Super Powereds: Year 1

I'm stepping into uncharted territory and writing my first review for an Amazon purchase. Firstly this is considered to be a YA book but I'm a 36 year old male and thoroughly enjoyed it. I bought on a whim after trying Meta and fancying another Superhero book and it surprised me how much I enjoyed it. The plot builds nicely, you get to know more about the characters as you go through the book plus it doesn't just focus on the story but also the backgrounds in the people in the book. It's very cleverly written and at over 800 pages is well worth the money. Honestly I can't say how much I enjoyed this book and the sequel. Just a bit gutted the third isn't out yet.

Overall, very good. The book is long with shortish chapters (explained by the author as due to its origins as a webnovel published over the course of a year and a half). Despite its length, the book is a comfortable read with interesting characters. Towards the end, there were several chapters that didn't really seem to contribute to the story. Cutting them out entirely would have strengthened the novel and improved the pace of that part of the novel a lot. That said, here were enough twists at the end to make me buy the next book immediately.

This book was lots of fun to read.I think the closest thing I can compare it to is X-MEN which is one of my favourite franchises (books movies, games, etc.)There are a few typos in the Kindle edition but that didn't subtract from the experience.Anyone who likes superheroes and things in that vein should give it a go.

I don't know how I stumbled on this series, but sooooo glad I did! This is such an amazing story, told by an amazing story teller - great fun, fast paced, lots of action, but well-drawn characters and plot, no cardboard cut-outs to be seen! The only problem is that you have to get the next one. And the next. Then wait for the final!

I described Super Powereds to my wife as "Harry Potter with Super Heroes". I think that the comparison is quite apt as this is quintessentially a coming of aged story about five young people who transition overnight from social pariahs into potentially elite, incredibly powerful individuals.I thought that this book was made more relatable than some similar books, as the setting is very similar to our world, but with a twist. So the reactions of society (e.g. Super Heros treated like rock stars) was quite interesting and believable.The story is very much about what the young people learn, and how they grow from an emotional and character perspective. I could see some other readers potentially wanting a bit more romance thrown in, but I was happy with the level provided.This book (and indeed all of the books in the series) is incredibly long, but to me it felt like good value for money, and not like filler. I would strongly recommend Drew's Super Powereds series to anyone who enjoys coming of age stories.

This book was a happy find. I have enjoyed it's MANY chapters and found that the story did not go the way I expected it to go. I liked the main characters and found myself cheering them on to succeed. I cannot wait to start year 2 with the gang.

I have followed this series as it developed as an online serial chapter by chapter, and felt that I must purchase upon completion due to how entertaining the story arch and character development was. Writing this now I am on the final book to be released as a web series and have purchased all books (and spin offs!). Drew is now a favourite author of both myself and my long time girlfriend, we greatly look forward to each release and would both recommend his work to others. Pick this up!!NOW!also try Fred the vampire accountant!

With the advent of kindle and a gazillion books getting published each year, it's becoming increasingly difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. And reviews aren't always trustworthy, especially since there are a lot of services that offer to sell five-star 'reviews' to help market your book. So I'm always dubious about a book that has dozens of 5-star reviews, when on closer inspection each of these reviews tell you absolutely nothing about what you're getting into; it's just 'excellent'. "I won't tell you why, but just trust me, stranger."So here's my honest two cents along with some actual insight to help you decide if this book is for you.Despite the misgivings above, I decided to check out 'Super-Powereds: Year One' as it had one of the highest ratings for its genre on goodreads, and there wasn't much else to choose from. I also used the 'Look Inside' feature, and immediately picked up on some of the writer's technical style of feeding you enough information to get you hooked, but leaving enough unsaid to keep you curious. I have to say he does this well, and he employs a similar style throughout the book, enticing you to keep reading. The chapters are also short and easily digestible; he doesn't veer off into whimsy or bore the reader with extraneous detail.For the most part, it's a good read. The characters are interesting and fairly unique. The writing is crisp and the dialogue is passable. There were more than a few moments that made me cringe and roll my eyes, but I expected as much from book of this nature.So why the three stars? Moreover, why did I not finish reading the book? (I reached the 64% mark)Well, I got a distinct impression this book was going nowhere. I'm guessing the author was trying to write 'Harry Potter' for the superhero genre, and I clearly wasn't the only one who felt this way after reading some of the other reviews. (Note: I've never read HP or watched the movies.) It takes place in a college for 'Supers'... and my guess is that it is going to stay there for at least 4 books. I wasn't expecting that.As of yet (>400 pages in) there is no antagonist, no sense of threat, none of the characters have personal stories I really care about, (e.g. none of it generates sympathy), and even the use of their powers is not very evocative. So far it's just a bunch of juveniles coping with the challenges of this intense course, and then going out to see who they can 'pull' on the weekends. Sorry, this is really not what I was looking for when decided to delve into the superhero genre.If you're looking for a teen/young adult soap opera in an unorthodox setting, this may work for you. Personally, I have no interest in seeing it through. And if I'm wrong and if their is some twist around the corner that I didn't get to, it's the writer's job to hold my interest until that point. But so far, after hundreds of pages, I see no reason to believe there is. I've been given nothing more than a bunch of awkward and sappy relationships, and not a hint of anything more.After seeing the future titles 'Year Two', 'Year Three', etc, I'm just left feeling what is the point? When I choose to pick up a book on superheroes, I expected the emphasis on them being *super* and *heroic*, not a bunch of young hipsters trying to score a date... who just happen to have some odd power as well.Really not my cup of tea.

I plan to come back later and write a more in depth review in the future. For now, I’m going to give some brief thoughts.This series is fantastic! It has a delightful vibe that just feels so good to read. If you enjoy any or all of the following I highly recommend reading this: found family, supernatural school environments, super powers, interesting analysis on the practicalities of a world much like our own but with superheroes in it, interesting power systems, great action scenes, wholesome friendships, awesome character development that feels earned but also doesn’t always go exactly where you expect it to, and diverse interesting casts of characters you will love.There is one point I feel the need to stress to a potential reader. It is covered in the forward to the book but I think I should mention it. This story was originally published chapter by chapter as a web serial. As such it has a very large number of relatively short chapters. This means that the pacing is not quite what you would expect from a more traditional novel. It’s more tight discrete scenes that are often but not always contained inside a single chapter. If you’re an experienced reader and you don’t know that going in, this book can feel just a little weird in the pacing. I personally don’t count that as a negative which is why I gave this an emphatic five star rating. But it is worth pointing out and if you think it would bother you I feel you should know going in.My fiancée and I love this series and the characters within it. We talk about it as if they are our own kids going off to college and growing up. I laugh, weep, and cry tears of joy in this series every time I read it. If anything I mentioned in this review piqued your interest, do yourself a favor and give this a read. Even if you just get the free two month trial of Kindle Unlimited to read it for free I promise it is worth your time and effort.

I already read all of the series and I just love it. This is like if superheros exist in real world, is just how you imagine teens with superpowers to behave. This book take it's time to build the rules of the world you're seeing, I enjoy practically all the characters and the development of each one is visible and organic.

I liked the characters and thought the author did a great job with how he grew them throughout the year.

I love this series.The first book is a fantastic read, although on its own it was maybe a 4,5 for me. But having read the entire series more than thrice, I feel so many things are established here or mentioned as a throwaway line to be relevant only one or two books later, that my enjoyment grow even more.This mixture of HP and X-Men combines great characters with an interesting story and is the beginning of one of the most well thought out worlds, I have ever read. If people had super powers, I could imagine this being a plausible world we would end up with.I recommend this book to all my friends that I think are interested in this story and so far everyone agreed with me that this story needs to be read by many more people ^^

Notice the number of 5-star reviews? They are there for a reason.I have now finished the 4 books in this series and it has been an enjoyable read from start to end. The concept of the 'Hero High' (or College in this case) is not unique - the latest well-known version would be 'My Hero Academia' over on the manga shelves - but where others tend to be one-note (train to be the best/train to succeed the current inspirational hero - 'because friendship'?) this series has a realistic reason for the competition (insurance coverage) and more than enough secondary threads being juggled to keep things interesting.The focus is consistently on character rather than fighting, and when the fights happen the focus within them is on strategy. As someone who tends to nod off during Marvel movies when the fists start flying, I for one appreciated this. Also, and even more importantly, the writing is actually GOOD and the planning that went into the series shows through. I started this book expecting... not much... and was pleasantly surprised. Surprised as in 'I have completed two of Mr Hayes' series and am currently working on, or rather enjoying, a third'.