Happy Friday Blogiverse!

We made it! Give yourself a big pat on the back.

I hope you’re ready for the weekend. I plan on possibly exploring some local trails and nature spots in my new area, masks and social distancing included of course.

I’ve been on a roll this week with reads, and today is no exception. This time around I’m reviewing Voltage: A Rising Hero Novella by Nicholas Park.

A couple fun facts.

I bought this on an Amazon ebook haul about a month ago. The cover drew me in, but what really peaked my curiosity is that this was written by a 15-year old.

Now, I am not one to judge a person’s writing skill by their age, so I bought it on impulse deciding to give it a go.

Blurb:

Sixteen-year-old Carter Gabriels has nothing.

He lost his parents when he was eleven, his city has become a wasteland of crime, and he’s scraping by with a low-paying job and a pretty unhappy life. He simply wants things to get better. He’s trying. But when a new drug hits the streets, Carter gets caught up in a dark world and gains the power to manipulate electricity.

A power that could enable him to battle his city’s darkness.

Damone Harris’ wife is dying of cancer, and he’s in desperate need of money. He accepts a job from business tycoon Michael Hoffman and takes charge of distributing a drug that claims to elevate all levels of human capacity. When an accident gives Damone beyond-human powers, he finds new strength…but begins to lose his mind. Will he become a puppet to Michael? Or something far worse to mankind?

It’s up to Carter to save the city and defeat Damone and Michael. However, he must also deal with his own tormented psyche and the mysterious death of his parents…

GoodReads

The Review:

I gave this novella two stars.

I had high hopes for this novella, I really did.

This book is written by a 15-year old, and I don’t think that I’ve ever read something by someone this young before, but it takes a lot of oomph and dedication to write something, especially at that age. Major kudos there.

However, on a fundamental level I had some issues with this book.

Let’s start with the positive.

The main things that I liked were the concept and action. I love the concept of superheroes, and with that usually comes many a great fight scene.

Unfortunately that’s about where the good stuff ended for me.

The characters, while intriguing felt two-dimensional at the end. They had decent backstories that made sense, but it didn’t go any further than that. I wanted more depth from them.

The plot started off fairly well, but went off the rails a bit for several reasons. For starters, I didn’t completely buy Voltage’s acquisition of superpowers. It was too random for me.

There was a lack of conflict for me, and Voltage discovers the extent of his powers way too easily. It just wasn’t believable that his friend could look up powers on Wikipedia and say ‘try this’ and everything just works. If this control was discovered over the course of several novellas that would’ve made more sense.

The action scenes felt too rushed for me, and I wanted to see more grit and have it slowed down a bit so we can really see all the details.

Overall, this novel didn’t work for me and I won’t be continuing the series, but I think that with time and experience, this author will get better and bring something really great into the world. Keep reaching for your dreams, Nicholas!

That’s a Wrap!

Thanks for stopping by, and happy reading!

Have you read this book before? What did you think? Do you have a book recommendation similar to this one? Feel free to share in the comments!

If you’d like to see other reviews of mine, feel free to check out my blog homepage or my GoodReads. You can also follow my GoodReads reviews here. There are some great binge-worthy books on there!

Have a great day!

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