Narrated by Daniel Penz
Performance 4 stars
Story high 2, low 3-ish
Summary:
A geeky genius and his older genius cousin invent a super suit to exact revenge on a middle school then freshman year bully.
Additional Comments:
- The performance was good. The narrator put a lot of energy into the production.
- Nickname Squish and its explanation are hilarious.
- I’m really not sure who the target audience is. It’s billed as a YA, but the cover does NOT say that and 85% of the book is the technical how-to build the suit. It’s essentially a short story about getting back at a bully stretched way the heck around a tech manual and philosophical dissertation about theoretical physics.
- I did find some of the deep discussions of troubleshooting the machine that made the super suit interesting, but I’m a chemistry teacher. I like science. And even I got very, very bored with the in-depth babbling. I honestly don’t see it being appealing to the target audience of teens, though I do have a friend (very much an adult with a doctorate who theorizes and does experiements) who might like it.
- There are pacing problems too. For example, the section on the uses of a brick started as a conversation between the cousins and went on and on and on. He must have listed at least 25+ uses. To get the point, we needed maybe 5 and then skip ahead to the well I’m a genius so I thought of 300+ line. Done. The narrator did a credible job with that section, but it still managed to be interesting point to okay way, way overboard. Just because the first-person narrator is supposed to be socially awkward, does not mean that he needs to prove it in the private space of his own head.
- The end was largely good but once again went way overboard in an attempt to prove the hero status of our MC.
- Super nit-picky point. American middle and high schools typically go with marking periods, a genius should know that, yet at least twice, he referred to semesters. That’s a college thing. Maybe certain prep schools use semesters, but not your general run of the mill public school.
Conclusion:
Interesting read despite its story flaws.
Have You Tried Kindle Vella Yet?
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Assassin School Season 1 – (thriller, YA; Complete) Teen spies try to survive the rigorous training and other drama as powerful people battle to control the Ghost children.
Dustin’s Decision Devya’s Children Book 5 – (YA scifi, shares characters with The Minder Project; Complete) Genetically altered teens struggle to navigate the murky world and control their Gifts.
