HEAT WAVE (The Extraordinaries #3) by TJ Klune
- Publisher: Tor Teen, July 19th, 2022
- Genre: Sci-Fi, Young Adult, LGBTQ+
- Format: eARC
- Page Count: 376 pages
Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.
I started reading Heat Wave some time last summer and got stuck about a third into the book when I ran into elements of mind control. This is primarily a personal preference, but I have to admit that mind control is one of the things I’d rather not read about.
The first two books of The Extraordinaries trilogy (The Extraordinaries & Flash Fire) were such a fun and wild ride as we follow Nick, Seth, Gibby, and Jazz along their adventure. I love these precious babies! If you also love fierce, disaster queer teens, you’d especially love the epilogue of this series like I did.
“I have thoughts and then those thoughts have thoughts.”
Nick Bell
In Heat Wave, I feel like the plot itself has less nuance and more magic—in an ex machina kind of way—than its predecessors. While we did get a nice grand finale and resolution, everything fell a little flat for me. It didn’t help that they had a great plan that wasn’t revealed when they were actively talking about it, especially with the book being in Nick’s point of view, it felt especially odd for the whole thing to be glossed over just to retain the shock factor later on when they execute the plan. Another gripe I had was something I’ve mentioned in my review of Flash Fire, which is the repeated occurrence of cissexist languages about anatomy, albeit unintentional. It didn’t feel very on brand of them as the whole story is not only just about superheroes but also filled with queer joy.
However, if you’re here for the ride of messy superqueeroes, this series does not disappoint!
content warnings: mind control / manipulation, on-page oral sex between two consenting minors, blood, cissexism, forced mediation, police brutality, racism, kidnapping, conversion therapy (for Extraordinaries), fire, child abuse, murder, drowning (past), misgendering (by minor character, called out by other minor character), discussions about sex, impersonation
I received a digital review copy from Tor Teen via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.
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