The Bursting Bookshelf

X-Men meets The Breakfast Club in this darkly humorous adventure

The Vindico are a group of supervillains who have been fighting the League of Heroes for as long as anyone can remember. Realizing they're not as young as they used to be, they devise a plan to kidnap a group of teenagers to take over for them when they retire--after all, how hard can it be to teach a bunch of angsty teens to be evil?

Held captive in a remote mansion, five teens train with their mentors and receive superpowers beyond their wildest dreams. Struggling to uncover the motives of the Vindico, the teens have to trust each other to plot their escape. But they quickly learn that the differences between good and evil are not as black and white as they seem, and they are left wondering whose side they should be fighting on after all . . .

With fast-paced action, punchy dialogue, and sarcastic humor, this high-stakes adventure from a talented new YA voice pulls you in from the first page.


Review:
I initally read the summary for the book a short while before I read it; it had me at "X-Men" (in case you didn't know, I am a huge fan of Marvel superheroes!). With the interesting premise of telling a story from a multiple quasi-villain point of view, I read and adored this awesome tale of coming of age under the most unusual of circumstances.

The cover was one definitely designed to draw the eyes of both boys and girls, creating a greater demographic for the book. The color was one that I really liked; it was between fuchsia and red with lighter lightening streaks through it. It also transcended the gender boundaries; it had draw for both boys and girls, rather than just one or the other. The whole thing came together wonderfully, and it will no doubt draw readers to it with ease.

The story was told through five points of view; that of James, Lana, Sam, Hayden, and Emily. They were all very different people, but they were all thrown together when they were abducted by The Villains. Did I have a favorite character? No: I loved them all that much! All of them could be related to on some level and the were very much like-able. The ability to make a reader sympathize with the characters is a great skill and something that I look for in a book, which was achieved in this one. The Villains were also brilliantly written; they weren't just stereotypical bad guys, they had depth and back stories that were very intriguing.

The story was fantastic and quick to action, and the writing was just as good. There were plenty of action packed scenes, but there was also a good mix of emotional ones to bring balance to the plot. It featured nearly perfect pacing along with writing with an attention grabbing style. It was clear in the writing that every character was equally as important, none were favored by the plot or the writing. The author was also able to give every single character a different personality without making any of them too similar; a difficult task considering how many characters were in the book. I cannot wait for more of the history between the characters as well as more of the quick plot in the sequel!

I strongly recommend that fans of superheroes or anyone looking for a unique Young Adult title. I cannot wait for the next book in the series, but until then, I give The Vindico a 5/5.