the last book that led to her learning about a cloud of exotic matter called Nemesis that might be problematic in the future. Other relevant details, such as Danny’s relationships with Doc Impossible and Sarah/Calamity, or the fact that she is a minor and in a legal battle to escape her abusive parents, emerge naturally over the course of the book. It seldom feels forced—sometimes Danny’s internal monologue can get a little too explainy, but I can rationalize this as her just nerding out so much over superheroes and superpowers, etc.
Sovereign, even more so than the first book, really showcases how much work Daniels has put in to reifying a world where some humans have superpowers. And I’m not just talking about how she explains the origins of superpowers, with just enough handwaving to make it fun but not so much it becomes too silly—I’m talking about how a society with superpowered humans would have to adjust its practices. Whitecapes worry about getting licenses and bystander insurance. Entire industries have sprung up around the idea of superheroes (and supervillains), industries that cater to the capes themselves or to the people affected by them. Daniels doesn’t just give us a “what if this world plus superpowers”; she delivers a “what if this were a world with superpowers”. There’s a moment later on in the book where Danny mentions something, just sort of offhandedly, but it kind of blows my mind in an oooohh-of-course-it-would-work-like-that kind of way. (Can I remember what that is now, over a week later? No. That’s why you need to write your reviews right after you finish the book, Ben.)
Daniels also steps up her plot game here. That’s not to dis Dreadnought, which has a pretty bombastic plot. But there are even more moving parts here, and in general, I also think the pacing has improved. We get a massive climactic battle sequence that would look so good in the movie or TV adaptation (cough, ahem)—but then the book still isn’t over, because wait, there’s a second plot for Danny to foil! This kind of bait-and-switch can easily backfire, but it works here because Daniels foreshadows it for basically the entire book, so it isn’t all that surprising.
Although Sovereign contains a hefty dose of the same humour I loved in the first book, it also deals with very heavy issues. Doc Impossible is not doing well after Utopia hijacked her. And Danny loves the power that being Dreadnought gives her, loves fighting the blackcapes—loves it, in fact, too much. She knows this, but she also can’t stop—not when there is a city to protect. Nevertheless, the power of Dreadnought can’t help her with media relations, the fight to emancipate herself from her parents, or her relationship with Sarah. In the time elapsed between books, Danny and Sarah drifted apart as the former shoulders the caping load of the defunct League and the latter recovers from losing an arm and adjusts to using a prosthesis. Sovereign, in many ways, is about how these two figure out their relationship now that both are veteran capes instead of wannabes playing at the gig.
There are so many other excellent character moments I’d love to mention. Suffice it to say, Daniels makes sure the minor characters get a chance to shine too.
Graywytch is back as a principal antagonist, and in a big, big, big way. Although the stakes are great for this, both on a personal level and for the world at large, Graywytch herself might be my least favourite part of this series. She is just so one-dimensional in her TERFiness. Like, it is absolutely chilling to read her characterization and see the way she twists and misrepresents everything Danny is. But there is no grey-ness to Graywytch’s character. Villains might be Daniels’ biggest weakness, in my opinion, because neither the other antagonist (the eponymous Sovereign) nor the previous book’s Utopia impressed me all that much. In all three cases, Daniels creates amazing existential crises for Danny et al to resolve, but the people she puts on the face of these crises are not as interesting or complex.
Fortunately, these are anomalies in a book that is otherwise deep and impressive on so many levels. It shouldn’t be a big deal that the main character is a trans woman (but I guess it is). What’s more important is how Daniels navigates the expectations that might surface because of the lack of representation. Very early in the book, Danny is quick to acknowledge that she still has a lot of privileges as a result of her skin colour, conventional attractiveness, and the immediate cachet of the Dreadnought mantle. She does this while letting us in a little fuck-up of hers:
Being genderqueer is hard. Being Iranian-American is hard. Being a superhero without a steady paying gig is also hard. Kinetiq had been swimming upstream for years to be all of those at the same time, and the credit for what should have been their big breakthrough, their first headlining victory, ended up getting handed to me by default. Why? Because I’m a pretty white girl with an easy-to-understand narrative.
Yes, Sovereign includes a supporting character who is a non-binary superhero with they/them pronouns! And although the above passage also serves to deepen the world of capes and show us Danny’s fallibility, being new to this all, Daniels is very intentionally acknowledging that, while trans women suffer oppression and visibility issues, trans people of colour, and non-binary trans people, are marginalized and erased in ways that white trans people don’t experience.
Danny’s flaws, her impulsiveness and aggression, are a core part of my enjoyment of this series. A superhero is only as good as their weaknesses—and I’m not talking about Dreadnought’s susceptibility to electricity. It’s tempting to excuse a lot of Danny’s mistakes on her youth, or on how growing up in a negligent and abusive environment has affected her temperament, but it’s so much more than that. It’s how being Dreadnought is changing her, how the stress of the job is changing her, and how her own unease over her changes is … well, changing her. Basically, what I’m trying to say is that for a book with an awful lot of fight scenes and superheroics, there is also a fair amount of introspection.
Danny Tozer is an awesome protagonist (I will fight you IRL), but it’s her interactions with the rest of the cast that really sells this book. The dialogue is so witty, and the relationship drama is just one gut punch after another. There’s a scene towards the end between Danny and Doc Impossible, who is struggling with alcoholism, and it is the culmination of everything that went on for the rest of the book, and I just teared up.
Sovereign is everything Dreadnought was and better. It punts “middle book syndrome” into orbit and then watches it burn up in re-entry. I loved the ending. I think it’s perfect. It’s gutsy, with that much carnage and devastation—but when you are writing your own superhero series, why not go big? This isn’t a shared universe! And, most importantly, it leaves me wanting more. So much more. I would read another ten books, easy (no pressure, April); Danny is Harry-Dresden levels of fun for me. But I’ll settle for a third book in a year or so (*puppy dog eyes*).
My reviews of the Nemesis series:
← Dreadnought
March 1, 2019
I really enjoyed returning to this series, especially Danny's funny and sarcastic narration. This book reminded me of why I love her so much as a character. The narrator via audiobook really brought her personality to life for me, and she had so many different voices for all the characters, I'm not sure how she managed to make them all sound so drastically different. I really enjoyed the voice she used for Charlie.
This book is great because it's not just a follow-up to the first book, its it's own brand new story and plot as well. We get the characters we loved (and hated) from the first book, but we also get some new ones as well. This book has less ass-kicking action and more dialogue and is more plot-driven than the first book.
I didn't really enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed the first one, and the reason for that, I think, is because this one felt longer for some reason. Maybe it is? I didn't have the physical copy, so I'm not sure. Rather than tie up any loose ends from the first book, this book kinda just leaves them be or lets them drop, or continues to ride them through the book until the end, which in that case I liked. What I didn't really enjoy was the villain of this book. While I was intrigued and interested by the villain in the first book, I couldn't care at all for the one in this one. A lot of the plot revolves around him, so that's where I think this book lost a lot of interest from me.
This book has a lot of dialogue. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, however, sometimes I got distracted and found I'd missed something crucial in the story because of it. And honestly, most people don't really want to read a lot of dialogue over an engaging plot.
And Danny and Sera!!! FINALLY. GOD, I WAS WAITING, HOPING IT WOULD HAPPEN. AND IT DID. HELL YEAH. I routed for these two so much, especially in the beginning when their relationship was so strained.
Something this book does really right is elaborating on the relationships between characters, these books are relatively character driven, and we grow strong attachments towards them, and this made me engage in the story and enjoy it.
This is a worthy follow-up to the first book.
This book is great because it's not just a follow-up to the first book, its it's own brand new story and plot as well. We get the characters we loved (and hated) from the first book, but we also get some new ones as well. This book has less ass-kicking action and more dialogue and is more plot-driven than the first book.
I didn't really enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed the first one, and the reason for that, I think, is because this one felt longer for some reason. Maybe it is? I didn't have the physical copy, so I'm not sure. Rather than tie up any loose ends from the first book, this book kinda just leaves them be or lets them drop, or continues to ride them through the book until the end, which in that case I liked. What I didn't really enjoy was the villain of this book. While I was intrigued and interested by the villain in the first book, I couldn't care at all for the one in this one. A lot of the plot revolves around him, so that's where I think this book lost a lot of interest from me.
This book has a lot of dialogue. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, however, sometimes I got distracted and found I'd missed something crucial in the story because of it. And honestly, most people don't really want to read a lot of dialogue over an engaging plot.
And Danny and Sera!!! FINALLY. GOD, I WAS WAITING, HOPING IT WOULD HAPPEN. AND IT DID. HELL YEAH. I routed for these two so much, especially in the beginning when their relationship was so strained.
Something this book does really right is elaborating on the relationships between characters, these books are relatively character driven, and we grow strong attachments towards them, and this made me engage in the story and enjoy it.
This is a worthy follow-up to the first book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 2, 2017
This is my favourite superhero story I've ever read. I actually liked it even more than the first one (which I loved). I felt like the first book set up the premise and this one really took off from there. It deals with crunchy, interesting questions about what superheros would actually be like. (For instance, what are some of the dangers of taking a teen from an abusive home, giving them superstrength, and rewarding them for pummeling bad guys?) Aaaand it doesn't hurt that this one has a F/F relationship (as well as a secondary genderqueer superhero character!) I was interested in the superhero insider politics as well as the grander supervillain-y plot. I'm hoping there will be much more from this series! I was worried the sequel wouldn't live up to the first one, but this volume suggests it can support a longer series! (Trigger warnings for transmisogyny, violence, torture--but generally I think this volume has less transmisogyny and abuse than the first)
August 22, 2017
4.5
Having loved Dreadnought, I couldn't wait to read this sequel. Once more Daniels delivers an incredibly packed, complex, superhero story, full of breath-taking action of course, but much more than that too. Danielle not only has to deal with the 'usual' tasks from her job as sole active protector of New Port, stopping super villains, but also the emotional and psychological effects stemming from it, especially when you take into consideration the years of abuse she suffered at the hands of her parents. It isn't something you can brush off and Dreadnought realises this slowly, in the face of her predilection for violence, stumbling here and there, but finding her way.
The author weaves all this in her narrative, mixing the euphoria of super heroes fighting the good fight with matters of mental health, transgender, mysoginy, injustice, and alcoholism to name a few. I did say it was packed... Some passages were truly painful, Daniels making you feel the pain, especially the emotional ones, and putting our hero through SO much!!!! At the same time, she gives us beautiful relationships between fascinating characters (I loved the one between Danielle and Doc Impossible).
Having loved Dreadnought, I couldn't wait to read this sequel. Once more Daniels delivers an incredibly packed, complex, superhero story, full of breath-taking action of course, but much more than that too. Danielle not only has to deal with the 'usual' tasks from her job as sole active protector of New Port, stopping super villains, but also the emotional and psychological effects stemming from it, especially when you take into consideration the years of abuse she suffered at the hands of her parents. It isn't something you can brush off and Dreadnought realises this slowly, in the face of her predilection for violence, stumbling here and there, but finding her way.
The author weaves all this in her narrative, mixing the euphoria of super heroes fighting the good fight with matters of mental health, transgender, mysoginy, injustice, and alcoholism to name a few. I did say it was packed... Some passages were truly painful, Daniels making you feel the pain, especially the emotional ones, and putting our hero through SO much!!!! At the same time, she gives us beautiful relationships between fascinating characters (I loved the one between Danielle and Doc Impossible).
January 1, 2021
My second to last book of 2020! I shoved a library loan to the back burner to listen to this before the year's end, and I'm glad I did. This was a bit disjointed and chaotic, and I don't think it was supposed to be the last one since there are things left dangling, but it's still a good place to leave this series. Danny's learning to accept herself as she is, but she still had a lot to learn here about coming to terms with her life and her disappointment with her parents. She's just a kid still, so she doesn't always make wise decisions. The villain was working on a plan so layered and convoluted, it'd make Zemo and Lex Luthor proud. The climax was better done than in the first one, and it ties back to Danny's personal growth throughout the book, which makes it more meaningful as well.
June 20, 2017
I loved the first book so much that I gave it a 5-star rating and was absolutely thrilled to be approved for an ARC of the second book - so how did I fare?
I thought after weathering all the ups and downs of Dreadnought, I was prepared for the sequel, but I was SO wrong. This book hurt me on a deep spiritual level because of how much pain and suffering the protagonist went through, and yet I couldn't stop reading. I was up til 3am finishing this off because I needed to know how it ended and if it would all be okay for Danny at any stage EVER.
Spoiler warning: there is light at the end of the tunnel! But you're gonna feel like a train ran over you by the time you get there.
Props to the author for an addictive and compelling novel - I'm going to be bold and say this is the pinnacle of YA storytelling and we need more like it. I LOVE that the plot is complex and labyrinthine and you need to pay attention otherwise you may get lost! Sometimes I find YA a little too simplified or issues skimmed over because it's for 'young adults', so it's great when authors aren't afraid to load on the convoluted story arcs and heavy themes and trust their audience to keep up.
I still love Danny as much as I did when I first met her in Dreadnought - she's only fifteen, but her resilience, her steadfast determination to do the right thing and refusal to back down in the face of adversity shows such astounding maturity. And yet she's not flawless, she's still a believable, well-rounded character; we see her grappling with the morality & ethics of being a superhero, how she saves the day but enjoys the violence and danger a little too much. It's exciting to follow Danny's journey because I never knew which side she would land on, whether she'd give in to the recklessness of her inner adrenaline junkie or if she'd pull back in time.
--
The remainder of my review is posted on my blog.
Disclaimer: I received a digital copy free from Diversion Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I thought after weathering all the ups and downs of Dreadnought, I was prepared for the sequel, but I was SO wrong. This book hurt me on a deep spiritual level because of how much pain and suffering the protagonist went through, and yet I couldn't stop reading. I was up til 3am finishing this off because I needed to know how it ended and if it would all be okay for Danny at any stage EVER.
Spoiler warning: there is light at the end of the tunnel! But you're gonna feel like a train ran over you by the time you get there.
Props to the author for an addictive and compelling novel - I'm going to be bold and say this is the pinnacle of YA storytelling and we need more like it. I LOVE that the plot is complex and labyrinthine and you need to pay attention otherwise you may get lost! Sometimes I find YA a little too simplified or issues skimmed over because it's for 'young adults', so it's great when authors aren't afraid to load on the convoluted story arcs and heavy themes and trust their audience to keep up.
I still love Danny as much as I did when I first met her in Dreadnought - she's only fifteen, but her resilience, her steadfast determination to do the right thing and refusal to back down in the face of adversity shows such astounding maturity. And yet she's not flawless, she's still a believable, well-rounded character; we see her grappling with the morality & ethics of being a superhero, how she saves the day but enjoys the violence and danger a little too much. It's exciting to follow Danny's journey because I never knew which side she would land on, whether she'd give in to the recklessness of her inner adrenaline junkie or if she'd pull back in time.
--
The remainder of my review is posted on my blog.
Disclaimer: I received a digital copy free from Diversion Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
May 5, 2018
This sequel to Dreadnought gives us a chance to get to know Danny, as she grows into her powers and responsibilities. All is not well in superhero land, with new villains and plots and political maneuvering stressing their depleted ranks. An impending disaster hovers in the background - the possibility of having more and more superpowers awoken, that would change the fabric of a society where currently the few protect the many from the few. What if everyone had powers? What if some could steal powers?
This book works on a bigger canvas than the one before, mirroring political issues from our current world. What if someone is wealthy enough to buy their own rules and protections? What if bigotry is used to keep someone from doing a vital job? How can courts be manipulated to a personal vendetta if you have the right lawyer? Who do governments answer to? When does a valuable political movement cross the line into becoming exclusionary and punitive? How does fanaticism shape actions?
Some of those issues directly interface with Danny being trans, particularly the intersection of trans women and exclusionary feminism. Some are more general, like the power conveyed by having money. Within the personal aspects of Danny's job, her contracts, her relationships with Doc, with her parents, with Calamity we see those questions played out on a personal, a regional, and a world-wide scale.
I don't want to suggest that this book is heavy or full of philosophical commentary. It's an action fantasy book. There are lots of fights, moments of peril, dramatic rescues, damage, gloating villains. In fact, I thought this one had more drawn-out physical fighting than it needed, although it does serve to highlight Danny's partial vulnerabilities, both psychological and physical. (She can be badly hurt, even killed, by some traumas, although the physics of her powers are a bit inconsistent.) The violence also showcases some of the flaws and choices Danny makes, for good or bad. I liked that she felt plausibly young, angry, frustrated, and not always dealing with those things well. I liked that she was not constrained to be a stereotypical girl, as some M2F trans main characters seem to be. I loved that both gender and orientation are here as separate axes of identity.
What I missed from the first book was a little more realism with focus on Danny's emotional life, her reactions, and her relationship with Calamity. There was a lot of big action and message here, but it didn't impact me as strongly as the first book. The final antagonist felt a bit cartoon-like (which, yeah, is an odd thing to complain about in a super-hero story, but most of the characters had more of a human feel.) Still, I recommend both books, and applaud the effort to cover important topics while giving us a fairly focused adventure about Danny. I really appreciated the inclusion of Kinetiq, a nonbinary superhero. The new characters were interesting and I never felt overwhelmed or confused by the number of players in the story. I'll definitely read book 3 when it comes along.
This book works on a bigger canvas than the one before, mirroring political issues from our current world. What if someone is wealthy enough to buy their own rules and protections? What if bigotry is used to keep someone from doing a vital job? How can courts be manipulated to a personal vendetta if you have the right lawyer? Who do governments answer to? When does a valuable political movement cross the line into becoming exclusionary and punitive? How does fanaticism shape actions?
Some of those issues directly interface with Danny being trans, particularly the intersection of trans women and exclusionary feminism. Some are more general, like the power conveyed by having money. Within the personal aspects of Danny's job, her contracts, her relationships with Doc, with her parents, with Calamity we see those questions played out on a personal, a regional, and a world-wide scale.
I don't want to suggest that this book is heavy or full of philosophical commentary. It's an action fantasy book. There are lots of fights, moments of peril, dramatic rescues, damage, gloating villains. In fact, I thought this one had more drawn-out physical fighting than it needed, although it does serve to highlight Danny's partial vulnerabilities, both psychological and physical. (She can be badly hurt, even killed, by some traumas, although the physics of her powers are a bit inconsistent.) The violence also showcases some of the flaws and choices Danny makes, for good or bad. I liked that she felt plausibly young, angry, frustrated, and not always dealing with those things well. I liked that she was not constrained to be a stereotypical girl, as some M2F trans main characters seem to be. I loved that both gender and orientation are here as separate axes of identity.
What I missed from the first book was a little more realism with focus on Danny's emotional life, her reactions, and her relationship with Calamity. There was a lot of big action and message here, but it didn't impact me as strongly as the first book. The final antagonist felt a bit cartoon-like (which, yeah, is an odd thing to complain about in a super-hero story, but most of the characters had more of a human feel.) Still, I recommend both books, and applaud the effort to cover important topics while giving us a fairly focused adventure about Danny. I really appreciated the inclusion of Kinetiq, a nonbinary superhero. The new characters were interesting and I never felt overwhelmed or confused by the number of players in the story. I'll definitely read book 3 when it comes along.
July 1, 2019
Disclaimer: I've been both an agnostic and a born-again Christian. My current opinions on transgender and LGBT+ issues are... complex. Rather than air them here, I'm not going to air them here. My disclaimer now disclaimed, let us review.
Danielle Tozer lives in a world we know from comic books -- superheroes fight crime and battle supervillains armed with magic or hypertech or superpowers, and have since somewhere in the 1930s. In fact, nine months ago Danny was present at the battle that ended the life of the Superhero Dreadnaught. And Danny inherited the mantle of one of the most powerful superhumans ever.
She has now had those nine months to come to terms with those powers -- she thinks. But not all problems are solved with force, and as she finds the troubles with her family, friends, and former teammates doubling and redoubling, she learns that there is more than one way to destroy a hero. And her latest foe turns out to be adept at all of them.
=====
Among the really-goods of this book is that both the 'science' and the art of super-heroing have been well thought out -- super-hero capabilities do not completely flaunt the laws of physics, and cause leads to effect even in magical battles. Chekov's gun may be a laser pistol or a spell book (metaphorically, of course) but it still gets introduced before it is fired, for the most part.
Almost everyone has a human side, and these are well handled. The plot moves forward nicely, with all the little surprises a real-world adventure may provide.
Do I have issues? Yes, a few. We begin to see a darker side to Danny, one that doesn't really seem to flow from the teenager we met in the first book. Oh, the seeds are there, and this darker side is _understandable_, but it seems to be an overt plot/thematic point by the author, and not a natural result of events.
There are issues faced by the characters in the nature of gender identity and sexual preference. To my (somewhat un-sensitive) understanding, these are handled politely and sensitively, with one exception. It appears that characters are either sympathetic to the gender and sexual issues, or wrong, such that there is not really an exploration of issues but more a soapbox-in-the-park effect. On the flip side of the same issue, though, Danielle (who narrates in first person) is engaging and relatable as a person, so it is easy to understand and have sympathy for her side of the issues.
Overall, though, if you want a superhero adventure that has brains and heart and courage, this is a good read. Not without flaws, but a good read.
Using this to fulfill a local library Summer Reading task, for a "book in a series".
Danielle Tozer lives in a world we know from comic books -- superheroes fight crime and battle supervillains armed with magic or hypertech or superpowers, and have since somewhere in the 1930s. In fact, nine months ago Danny was present at the battle that ended the life of the Superhero Dreadnaught. And Danny inherited the mantle of one of the most powerful superhumans ever.
She has now had those nine months to come to terms with those powers -- she thinks. But not all problems are solved with force, and as she finds the troubles with her family, friends, and former teammates doubling and redoubling, she learns that there is more than one way to destroy a hero. And her latest foe turns out to be adept at all of them.
=====
Among the really-goods of this book is that both the 'science' and the art of super-heroing have been well thought out -- super-hero capabilities do not completely flaunt the laws of physics, and cause leads to effect even in magical battles. Chekov's gun may be a laser pistol or a spell book (metaphorically, of course) but it still gets introduced before it is fired, for the most part.
Almost everyone has a human side, and these are well handled. The plot moves forward nicely, with all the little surprises a real-world adventure may provide.
Do I have issues? Yes, a few. We begin to see a darker side to Danny, one that doesn't really seem to flow from the teenager we met in the first book. Oh, the seeds are there, and this darker side is _understandable_, but it seems to be an overt plot/thematic point by the author, and not a natural result of events.
There are issues faced by the characters in the nature of gender identity and sexual preference. To my (somewhat un-sensitive) understanding, these are handled politely and sensitively, with one exception. It appears that characters are either sympathetic to the gender and sexual issues, or wrong, such that there is not really an exploration of issues but more a soapbox-in-the-park effect. On the flip side of the same issue, though, Danielle (who narrates in first person) is engaging and relatable as a person, so it is easy to understand and have sympathy for her side of the issues.
Overall, though, if you want a superhero adventure that has brains and heart and courage, this is a good read. Not without flaws, but a good read.
Using this to fulfill a local library Summer Reading task, for a "book in a series".
April 14, 2018
Argh... I had such high hopes for this sequel! I really liked the first book, but somehow I didn't feel invested in any of the characters and the world didn't quite work for me. And then the plot kind of annoyed me, so I was just frustrated for most of this.
So, let's get into this. The plot felt all over the place and not explained enough at some points. There were also moments were I just didn't buy it. A lot also seemed to happen in a very short span of time I never quite cared about Danny and Sarah's relationship , fights took too long for my taste, and I couldn't roll with Doc's humanity... There was just a lot of stuff that wasn't working for me. I also got annoyed by some of Danny's dumb choices.
I got annoyed by Danny quite a lot, actually. She kept underestimating everyone she fought and then she'd almost be beaten and finally get worried only to win through some trick or luck and go back to thinking she's unbeatable. And then there was the whole thing about her becoming too violent and possibly crossing lines. Rant incoming: Phew, okay, let's move on from that.
This world is very interesting. We got some information about where the powers come from and how they work in this book, but it wasn't quite satisfying. I don't think we'll even really get more explanation than 'the Nemesis makes it happen,' but at least we now know what the Nemesis is. The end raised some questions about the future of this world and I have an Opinion about it:
As for the narrator: the storytelling was fine, but some of the voices were distractingly bad. Still glad I listened to this one, though, because I don't know how long it would have taken me to read the physical book.
So, yes, this book was a let down for me. I don't know if I'll pick up the next book. I'm kind of curious about the effect of the ending on the world, but then story-wise, this was a pretty closed ending, so I could leave it here. I'll see how I feel when it comes out.
So, let's get into this. The plot felt all over the place and not explained enough at some points. There were also moments were I just didn't buy it. A lot also seemed to happen in a very short span of time I never quite cared about Danny and Sarah's relationship , fights took too long for my taste, and I couldn't roll with Doc's humanity... There was just a lot of stuff that wasn't working for me. I also got annoyed by some of Danny's dumb choices.
I got annoyed by Danny quite a lot, actually. She kept underestimating everyone she fought and then she'd almost be beaten and finally get worried only to win through some trick or luck and go back to thinking she's unbeatable. And then there was the whole thing about her becoming too violent and possibly crossing lines. Rant incoming: Phew, okay, let's move on from that.
This world is very interesting. We got some information about where the powers come from and how they work in this book, but it wasn't quite satisfying. I don't think we'll even really get more explanation than 'the Nemesis makes it happen,' but at least we now know what the Nemesis is. The end raised some questions about the future of this world and I have an Opinion about it:
As for the narrator: the storytelling was fine, but some of the voices were distractingly bad. Still glad I listened to this one, though, because I don't know how long it would have taken me to read the physical book.
So, yes, this book was a let down for me. I don't know if I'll pick up the next book. I'm kind of curious about the effect of the ending on the world, but then story-wise, this was a pretty closed ending, so I could leave it here. I'll see how I feel when it comes out.
July 18, 2017
Pros: great characters, interesting plot, complex issues
Cons: some interactions annoyed me, a bit heavy handed at times
Note: This review contains spoilers for Dreadnought, the first book in this series.
Nine months have passed since the events of Dreadnought, and Danielle has a contract to protect New Port City. She’s begun to love the feeling of power being a superhero provides, beating supervillians into submission in ways that Doc Impossible finds worrisome. Her relationship with Calamity has soured, though she’s not sure why, and multiple work and family issues occupy her thoughts. Soon after she hears news that Nemesis, the asteroid that creates quantum instabilities, is nearing Earth, a new supervillian emerges with a plan to harness its power for nefarious purposes.
I have mixed feelings about this book. There were several opening scenes that annoyed and/or made me uneasy. While some of these were dealt with in detail and worked out later on, others didn’t get much attention beyond the initial mentions.
In the first book Danielle was predominately characterized by optimism. Though her life was pretty terrible, when things got tough she constantly believed they would get better again. Dreadnought focused very specifically on Danielle’s concerns as a young woman coming of age in challenging circumstances. Sovereign broadens the outlook to show that most issues in life are complex and people can’t always be characterized as simply good or evil. Her sudden liking of violence and her enjoyment of beating people up was a little scary to read. While she’s in the pay of the government, she goes outside that purview on more than one occasion. The idea that might makes right is not ok, even if you’re the hero. Some would say, especially then. The book does deal with this, and I was happy with how the ending focused on the fact that emotional trauma doesn’t just go away with time.
I was impressed with how the author handled Sarah and Danielle’s relationship. I loved seeing young people talk frankly about their feelings and fears instead of drawing out the misunderstandings.
I enjoyed Kinetiq’s group work, but her first interaction with Danielle in the book kind of annoyed me. While I understand Kinetiq’s annoyance/anger that Dreadnought took credit for a group fight, their lack of consideration for Dreadnought’s age or current circumstances and insistence that she use every public appearance to push the transgender agenda ignores the fact that Dreadnought, as an acknowledged transgender superhero, already pushes that agenda.
Graywytch was an even more horrible character in this book than the last, though she doesn’t spout slurs this time. Reading about a TERF (Trans-exclusionary radical feminist) was painful. I find it hard to attach the label ‘feminist’ to women who believe transwomen aren’t ‘real’ women, as if there’s only one experience of womanhood and all ‘real’ women share it. But it’s good to face it in fiction, as it’s often through fiction (and other types of media) that people learn empathy and compassion, and that society collectively becomes more socially aware.
I didn’t think the book dealt with the Magma and Doc issue well. Both characters have valid complaints about what happened to the Legion, and sometimes there’s no right answer that pleases everyone. While Doc was under outside control and therefore wasn’t personally responsible for the murders her body committed, Magma does have the right be angry that Doc’s lies left the Legion at a disadvantage, and feel betrayed that she never shared who her mother was. The book takes Danielle’s POV that Doc wasn’t to blame and Magma should just get over it. But this ignores that he and Chlorophyll were left permanently disabled because of that attack. I think it’s understandable that they don’t want anything to do with Doc anymore.
In terms of world-building, the author mentions several of the laws that govern superhero work. Things like the ability to buy bystander insurance and that there are legal work limits for superhero minors. One issue that wasn’t mentioned, that I’d be curious to learn the answer to, is whether superheroes have to pay for property damage incurred during their legally sanctioned missions.
The book has a lot of excellent fight scenes, in a variety of settings. They propel the plot along and keep the pacing quick.
The plot itself was quite interesting. There’s a lot of different super powered people in this one, on all sides of the fence, and it was fun learning their different powers and where they land on the varied political spectrums.
While I didn’t like this book as fully as I did the first one, I was impressed that the author dealt with some difficult issues that many superhero books ignore. I thought Danielle’s development made sense given her life experiences, and am curious to see what the next book has in store for her.
Cons: some interactions annoyed me, a bit heavy handed at times
Note: This review contains spoilers for Dreadnought, the first book in this series.
Nine months have passed since the events of Dreadnought, and Danielle has a contract to protect New Port City. She’s begun to love the feeling of power being a superhero provides, beating supervillians into submission in ways that Doc Impossible finds worrisome. Her relationship with Calamity has soured, though she’s not sure why, and multiple work and family issues occupy her thoughts. Soon after she hears news that Nemesis, the asteroid that creates quantum instabilities, is nearing Earth, a new supervillian emerges with a plan to harness its power for nefarious purposes.
I have mixed feelings about this book. There were several opening scenes that annoyed and/or made me uneasy. While some of these were dealt with in detail and worked out later on, others didn’t get much attention beyond the initial mentions.
In the first book Danielle was predominately characterized by optimism. Though her life was pretty terrible, when things got tough she constantly believed they would get better again. Dreadnought focused very specifically on Danielle’s concerns as a young woman coming of age in challenging circumstances. Sovereign broadens the outlook to show that most issues in life are complex and people can’t always be characterized as simply good or evil. Her sudden liking of violence and her enjoyment of beating people up was a little scary to read. While she’s in the pay of the government, she goes outside that purview on more than one occasion. The idea that might makes right is not ok, even if you’re the hero. Some would say, especially then. The book does deal with this, and I was happy with how the ending focused on the fact that emotional trauma doesn’t just go away with time.
I was impressed with how the author handled Sarah and Danielle’s relationship. I loved seeing young people talk frankly about their feelings and fears instead of drawing out the misunderstandings.
I enjoyed Kinetiq’s group work, but her first interaction with Danielle in the book kind of annoyed me. While I understand Kinetiq’s annoyance/anger that Dreadnought took credit for a group fight, their lack of consideration for Dreadnought’s age or current circumstances and insistence that she use every public appearance to push the transgender agenda ignores the fact that Dreadnought, as an acknowledged transgender superhero, already pushes that agenda.
Graywytch was an even more horrible character in this book than the last, though she doesn’t spout slurs this time. Reading about a TERF (Trans-exclusionary radical feminist) was painful. I find it hard to attach the label ‘feminist’ to women who believe transwomen aren’t ‘real’ women, as if there’s only one experience of womanhood and all ‘real’ women share it. But it’s good to face it in fiction, as it’s often through fiction (and other types of media) that people learn empathy and compassion, and that society collectively becomes more socially aware.
I didn’t think the book dealt with the Magma and Doc issue well. Both characters have valid complaints about what happened to the Legion, and sometimes there’s no right answer that pleases everyone. While Doc was under outside control and therefore wasn’t personally responsible for the murders her body committed, Magma does have the right be angry that Doc’s lies left the Legion at a disadvantage, and feel betrayed that she never shared who her mother was. The book takes Danielle’s POV that Doc wasn’t to blame and Magma should just get over it. But this ignores that he and Chlorophyll were left permanently disabled because of that attack. I think it’s understandable that they don’t want anything to do with Doc anymore.
In terms of world-building, the author mentions several of the laws that govern superhero work. Things like the ability to buy bystander insurance and that there are legal work limits for superhero minors. One issue that wasn’t mentioned, that I’d be curious to learn the answer to, is whether superheroes have to pay for property damage incurred during their legally sanctioned missions.
The book has a lot of excellent fight scenes, in a variety of settings. They propel the plot along and keep the pacing quick.
The plot itself was quite interesting. There’s a lot of different super powered people in this one, on all sides of the fence, and it was fun learning their different powers and where they land on the varied political spectrums.
While I didn’t like this book as fully as I did the first one, I was impressed that the author dealt with some difficult issues that many superhero books ignore. I thought Danielle’s development made sense given her life experiences, and am curious to see what the next book has in store for her.
August 3, 2017
4.5 stars. The world needs more books like this!
April 16, 2026
SOVEREIGN is the sequel to the well-received superhero novel DREADNOUGHT and the second volume of the Nemesis trilogy. The premise of the book is that Danielle Tozer is a transgender teen who has received the powers of the world's greatest superhero. This has also transformed her into beautiful idealized form.
However, while she's managed to liberate herself from her abusive parents, she is still struggling to get respect as a superhero. Confronted with a anti-trans sorceress named the Graywytch and a billionaire tech mogul named Garrison (who has an awesome mutant daughter who has an army of tanks).
I can't help but think that the villains being a British TERF witch and a obnoxious Silicon Valley billionaire are direct references to two very, let's say "controversial", real-life figures. The thing that I am not the kind of guy who actually objects to superhero fiction being political. Frankly, in our current climate, any pro-trans media is going to be attacked as being pro-human rights is always controversial for someone.
April Daniels creates a wonderfully complex character with Danny as they struggle not so much with their gender identity, they are absolutely sure who they are, but the neverending struggle to get people to accept them just as a matter of daily interactions. This means cutting some people out of her life (her family needs to be emancipated from) while also building new relationships like with antihero Calamity, who is thankfully a lesbian as well as a superhero her age.
While not the focus of the book, which contains plenty of "ordinary" superhero action and humor, Sovereign does have a really sweet one between the lead with her partner. There's some mild Superman and Batman energy that works well as well as the fact that both are on the outskirts of superhero society despite Danny inheriting the most respected mantle in the world. I rarely praise the romances in books but this is definitely memorable and one of the book's strengths.
I have a few minor complaints about the book like the fact Graywitch is so one-dimensionally evil and the ending twist of "you are what you hate" kind of feels a bit on the nose. Still, it's not like we haven't seen oodles of reality proving that some people really are just so bigoted that it becomes their entire personality. This is also a four color comic book universe dealing with bigotry great and small so humanizing the antagonist really isn't necessary. The fact she's a fallen hero that became a gross cariacture of herself is perhaps enough of a tragedy.
I also have to say that April Daniels is a master of relating the superhero world to the real world as well as discussing elements that would never occur to most authors, even dealing with their own relatable issues. Danny, for example, gets confronted with her own privilege despite the immense amount of struggles she deals with. A part that stuck with me is this one:
"Being genderqueer is hard. Being Iranian-American is hard. Being a superhero without a steady paying gig is also hard. Kinetiq had been swimming upstream for years to be all of those at the same time, and the credit for what should have been their big breakthrough, their first headlining victory, ended up getting handed to me by default. Why? Because I’m a pretty white girl with an easy-to-understand narrative."
In conclusion, I absolutely loved this sequel to Dreadnought and I kind of wish the series had continued on a yearly basis. April was kind enough to let it be known that she finished the third volume the series and I really want to read it now. Still, if this had been the second and only story of Danny Tozer, I still would have enjoyed it immensely.
However, while she's managed to liberate herself from her abusive parents, she is still struggling to get respect as a superhero. Confronted with a anti-trans sorceress named the Graywytch and a billionaire tech mogul named Garrison (who has an awesome mutant daughter who has an army of tanks).
I can't help but think that the villains being a British TERF witch and a obnoxious Silicon Valley billionaire are direct references to two very, let's say "controversial", real-life figures. The thing that I am not the kind of guy who actually objects to superhero fiction being political. Frankly, in our current climate, any pro-trans media is going to be attacked as being pro-human rights is always controversial for someone.
April Daniels creates a wonderfully complex character with Danny as they struggle not so much with their gender identity, they are absolutely sure who they are, but the neverending struggle to get people to accept them just as a matter of daily interactions. This means cutting some people out of her life (her family needs to be emancipated from) while also building new relationships like with antihero Calamity, who is thankfully a lesbian as well as a superhero her age.
While not the focus of the book, which contains plenty of "ordinary" superhero action and humor, Sovereign does have a really sweet one between the lead with her partner. There's some mild Superman and Batman energy that works well as well as the fact that both are on the outskirts of superhero society despite Danny inheriting the most respected mantle in the world. I rarely praise the romances in books but this is definitely memorable and one of the book's strengths.
I have a few minor complaints about the book like the fact Graywitch is so one-dimensionally evil and the ending twist of "you are what you hate" kind of feels a bit on the nose. Still, it's not like we haven't seen oodles of reality proving that some people really are just so bigoted that it becomes their entire personality. This is also a four color comic book universe dealing with bigotry great and small so humanizing the antagonist really isn't necessary. The fact she's a fallen hero that became a gross cariacture of herself is perhaps enough of a tragedy.
I also have to say that April Daniels is a master of relating the superhero world to the real world as well as discussing elements that would never occur to most authors, even dealing with their own relatable issues. Danny, for example, gets confronted with her own privilege despite the immense amount of struggles she deals with. A part that stuck with me is this one:
"Being genderqueer is hard. Being Iranian-American is hard. Being a superhero without a steady paying gig is also hard. Kinetiq had been swimming upstream for years to be all of those at the same time, and the credit for what should have been their big breakthrough, their first headlining victory, ended up getting handed to me by default. Why? Because I’m a pretty white girl with an easy-to-understand narrative."
In conclusion, I absolutely loved this sequel to Dreadnought and I kind of wish the series had continued on a yearly basis. April was kind enough to let it be known that she finished the third volume the series and I really want to read it now. Still, if this had been the second and only story of Danny Tozer, I still would have enjoyed it immensely.
May 19, 2018
This is the first book in a while that I've had to tear through because the main character is falling so hard and fast that I am frightened for her. Obviously, if you've been bullied all your life, you're going to have anger issues. If you suddenly become invincible, and you derive pleasure from -- and are rewarded for -- beating the crap out of people, sooner or later you're going to intimidate the wrong person. I thought that was handled really well.
Danny's imprisonment and torture were riveting, too. The way Daniels writes about it is clear enough to be wrenching, without lingering on unnecessary details. I can't remember the last time I was so caught up in a story that I forgot to guess what was going to happen next.
While I thought the ending of Dreadnought made the whole book shine, the ending of Sovereign felt rushed and tacked on. Maybe I missed something but SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER if a villain kills a high percentage of the world's population, things are not going back to normal when that villain is vanquished. The world has been broken, but the book doesn't acknowledge that. It goes back to how nice first love is. First love is really nice, but it doesn't mend a world torn apart for everyone else. I'm not sure I can read the next book, if there is one, because the setting has stopped being the real-world-with-superheroes and has become a littered with the wreckage of airplanes fallen from the sky, intersections filled with crumpled cars, and dead bodies everywhere -- as well as survivors AROUND THE WORLD tortured for their chromosomes. And our heroine walking blithely through it hand in hand with the one she loves. Things may have gotten too dark for me to read on.
Danny's imprisonment and torture were riveting, too. The way Daniels writes about it is clear enough to be wrenching, without lingering on unnecessary details. I can't remember the last time I was so caught up in a story that I forgot to guess what was going to happen next.
While I thought the ending of Dreadnought made the whole book shine, the ending of Sovereign felt rushed and tacked on. Maybe I missed something but SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER if a villain kills a high percentage of the world's population, things are not going back to normal when that villain is vanquished. The world has been broken, but the book doesn't acknowledge that. It goes back to how nice first love is. First love is really nice, but it doesn't mend a world torn apart for everyone else. I'm not sure I can read the next book, if there is one, because the setting has stopped being the real-world-with-superheroes and has become a littered with the wreckage of airplanes fallen from the sky, intersections filled with crumpled cars, and dead bodies everywhere -- as well as survivors AROUND THE WORLD tortured for their chromosomes. And our heroine walking blithely through it hand in hand with the one she loves. Things may have gotten too dark for me to read on.
August 9, 2018
excellent!! better than the first book in every way - more mature, better plot, better executed, just overall much tighter and more impressive. i can't wait till the next!!
December 17, 2021
THREE STARS: aka, I might read this again, I might not. Really, it's more a 2.5 stars on my personal scale -- I'm pretty convinced I won't want to revisit this, and that the third installment won't be worth my while. The thing is, I love what it could have been so much, I can't bring myself to rate it lower.
Here's the deal and I'm just going to say it: I don't think Daniels is a good writer.
I hate pronouncements like that. For one thing, authors read GR reviews sometimes, holy shit I really don't want that to happen in this case. For another, who the fuck am I to say a badly-executed book means the writer themselves lacks ability?
I acknowledge all that. But I also have to acknowledge: this book's flaws run deep, so deep I am disturbed that the author could be ignorant of them. And I can't take that ignorance lightly.
Let me back up. I said I fell in love, right? The first 40% of this book is golden, despite carrying over some of the flaws of Dreadnought. The most glaring is the utter fucking lack of worthwhile adults. Hey, I get it, it's YA, you gotta put the sixteen-year-old in the center. It still beggars belief that nowhere else in the world are adults capable of keeping their shit together for ten goddamn days so that teenagers aren't the only ones risking their lives.
It's especially egregious given that Daniels... kind of retcons herself? In Dreadnought the worldbuilding was: people with superpowers more or less became involved in the Cape/metahuman scene, although it was their pick of what color (white/gray/black); the Legion are kind of the be-all-end-all in terms of Caping, with maybe someBatman outliers like that billionaire who doesn't have any powers; magic is unknown and weird to Danny and therefore, one would think, the world.
In Sovereign we call do-over in the opening pages. Danny is literally at a superhero convention, surrounded by Capes of all kinds and affiliations. Magic users, too! Magic is established, magic even has a shadowy ruling body that's like, a known entity. And superpowers are not the result of comic book-like events or government conspiracies: they come directly from Nemesis, and as Nemesis gets closer the overall incident of superpowers rises. In fact, a lot of people have powers and just get on with their lives, no Caping included.
Okay! That's... different. But the fact we've changed tracks from "questionable morality of Caping in the context of a flawed society and government" to "superpowers are just a thing that happens, Caping is a separate choice" is... a bit of a lurch. It didn't have to be! Even I can see the parallels in those two theses.
But Sovereign doesn't link back to the issues of Dreadnought, especially when it comes to vigilantism or the highly questionable partnership of government and government forces with superpowered individuals. When Danny said it "wasn't supposed to happen" that someone she handed over to the police (a supervillain) died in custody, like that's totally unheard-of, I winced. I winced big. It reads as either incredibly, ignorantly privileged or failing to draw a parallel, and I'm not sure which is worse. There's a lot of little asides like that, along with how it affects Calamity's backstory, which add up to: we're not poking that bear. Any questioning of the system is relegated to a side character who questions every system, declares every court case a sham, all government money blood money, etc. I was one of the people who thought the first book bit off a little more than it could chew, but I'm not sure "sweeping it under the rug and/or into the mouth of the stereotypical paranoid radical leftist" was the solution, either.
Those... rather glaring... issues aside, Sovereign has so much going for it at first glance. Danny has a lot on her plate, here. She's stepped on the toes of other Capes she really wants to build partnerships with. Doc Impossible is the closest thing she has to a guardian, but is dealing with the emotional fallout from Utopia's attack six months ago. Calamity has been distancing herself in that same time period, for similar reasons. A new metahuman has come forward with a complex story to reveal she is Valkyrja's daughter, now fighting off her memories and biological impulse to become a Cape as well. And to top it all off, Danny's parents are fighting her emancipation, and are even trying to claim her financial resources as Dreadnought.
See, if only the book had stuck with this. If only the book had developed this. Even with all her issues, Daniels shines when she sticks to "low stakes" and relatable situations in a fantastical concept. Watching Danny come into her own in the superhero world, navigating its politics and personalities, would have been amazing. Depicting the struggle of trauma recovery and abusive families would have been well worth reading. Taking time to explore the realities of the actual teenagers of this book -- Calamity's ethics vs. Danny's, Karen's conflicted feelings about her birthright, Charlie's magic, Kinetiq's quest for recognition -- would have been incredible. It would have been more than enough to fill a book, and I think it would have been an excellent one.
Instead, Daniels reaches for the World In Crisis dial and cranks it up to 22. By which I mean it goes to 11... twice.
This is dumb plotting to begin with -- do people really not get, still, that it's the PEOPLE inside the capes that make the stories endure, not what cool things they do while wearing capes? But even worse, Daniels is nowhere in the ballpark of being able to pull it off.
1. Her villains are awful. They are dumb. I mean this conceptually -- But I also mean this literally.
It's exhausting to deal with his level of dumbness. It's not engaging on a narrative or emotional level. It doesn't even raise the tension. Do I want Danny to win against these villains? Sure, she kind of has to. There is no way she won't. And so when she does, despite the odds, it doesn't feel earned. There was nothing at stake except everything, and so losing was never an option.
2. The awfulness of the villains makes everyone else equally as awful. Because we went from zero to Mach 3, Danny is thrown into extreme situations: ANY of those things happening would be enough for a sixteen-year-old to process for the rest of the book. But Danny just shrugs it off, says her abusive upbringing has allowed her to "compartmentalize," moves onto the next crisis with barely a nightmare. Yeah, that's not what that means. Even with the description Daniels gives -- that's disassociation, that's a different thing. It is not a superpower, and it doesn't work on command!
But Daniels wants the plot to keep hitting points of HiGh TeNsIoN, and so Danny is able to move along like nothing happened. So does everyone else! In fact, it often reads like they forgot those things happened. Basically trauma becomes an excuse for the characters to act however Daniels needs without taking them through any process the readers might understand. Please note, I'm not saying there's no way they could ever act like this -- I'm saying Daniels doesn't show her work.
3. In fact, Danny has become kind of awful in her own right. Last book I said we were in sniffing distance of Mary Sue territory. In this book, our toes may already be over the line. The extremities of the villains and the situations mean Danny has to counter with her own extreme badassery; but again, none of it is earned, and the worst of it is excused with "well, obviously she's screwed up from her childhood and needs therapy." She opens the book basically confessing that she gets paid to hurt people, and she enjoys it. By the end? It's not her fault, that's what happens when abused people get power. (She still enjoys it.) The lattice also becomes the panacea to Danny's every problem, without the consequences of the first book. It's a bad, bad combo.
4. Aside from Danny's lesbianism and binary transgender status, the diversity of this book feels very much for show, a way to score social justice points while failing to treat the other characters as anything more than accessories to Danny's story.
(Disclaimer: I am not an authority on these issues. I am open to being shown I am wrong. At the same time, I feel the need to point out the things which, to me, feel obvious.)
A character may be disabled, but their disability never impacts their lives or affects the way they do caping. (Danny remarked, watching her work out, that she "sometimes forgets" Calamity is disabled; I wanted to shout "I BET CALAMITY DOESN'T.") A point is made of noting the different cultural and racial backgrounds of new or more prominent characters -- but none of said characters have a purpose outside of helping Danny achieve victory. I realize Danny is the main character, and she carries focus. What I'm saying is: none of these characters have their own stories happening in the periphery, not in any way that directly affects the story of Sovereign. They're either there to Exist and Be Diverse and then disappear until needed, or to Yell At Danny About Doing Diversity Wrong and then... hang around and help Danny as needed. Or.
Or.
Or have their stories all but erased in order to fit more neatly into Danny's.
Let's talk about Calamity.
I usually have no problem with ambitious books that stumble in execution, but Sovereign feels as broken as my hopes for it. (And now my heart.)
ETA: I just saw Sovereign came out SIX MONTHS after Dreadnought..? Maybe there's more hope for Daniels as a writer than I realized and she was involved a truly shitty contract. No way both books got the work they needed in that time frame. I won't get my hopes too high, considering, but I'm letting that three-star rating rest and I am more likely to read the third book once it's available.
EDIT: Changed my mind. The more I think about it, the more this is a clearly 2-star book which doesn't deserve the haze of might-have-been bringing that rating higher.
Here's the deal and I'm just going to say it: I don't think Daniels is a good writer.
I hate pronouncements like that. For one thing, authors read GR reviews sometimes, holy shit I really don't want that to happen in this case. For another, who the fuck am I to say a badly-executed book means the writer themselves lacks ability?
I acknowledge all that. But I also have to acknowledge: this book's flaws run deep, so deep I am disturbed that the author could be ignorant of them. And I can't take that ignorance lightly.
Let me back up. I said I fell in love, right? The first 40% of this book is golden, despite carrying over some of the flaws of Dreadnought. The most glaring is the utter fucking lack of worthwhile adults. Hey, I get it, it's YA, you gotta put the sixteen-year-old in the center. It still beggars belief that nowhere else in the world are adults capable of keeping their shit together for ten goddamn days so that teenagers aren't the only ones risking their lives.
It's especially egregious given that Daniels... kind of retcons herself? In Dreadnought the worldbuilding was: people with superpowers more or less became involved in the Cape/metahuman scene, although it was their pick of what color (white/gray/black); the Legion are kind of the be-all-end-all in terms of Caping, with maybe some
In Sovereign we call do-over in the opening pages. Danny is literally at a superhero convention, surrounded by Capes of all kinds and affiliations. Magic users, too! Magic is established, magic even has a shadowy ruling body that's like, a known entity. And superpowers are not the result of comic book-like events or government conspiracies: they come directly from Nemesis, and as Nemesis gets closer the overall incident of superpowers rises. In fact, a lot of people have powers and just get on with their lives, no Caping included.
Okay! That's... different. But the fact we've changed tracks from "questionable morality of Caping in the context of a flawed society and government" to "superpowers are just a thing that happens, Caping is a separate choice" is... a bit of a lurch. It didn't have to be! Even I can see the parallels in those two theses.
But Sovereign doesn't link back to the issues of Dreadnought, especially when it comes to vigilantism or the highly questionable partnership of government and government forces with superpowered individuals. When Danny said it "wasn't supposed to happen" that someone she handed over to the police (a supervillain) died in custody, like that's totally unheard-of, I winced. I winced big. It reads as either incredibly, ignorantly privileged or failing to draw a parallel, and I'm not sure which is worse. There's a lot of little asides like that, along with how it affects Calamity's backstory, which add up to: we're not poking that bear. Any questioning of the system is relegated to a side character who questions every system, declares every court case a sham, all government money blood money, etc. I was one of the people who thought the first book bit off a little more than it could chew, but I'm not sure "sweeping it under the rug and/or into the mouth of the stereotypical paranoid radical leftist" was the solution, either.
Those... rather glaring... issues aside, Sovereign has so much going for it at first glance. Danny has a lot on her plate, here. She's stepped on the toes of other Capes she really wants to build partnerships with. Doc Impossible is the closest thing she has to a guardian, but is dealing with the emotional fallout from Utopia's attack six months ago. Calamity has been distancing herself in that same time period, for similar reasons. A new metahuman has come forward with a complex story to reveal she is Valkyrja's daughter, now fighting off her memories and biological impulse to become a Cape as well. And to top it all off, Danny's parents are fighting her emancipation, and are even trying to claim her financial resources as Dreadnought.
See, if only the book had stuck with this. If only the book had developed this. Even with all her issues, Daniels shines when she sticks to "low stakes" and relatable situations in a fantastical concept. Watching Danny come into her own in the superhero world, navigating its politics and personalities, would have been amazing. Depicting the struggle of trauma recovery and abusive families would have been well worth reading. Taking time to explore the realities of the actual teenagers of this book -- Calamity's ethics vs. Danny's, Karen's conflicted feelings about her birthright, Charlie's magic, Kinetiq's quest for recognition -- would have been incredible. It would have been more than enough to fill a book, and I think it would have been an excellent one.
Instead, Daniels reaches for the World In Crisis dial and cranks it up to 22. By which I mean it goes to 11... twice.
This is dumb plotting to begin with -- do people really not get, still, that it's the PEOPLE inside the capes that make the stories endure, not what cool things they do while wearing capes? But even worse, Daniels is nowhere in the ballpark of being able to pull it off.
1. Her villains are awful. They are dumb. I mean this conceptually -- But I also mean this literally.
It's exhausting to deal with his level of dumbness. It's not engaging on a narrative or emotional level. It doesn't even raise the tension. Do I want Danny to win against these villains? Sure, she kind of has to. There is no way she won't. And so when she does, despite the odds, it doesn't feel earned. There was nothing at stake except everything, and so losing was never an option.
2. The awfulness of the villains makes everyone else equally as awful. Because we went from zero to Mach 3, Danny is thrown into extreme situations: ANY of those things happening would be enough for a sixteen-year-old to process for the rest of the book. But Danny just shrugs it off, says her abusive upbringing has allowed her to "compartmentalize," moves onto the next crisis with barely a nightmare. Yeah, that's not what that means. Even with the description Daniels gives -- that's disassociation, that's a different thing. It is not a superpower, and it doesn't work on command!
But Daniels wants the plot to keep hitting points of HiGh TeNsIoN, and so Danny is able to move along like nothing happened. So does everyone else! In fact, it often reads like they forgot those things happened. Basically trauma becomes an excuse for the characters to act however Daniels needs without taking them through any process the readers might understand. Please note, I'm not saying there's no way they could ever act like this -- I'm saying Daniels doesn't show her work.
3. In fact, Danny has become kind of awful in her own right. Last book I said we were in sniffing distance of Mary Sue territory. In this book, our toes may already be over the line. The extremities of the villains and the situations mean Danny has to counter with her own extreme badassery; but again, none of it is earned, and the worst of it is excused with "well, obviously she's screwed up from her childhood and needs therapy." She opens the book basically confessing that she gets paid to hurt people, and she enjoys it. By the end? It's not her fault, that's what happens when abused people get power. (She still enjoys it.) The lattice also becomes the panacea to Danny's every problem, without the consequences of the first book. It's a bad, bad combo.
4. Aside from Danny's lesbianism and binary transgender status, the diversity of this book feels very much for show, a way to score social justice points while failing to treat the other characters as anything more than accessories to Danny's story.
(Disclaimer: I am not an authority on these issues. I am open to being shown I am wrong. At the same time, I feel the need to point out the things which, to me, feel obvious.)
A character may be disabled, but their disability never impacts their lives or affects the way they do caping. (Danny remarked, watching her work out, that she "sometimes forgets" Calamity is disabled; I wanted to shout "I BET CALAMITY DOESN'T.") A point is made of noting the different cultural and racial backgrounds of new or more prominent characters -- but none of said characters have a purpose outside of helping Danny achieve victory. I realize Danny is the main character, and she carries focus. What I'm saying is: none of these characters have their own stories happening in the periphery, not in any way that directly affects the story of Sovereign. They're either there to Exist and Be Diverse and then disappear until needed, or to Yell At Danny About Doing Diversity Wrong and then... hang around and help Danny as needed. Or.
Or.
Or have their stories all but erased in order to fit more neatly into Danny's.
Let's talk about Calamity.
I usually have no problem with ambitious books that stumble in execution, but Sovereign feels as broken as my hopes for it. (And now my heart.)
ETA: I just saw Sovereign came out SIX MONTHS after Dreadnought..? Maybe there's more hope for Daniels as a writer than I realized and she was involved a truly shitty contract. No way both books got the work they needed in that time frame. I won't get my hopes too high, considering, but I'm letting that three-star rating rest and I am more likely to read the third book once it's available.
EDIT: Changed my mind. The more I think about it, the more this is a clearly 2-star book which doesn't deserve the haze of might-have-been bringing that rating higher.
August 30, 2021
Sovereign follows Danny Tozer as she attempts to take down Greywytch and her fake Legion. But bigger things are brewing in the world, and soon Danny has much more than she and Doc can handle. Luckily, she has some new friends to rely on.
I really loved this one! So much happens in this book and we get to spend more time seeing Danny being a superhero: fighting villains, trying to outsmart villains, rebuilding the Legion with her friends, learning more about her powers, trying to figure out what Nemesis is. We get briefly introduced to Dr. Gothic, a superhero that is a PhD and researcher! I was so excited with his character and I hope we get to see more of him in the final book.
We also get Kinetic, a genderqueer Iranian-American. I loved them so much. I love that they didn't let Danny get away with telling the media half truths, especially since she's not the first trans superhero. I just love Kinetic with all my heart and I need more of them.
We don't get to see as much of Sarah/Calamity until like 40% in, but I'm so glad she made an appearance and that she and Danny got to work on their relationship. I love these two idiots and I want to see more of them.
I love how this series is shaping the series arc and I absolutely cannot wait to see how it will end!
Rep: white transgender lesbian MC, sapphic Latina side character, genderqueer Iranian-American side character, AI side character fighting alcohol abuse.
CWs: Ableism/ableist slurs, alcohol consumption (including underage), alcohol abuse, blood, confinement, death, gun violence, injury/injury detail, kidnapping, misogyny, murder, physical abuse, sexism, torture, toxic relationship (parent/child), transphobia/transmisia, violence.
I really loved this one! So much happens in this book and we get to spend more time seeing Danny being a superhero: fighting villains, trying to outsmart villains, rebuilding the Legion with her friends, learning more about her powers, trying to figure out what Nemesis is. We get briefly introduced to Dr. Gothic, a superhero that is a PhD and researcher! I was so excited with his character and I hope we get to see more of him in the final book.
We also get Kinetic, a genderqueer Iranian-American. I loved them so much. I love that they didn't let Danny get away with telling the media half truths, especially since she's not the first trans superhero. I just love Kinetic with all my heart and I need more of them.
We don't get to see as much of Sarah/Calamity until like 40% in, but I'm so glad she made an appearance and that she and Danny got to work on their relationship. I love these two idiots and I want to see more of them.
I love how this series is shaping the series arc and I absolutely cannot wait to see how it will end!
Rep: white transgender lesbian MC, sapphic Latina side character, genderqueer Iranian-American side character, AI side character fighting alcohol abuse.
CWs: Ableism/ableist slurs, alcohol consumption (including underage), alcohol abuse, blood, confinement, death, gun violence, injury/injury detail, kidnapping, misogyny, murder, physical abuse, sexism, torture, toxic relationship (parent/child), transphobia/transmisia, violence.
June 30, 2022
Still worth reading, but slightly more convoluted in a way that just makes it feel like there’s a lot going on and not all of it is tied up or examined much. We go straight into the systemic issues of being a superhero. Paperwork, legality, insurance, money, publicity/optics, etc. and this acts as a springboard to talk about the systemic inequality trans people face, which I think, just like the first book, smartly bridges these concepts. But it’s also not exactly a great hook for the meat of the story.
It does get going and there turns out to be even more action than the first, and it’s far darker and maybe a bit more “grown-up” than previous; sometimes in a jarring way. The changes make sense and do springboard naturally from some of the setup in the first book. It’s just pretty heavy for a while, before navigating back to a more hopeful place. In a lot of ways I like this story arc better.
It’s just slightly more contrived, as you situate yourself into the worldbuilding. It’s unlike most superhero stories in how bombastic it is while simultaneously being granular with the socio-economic and political body aspects of a world. Something you’d read in Vertigo… but with decidedly YA components. Very unique, I think. And I’ll certainly read another in the series, if and when that drops.
It does get going and there turns out to be even more action than the first, and it’s far darker and maybe a bit more “grown-up” than previous; sometimes in a jarring way. The changes make sense and do springboard naturally from some of the setup in the first book. It’s just pretty heavy for a while, before navigating back to a more hopeful place. In a lot of ways I like this story arc better.
It’s just slightly more contrived, as you situate yourself into the worldbuilding. It’s unlike most superhero stories in how bombastic it is while simultaneously being granular with the socio-economic and political body aspects of a world. Something you’d read in Vertigo… but with decidedly YA components. Very unique, I think. And I’ll certainly read another in the series, if and when that drops.
August 30, 2021
4.5 Stars
I am so sad by the amount of Transphobia in this book. It is seriously disheartening. But I love Danny and Calamity so much! I also love Doc. I thought it was really interesting to see what was going on in the aftermath of the first book, and how things have developed for Danny since then. There is still so much going on in this world that needs to be solved and looked at. It's really sad how corrupt everything is. But I thought this book was really good!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Death, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Alcoholism, and Confinement
I am so sad by the amount of Transphobia in this book. It is seriously disheartening. But I love Danny and Calamity so much! I also love Doc. I thought it was really interesting to see what was going on in the aftermath of the first book, and how things have developed for Danny since then. There is still so much going on in this world that needs to be solved and looked at. It's really sad how corrupt everything is. But I thought this book was really good!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Death, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Alcoholism, and Confinement
September 8, 2017
I received a free digital copy of this book from the publishers/author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Trans girl Danni is now a bonafide superhero after being granted the mantle of Dreadnought but even though she defeated an ultra-villian, Danni still has to struggle for acceptance and fight for everything she’s earned, while proving to others she’s more than what they think.
Sovereign was good, but not as good as the first book Dreadnought for me. I’m not sure if it was the particular mood I was in the first couple of days I read this, but Danni really, really annoyed me. She just became extremely arrogant in this book about her abilities (which yes are amazing, but she’s still only starting out and I didn’t like how she talked to others around her, not to mention the policemen and stuff just doing their job. She basically seemed to treat everyone but Calamity as an idiot).
The first half of this book was a three-star read for me but the second half was a four-star. Things really heated up - I also felt like everything moved way faster in this book, there was no time to breathe but I liked it - and Danni was really challenges as Dreadnought and really made her realise she’s not the best things since sliced bread just because she can fly.
The villain bit near the very end of this book was so terrifying but I also loved how it all worked out. I also like that Danni is going to be seeing a therapist and needs time to process what she’s done, and what she saw. I feel like this isn’t something that’s every touched upon in superhero stories - at the end go the day, they’re mostly human and need to take care of mental health just as much as their physical health!
The trans rep and LGTBQIA, diverse rep in this book was great as always (as far as I could tell anyways as a straight, cis, white woman) and I’m not sure if there’s another book coming but if there is, I will definitely be reading it!
Trans girl Danni is now a bonafide superhero after being granted the mantle of Dreadnought but even though she defeated an ultra-villian, Danni still has to struggle for acceptance and fight for everything she’s earned, while proving to others she’s more than what they think.
Sovereign was good, but not as good as the first book Dreadnought for me. I’m not sure if it was the particular mood I was in the first couple of days I read this, but Danni really, really annoyed me. She just became extremely arrogant in this book about her abilities (which yes are amazing, but she’s still only starting out and I didn’t like how she talked to others around her, not to mention the policemen and stuff just doing their job. She basically seemed to treat everyone but Calamity as an idiot).
The first half of this book was a three-star read for me but the second half was a four-star. Things really heated up - I also felt like everything moved way faster in this book, there was no time to breathe but I liked it - and Danni was really challenges as Dreadnought and really made her realise she’s not the best things since sliced bread just because she can fly.
The villain bit near the very end of this book was so terrifying but I also loved how it all worked out. I also like that Danni is going to be seeing a therapist and needs time to process what she’s done, and what she saw. I feel like this isn’t something that’s every touched upon in superhero stories - at the end go the day, they’re mostly human and need to take care of mental health just as much as their physical health!
The trans rep and LGTBQIA, diverse rep in this book was great as always (as far as I could tell anyways as a straight, cis, white woman) and I’m not sure if there’s another book coming but if there is, I will definitely be reading it!
November 20, 2025
4 ⭐ CW: violence, transphobia, misgendering, dead naming, child abuse mention
Sovereign by April Daniels is book two in the Nemesis series. This was a fine book, it's probably closer to 3.5 stars, but I rounded up. It was fun, but nothing about it particularly wowed me. I'm just happy having a trans girl superhero.
We pick up with Danny after the events of book one. She's now got a caping contract with New Port City, and is enjoying the power of being a superhero and kicking bad guys asses. Maybe enjoying it a little too much. After apprehending her latest bad guy, she finds a girl her age in the apartment she shares with Doc Impossible, asking for help. Karen turns out to be the long lost daughter of Valkyrja, and needs Dreadnought's help to stop her mind being taken over by her mother's power. This throws Dreadnought into the hands of Sovereign, and Uber rich type who wants to end democracy and become a dictator who gets to decide who has powers and who doesn't. All of this on top of the looming threat that is Nemesis.
We get see Danny grow into herself a little in this book. We see her struggle with her anger and her insecurities. It was nice learning about a few more superheroes in this book, including Kinetiq, a nonbinary superhero. We get a lot more fight scenes in this one. Some of the concepts around Nemesis were cool, and I'd like to see where that goes. There is also a subplot about how transphobia hurts all people with a villain that targets anyone with a Y chromosome. It was all a bit on the nose.
I don't know if we'll ever see a third book, but if we don't, I think it would be fine. This is one of those books I might have enjoyed more as a teenager. It's got a very cheesy YA feel to it, and the villains don't have as much depth as you would hope for. Still, these are fun books, and I like seeing trans femme sapphic superhero.
Sovereign by April Daniels is book two in the Nemesis series. This was a fine book, it's probably closer to 3.5 stars, but I rounded up. It was fun, but nothing about it particularly wowed me. I'm just happy having a trans girl superhero.
We pick up with Danny after the events of book one. She's now got a caping contract with New Port City, and is enjoying the power of being a superhero and kicking bad guys asses. Maybe enjoying it a little too much. After apprehending her latest bad guy, she finds a girl her age in the apartment she shares with Doc Impossible, asking for help. Karen turns out to be the long lost daughter of Valkyrja, and needs Dreadnought's help to stop her mind being taken over by her mother's power. This throws Dreadnought into the hands of Sovereign, and Uber rich type who wants to end democracy and become a dictator who gets to decide who has powers and who doesn't. All of this on top of the looming threat that is Nemesis.
We get see Danny grow into herself a little in this book. We see her struggle with her anger and her insecurities. It was nice learning about a few more superheroes in this book, including Kinetiq, a nonbinary superhero. We get a lot more fight scenes in this one. Some of the concepts around Nemesis were cool, and I'd like to see where that goes. There is also a subplot about how transphobia hurts all people with a villain that targets anyone with a Y chromosome. It was all a bit on the nose.
I don't know if we'll ever see a third book, but if we don't, I think it would be fine. This is one of those books I might have enjoyed more as a teenager. It's got a very cheesy YA feel to it, and the villains don't have as much depth as you would hope for. Still, these are fun books, and I like seeing trans femme sapphic superhero.
February 1, 2018
I am so loving this series! Dreadnought is a great teenage superhero, growing into her powers and the maturity to use them. There's plenty of action (and I love that the nasty supervillain is a TERF), and the action points up moral issues. I hope the series will continue--there are plenty of places to go with it, and there's the Nemesis.
January 26, 2018
Fun read
This is a really nice superhero book. I liked all of the happenstances and fights that Danny got into. I also really liked the relationship of Sarah and Danny and I like that Dr. impossible took on the mother role.
This is a really nice superhero book. I liked all of the happenstances and fights that Danny got into. I also really liked the relationship of Sarah and Danny and I like that Dr. impossible took on the mother role.
March 5, 2018
This duology was wonderful and exactly what I went looking to find. Lgbtq+ superheroes, what more could I have asked for <3
May 23, 2017
There is SO MUCH going on in this one tiny little novel, and it is just so good. Okay, so maybe it's not one tiny little novel, but I managed to read it all in one sitting, so it seems really short. Maybe it's more that it's really good, so I found it impossible to put down until I was finished.
So this is the second novel in April Daniels' 'Nemesis' series, the first one being the equally amazing Dreadnought. Some would find it incredibly difficult to follow up such an amazing first novel with another of such calibre. Not April, apparently! Danielle/Dreadnought comes back just as powerfully from the very first pages of this new novel.
We start with a conversation between Danielle and her media representative, Cecilia, going over an interview and how she can do better. This is important for a number of reasons. First, it sets up that she's been interviewing, so that when we meet Kinetiq, a nonbinary superhero that Dreadnought has accidentally managed to rile up, it doesn't come out of left field. Secondly, it means that when she's trying to adopt a straight face and give nothing away in various interactions with the media, in court and with supervillains, it's convincing, ALL BECAUSE OF THIS SCENE.
Following that is a Comic Con for superheroes, located down in Antarctica (how cool is that conceptually, though??). This is actually where we meet Kinetiq. There is some stunning dialogue around here that manages to be both funny and serious as well as propelling the plot forward. If people are unsure about whether they are going to like Sovereign, this is probably around the time when they're going to decide, wholeheartedly, YES.
Can we also just talk about the cover art for this book, though? I know that's not technically something that a lot of authors have power over, but it's actually great because it sets the scene for so much about the way Dreadnought thinks about herself, her powers, the world, and is relevant to not just one but two incredibly important plot points that unravel throughout the story.
I think I'm doing pretty well talking about the story without spoilers so far, so let's get straight onto the character of Danielle/Dreadnought herself. First of all, everything is written in 1st person, so it's really hard not to feel like you are right there with her the whole way through. And she talks about some really intense things, like how she enjoys beating up people essentially for money. Several times, with a lot of analysis into the ethics of this. It's incredible, and not something that often gets brought up in superhero writing.
And if that wasn't enough, it then went into the consequences of where such things can lead for the second half of the story. I mean, this was just as perfectly built up as the plot points. April was very clever in her writing. It never seemed heavy handed, but things never seemed like they came out of nowhere for convenience sake, even if point A and point B weren't perfectly and directly linked. Reading this, I felt like I had a lot to learn as a writer, and I was definitely jotting down notes.
All in all, a fantastic follow up to Dreadnought. Just like last time, the TERF character of Greywytch was difficult to read, but I have high hopes that we won't be seeing her in book 3. Regardless, you better believe that's going to be on my shelves as soon as it's announced.
February 28, 2022
I might be in the minority so far, because while I liked the first Nemesis book and rated a 3.5, bumped up to a 4, I genuinely, flat-out loved this book. The first book was cute and fun; the sequel is interesting and intriguing and so complicated, especially as far as character arcs go. Danny, in particular, goes through such a freaking fascinating character arc. You see her nine months after the events in Dreadnought, and how the power and fame has changed her, both in good and bad ways, and then how much she still has to learn in her personal and professional lives.
Plus, super hero politics, you guys. I'd read a whole book about them.
tl;dr: Liked the fun of the first one, loved how complicated, compelling, and dark the sequel was.
Plus, super hero politics, you guys. I'd read a whole book about them.
tl;dr: Liked the fun of the first one, loved how complicated, compelling, and dark the sequel was.
September 8, 2018
There is nothing here about trans men even existing, and yet this book is about nothing but gender. - Matt
While I also anticipated a high amount of bigotry, cissexism and hatred directed towards Danny again, I was still surprised how bad it got. - Maria
Read our full reviews here
While I also anticipated a high amount of bigotry, cissexism and hatred directed towards Danny again, I was still surprised how bad it got. - Maria
Read our full reviews here
June 13, 2019
Sovereign is the second book in the Nemesis series by April Daniels. I highly recommend reading this series in order, as character and story development in the first book, Dreadnought, is vital to fully enjoying this book. Since I enjoyed the first book so much, I do not think it will be a chore for any that need to go read, or reread, that first.
Only nine months after her debut as the fourth superhero to fight under the name Dreadnought, Danny Tozer is already a scarred veteran. Protecting a city the size of New Port is a team-sized job and she's doing it alone. Between her newfound celebrity and her demanding cape duties, Dreadnought is stretched thin, and it's only going to get worse. When she crosses a newly discovered supervillain, Dreadnought comes under attack from all quarters. From her troubled family life to her disintegrating friendship with Calamity, there's no trick too dirty and no lever too cruel for this villain to use against her. She might be hard to kill, but there's more than one way to destroy a hero. Before the war is over, Dreadnought will be forced to confront parts of herself she never wanted to acknowledge. And behind it all, an old enemy waits in the wings to unleash a plot that will scar the world forever.
Sovereign is a complex and thought provoking book with character development that is impactful and sometimes as painful as the physical battles the characters undergo. Danny is still struggling with the changes of becoming Dreadnought and the devastating battles fought in the first book. She needs to deal with the physical and emotional scars while trying to fight crime , keep her promises, get free from her parents, and deal with the social complications of her life. Despite the powers and her intelligence, Danny is still young and reeling from abuse and betrayals, mistakes and assumptions are made making matters worse. I really enjoyed seeing Danny, Doc Impossible, Calamity, and the rest of the group come into their own and fight for what they think is right while trying to stick to their codes. I was floored by the honesty and raw truth of the characters- and how real the confusion, doubt, and complexity of their thoughts and emotions were. It is hard to get the balance of growth, feels, and action right- and this book hit it perfectly.
Sovereign is a book that I put off reading for far too long. I loved the first book so much that I was worried it would not meet my high hopes, thankfully that worry was unfounded. However, my worry of wanting more right now from the author was well founded. I am hooked and want more. I highly recommend Dreadnought and Sovereign to readers from middle school age right on up to adults. The only people I think would not enjoy it are those with something against the LGBT community, and they might need to read it the most.
Only nine months after her debut as the fourth superhero to fight under the name Dreadnought, Danny Tozer is already a scarred veteran. Protecting a city the size of New Port is a team-sized job and she's doing it alone. Between her newfound celebrity and her demanding cape duties, Dreadnought is stretched thin, and it's only going to get worse. When she crosses a newly discovered supervillain, Dreadnought comes under attack from all quarters. From her troubled family life to her disintegrating friendship with Calamity, there's no trick too dirty and no lever too cruel for this villain to use against her. She might be hard to kill, but there's more than one way to destroy a hero. Before the war is over, Dreadnought will be forced to confront parts of herself she never wanted to acknowledge. And behind it all, an old enemy waits in the wings to unleash a plot that will scar the world forever.
Sovereign is a complex and thought provoking book with character development that is impactful and sometimes as painful as the physical battles the characters undergo. Danny is still struggling with the changes of becoming Dreadnought and the devastating battles fought in the first book. She needs to deal with the physical and emotional scars while trying to fight crime , keep her promises, get free from her parents, and deal with the social complications of her life. Despite the powers and her intelligence, Danny is still young and reeling from abuse and betrayals, mistakes and assumptions are made making matters worse. I really enjoyed seeing Danny, Doc Impossible, Calamity, and the rest of the group come into their own and fight for what they think is right while trying to stick to their codes. I was floored by the honesty and raw truth of the characters- and how real the confusion, doubt, and complexity of their thoughts and emotions were. It is hard to get the balance of growth, feels, and action right- and this book hit it perfectly.
Sovereign is a book that I put off reading for far too long. I loved the first book so much that I was worried it would not meet my high hopes, thankfully that worry was unfounded. However, my worry of wanting more right now from the author was well founded. I am hooked and want more. I highly recommend Dreadnought and Sovereign to readers from middle school age right on up to adults. The only people I think would not enjoy it are those with something against the LGBT community, and they might need to read it the most.
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