Official Synopsis:

Never trust a guy in spandex.
In Abby Hamilton’s world, superheroes do more than just stop crime and save cats stuck in trees—they also drink milk straight from the carton and hog the television remote. Abby’s older brother moonlights as the famous Red Comet, but without powers of her own, following in his footsteps has never crossed her mind.
That is, until the city’s newest vigilante comes bursting into her life.
After saving Abby from an attempted mugging, Morriston’s fledgling supervillain Iron Phantom convinces her that he’s not as evil as everyone says, and that their city is under a vicious new threat. As Abby follows him deeper into their city’s darkest secrets, she comes to learn that heroes can’t always be trusted, and sometimes it’s the good guys who wear black.

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Review:

Danielle Banas has written a stunning and heart-warming debut about family, first love, and what it really means to be a hero.

I’m the first to admit that I know absolutely nothing about superheroes. As in, I’ve never even seen a superhero movie. (Momentary pause in the review for your gasp of horror.) Therefore, I never really considered myself a superhero kind of person. Still, I was super pumped to read this book, because I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed. And I wasn’t.

(Also, be advised: in honor of the superhero aspect of the book, I’ll be using the word ‘super’ as many times as possible in this review, so get ready.)

I’ve been wanting to read this book for a long time. I never read it on Wattpad, but I remember when it was selected for Swoon Reads and when the title changed. Ever since hearing about it, I’ve been desperate to read it, so when I got it from a fellow blogger I was ecstatic! I flew (ha) through it in less than 24 hours. I love the concept of it, and everything about the actual book itself.

Abby is super relatable and has a great character arc throughout the book. She’s the type of girl that you’re going to wish that you could be best friends with. I loved reading from her point of view, and didn’t want the book to end. I liked that we got to see another side of her through her love for theatre, and how it set her apart from the crime and superhero-ness surrounding her.

Even though it’s mentioned multiple times that her dad sends her self-defense videos, it would’ve been nice if there would’ve been a little scene of her and Iron Phantom or her and her brother, Connor, working on some of the defense moves. Bonus scene maybe? 😉

The relationship between Connor and Abby was super sweet, and felt like an authentic brother-sister relationship. I liked that they got along more often than not, which isn’t always something that happens in books.

The guessing game that is the slow reveal of the true identity of Iron Phantom was super frustrating but in a good way, if that makes sense. It went on for awhile, but we do eventually find out his true identity, and the slow reveal worked really well. I’m not going to spoil his true identity, so I’m going to refer to him as Iron Phantom for the rest of the review. You’ll have to read the book yourself to find out who it is!

The dynamic between Abby and Iron Phantom was super adorable. You know, after they get over the whole ‘you may or not be a supervillain’ thing. Totally swoonworthy, of course, since it’s Swoon Reads. I loved their banter back and forth, and the pace at which their relationship progressed didn’t feel forced.

The plot twist towards the end of the book left me shook, and I definitely gasped out loud when I read it. It’s absollutely heartbreaking, and I desperately need another book in this series so the outcome of what happened will (hopefully) change. Fingers crossed that Swoon Reads picks up the rest of the series!!

On a slightly related note, a movie, or better yet, television series based on this book would be super awesome, so if somebody could get on that, like, yesterday, that would be great.

Also, the tagline on the front of the book is “never trust a guy in spandex” and I love that so much.

‘The Supervillain and Me’ will be released on July 10, 2018 by Swoon Reads.

My interview with Danielle Banas will be coming soon, so stay tuned to my blog, and make sure you follow me on Twitter (@cityofglamour17) for the newest updates!

Connect with the author

You can follow Danielle on Twitter and Instagram at @daniellebanas and on Wattpad at @tasting_stars!

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