Rising Storm

Super U #1

by Alex Silver

I’ve got a secret. Two, actually. I’m not that powerful. My best friend Gerald, though, he’s got enough superpowers to fill the role of two heroes. His abilities are so strong, he can even make everyone believe I’m destined to be more than a sidekick. My other secret? I love him.

My crush is getting harder to hide now that we’re headed off to superhero university together. With Gerald as my roommate, it’s only a matter of time before he figures out how I feel. And from there, our other secrets will inevitably unravel, too. Including what truly happened the night we stumbled on a League of Villains meeting.

I never counted on the League ruining my plans to enjoy the university experience with my bestie. Or the nemesis who haunts my nightmares turning his telepathy on the city I grew up expecting to protect with my powers. One thing’s for sure, superhero school isn’t for the faint of heart.

Super U: Rising Storm is an M/X superhero slow-burn best friends to lovers romance. It is part of a multi-author shared universe following the university adventures of superheroes in training. Gerald is a trans man who commands the wind and electricity. Ignatius is his non-binary and autistic best friend, who controls electric sparks. Read now to watch them turn their spark into a storm.

Genres: Transgender

245 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 12, 2021

Reviews

[Bekka · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
I adored this tale of two best friends coming of age and that although I often find myself bored when suspense plot > romance plot but I was in love with these MCS from page 1 and couldn't see how they wouldn't be in love with each other too.

Iggy and Gerald are childhood best friends born to famous superhero parents. They're everything to each other. So when Gerald is born with more power than usual and Iggy with less it makes sense for Gerald to act as though half of his power is Iggys - otherwise they'd end up in different classes: hero and side kick rather than full partners.

Once they get to college it's a struggle of keeping their secret under wraps, coming to terms with the new situation and disruption from habits and coming of age with their hidden feelings for each other.

Both MCs are trans (Gerald is a trans man on T and Iggy started taking blockers and then eventually stopped when realising they identify as non-binary) and I loved Gerald describing people he sees at first without assigning them a gender in his mind and introducing himself with his pronouns completely naturally.

Iggy is autistic (the blurb states this and he describes other people as neurotypicals without counting himself as one).


Quotes

"I retreat to the little lair Gerald helped me set up first thing under his lofted bed. It's not much, a big round chair his mom calls a papasan that hugs my body with my familiar weighted blanket draped over it to mute the light and noise." (p. 27)

There's a lot of snuggles and nesting <3

"You and me forever, Ig." Nothing's ever going to change that," Gerald promises. "Best friends forever" (p. 73)

"But what I really want to be is Gerald; the boy who loves his best friend." (p. 96)

"Um if I'm your boyfriend now, does that make you my themfriend?" Iggy nods."Yes. Themfriend is fine." (p. 165)

I also want to quote their whole first kissing scene because molten puddle but that's it for today.

NSFW Infos:
- One guy (ftm trans man, metoidioplasty, had dated 'people' in the past, virgin, bottoms)
- One person (non binary, virgin, smaller)
- slow burn
- frotting
- talk about stds
- on page top/bottom dynamic

[Jamie Lee Zonneveld · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rising Storm is the first book in the Super U series, a series about superheroes written by multiple authors. Rising Storm is written by Alex Silver and is about Gerald and Ignatius. Ignatius is non-binary and autistic best friend of Gerald who controls electric sparks and gas two secrets. 1. He's not that powerful. And 2. He's in love with Gerard. Gerard is a trans man who is powerful and controls the wind and electricity.

I really liked their story. It has a little Sky High vibes but college and LGBTQIA+ edition. Their story was sweet, sexy, full of feels, has some superheroes angst and is very well written.

[Suzanne Irving · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book in mm series

I don’t usually like college romance books but I like the authors who have gotten together to play in this universe. This book is also interesting in that it includes a character who is trans and another who is non-binary and autistic. I enjoyed the way these two were written that really gave an idea about what it is like living as these people. I think that Ignatius and his autism was particularly well represented as well as the ways that the two main characters complimented and helped each other. As a person who is disabled I’m liking the increased representation of characters with challenges and how one of their main problems is how people tend to treat them, especially how people feel they can’t contribute as much. This book is a great representation of this as well as being a really fun read.

[Isaiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.

I got an ARC of this book.

I am not a fan of superheroes, bit I am a fan of Silver. I was hoping this would balance out and it mostly did. The first 70% of the book are so was really good. I was really into it. I loved the characters. The last bit where it was all action and sex was a lot less fun for me. I was bored. I just REALLY don’t care about the action parts.

I am a big fan of certain superheroes, but not for the action part. The characters are what I like. The world building in this gave me that aspect pretty well. The villains were really flat though. I didn’t know why they wanted to do what they wanted. They were just bad and that was that. Despite how bad they were they were still not really stopped well. It was a bit confusing at why one of the parents was ok talking to someone that was so irredeemably evil. I say irredeemably, because his only real character trait was being the bad guy. I needed a lot more fleshing out for the action to matter to me.

The romance was a lot of telling and lot of whining, which I am ok with. I just wish there was a bit more showing than telling. I wanted a few more glances, a few more awkward conversations. Something to really put some feeling into the first sex(-ish) scene. I wanted more to happen from that scene. I was SO into it. It was awkward, it was perfect. Then it was sort of glossed over like it never happened by both characters. I wanted some consequences damnit. I think I am just whining, because I wanted to giggle and angst with the characters, but it was more action driven than I normally like.

I love Ig and how they are. Seeing a queer, trans, autistic person is exactly what I needed. Seeing Ig stim and then mask, it was just perfection. I didn’t know how badly I needed to see a character like them until they were there. I just, yes. Silver is always a master of characters and making them unique and distinct, while also making them feel whole and like home.

Overall, this wasn’t my favorite Silver book, but it is a good addition.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, the action plot in this one was actually so good. I was absolutely here for it. The romance was definitely a subplot, but I still adored how Iggy and Gerald supported each other in such different ways. I especially loved how Gerald truly understood every little detail that made up who Iggy was and how they functioned. That felt so special to me because it really showed just how much he cared. I also really appreciated how Iggy was an anchor for Gerald without even realizing it—just by being themself.

[Wulf Roby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neurodiverse rep: I adore these characters as people. The super hero angle and action was, for me, a side note. I found myself much more invested in the relationship/friendship aspects than the plot things.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unique

A unique superhero story. It was interesting seeing what young superheroes are like in college. Iggy and Gerald are childhood best friends. It was fun seeing them go from friendship to lovers. I enjoyed the plot with the villians and liked the variety of side characters.

[Angel Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book

This was something different for me. The NB romance was new for me and I think well done. I liked the concept and the characters were unique.

[avis03]

Autistic MMC

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rising Storm by Alex Silver is the first book in a new Super U/Superhero Multi-Author book series. This is a best friends to lovers story featuring Gerald, a Trans Man and his lifelong best friend the gender-fluid Iggy. After lying to one and all about the strength of Iggy’s manifested powers so that they can both be in the Hero Pathway at Super U. Iggy just doesn’t want to lose his best friend and is willing to play along with Gerald’s plans in order to stay together. Neither realizes that their feelings for each other are mutual and extend far beyond friendship. Though I enjoyed the story and the characters, I honestly wish there was more “romance” in this romance story. The two main characters seemed to be apart during the story than together and if it weren’t for the fact that they had known each other forever, I don’t think there would have been enough time together to fall in love in the first place. I was also interested in the secondary characters and hope for a possible “redemption” story somewhere down the road for one of them. I look forward to more books in the series and to see what other authors have in store as I enjoy the superhero genre and we don’t get to see it very often in the romance world

[Ida Umphers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, the blurb had me at the mention of a League of Villains" meeting. I mean, come on, how can you resist a story with that in it? Fortunately, the rest of this story met the expectations the blurb set and I am loving learning about this world. I am a huge fan of multi-author universes as I like to be in at the start and see how each author adds to and develops the shared world. I adored Gerald and Ignatius their growth from friends to lovers grabbed me early and I loved how their differences made them great friends and so much more. Cannot wait for the rest in this universe.

[Demetra Roussakis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first Super U book and it features Ignatius and Gerard. These two have been friends since they were born. Ig has electrical charges as his element while Gerard has wind element but unknown to everyone he also have electricity as another element. While at the university, they stop a villain from taking over the city. This is a friends to lovers story and it was great. Looking forward to reading more in this series.

I received a copy of this book for my review.

[Madison Keller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great trans romance with super heroes. Gerald and Iggy are a lot of fun to read about, and the author did a great job with giving them both solid voices. My only tiny quibble is that there were a few plot threads that the author set up as being important that seemed to be forgotten as we got to the ending.
Overall very solid with some hot sex scenes.

[J K H · Rating 3 out of 5]

An adorable coming of age story with 2 young people learning their superpowers, learning to navigate the world and their feelings for each other. Ig and Gerald are super sweet together - cute and sexy!

[Claire Louisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 🌟🌟🌟🌠 review to come

[Kaila · Rating 4 out of 5]

so sweet and cute. it was fun and interesting. good superhero aspect