Super Powereds : Year 1 by Drew Hayes

Knowledge is power. That would be the motto of Lander University, had it not been snatched up and used to death by others long before the school was founded. For while Lander offers a full range of courses to nearly all students, it also offers a small number of specialty classes to a very select few. Lander is home to the Hero Certification Program, a curriculum designed to develop student with superhuman capabilities, commonly known as Supers, into official Heroes.

Five of this year’s freshmen are extra special. They have a secret aside from their abilities, one that they must guard from even their classmates. Because for every one person in the world with abilities they can control, there are three who lack such skill. These lesser super beings, Powereds as they are called, have always been treated as burdens and second class citizens. Though there has been ample research in the area, no one has ever succeeded in turning a Powered into a regular human, let alone a Super.

That is, until now…

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Audiobook Challenge

The Reason

Someone recommended it as an audiobook worth listening to, so I decided to try it!

The Quotes

“Sometimes, attaining the impossible was simply a matter of continuously putting one foot in front of the other, no matter what.”

“In Seattle there is a constant hope for a period called “two days in a row when it doesn’t fucking rain.”

“The truth had its place, and it was called a deathbed.”

“Playing with new stuff is for down time. This is crunch time. Crunch time is for focusing on what you’ve got.”

The Narrator(s)

Kyle McCarley. I love the narration and all the voices. I personally feel like this book isn’t very well-written, but the narrator makes it highly enjoyable to listen to!

My Thoughts

I’ve mentioned a couple of times that I feel that this book isn’t very well-written. I feel like it’s quite amateurish, to be quite honest – and I’ll say why in a minute – but somehow I am loving this book so much and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series!

On why I feel it’s amateurish; the most noticeable thing is all the he said, she said, they said, and all the variations of it. So many variations of it! Not only did they “said”, they also asked, answered, implied, surmised, agreed, acquiesced, snapped, shot back, spat out, pointed out, commented, reciprocated, complimented, admitted, chastised, scolded, cursed, encouraged, explained, countered, chided, mused, quipped, confirmed, noted, inquired, interjected, praised, protested, reiterated, complained, sighed, chuckled, repeated, joked, pried…

And they often did the above; with a smile, with a grin, with a shrug, with a smirk, with a pause, with incredulity, optimistically, sadly, longingly, with a surprisingly reassuring smile, with a genuine smile, with a slow smile, with an unwitting grin, with a big grin, respectfully, obediently, with a kiss, tentatively, deferentially, with a more sincere smile…

It’s gotten to the point where I’m not annoyed but impressed with the vocabulary! However, writing aside, I really do enjoy the story and there are a lot of things to like about it.

The best thing about it, I feel, is that the characters are all very distinct, interesting, and most of all, consistent. I also love the found family element, and the plotting and strategizing is done very well! I mean, it’s basically all the things we like about Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Red Rising, and other books in that vein, but lower stakes and more fun.

Kids go to a school to learn to hone their skills and powers. They have tests and competitions to get ahead, they make friends and connections, they train and strategized, they fight against bad guys but also navigate the student and young adult life. They live, they love, they laugh. And I am thoroughly enjoying myself!

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars. Even with the bad writing! Because it’s just so fun and enjoyable and I’m even getting enjoyment from the bad writing.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?