The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune

US Cover                                  UK Cover

Some people are extraordinary. Some are just extra. TJ Klune's YA debut, The Extraordinaries, is a queer coming-of-age story about a fanboy with ADHD and the heroes he loves.

Nick Bell? Not extraordinary. But being the most popular fanfiction writer in the Extraordinaries fandom is a superpower, right?

After a chance encounter with Shadow Star, Nova City’s mightiest hero (and Nick’s biggest crush), Nick sets out to make himself extraordinary. And he’ll do it with or without the reluctant help of Seth Gray, Nick's best friend (and maybe the love of his life).

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I wasn't sure about this to start with. It opens with some - sorry, no offence intended, my opinion only - fairly mediocre fanfiction, and it took me a while to get into Nick's voice when the story proper started. It just didn't suit me, and I thought about giving up.

But then came the scene in the alley. And I don't know whether I just got used to the style, or whether it tightened up - I think I got used to it, because there were still some spots that grated, but only lines here and there - but suddenly I was getting it. I was into it, and I wanted to keep going and find out what was going to happen next.

Mostly what happened next was the thing I guessed was going to happen next - the characters are fairly predictable and I wasn't surprised by any of the 'big reveals', including the midway one which was clearly meant to be huge - but I wasn't reading to be surprised, I was reading for the funny dialogue, and this book provided that in spades. This is going on the (very short) list of funny books for teens.

I love Jazz the best, out of the supporting cast. We're all clearly supposed to love Seth, but I think Jazz was genuinely funnier. Nick himself was actually kind of annoying in spots, but I mostly overlooked it.

(I do have to agree with other reviewers; although I didn't think of it at the time, the treatment of the police is iffy.)

Overall, I enjoyed this, and I'll watching out for the sequels whenever they appear.