Hero

I bought this book almost a year ago when Kris raved about how fabulous it was. Sadly this gem languished in the corner of my book pile for way too long but I finally sat down with the hardcover recently and got swept up into the world of heroes and villains. This telling is absolutely engaging and entertaining, so much to the point that most readers won't care about the myriad of problems that exist. Even with all the writing stumbles, plot holes, illogical leaps in knowledge, and dropped mysteries, this is a thoroughly fun and heart warming story. It has a happy ending of sorts, but not the one that most readers will root for. Either way, pick this up and indulge in the fabulous world Moore has created.The story is told in first person from Thom's point of view and relates his coming of age. He's a young man who is struggling with his own sexuality, a dysfunctional home life with an angry father and an absent mother, and coming into his own powers. Thom's life starts to change at the beginning of the book when a derogatory gay comment from a competitor at his team's basketball game paints Thom as different. This strains Thom's already distant relationship with his father and Thom's journey to acceptance of his super powers, his sexuality, and his father take up the entire book. Of course it's not just an emotional journey as the book is filled with super heroes, villains, acrobatics, and battles. Thom's ability to heal people puts him on a probationary team for the famous League and brings no end of conflict and fun to his life.The plot itself is decent but tends to get swept away with Thom's narration. Thom is still immature in a lot of ways and struggles with growing up so the book often turns self indulgent, forgetting numerous plot points. For example, there is the mystery of who is killing the heroes and who exactly attacked Thom and his group. This is never explicitly answered and in fact, completely dropped. There is a scant bit of foreshadowing to point to the real culprit but how the huge battle at the end comes about is far fetched and the story doesn't even bother trying to explain any of it. Instead the emotional angst of Thom is used to soothe over the leaps in knowledge, such as Thom's press conference comment which suddenly becomes his sexual declaration even though that's a big stretch. Furthermore, Thom himself often ignores information and action in favor of lamenting his own immaturity and relationships to others. As with any young man coming of age, Thom is inherently self involved and spends a good portion of the novel whining in his head about this while ignoring everything going on around him.The story does take a turn when Thom "gets his head out of his ass" and starts to really take an interest in others around him. The characterization of Thom stumbles with this slightly but he's definitely a sympathetic and immensely likable character. He is a sweet young man going through the growing pains of watching his father continually publically shamed for past actions while missing the presence of an equally self absorbed mother. And if struggling with super powers in the midst of all this wasn't enough, Thom is exploring his sexuality like any other teenager. So the many facets of the young man are mostly well drawn and crafted, presenting a complicated, flawed but equally wonderful hero.The characterization of the vast secondary characters is mostly well done from Thom's team of misfits to the hero League, and even the character of Goran. Each is important to the plot and to Thom's journey in different ways. The story has a few missteps here as for unknown reasons Thom doesn't heal a number of his own teammates even though he's healing everyone else, and his continued ignorance about Goran stretches reality. What shines the most though is the relationship between Thom and his father, Hal Creed. Hal is a disgraced super hero who was the only hero to possess no super powers. Even without that, Hal managed to be a very successful and beloved hero until a tragic accident forces Hal to take the brunt of public and private scorn. Hal struggles with his anger and bitterness from that life and the life he has struggled to provide for his son. A missing wife, who appears later only to highlight her own selfishness while providing closure for Thom, is a key to Hal's unhappiness. The father/son relationship is often poignant and dysfunctional. Both Hal and Thom love each other very much but can't figure out how to express that love and have the close relationship they both want. Hal has a very real struggle with accepting Thom's sexuality but the private problems Hal experiences both help and hinder their relationship.This book is certainly not without its faults, but I'd say those don't really matter. The eternal coming of age is familiar and depicted in a manner that allows an entertaining story mixed with the maturity of its narrator. Thom emerges a changed, wiser, more mature young man at the end and his journey is a delight to read. I'd easily recommend this book to all readers and suggest that you let yourself enjoy the ride. The hero antics are interesting and the fast pace keeps the story moving almost lightening fast. More than anything, Thom is certain to charm any reader while Hal touches a poignant chord. A must read book.

This easily gets five stars from me. It's an engrossing and captivating tale with great character development and growth.Most people have a coming-of-age story. Those defining moments in their life where they leave behind childhood and become the man or woman they're going to be. For Thom Creed, those moments are ones few people can relate to. Thom, you see, is the son of Hal Creed. Hal was formerly Major Might, the world's most famous and beloved superhero. Though he had no superpowers of his own, his unerring sense of right and wrong, and his dedication to helping all, made him a role model for not only other heroes, but for the entire world.Until the tragedy.As our story opens, we realize that there was a great tragedy where many people died, and everyone blames Hal. He now lives in disgrace and holds down three low-paying jobs so he can pay off his mortgage and raise his son. Thom is a great boy, but he has his own secret that he's never told anyone. He's gay, and his father has a very old-fashioned sense of morality and believes it's wrong to be gay. So Thom keeps this a secret because his father is the last person he wants to disappoint. To add even more pressure to Thom's life, he's just discovered that he has super powers and can heal people. He tries to find his place in the world by enlisting in the League under probationary status. His father now has a disdain for most superpowered heroes, so this is another thing he tries to keep hidden. He's assigned to a rag-tag team of other tryouts, led by an established sidekick who's being punished for a mistake and forced to "step down" and supervise these hero wannabes. Thom's team consists of Thom, a man who can make other people sick, a bitter pizza-delivery girl who can fly and shoot fire, and a feisty old woman who can (sometimes) see the future.The story is told in first-person perspective and covers a period of several months of Thom's life. From shortly before his powers start manifesting, to the climatic conclusion. Thom deals with feelings of inadequacy, uncertainty, and his own fears of letting down his father and those around him. Even in the League, he's given back-seat status as his power is one of healing and not very offensive. Throughout the novel, Thom must learn to face his fears and eventually realize that he can no longer hide nor run away from his own destiny.It's especially fun if you're a comic book fan as you try to match the characters in the story to their comic-book inspirations (Superman, Batman, Wonderwoman, Flash, etc.). Many of the more prominent characters do have an inspiration in established characters, but Perry Moore thankfully adds enough differences to keep them from being pure carbon-copies. The story has occasional strong language and some references to sex (but never going into details), but is nothing inappropriate for someone around 16 or older. Thom's sexuality is a major plot thread throughout the story, but is never the full focus. While references are made to sex, the most Thom ever does is kiss someone. Like most kids, he's got a lot of things he gets dramatic over, and his sexuality is just one of them.At the time, the book was unavailable on Kindle, so I ordered the paperback. I'm exceptionally happy I did. It's a bittersweet story (with more sweet than bitter) that leaves a lasting impression. I will most likely purchase it again once it's in electronic format so that it can be part of my digital library. It's that good.

vous serez servi par cette aventure singulière et unique en son genre. Moore allie les éléments habituels des romans où apparaissent les super-héros que l'on a plus l'habitude de voir sous forme de comics. Néanmoins en introduisant dans son récit une composante qui ne s'était jamais vue jusque là il suscite l'intérêt de lecteurs qui sinon ne se seraient sans doute jamais intéressés au monde des super-héros ... ni n'y seraient retournés, pour ceux qui comme moi on toujours eu un faible pour le geek volant : Spiderman.

Großartiges Jugenddrame mit einem Fantasie beflügelnden Heldenensemble. Leidenschaft, der Wille die Welt zu verändern, Naivität, Freundschaft und trotz aller Hürden der Vergangenheit ein wenig eigene Zukunft sich, trotz widriger Umstände, aufzubauen.

I have always been interested in things such as super powers and magic, but found most books so 2 dimensional with traditional characters. Then, Perry Moore's Hero comes into the picture. I have never read a book that has entwined the process of coming out and finding your niche in society with the concept of Super Heroes in such a way that supports all youth. In addition to this, the book was long enough (but not to long) to make it a continued experience which could not be read all in one sitting. Despite the length of the book, it actually had a point of interest in every section. It never got boring, even in the parts that had little action, as there would always be something so deliciously written that you just had to keep reading. This book has been more than a pleasure to read and I am glad that I decided to buy it!

I love this book. I'm sad that there won't be more as Moore has sadly passed away.There is a lot going on: Thom's developing superpowers, his agonising over his sexuality, his troubled and somewhat distant relationship with his father and his mother's disappearance. The fact that his parents used to be superheroes themselves. But after his father's public shaming, these things are no longer mentioned in his house. So Thom feels that needs to keep his sexuality, his powers and the fact he is now a probationary member of the League a secret.Thom is a wonderful character. I found it very easy to get inside his head and to understand his actions and decisions. He wants to please his father but still be true to himself. He works a few different jobs for money and is on the basketball team to make his father proud. He is by no means perfect but I loved him. My heart broke for him when he was kicked out of the League for being gay and telling the truth and his father's reaction to this. The unfairness of it overwhelmed me and I teared up a little.It is also a humorous novel with tongue planted firmly in cheek on occasions. Thom finds himself in a predicament with porn, the superhero names are amusing (Typhoid Larry's power is making people ill) and they do gently poke fun at the mainstream Marvel and DC characters in a goofy sort of way.All characters were well developed but my favourites were the other probationers in Thom's group. We have the initially loathsome Golden Boy (the shamed sidekick in charge of the group) and Miss Scarlett, Typhoid Larry and the fantastic Ruth, a rather droll near-elderly lady who just happens to be a bit psychic. My favourite parts of the book were where this motley crew were bickering at each other.There was all of this characterisation going on and yet the world building was equally as fantastic. Okay, so the characters may be familiar to those who read comic books, I get that, but it is not a complete rip-off of the worlds from the big comic book publishing houses. The plot was great and full of twists I genuinely never saw coming. The ending blew me away and had me bawling my eyes out.A fantastic read.

Eine gute Geschichte und mal etwas anderes zum Lesen.(Ich verstehe nicht warum man für eine Rezession auch noch 20 Wörter schreiben muss. Die Menschen schauen eh nur auf die Sterne.)